I came across this great blog post on fitting

This is a great blog post on fitting:

https://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/accurate-fitting/
Written by Lorna Knight the author of 'Complete Dressmaking Skills' and 'Dressmaking to Flatter your Shape'.

The article is a very good no-nonsense description of how to pick the size to cut out, test sew a garment (i.e. as a toile, also called a muslin) and to pin the areas that need adjusting. What I like a lot is that it sets out all the general steps that help with fitting, and covers all the main issues.

I particularly liked her suggestion that you can iron interfacing to the back of your pattern tissues once you're happy with the fit you achieved.

This article gives good basic advice but it is not a guide on advanced fitting so if you run into specific fitting issues that you can't solve yourself then you need to look at one of the many fitting advice  books that are out there.

Useful advise on the more advanced fitting solutions are to "follow the draglines". When an ill-fitting garment pulls, these drag lines will often point to the area of concern. Say you have sewn a test top and these diagonal dragging folds point towards the bust area: chances are that you need a full bust adjustment.

If you cannot pin an area tigher on a test garment because you need more space rather then less, then you can undo a seam to see if more fabric in this area solves the issue. Some guides advise to slash the fabric itself open, but you do need to carry on the slash to the edge of a garment - fabric is a flat, two-dimensional material that needs darts and seams to shape it into a threedimensional construct. You can't creat a sticking out bump in the middle of a flat piece of fabric. There needs to be a seam or dart somewhere.

The other great fitting tip I came across:  if for example the seat of trousers looks a bit tight but you can't quite pin-point just what kind of change you need to make to your pattern - have a look for 'grab'. Where does the fabric (or tissue if you are tissue fitting), "grab" your figure? Is it across more than in an up and down direction? Is it both?

Again there might be some draglines, really tiny ones, that point the right way but if a garment is only a little bit too tight then you may not be able to see them. But looking for 'grab' instead is a great way of figuring out where the pattern piece needs to be bigger.

If you need a swayback adjustment on a dress or tunic that has no waist seam (you can pinch out the extra material at a waist seam): you may be able to raise the inside shoulder point. This is the corner of your pattern where the shoulder seam ends at the neckline.  Mark off the amount that needs pinching out vertically down from the shoulder seam (or a bit less) and then redraw the slope of the shoulder seam. You will then to lower the entire back neckline to the new lower level. There are blog posts about this out there (that's where I've got this tip from. Apologies, I can't remember right now where I saw it).

A rounded upper back can present some fitting issues because the shape of the area makes different kinds of adjustments necessary. For some you may need to increase the darts at the shoulder seam, but for others you need to slash the back bodice piece horizontally, from about mid shoulder slope across to the centre seam or fold. You then raise the pattern piece above the slash. This is the adjustment I need and I had no idea for a very long time. It seems counter-intuitive.

You may also need to rotate the shoulder seam forward when you have a rounded upper back. This makes much more sense: if your posture isn't totally upright but instead you carry your shoulders turned forward a little, then you are going to need more material in the back piece and a little less in the front at either side from the shoulder seam.  This adjustment is really easy: tape the back and front pattern piece together at the shoulder seam, draw in your new shoulder seam (keep the inside corner where it is and only change the angle of the seam), and cut apart. Done.

Whatever your fitting issue is (once you know which it is), it is very useful to search online - there may be youtube videos and/or blog posts about that very issue. Chances are that you'll find the answer. If not, come along to one of our LDC meetings and ask us! We may have the answer or be able to point you in the right direction.

This is a great blog post about fixing a gaping back neckline with the help of darts:
https://inhousepatterns.com/blogs/news/6229370-back-contour-shaping

Check out the book "Fit for Real people", it can be very helpful.

I will look for some more guides on fitting and blog about them as and when. Happy sewing!

Lorna Knight who is the author of Complete Dressmaking Skills - See more at: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/accurate-fitting/#sthash.IYAbWy1e.dpuf

Lorna Knight who is the author of Complete Dressmaking Skills - See more at: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/accurate-fitting/#sthash.IYAbWy1e.dpuf

Tracing the pattern from a RTW garment

Have you traced the pattern of a ready to wear garment, one you bought in the shops?

It can be a great way to get a sewing pattern because it is a clothing item that you know fits well enough to want another one just like it.  Or at least with as few adjustments as needed. Preferrably the ones you know how to do.

