Just Sew It

Last night I took the first class out of 2 that is named Trade Secrets. In the first three hours I learned a whack of information that professionals in the industry do to save time. The instructor was very knowledgeable but arrogant. I won’t get into details but she certainly thought she was too good in more ways than her expertise. Anywhoo, I will give a overview of her 10 commandments for making a professional garment in no particular order:

1. DO NOT PIN, UNLESS ANAVOIDABLE

Pinning distorts the shape of the garment and can leave holes in your fabric. Pinning also takes longer. She also said to ALWAYS FOLLOW THE GRAINLINE. You also don’t have to follow the manufacters layout instructions.

2. CHECK YOUR PATTERN FOR ERRORS AND COMPLETE FIT ADJUSTMENTS

Commerical patterns are mass produced and quality control is often only done on only one size, if at all. Some brands are better than others. Europeans patterns are good. She didn’t say this but Burda is good. Check to see if your seams match. If they don’t you will be forced to ease and your garment will pucker. There should be ease in a woven armhole. Pivot the sleeve cap in the armhole to insure you have the right amount of ease, 1/2 to 3/4 inch (no metric!) on a stiff fabrick (linen) and 3/4 inch to 2 inches (woolen) on a loose weave. Make sure they have not given you a t-shirt fit (front measures the same as the back but has a different neckline) for woven fabrics.

3. ONCE YOU MAKE ALL THE ADJUSTMENTS ON YOUR PATTERN, MAKE A MUSLIN OF SIMILIAR WEIGHT WITH CHEAP FABRIC.

It sounds like a lot of extra work, but you will save a lot of aggravation by properly fitting your garment. You may use pins for fitting. Don’t sew a complete garment with finished seams. You are looking for overall fit. Do attach waistbands and collars and pockets to see if you are happy with the proportions and posititioning.

4. DON’T USE STICK OUT NOTCHES AND ALL THE MARKINGS ON THE PATTERN.

There are very important notches on a pattern which must be used even by very experienced sewers. Those are the front, back and shoulder markings on the sleeve and armhole, matching notches on multi panel garments, princess ease notches, etc. As your experience grows, you will determine which notches are important to you.

5. USE THE BEST FABRIC YOU CAN AFFORD DEPENDING ON THE PURPOSE OF A GARMENT:

If its disposable, go ahead and use the bargain bin stuff, but if you are going to make a tailored suit for the office that you’ll use for years, go get a beautiful wool. Don’t forget that the ladies in your office are paying at least 200 dollars for a jacket (even at Winners) and this one will fit you. Go to the library and get a textile book. Don’t count on the fabric store ladies to pick fabric for you.

6 DON’T PREWASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know that’s not what your home ec and the books told you… but can you imagine readymade clothes being prewashed?? Well we don’t do it in industry for two main reasons. The finish, especially on knits helps to stabilize cheaper fabrics so they are easier to cut and sew. It also prevents the cut edges of knits from rolling on you.

Second, fabric is cut piled in hundreds of layers so iit would be impossible to wash it and put it back on rolls to layer it. Your ready made clothes would cost five times more. If you need to preshrink, that is, if your fabric is more than 65 percent natural fiber bring it to the ironing board or the drycleaner. Fusible cottoon interfacing can be preshrunk by hangin on a plastic hanger on the bathroom door while taking a shower.

7. DON’T CHEAP OUT ON YOUR INTERFACING

I see so many would be nice garments wrecked by bad interfacing or worse.. the wrong choice of interfacing. Go to the fabric store and buy 10 cm of every kind of interfacing yoou think you will ever use. Label zip lock baggies with the fiber content, width, woven or unwoven, fusible or non-fusible, washable or dryclean only and even low heat fusible. Keep your interfaxng references in a plastic tub and when you buy a fabric and a pattern that calls for interfacing take it home and test it. Only then will you truly know the best interfacing for the job. After a while it wiill become instinctual but this will save much aggravation.

8. TEST EVERYTHING

It goes without saying to test your fabric with the iron to see if the seams will mark and at what temp you should do your construction pressing. But what if your attaching grommets or snaps will be held by the weight of the fabric. Do you need more interfacing? A different kind of interfacing? Make sure that you make your errors on a scrap and not on your garment that you just spent hours on.

9. LEARN PROFESSIONAL PRESSING TECHNIQUES AND USE A GOOD IRON

Nothing makes a garment look more slipshod than poor pressing. You notice I said PRESSING NOT IRONING. They are two very different things. Ironing is what you do when someone forgets to take the clean laundry out of the dryer. Pressing is the proper technieque for garment construction. The most important thing is to press. If pressing marks, you must use a press cloth or ham. Certain fabrics require more pressure than others. You will get a feel for this when you test your fabric. Tailoring wool requires so much pressure that professiona tailoring PRESSES can weight as much as 13 lbs. Many professionals keep several weight and quality of irons in their shops. The other important element of pressing is cooling your seam. That is what the wood clappers are for. The wood absorbs the heat quickly while keeping the seam flat. If you know someone handy and have the space have gthem build a pressing table for you. Use the cotton batting for quilts and make a removable cotton musline or canvas cover. Kind like a fitted sheet.

10. PLEASE USE THE PROPER THREAD.

Don’t use bargain thread for anything. Choose the proper thread by matching it with your fabric. There are many sites about thread and its composition. Don’t be afraid to use specialty threads. I use rayon Embroidery floss for its fineness on batiste cottons and quilting thread for topstitching. Make sure to use proper stitch length and needle for your fabric. When sewing on multicolored fabric or blocked designs try to choose a lighter colour in yor composition or you can stop and change colour.

www.ehow.com/buy_12280_sewing-thread.html
www.ehow.com/how_15070_choose-sewing-thread.html
www.amedird.com/def_glossary.html