New Tutorial on Pam's Shirtmaking Blog- Professional Sleeve Plackets, step-by-step

Hi there everyone!  I've just posted a New Tutorial 

on my Shirtmaking Blog

  

Click this link to read 

The Shirt Sleeve Placket, 

A Professional Custom-Shirtmaking Method and Pattern

Perfect Collar Points...A Shirtmaker's "Secret" Technique

"Secret" in this case meaning that after all these years

I am finally sharing one of the ways I achieve

 "As close to perfect as possible" Collar Points

on the shirts that I design and sew for my clients.

(Extreme close-up of a Collar point)

This amazingly simple Collar Point technique is used by many Custom Shirtmakers all over the world.  Like many of the techniques I use, it was learned during my Tailoring and ShirtMaking Apprenticeship.

There are certain techniques that Custom-ShirtMakers use to get professional results, and this is one of them.  Before I get to the tutorial, please note that there are a few things that (almost all) Custom ShirtMakers "Always do", and "Never do".  We TURN collars, we do NOT "poke" them out with pointy objects, or any other object, template or gadget. Also, when we want a Point, we SEW a Point...we do NOT pivot taking 2 stitches. And we NEVER sew a collar with a 5/8-inch seam allowance, because it wastes time and fabric.

That said...if you Pivot and Poke and use 5/8-inch seams,  and are happy with your results.....I am NOT the self-appointed "Point Police Officer"!   So carry on...and disregard what follows.   :)

If you want your collar points to be perfect every time, with very little effort....here is the method that most of my professional ShirtMaking colleagues and I use with great success...even on the thickest shirt fabrics. In fact, the fabric shown in this demonstration is a thicker than usual, double-weave wool/cotton herringbone shirting fabric.

The first step to a great collar is to reduce the seam allowance of your collar pattern piece to 1/4-inch (Please note that you will also have to change the shirt-body neck edge seam allowances to 1/4-inch).  

 Then cut 2 collar pieces, and Interface one of them as shown below. Generally, the top collar is interfaced. For a softer look, interface the bottom collar or interface both for a very crisp collar. The interfacing shown here is Pro-Woven Light Crisp Fusible Interfacing, from www.FashionSewingSupply.com.) I will elaborate about interfacing techniques another time....today it is all about The Point.   

So to continue, shown below are 2 collar pieces with 1/4-inch seam allowances--

 (All photos may be "clicked" to enlarge)

Next, Place the collar pieces right-sides-together (RST), and stitch the long top seam completely from one edge to the other,  as shown--

Press the seam flat, then press it open. Then turn the piece so that the Right Side is facing up, as shown--

-----------------------

 The following steps will be done on both sides, for each collar point, when making a collar. 

However, just one side will be shown here to demonstrate the technique.

-----------------------

STEP 1--   Cut a piece of thread about 15-20" long and fold it so there is a loop on one end, as shown-- 

 
STEP 2--  Lay the folded thread exactly in the "well" of the seam, with a generous portion of the LOOPED side going off the edge, as shown--

STEP 3-- Fold the collar Right Sides Together, matching the short side seams of the collar, and "trapping" the folded thread INSIDE, snugged-up against the line of stitching. (The looped side sticks out beyond the edges), as shown--

 STEP 4-- Move it to the machine...but before any stitching is done, lift up one layer of the collar and make sure that piece of thread is still right against the seam, as shown below. If it isn't, use your fingernail to nudge it into place.

Now carefully match the short edges of the collar, and stitch the seam. IMPORTANT-- Because the thread loop must be secured when this seam is sewn..Stitch the First Inch of This Seam with VERY SMALL/Short /Tiny  STITCHES.   (I use 22 stitches per inch, the number 1 stitch length setting on my machine) ...then change back to your regular stitch length, and finish sewing the short end of the collar.  Notice that the looped side of the thread is still sticking out beyond the edges--

STEP 5-- After the side of the collar is stitched, carefully trim the seam allowances as shown below. (Make Sure NOT to Cut THE THREAD LOOP!  Repeat...Move that loop out of the way before trimming!)   
Yes, this is all the "point trimming" that is needed...trust me.