I bought a lovely short-sleeved blouse with intriguing double layer ruffles from a charity shop.  I did realise at the time that I keep going for this very pale blue, chalky looking shade and then end up not wearing it because it makes me look pasty, to be brutally honest.  Do I learn from this and stop buying clothes or knitting yarn this colour?  Heck no, course not.

So it seems that I bought a pattern instead.

It took me a while to start taking this blouse apart.  I saw the great tip of leaving half the blouse intact so I can see how it goes back together - I only need one set of pattern pieces after all.  I'm glad I read that on a helpful blog somewhere, I'm not confident that I would have realised.  Start wielding a seam ripper and I keep on going...

This blouse fits fairly well.  The dart is not quite in the right place and I need to suppress a wedge of fabric in the underarm area, I am optimistic that I know how to adjust the underarm seams as well as the sleeve width. Fingers crossed.

I flattened each piece carefully, straightened what edges need to be straight (e.g. the centre back that will be cut on the fold), and weighed the whole down with my trusty pattern weights.  Also known as glass coasters in another life - I use them with the felt feet pointing up, they work fabulously.

I drew around each piece making sure that the shapes make sense: an armhole needs to look scooped and not jagged, no corner should look too sharp or seamlines lie in an undulating S-shape.  So far so good!  The test will come when I sew this up in a toile fabric.  I haven't got that far yet.

I did add more generous seam allowances because these were very narrow (the blouse was industrially made after all) and I may have to re-do the flounces. These are a circular shape that looks a bit like a Viennese whirl. Mine have an element of squashed doughnut to them, so I may compare to a commercial pattern I have in my collection. Just to sense-check.

I also traced some stretch fabric leggings that I loved but nasty moths had left a gaping hole near the knee, damn them.  I'm delighted that this worked really well too.  The pieces look astoundingly legging-like, just like a commercial pattern!  At least I like to think so.

I ripped apart most seams on one half only.  I ended up with the back piece and also a flat front piece that I left whole even though there is an internal seam that dissects it in a very intriguing style line.  That's the reason why I wanted to trace off this pattern.  I'd be looking for a pattern like it till the cows come home and not find it.

If I had ripped these pieces apart I'd end up with a very thin strip for the side panel. I think it would be very tough to lay this out straight.  A piece as narrow as this would go wonky as soon as you look at it.  Instead I traced the entire front piece, and then started to roll it back gently and marked the internal seam every couple of centimeters. That was a great way to prevent problems.

Have a look at the photo:

I reckon I've done well for not having traced off patterns in a pretty long time.  I haven't yet put these pattern pieces through their paces, but I live in hope that it'll go well too.

You may be able to trace a simple garment off without having to take it apart, as long as you can get each piece to lie flat.  But shapes would get distorted too easily if trying to trace off a complex item with multiple seams like my blouse.  I am lucky, I can't wear either of them so I didn't have to worry about it.

Have you sewn anything from a traced off pattern, how did the whole process work out for you? It would be really useful to hear of people's experiences - always good to learn from others. Please share in the comments!

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Guilt...and Gratification

I knew it was going to be difficult for me to stick to a resolution not to buy any more fabric when I headed, with LDC member Joy, for the Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts show at Excel on 7 April.  It only took us 45 minutes to get there, 45 minutes of non-stop sewing chatter.  In fact, we were so busy talking that we went straight past the entrance to the show and had to turn round and retrace our steps.
Once inside we headed to book some of the free workshops available.  We both signed up for one on ribbon embroidery techniques and Joy also bagged a place on one just about to start and headed off to take her seat in the workshop area.  That left me with about 40 minutes before the start of a talk by Wendy Dolan on the techniques that she uses for her textile art, techniques that I thought might be useful for dress making embellishment. Should you have the chance to hear Wendy talk and show how she creates her work then take it.  She showed some wonderful examples and the lace she created for a wedding gown, using only sewing machine stitching, is just amazing.
Those 40 minutes led me into temptation and by the time I met up with Joy, who had spent the time being very creative in her workshop, I had 2 metres of jersey knit in my bag purchased from the stall of Lili Fabrics .  I had not been able to resist  the dark blue, grey and tan colour way,  as I knew it would go with many items in my wardrobe but I still felt Guilty for breaking the resolution yet again.  The plan was to make a simple knit dress using a pattern that was in the May 2016 issue of Prima magazine.  It had to be something simple because I have had two frustrating makes in the past few weeks, one being a disastrous pair of trousers and the other a dress, which turned out well but caused a number of headaches in the making.  I needed some easy sewing Gratification to restore my confidence.
The yardage requirements for the pattern were stated to be 1.80 metres but the length was just under 20 cm shorter than I wanted so I bought 2 metres.  I should have remembered that in the past I had found that Prima overcalculated the amount I would need and so it proved.  I decided to make a skirt and top instead, giving me the chance to wear them together or separately.
The top was taken from a pattern that I bought in the 1970's  and had made previously.  In fact I still wear the top, now even more fashionable than when I first made it as it is in a quilted knit.  It is worn by the middle figure on the pattern envelope - and check out the flare on those trousers!

