Comments on: Nameless Tutorial #7

By: Jeffery

Jeffery — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:45:10 +0000

Your technique is clean and elegant and very appropriate for engineered garments whose lining has been bagged. HOWEVER, the examples 1-5 show garments whose lining has not been bagged as they were produced using more traditional tailoring techniques. When the front is basted onto the canvas there is a certain amount of distortion in the cloth (this is required for the correct fit); as the lapel is padstitched there is more distortion (actually I should say shifting) as the canvas is rolled; the bridle is applied, drawing anywhere from 1/4″ to 1/2″ depending on the length of the breakline; when the facing is attached to the front, fullness is required around the notch, over the breakpoint and just below the breakpoint- certain fabrics allow more fullness and certain drier fabrics allow less fullness and the amount used is determined by the person basting the facing in preparation for the front seam. Furthermore, the shrinkage of the fabric is never completely consistent and the length grade amount from size to size is only 1/8″ so there is little or no tolerance. To adequately deal with all these distortions, shrinking, easing, etc. the front of the jacket is deliberately cut larger than required- after the canvas has been padstitched and the bridle applied, the back is measured to determine the exact length and the hem is marked. Then the front is “shaped”- it is cut down to the actual shape along the front edge and the lower curve; this is usually done using die cutters for maximum precision. Then the facing is basted to the front, easing at the notch and around the breakpoint, at the operator’s discretion. After turning the fronts, the facing is again basted in several operations, then the seam allowance of the facing is tacked to the canvas- the seam allowances of the lining are often basted to the corresponding seam allowances at the back side seams. The lining is basted across and down the jacket and the excess is folded under at the bottom- a felling machine is used which fells the lining in place with a stitch which closely approximates a hand-felling stitch. After the sleeves have been set the lining is again tacked into the armhole- the seam allowances of the sleeve lining have ben sewn to the seam allowances of the sleeve fabric so the only way of closing the armhole is by hand- this also avoids going through the pad and canvas by machine which would compress the whole and create stiffness which the hand-felling avoids. Having lining seam allowances tacked to the shell allowances ensures that nothing shifts or pulls and will never sag below the hem- there are also many steps used to build the shape in the tailored garment and having everything held together permanently ensures a lasting fit and shape. These steps are very time-consuming and thus expensive and have been replaced with fusibles and by bagged linings in lower-end men’s garments (photos 6,7, and 8 show bagged linings). A pre-engineered finish is thus impossible in this type of garment, and the finishes in photos 1-5 are generally a sign of a very well made jacket- far from skipping steps or lazy design, they are indications that much greater care was taken in constructing those garments than the ones shown in photos 6-8.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:18:29 +0000

Emma, many didn't understand why the pleat doesn't function as they suppose it to, until they saw the step by explanation. Even Jinjer agreed this is the better solution. The ease is there, it's just placed where it's needed rather than at the hem of the garment. Be sure to read the comments under that entry for why we intuit this method is correct.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:53:59 +0000

I agree with Jinjer the extra pleat of fabric is needed for body movement and because the outer fabric is less stable than the lining… Especially after wearing the gmt for a while I should guess that the shell has more “life” than the lining (can I say it like that in english??) Or maybe I wear my gmts to carelessly, haha..

Anyway, I think #6 looks quite nice, but it would be super to see the jackets live and maybe cut a bit in them as well before really saying anything!

Thanks for an interesting topic!

By: deerskin

deerskin — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:58:47 +0000

While Kathleen’s way looks neater–most woven fabric jackets/coats need the extra pleat of fabric for body movement–and for that matter because the outer fabric is less stable than the lining.

I do agree that the lining does not need to be hand sewn to the front facing. Especially with a such a visible pick stitch–but what the pick stitch does is keep the lining from rolling out to the front of the jacket/coat–so it’s not just hand sewing for brag purposes. A machine stitch won’t work the same way–not unless you top stitch.

I think this is neat that Kathleen bring this up–in one of the costumes shops i worked in we often did tailored jackets/coats for shows. The owner found a nice way to finish the edge without a lot of hand stitching or bulk. What i do remember of the method is that the lining along the facing and the facing edge would not be flush–partly because you don’t want to turn back the facing fabric at the bottom–too much bulk and then it’s going a different direction than the rest of the facing seam. That raw edge gets cross stitched down at the end, unless the fabric is thin the it would be turn back flush.
I think our method looked most like none of the above. I will see if i can find more info.
But you gotta have that hortizontal pleat.

On a nomaclature note: i make a plea for using “stitcher”–in costume shop parlance for someone whose main job is to stitch–either by hand or machine. Operator is also acceptable–short for machine operator. I think much more accurate than sewer (to easy to confuse with where waste goes) or sewist–doesn’t seem quite right to me.

By: Jinjer Markley

Jinjer Markley — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 21:38:55 +0000

“How do you describe that feeling of hesitation that you get every time you’re getting to that ‘difficult’ part of a project -it’s a move that you dread. ”

Oh my god do I ever know that feeling. I experience it daily.
However, I do have this question:
Is this really a right/wrong thing, or is it possibly proof that sewing really IS about “whatever is most comfortable for you”? Like, what if the step YOU dread is cheesecake for another sewer, but he/she hates the stop-at-the-dot step you mentioned as the one downside of your method?

“
You’ve given me an idea. I could make the patterns that these workarounds need to be executed. People could download and try them out themselves. Then, they’ll see which are the easiest and least problematic to sew. What do you think?”

I really like this idea!

Okay, this is a slightly OT question, but: what do you do about the wigan? is there no wigan in that corner because there’s no lining/hem seam to attach it to, or do you do you extend the wigan to the edge and make it stay in place through some other wizardry?

In fact, a whole post on the correct usage of wigan would be SO AWESOME.

By: Jess

Jess — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 20:00:04 +0000

I agree with Danielle that there needs to be length in the lining to keep the tail from riding up. Is it there and I just can’t see it in the photo?

By: Natasha

Natasha — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 19:09:13 +0000

On an unrelated note this post actually makes me want to sew again ( motivation I’ve been trying to get for days

By: La BellaDonna

La BellaDonna — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 18:04:26 +0000

Hmmm. My gut tells me that Kathleen’s top illustrated way is the “right way” because to me it appears as if (1) fewer steps were used; and (2) a cleaner result is obtained. But mostly I know (3): How do I get it to look that way??? (yes, I’ve been away a few days, I need to look to see if it’s lurking a few posts back, but I. Want. To. Learn. That.)

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 11:45:17 +0000

“One other way your method differs from the ones in my books is that the books recommend having a pleat or fold of excess lining hanging down about a Â½ inch or more over the upper part of the jacket hem. The purpose of this excess fabric is to “provide ease in donning and removing the jacket”.” – Bob

That’s the technique I learned, exactly the same steps as Kathleen’s method but with a “jump pleat”, an extra bit of length in the lining that I was taught to do to prevent the lining tugging and distorting the jacket. Kathleen, do you put length in the lining somewhere else? Or is this another fashion school bugaboo?

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 05:48:33 +0000

I looked at my thrift store jackets (men’s) sporting the union label along with some Italian names and the process they used was either #6 or #7 in your examples. However, a famous American female designer used your technique in her jacket except that she included the typical ease fold in the lining at the hem. Maybe the guys are old school. They’ve been sewing them like that for years and keep handing down the same tailoring and processes.