----- REPEAT Steps 1-5 on the Other Side of the Collar -----

Here is the really fun "OH My Gosh !" Step---

Do this separately for each Point....

Reach INSIDE the collar and grasp BOTH of the 2 thread TAILS.

 (NO! NOT the loop! Grab BOTH of the loose threads inside!)

 Keep Pulling BOTH of those 2 thread tails....

Gently keep Pulling BOTH of those thread tails....

And keep pulling BOTH of those 2 thread tails until the collar point is turned out completely--

WOOT !  LOOK AT THAT POINT !

Now to get rid of the thread...Just pull ONE of the thread tails....until the last of it slips through and out.

Here is an extreme close-up of the collar Point....BEFORE is has even been pressed and edge-stitched... No Humps, No Lumps, No unsightly Bumps!  Once turned, the 1/4-inch seam allowances "fit and fill" the point...stopping the "Tip Flip" so often seen in "made-at-home" Collars.

So...do you think you might give this fast and easy method a try when making a collar?    If you do, I suggest making a quick "mock-up" with scrap fabric (you can skip the interfacing)  to practice the thread-loop technique.

TUTORIAL--Perfect Pocket Flaps every time!

There are  many interesting things that I have learned about shirt-making over the years, and one was how to sew pocket flaps...and other "shirt-parts" without seam allowances. Yes, you read that right...I'll be showing you how many custom Shirt-makers sew first, then add the allowances later.

Here is one example of the method, 

using the pocket flap from Colette Pattern's Negroni Shirt.

Since the pattern is multi-sized, I backed all the tissue pattern pieces with some nasty old spun-poly interfacing I've had stashed for years...in preparations for tracing the size I need to make the shirt. Note that the pocket flap of the Negroni Shirt is the same for all sizes.  The first thing I did was to attach the pattern piece to an clean file folder with a stapler, as you see above. I stapled it to the card-stock  so it would stay in place as I traced around it...which is the next step.  Then I quickly added the 1/4" the seam lines to all but the top long straight side of the flap pattern, as you can see below.

Next, I cut it out....cutting OFF the side and bottom seam allowances and discarding them. Now I had a hard copy of the pocket flap, minus its side and bottom seam allowances.

Then it was time to take a piece of Interfacing, fold it in half wrong sides together , and lay my newly trimmed pocket flap on top. The next step is to cut out 2 identical pieces of interfacing, and the best way I've found to keep all the layers from shifting while I cut is to staple them together, as you see below.

Just FYI..the interfacing used in this demo is the new ProWoven Light-Crisp 100% cotton Fusible from www.FashionSewingSupply.com  Many shirtmakers  cut the small pieces like pocket flaps last, from the scraps left after cutting the main pieces. So after the interfacing pieces were cut out (and staples removed) they were each fused to a scrap of fabric that was folded RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. In the photo below, the folded edge of the fabric piece is at the top, and the Interfacing piece is being fused about 1/2-inch below the fold.

Time to sew!  But how can this flap be sewn if there are no seam allowances...remember I  trimmed them all off except the long top one. Well, it doesn't matter one bit, as you will soon see... 

 ...because I used the interfacing as my stitching guide!   (as shown below..stitched twice in contrast thread so you can see it clearly)

...and as you can see, I chose to stitch "straight-through" the angles of the interfacing template..it is the way I was trained, and is my preference. You may choose to pivot-and-turn, with your needle in the down position to take the turns...but do make sharp turns and follow the outline of the template exactly. Note the top long edge is left unsewn...because that is where the flap will be turned right-side-out.

Next, I needed to add those seam allowances back!  But first I cut right along the edge of the interfacing on the top long edge, but then I cut 1/8" away from the stitching around all the other edges, as you see below. And as you can see I also trimmed the "corner-points"

After I fused the remaining piece of interfacing to another piece of fabric, then stitched and trimmed...I was ready to turn the flaps. And because they were sewn using identically cut pieces of fused interfacing as the "stitching guide"..the flaps are identical twins.  The ones you see below were left unpressed...just turned by hand and patted flat with my hand..and look how good they look.  OK...I'll confess..my iron stopped working just before I was ready to press the flaps...but I wanted to post this tutorial and it might take a while to get another iron...etc, etc. But heck, even unpressed they look a great deal better than many I've made using a different sewing method and an iron that worked!