The skirt was View D from New Look 6164, bought a couple of years ago in a closing down sale of a Brixton fabric store.  It has an elasticated waist and a centre back seam with a slit for ease of movement.

I made only two adjustments to the skirt pattern , the first was to lengthen it and the second was my usual one for flat buttocks by pinching out an amount from the centre back seam accross the pattern along the hip line, graduating  the amount of the reduction to nothing at the side seam.  I do it by slashing the pattern across the hipline and pivoting it the required amount, then taping it in position.  If I don't do this my skirt side seam will swing forward because I do not have enough derriere to support the shape at the back.
Fortunately for me and my sewing sanity, all went smoothly, the only hiccup being that I cut the top sleeves separately and was just about to cut the second one when, in the nick of time, I realised I had failed to reverse the fabric and was about to cut another left sleeve.
I am pleased with the result.  I am not a fan of elasticated waists but it certainly gives a quick and easy result and is easily disguised with a belt or by a top worn over it plus no worries about overeating as the skirt waistline expands with you.  My only niggle is that the centre back slit seems rather high for modesty but it does mean that I shall have no worries about there being enough leg room for bicycling.
So here it is, top and skirt worn together.

 And taking a leaf out of the book of member Pia, who writes this inspiring blog , I have attempted to coerce my partner into taking some other photos to show the two items worn in other ways.  First the casual jeans mode-

 and next the efficient secretary at work mode-

I wore the top and skirt on 12 April to the Monthly LDC meetup at Ev's, where almost everybody was wearing great examples of their makes- jackets, skirts, blouses and dresses. I can see that I will wear these two pieces a lot as it doesn't crease and can be dressed up or down.  I don't feel quite so guilty now and got so much gratification that I am likely to make these again soon using some knit fabric from my stash to take part in the sewalong starting on 22 April, details here , thus allowing me to feel very virtuous.

I LOVE-Skirt pattern New Look 6035- but hate pleather

A story of three skirts
This pattern came with September 2015 edition of Sew Style and Home.  It was the jacket to which I was initially attracted- but haven't made yet. It is New Look 6035
Skirt number 1
I wanted to make a simple A-line skirt with pockets.  I used some fabric from my stash, a pale grey cotton twill in a medium weight that I bought some time ago from Fabrics Galore  of Lavender Hill, Battersea, with a completely different project in mind .  Looking through my boxes of patterns  I saw the skirt, included in this pattern, and liked the simple lines.   There are only 3 main pieces to the pattern, the front and back yokes and the skirt, both front and back pieces of the skirt are the same.  There is a lapped zip fastening at the left hand side.  The skirt has facings, these are made using the same pattern piece as for the front and back yoke. There are carriers for a belt on the skirt yoke if you wish.
I  made the following alterations to the pattern:
1.  The pattern is designed to sit one inch (2.5 cm) below the waist but I extended the yoke upwards for an inch to make it sit on the waist.   I cut a toile only for the extended yoke to test it for fit as I reckoned that, since I am not big in the lower hip area, as long as that yoke fitted the lower skirt would skim over my hips with no trouble.
2.  I left out the belt carriers for the yoke because I wanted to be able to wear the skirt with tucked-in tops and with tops over the skirt, in this latter case I thought carriers would stand out as lumps under the top.
3.  I extended the length of the skirt as I wanted mine to come over the knee,
4.  I have flat buttocks, which means the back of the skirt droops down.  I counteracted this by shortening the back length of the skirt by taking out a small amount from the bottom of the yoke and the top of the skirt from the centre back tapering to nothing at the sides.
5. I added a lining by cutting out the lower skirt pattern and sewing it to the bottom of the inner yoke facing. You can see how this works with the photo below of the inside of the second skirt I made ( I blush at the wrinkles in it but I didn't press the lining before taking the picture).

6.  I added patch pockets.  I wanted something slightly different from a rectangular pocket.  I waited until I had made up the skirt to play around with designs for pockets.  The pocket pattern piece was created by tracing around a saucer, cutting  through the middle of the paper and  inserting a strip of paper to create an oval (see photo below).  To make both pockets I cut 2 pieces of the entire pattern piece from the grey fabric, 2 pieces from the base to the line in the photograph below in grey fabric for the flap and 2 pieces in lining fabric from that line up to the top adding a seam allowance to sew it to the flap.

This rubbish sketch below indicates how the pockets were created.  I read in a book that the haute couture method of attaching patch pockets was to topstitch them first and then hand sew them to the garment, this is the method I followed to attach them to the skirt.  However, in future, I will just topstitch them straight to the garment as it is much more secure than my wobbly handstitching.

7.  As there is a lapped zip on the left side I made the seam allowance on this side 2 cm instead of 1.5 cm.  I always do this for a lapped zip as it avoids finding out that when you come to stitch around the outside of the zip you have not got enough seam allowance to extend under the stitching.  Here is the finished lap zip and a view of the pocket to which I added some vintage buttons from my button box .

And here is the finshed skirt.

Skirt number 2

I was so pleased with the first skirt that I used the same pattern to make another in a denim I had bought last year at the Summer Open Day of the Fabric Godmother .  Fabric Godmother usually sells on the internet only and I went to the Open Day as I do not buy on the internet because I like to feel and see fabric before purchasing.  Among the lovely fabrics I found just the colour and weight of denim that I had been searching for to make a skirt.

For this one I  made the following alterations to the pattern:

1. As steps 1,2,3 and 5 for the first skirt.

2.  I changed the zip placing from side to centre back and put in an invisible zip and a hook and eye clousure above it.  This was because I wanted to insert pocket bags into the side seams.  This meant that I changed the alteration for flat buttocks to a position lower down on the body of the skirt instead of between the bottom of the yoke and the top of the skirt but used the same technique of taking out a small amount from the centre and tapering it to zero at the side seam.

3.  I cut extensions in the side seams to which to attach pocket bags.  The pattern for the bags I took from another pattern.

Here is skirt number 2 in action.

Skirt number 3

Due to the lack of darts and limited number of seams I thought this would be ideal for making a skirt from some pleather ( as I understand people now refer to faux animal skin fabrics).  This time I wanted an exposed metal zip at centre back.  Given that I had made this skirt twice I thought the third version would be so easy.  I had not taken into account the material I was using!  This pleather had a knit backing and an embossed PU surface. This means that you cannot press the seams because the surface will melt as I found out, luckily I was only trying to press the seam between the lining and the back yoke, which is on the inside of the garment, and I realised what was happening before anything too drastic happened.  Thus, in order to get the seams to lie flat you need to topstitch them down.

Now my Janome DXL603, a fairly basic computerised model, was fine when stitching with the right sides of the fabric together for the inside seams but just would not work when it came to stitch on the outer face.  I tried everything, using different types and sizes of needles, adjusting the tension, changing the stitch length, buying a teflon foot, putting tissue paper under the fabric, using different types of thread, seeking advice from The Sewing Forum  but to no avail.  Nothing produced consistent results, sometimes the needle would not pick up the lower thread, sometimes the fabric would not move forward, sometimes stitches were skipped. I had to stitch in the exposed zip, using a different method to that I intended, entirely by hand. 

However only by topstitching could I hope to keep those seams flat.  I was in despair.  Then, with nothing to lose, I though of trying my almost 50 year old mechanical machine- Behold!, it stitched like a dream with an ordinary foot, standard thread and with any size of universal needle.  It even went smoothly over the side seams where the yoke joins with its multiple layers of fabric.  I am so cross that I did not think of trying this before I did.  Check out the topstitching in the photo below. 