TUTORIAL-- Professional Wrapped-Edge Facing

I always strive to have my garments look as good on the inside as they do on the "public" side.  One of the techniques I use to do this, I showed to you in a tutorial long ago before getting a new camera...so when I sewed the trial garment of Vogue 8800 (shown below), I took the opportunity to stitch and show you this Wrapped-Edge Facing technique again...this time in more detail and with better photography.

When sewing a basic convertible collar shirt like the one above, we usually finish the loose edge of the facings (the long curved edges not sewn to the shirt fronts) by serging, zig-zagging, or by turning the raw-edge 1/4-inch to the wrong side and stitching.  That's perfectly fine, but there is another way to finish those long front facings so that they look like this and give the inside of your garment some pizazz!

Here is how it's done--

The two facing pieces needed for the shirt fronts are cut from the fabric following the pattern exactly.

In order to wrap the edges of the facings, it is necessary to use a soft and very flexible interfacing like ProSheer Elegance from www.FashionSewingSupply.com .
 As shown below...Place and pin the facing pattern piece on the straight grain of folded interfacing, and then draw a line 1/2" away from the long curved edge. Cut the interfacing following the pattern piece along the straight long side, neck curve and top...but use the new drawn line when the long curved edge is cut.  Yes, the two pieces of interfacing are now wider than the two facing pieces that were cut from the fabric.

The interfacing is then placed on top of the facing RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER,  so that the long curved edges match. The fusible side of the interfacing is facing "up".  Then the 2 layers (1 interfacing + 1 fabric facing ) are stitched together along the LONG CURVED EDGE with a scant 1/4-inch seam.

Next as shown below--  On your pressing surface...the interfacing is folded "open" from the facing it is stitched to, and VERY CAREFULLY....it is Pressed ONLY along the the seam allowances with the tip of the iron. BOTH seam allowances and ONLY the seam allowances are pressed towards the interfacing. This is done to just quickly and temporarily "tack down" the interfacing to the SEAM ALLOWANCES.   Do NOT let your iron drift PAST the seam allowance!  Pressing the FABRIC is fine...But at this point..DO NOT PRESS THE INTERFACING PAST THE SEAM ALLOWANCES.

Next, the facing unit is turned over, and the interfacing is wrapped around (over) the pressed-together seam allowances to the wrong side of the facing piece. At this point the interfacing is ready to be fully fused to the wrong side of the facing piece...so finish fusing the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric facing pieces (NOTE--the interfacing will NOT meet the straight and other edges of the facing...because those are the edges that will be sewn to the shirt-fronts..and extra bulk is not needed or wanted in those seams).

This is what the finished "Wrapped-edge Facing"

Piece looks like (after fully fusing the interfacing) from the RIGHT side.   ------------------->

<----And this is what it looks like from the WRONG side.

And when the Wrapped-Edge Facing is sewn into place to the Center Front seam allowance of the Shirt Front pieces....the loose edge of the facing inside of the shirt looks fantastic!      

INTERFACING USED-- Pro-Sheer Elegance Fusible Interfacing from www.FashionSewingSupply.com

Shirt Collar Construction, a Quick Tutorial for Better Collar Points...

Over the years I've found that I get the sharpest and strongest Collar points if I seal the point "area" before and after it is sewn. It not only helps to have sealed fabric when I turn the collar...my clients get a shirt collar that is far less likely to fray over time.  Here's what we do in my ~Off The Cuff~ ShirtMaking studio when making collars from Cotton or Linen fabrics:

After the collar is interfaced with Pro-Woven Shirt Crisp, I saturate all 4 of the point "areas"  (two each, upper and under collar) with seam sealant. Then...and this is important...to prevent any darkening or shadows from the sealant, I dry the wet sealed areas right away by pressing with a very warm iron.  (Note-- Make sure the seam sealant will NOT change the color of your fabric by testing on a scrap piece before applying to your collar pieces!)

Then, after the collar is stitched...one more drop of seam sealant is applied to just the area where the stitching intersects (at the very points of the collar)...to seal the stitches. And again, it is dried quickly with a warm iron.  Note-- This sealing procedure is also done on the Shirt Cuffs.