I still have not finished the skirt.  I am waiting for my partner to have the time to undertake his usual task of marking up the hem, hopefully this weekend, so that I can topstitch that in position, and then it will be done. 

Despite managing to discover how to sew the pleather in the end, I will still never use this fabric again.  More than ever I realise how important pressing is to sewing.  But I still love the pattern and will probably make some more variations on it in the future.  To introduce beginners to this pattern I am going to run a Meetup workshop soon.

If you would like to see some other versions of this skirt here are two blogs about it, one from BETSY MAKES  - her version includes the belt carriers and is made in a lovely patterned needlecord and  an emerald green version by SEWN

The Tale of a Fishtail

Another pattern from Wendy Ward's Beginner's Guide to Dressmaking, the Fishtail Skirt.

First of all, from the photographs in Wendy's book, this is how it should look, shown in different fabrics, to encourage you to come up with your own  interpretation.

This skirt interested me as soon as I saw the photographs- an ordinary looking skirt from the front but with a quirky surprise from the side and back.  I envisaged myself swishing stylishly across a room and that fishtail adding much needed "omph" to my derriere.  The fantasies we have!  And it was for beginners so it must be simple- right?!
I really wanted midnight blue satin backed crepe so that the matt crepe formed the main body of the skirt and the sheen of the satin showed on the fishtail.  I thought, maybe, of adding something sparkly, such as scattered hand-sewn beads or glittery thin swirls of thread, to the inner fishtail.   Could I find midnight blue?- no, though I tried shops in Sussex, London and Devon.  I came across some lovely colours, subtle greens, pearly greys and lavenders, forget-me-not blue, and I thought that many of them appeared to have less weight to them than I deemed  appropriate although, in retrospect, these may have been more suitable.  In the end, with time running out as I wanted to wear it to a specific party, I settled for a black that I came across at an exhibition at Excel and, at only £4 a metre, it was good value.  I must try and check out the shop from which it came at some point, Stitch of Wanstead at 10 Woodbine Place, E11.  Anybody been there?  I bought 2 metres, the amount suggested in Wendy's book, BUT forgot that I wanted to make it longer than the the stated length- more of that later.
I traced out the pattern using greaseproof paper as usual.  Although the bust measurement for size 1 in Wendy's book is almost exactly the same as mine, the waist and hips are much bigger  so I calculated the amount by which I needed to reduce the size, divided this by four and took that amount off all the way down on the side seam for the front and for the back of the pattern piece.  I also extended the length as I wished.
Due to my droopy flat backside I always have to make an adjustment on skirts and trousers by taking a slice out from the back of a pattern.  This I do by taking a tuck from the centre back of the pattern above hip level graduating to nothing by the time the tuck reaches the side seams.  With patterns with centre back seams it is very easy as I just draw a line at the relevant level, cut along the line and then move the bottom part of the pattern up over the top until I have taken out the amount I want.  I hope you can see the horizontal adjustment in this photo ( the vertical line is just from sticking the greaseproof paper together to make it wide enough to trace the pattern).

 Cutting Out Then I laid my pattern pieces out on the fabric to pin and cut out and realised my first mistake.  The length I had bought did not allow for the extra length I wanted so I had not got enough fabric to cut out the front of the skirt on the fold so that the front was all in one piece.  I would have to cut it in two pieces with an allowance to make a seam up the front of the skirt.  I did not want a seam up the front of the skirt and cursed my stupidity in forgetting to allow more for the extra length  ***!!
Luckily an idea suddenly struck me- why not make it a feature?  I remembered an article Wendy wrote in the Sewing World Magazine about Decorative Seams.  At first I thought I would try a Slot Seam where a contrast colour of cloth is stitched underneath  the line where a seam would go to hold the two main pieces of fabric together and allowed a subtle glimpse of the contrast but I found nothing suitable in colour or weight, even among my boxes of stashed fabric, to use as a contrast.  However  Brainwave No. 1 came- insert a wider strip of the satin side of the fabric in the centre front to reference the fishtail at the back.  So I cut a strip 3 cm wide, plus an allowance for the seams to sew it to each side of the skirt front, to go down the centre front.  I was so pleased with the effect that I was glad that I had made the mistake.  Besides, by cutting it this way I was left with quite a bit of spare fabric, enough, I think, to make a top. 
Making Up The book has clear step-by-step instructions - I just didn't follow them exactly.  Here is what I should have done ( abbreviation of the much fuller instructions in italics) and what I actually did.
Step 1.  Neaten the seam allowances. -  I didn't do this until I had sewn the seams as I thought that I might need to make alterations to the amount of seam allowance when it came to fitting and I wanted to trim the allowance to an appropriate amount once the seam was sewn.
Step 2 & 3 .  Iron fusible interfacing to the front and back skirt facing and join the facings at the right side seam - I didn't even trace the pattern for the facings from the pattern sheet, again because I might make alterations to the fit.  My intention was to rub off a facing pattern after making any necessary alterations to the skirt.
Step 4.  Patch Pocket - Not applicable as not adding a pocket to the front of the skirt.
Step 5 & 6.  Joining upper centre back seam and slashing to pivot point - Done as instructed.
Step 7.  Insert zip into left hand side seam - I can't bring myself to put a centred zip into a side seam so I did a lapped zip, especially as I was doing this on a Sunday (Shops shut) and I realised I had not purchased a black zip for the skirt therefore I had to use an available purple one.
Step 8. Tack right seam and try on.  Adjust this seam by amount required for fit before machining. - OH dear, the skirt was too big at the waist, I must have gone wrong in calculating the measurements.  Adjusting it on the right side only, as instructed, would mean that my satin strip would be skewed off centre and, additionally, the grainline would no longer fall down the centre front of the skirt.  To adjust it equally on both side seams would mean having to unpick the zip and the side seam; this I was loathe to do, especially as I was working to a deadline.  I tried inserting darts, just tacked to try it out, but they looked dreadful and interfered with the drape of the skirt.  Then Brainwave No 2 came - I took a tuck all the way down each side of the central  and top stitched it.  I thought this looked even better than the plain strip(see photo below).

Step 9.  Hem using bias binding.- I didn't do any hemming  until I had completed step 10 and I didn't use bias binding.  I did a very narrow hem by hand on the main body of the skirt and a narrow machine-stitched hem on the fishtail.
Step 10.  Close the lower centre back seam. - This I did but left a small amount at the bottom unstitched to turn up the hem.  Below I am marking out the seam before stitching.

Step 11 & 12.  Topstitch the upper 3 cm of the upper centre back seam to the inner back seam. - I did as instructed but  a diagram with the text (Figure 8 in the book), that seemed to me to indicate that I should see a seam allowance showing on the outside of the inner part of the skirt back, puzzled me for a while as I thought that, as mine did not look like that, I must have  interpreted the previous instructions incorrectly at some point.
Steps 13 to 15.  Concerning the facings.- entirely ignored.  It seemed to me that the outline of the bottom of the facing would be likely to show through when worn due to the drape and fit of the skirt (a Visible Facing Line instead of a VPL) and also, as the weight of the fishtail made the back of the skirt drag down that facings would not give enough support to prevent this dragging down.  Thus I decided to put on a waistband, which I did with the satin side of the fabric out ( see the photo above).  I liked this effect even more than having facings BUT, since I don't like my waistbands skin tight as my waist definitely expands with eating and drinking each day, there was still not enough "grip" around the waist to prevent the fishtail pulling the back down.  Even though I had managed to finish it on the very day of the evening occasion to which I had planned to wear it, I was too unhappy about that drag to wear it.   Lesson- always have a Plan B- and that's where Brainwave No 3 came in but that's another story.
Trying to Right Wrongs.  Thus the skirt was abandoned until the New Year.  I took it along to the first LDC meeting of 2015, along with other makings,  for advice but no-one came up with answer for this problem.  A few days later- gosh, my brain has been working overtime!- a possible solution came to me.  I tried it out with some elastic that I had and some pins and it seemed to work.  When I had time to tacke it again I bought some strong black elastic, which luckily came in a width just slightly smaller than the satin waistband.  I made a rough belt out of this to fit my waist with the elastic slightly stretched by sewing fabric tabs on both ends of the elastic and fastening it with 2 hooks and eyes.  I sewed the middle of the back of this belt into the inside of the middle of the back of the waist band by hand so that the stitching does not show through on the outer side.  The belt fastens at he middle of the front of the skirt and I then fasten the skirt waistband over it.