Now the collar is ready to be turned and then attached to the stand...with collar points that will endure even the harshest commercial laundry!

SEWING NOTES: Collar Interfaced with Pro-Woven Shirt Crisp Interfacing from  Fashion Sewing Supply.

TUTORIAL-- Smooth Sleeve Caps Every Time!

One of the goals of every Shirt-Maker is to achieve perfectly smooth sleeve caps. I am quite pleased with this one...the join between cap and shoulder is so smooth it is almost invisible despite being felled (of course the perfectly matching thread and fabric print helps...but even so :)  

When I draft my own patterns I draft the sleeve with minimal ease or no ease at all, depending on the style of the shirt. So on my custom drafts, I have little problem getting my caps nice and smooth.  However, the shirt above was made with a vintage vogue pattern...and the sleeve had considerable cap ease.  But regardless of the amount of ease I have to deal with, I always prepare the cap and its seam allowances in the following very simple way in order to make felling (or serging) the seam a happy experience!

Below is a photo of the sleeve (on top) just after it was set into the armscye--

You can easily see the wavy ease in the sleeve cap seam allowance.  

*In this and the photos that follow, the sleeve is always shown on top.*

Have you ever sewn a shirt sleeve, eased it perfectly, yet ended up with a slight  "bubble" or "dip" on the sleeve (just below the shoulder seam) of your finished shirt?  That is because the ease extends at least an inch into the sleeve itself, beyond just the allowances. 

Luckily, the fix is an easy one!

We just need to "steam shrink and flatten" the sleeve seam allowance and sleeve cap ease.  I do this by steam-pressing along the entire sewn sleeve seam allowance. The tip of my iron leads the way, but I let 1/2 the width of the iron's sole plate follow behind to finish the job as I go along. This both shrinks the ease and flattens the entire cap at the same time.  We would never do this when tailoring a jacket, but in my opinion it is essential when tailoring a shirt.

And below you see the nicely flattened seam allowances and nearby sleeve cap--

The fold you see is not excess ease, it is the fold that naturally forms on the wrong side of the shirt because a rounded (convex curve) sleeve cap has been sewn to a scooped (concave curve) armsyce.

So now the flat and even sleeve seam allowances are easily manageable and ready to be felled (as I do in my higher-priced casual shirts), or "Serged then Topstitched" (as I do in my lower-priced casual shirts).

TUTORIAL- Design and Sew a Shirt with Bias Pleats !

This Distressed denim shirt features deep bias pleats 

on the sleeves and pocket. Variations of this design have become favorites of many of my clients over the past year.  The original blog post about this design detail was among my most popular. So with a few shirt-sew-along's going on at other blogs these days...I thought it was a good time 

to offer it again, with a few revisions.

 

---------------------

SEWING NOTES: This shirt is interfaced with PRO-WEFT Fusible,
a professional quality interfacing found exclusively at
~Fashion Sewing Supply~

____________________________

Adding a pleat to any pattern piece is very easy 
when you use this method:

1.  Using a large piece of any pattern paper you like, make an even fold across it's width (this will be the upper side of the pleat).  Then move the entire folded edge an even distance away from the first, and fold again (this will be the under-side of the pleat). I moved the first fold over by 1.25", to form a 1.25" pleat in the paper. Play with a small  piece of scrap paper, if my written explanation is less than clear ;)  It's easy, all we are doing is folding a pleat in a piece of pattern paper.

2. Next, just place your pattern piece on top of the pleated paper, with the pleat where you want it to be on your garment. In this case, I chose the sleeve piece pattern and placed it so that the pleat (the pre-folded paper) would be on the bias, then I  cut out my "new" sleeve pattern.

3. This is what my sleeve looked like cut from the fabric. I took the photo after the upper pleat fold was pressed, so you could more easily see how the pleat is formed
.

4. This photo (#4) shows the completed pleat, with the folds edge-stitched. In this photo, as viewed from the right side, only the upper fold's edge-stitching is visible. The under-fold (back side) of the pleat is also edge-stitched.  I like to edge-stitch pleats on shirts that I design not only because it is a nice decorative detail, but also because it makes pressing the shirt much easier after it has been laundered.