The elastic belt grips me and helps hold up the fishtail but still allows room for me to expand. I've subsequently worn the skirt all day, on to dinner and then the opera as it lends itself to dressing up or down  But the back still drags a bit.  I'm thinking of putting in some cased boning at the upper centre back to see if that would work.  Perhaps I was wrong about not using facings and the dragging would not occur if I had stuck to facings.  Perhaps the problem would not have existed if I had gone for a lighter weight fabric.  If you have any thoughts about what I should do or have done please put your comment below.
So here's the finished product anyway.

And don't you think it looks great with the Zip Jacket I made earlier also from a pattern in Wendy's book blogged here  ?

Sew a Skirt and Show it off

This is the story of my effort for this London Dressmakers Club event.  I’ve included some hints that I think may be useful to beginners.

 To look at the contestants in “The Great British Sewing Bee” one could be forgiven for thinking that you just grab your fabric and start cutting out.  In real life you need to prepare your fabric first.  I am assuming that your material is washable so wash it to get rid of any shrinkage, to test if it “bleeds”  (in which case launder it separately from other garments in the future)  and to get rid of any “dressing” that might have stiffened the fabric and be concealing its true drape and handle.  Then iron the fabric so it is smooth and any creases eliminated.  I also iron my pattern on a low setting to make sure that this also has no creases or wrinkles.

Then check if your fabric has a nap (see glossary -link at right hand side of blog), a one way design or a pattern to match up at the seams or centre.  If you have been watching “Sewing Bee” you will know how important this is in getting a professional looking finish and it will determine how you lay out your garment pattern pieces before cutting.

You also need to check that your grain (see glossary) is straight as many pattern pieces have to be placed in a particular way in relation to the grain line.  The grain line of the warp (the threads that extend lengthwise on the loom and across which the weft is woven) is almost always the strongest thread and the one most commonly used.  Unfortunately sometimes the design on the fabric turns out to have been printed slightly off the grain- in which case you probably need to go with the line of the design.  Now you can start laying your garment pattern on the cloth.  Play around with the layout as you sometimes find that the layout included in the garment making up instructions is not the most economical in terms of the amount of fabric required.  This is why I had enough jersey fabric left over from making another garment to make this skirt.

You can see how old this pattern is from those huge shoulders of the jacket.  Notwithstanding the length of time this pattern has been lurking in my pattern box, I had not made the skirt before despite my good intentions. 

I trace my original paper patterns on to greaseproof paper because then I can easily mark out any alterations and, by not cutting the original, also preserve other sizes if it is a multi-size pattern.  

I know that my problems in fitting skirts are due to my flat buttocks and back, causing the skirt to drop at the back and the side seams to swing forward towards the front of the garment unless I make alterations.  To counteract this figure fault I took a tuck down the length of the skirt from the waist to the hem and redrew the back dart.  I also lowered the back waist seam grading it from its lowest point at  the centre up to the side seam.  You can see these alterations in the photograph below.

The pocket linings were cut from a lighter weight woven fabric to reduce the overall bulk of the pockets and to give more stability to the pockets that might otherwise have stretched if they were made solely of jersey.  Also I wanted a "secret" flash of colour somewhere as the actual skirt is very sombre.  It's nice to know you have a secret even if it is only a coloured pocket.

The next step, after cutting out, was to tack the darts and pin for fitting.  The front of the skirt has a pleat either side of the centre and this is just tacked in place, the tacking to be removed once the waist band is stitched on as this band then holds the pleats in place.   At the centre back of the skirt I had included a 2 cm seam allowance a) because I was going to fit a zip and I always allow more  for a seam where I am putting a zip  and b) because the pattern does not have an extension for the kick pleat at the back of the skirt but just folds the seam allowance back so I wanted a bit more.

Amazingly it seemed a reasonable fit at first try on and all I would need to do would be to take in a small amount from the waist to the hip when sewing the side seams.

After sewing the back darts I inserted an invisible zip.   I've been asked before what is the difference between an invisible and a standard dress zip so here's some identification help for next time you are rummaging through the bargain zips on a haberdashery stall.  In the photos below the grey zip is the standard dress zip and the black one is the invisible zip.  This is how the zips look when you are looking at the side of the zip that will be facing outward on the garment.  With the black zip the teeth are, well, invisible.  Note also the typical  teardrop shape of the zip tab.

  

Here are the same zips on the reverse side, the side you will see on the inside of the garment. Now it is the standard dress zip that has no visible teeth.  You will know from looking at the zip slider tab which side is the front and which the back of the zip.

 Invisible zips mean that no stitching will show on the outside of the garment but they still need to be put in carefully.  There are demonstrations on YouTube of putting in invisible zips with an ordinary zip foot but it is so much easier with a dedicated invisible zip foot.  Mine cost £15 and was definitely worth it. 

This is the way I tackle an invisible zip, there are other methods so find what gets the best result for you.  The zip is put in before sewing up the back seam.  You need a zip longer by 3 or 4 cm than the actual opening, the end of my opening is marked by the pin in the photograph below. 

Before you start inserting the zip very carefully press along the zip tape to flatten out the fold next to the zip teeth.  I say carefully because you do not want to damage the zip teeth.  Using the longest stitch on your sewing machine tack up the seam along the seam allowance  from the waist to a few centimetres beyond the point where the end of the zip reaches.  Press the seam.Lay the zip in position face down on the seam with the zip teeth centred over the seam.  Pin and then tack the zip in position tacking the zip only to the seam allowance and not through 2 layers of fabric ( that is, not through both the seam allowance and the outer fabric).  In the photo below one side of the zip is still pinned and the other side is tacked.  I've turned the seam so you can see that the tack only goes into the seam allowance and not into the back of the skirt.

Below is the zip tacked in on both sides.

Now unpick the machine basting that you did to close the seam (stitch ripper to the fore!) as far as the end of the skirt opening  so that you can open the zip and flatten out the fabric so that the seam allowance is no longer folded under.  I should have taken pictures but my battery ran out.  The seam on the right hand side  will be sewn first.  Place your invisible zip foot so that the right hand groove of the foot  straddles the zip teeth and you will be stitching on the left hand side of the teeth from the waist downwards as far as you can go until the zip slider stops you from going any further.  Fasten off.  Then you do the same for the other side but with the left hand side of the groove of the zip foot straddling the zip teeth and the stitching to the right hand side of the teeth.  This latter is the side shown in the photograph below.

In order to complete the seam down to the hem you need to fold the zip up out of the way as in the photo below.  It is easiest to use a normal zipper foot to sew this seam so you can get as close as possible to the base of the zip but I used a standard straight stitch foot.  You should have a few machine tacking stitches that you did not unpick left in the seam below the end of the skirt opening.  Use these as your guide as to where to place your foot to start sewing the rest of the seam and thus it will line up perfectly with the zip opening.   You may be able to see the line of tacking stitches that I am following exactly in the photo below but I stitched in black when tacking so they are hard to see.

And here is how your inserted zip will look  from the right side - Invisible except for the zipper slider tab!

 Then I only needed to sew the front part of the skirt, by creating and attaching the pockets that formed part of the front yoke, and sewing up the side seams.  I made a lining by pinning the patterns for the  pocket yokes and front of skirt together and cutting it in one piece.  The back lining I cut as the skirt back pattern but, instead of sewing the darts, I just made the relevant sized tuck at the waist and pressed them the opposite way to the darts in the outer fabric; this reduces bulk at the waist line and allows some ease in the lining.  See the tuck in the photograph below with the waistband in position.  I was a bit disappointed in the quality of this lining that I had bought cheaply in a rush.  I hope it lasts.

Finally I sewed on a skirt hook and bar fastening and completed the skirt and lining hems.   Result- a skirt made of left over fabric in a pattern I had been meaning to use for some time.  It is rather a boring skirt really but will be very useful as it goes with the black and the grey jackets and many of the tops and jumpers that I already have.  I love having pockets, it is a good fit and the fabric doesn't crease.  I like it so much that I am sure I will make it in another fabric, something a bit more exciting maybe.  I've just realised that I haven't got a photo of the finished article so I'll take one in a day or so and post it on the London Dressmakers Meetup site under the photos for the "Sew a Skirt" event.  You can get to the site from the link on the left hand side of this blog.

Happy Sewing, Barbara