-------------------------

How to Control a Pleat...Invisibly !

When there is a bias or horizontal pleat on a garment, the weight of the fabric below the pleat will tend to pull it down, and the pleat will sag and gape open. When the pleats are small and/or the fabric is lightweight, this is often not a problem. However, with pleat depths of one inch or more on medium or heavy fabric, this sagging can be quite an ugly problem. But as you can see in the photo of the finished shirt (above), the pleat is not gaping or sagging. That is because the pleats have been "controlled", by span-stitching done on the under-fold  (back side), as shown in this next photo--

To control this bias pleat, I made a series of  3 wide "V" shaped stitch spans on the under-pleat fold (that I highlighted in blue pencil so that you can more easily see them).  Each extend from the edge of the under-pleat fold to within 1/4" of the upper pleat fold. While it may be a little distracting to understand from the photo alone, if you make up a quick sample of any pleat from scrap fabric, and do this "V" shaped Span Stitching  as shown, it will become clear how it works to control the pleat.
Please note that these pleats are NOT functional pleats..they are decorative only. So restricting how much they are allowed to open will make no functional difference at all. As you can see from the photo of the completed shirt, the pleats still appear to be quite deep. They are just "not allowed" to gape open because of this inner, invisible/hidden stitching.

So the next time you make a shirt, why not try something a little different by adding some of your own interesting design details...like pleats in unexpected places !     

And...if you like these little tutorials of mine, please vote for me by clicking the black/red "Seamingly" Vote box to the left on the side-bar...thanks :)

Tutorial: Perfect Chevron Pockets...Every Time !

I was asked how I get stripes to match perfectly when making a Chevron Pocket.

Here is my method (and please forgive the strange blue cast of the photos, my camera is on its last legs)--

 You may click each photo to enlarge and see more detail.

First, start with a piece of fabric that you have cut on the bias. In this example, I used scrap fabric and was able to cut a bias triangle that was about 17" on each side.  The size of your bias piece for an adult size pocket, must be at least 16" on each side.  After it is cut, you will have a piece of fabric that is Straight Grain on TWO sides, and ONE side that is on BIAS.  Position your fabric piece on your table as shown, with the bias edge on the "bottom".

Next, holding the bottom-right point of the triangle, fold the piece in half. It doesn't have to meet perfectly, as you can see in my example below--

Now,  turn your piece so it is easy to trim off a scant 1/4" (or less) along the folded side.

What you want to get are 2 separate triangles like the ones shown below...after trimming off a bit of the folded edge, and then turning the top piece right side facing up,

This next step may sound odd in written directions, but it very easy.  KEEP BOTH TRIANGLES RIGHT SIDES UP. Then rotate just ONE of the triangles clockwise, until your rotation results in the two inner edge stripes lining up like a V-shape Chevon.  It's easy, just keep rotating JUST ONE piece until the edges meet and look like this--

Yes, it is likely that your edges may be quite off-set like these are, if your stripes are wide.  If this step confuses you, draw some stripes on 2 triangles of paper and practice this step before cutting your fabric.

Ok...Now you have 2 pieces of fabric that are right sides up, and meet in the middle forming V-shaped chevron stripes.  Next, flip one piece over so that they are right sides together. THIS NEXT STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT--slide the top piece over a little bit, and adjust the the pieces until the stripes match up, as shown below.  By off-setting the pieces like this, you are SURE the stripes will match when you sew the pieces together in the next step.

Pin your pieces together so that they will not shift, and sew the matched edges together with about a 3/8" seam allowance. Your sewn piece will look like this, the seam-allowances still off-set--

It's all VERY easy from here to your finished perfect Chevron Striped Pocket !  Next, press your seam allowances open.  This is how your piece will look from the wrong side--

And this is how it will look from the right side. Because the edges were off-set and perfectly matched before sewing, you have perfect chevron stripes !

Now all you have to do is place your pocket pattern so that the center of the pattern runs along the seam, as shown below, and then cut out your Perfect Chevron Striped Pocket !

 For a precise way to hem and turn the edges of any patch pocket to prepare it to be sewn onto a garment, you may be interested in another tutorial I wrote, Perfect Pockets Every Time