Sewing but not for the squeamish
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Sep 17, 2007 at 2:45 pm / Sewing / Trackback
Caveat first: This post may not be suitable for all visitors. Do not progress beyond the fold if you are queasy.
One of my favorite sewing books makes no mention of fabric at all. Called Facial Flaps, Biomechanics and Regional Applications, it describes procedures for facial skin reconstructive surgeries. This title is out of print; others aren’t but these don’t have the “search inside this book” feature enabled which I can’t tell if it is a boon or a downside. There’s also a website on the topic, reiterating the caveat.
The reason I find the text so riveting is the explanation of stressors and tension redistribution; there are similar attributes with regard to garment making. As with garments, there are certain limitations with respect to suppression (e.g. darting). For example, the comparative of the limitations of the scalp are analogous to the primary range of motion. There’s a limit to give in the region. Therefore, the load must be spread. Here’s an example (below, figure A):
The oval represents a missing flap requiring reconstruction. The structure of the scalp is such that one cannot simply stitch opposing sides together. Rather, a second cut further up in the scalp is made (below, figure B).
Then the first flap is stitched. Load spread, the second is then closed (below, figure D).
There’s all kinds of examples of dispersing tension. While not generally applicable for most of our purposes, I have used some concepts in bias. I’m also wondering if these couldn’t be applied in leather garments being flesh. Here is another interesting example (there are lots of tension dispersion diagrams in the book).
For the full effect, the text reads:
Should I leave well enough alone or would you like more? I find the concept of back cutting compelling (below, full size 700kb)…
I can handle looking at drawings. I doubt I’d be this interested looking over a surgeon’s shoulder.
10 Responses to “Sewing but not for the squeamish”
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September 17th, 2007
9:42 PM
These drawings are fascinating. On a somewhat related note, I am always disturbed by bad plastic surgery (cosmetic surgery). I think that a good plastic surgean should be like a good tailor, doing impeccable work.
September 18th, 2007
6:52 AM
Fascinating!
Thanks for the unexpected conversation starter.
September 18th, 2007
8:13 AM
This is very interesting stuff! I wondered how they stitch an opening closed without having puckering. And sadly, I would love the opportunity to watch over the surgeon’s shoulder. I have thought I could start a new trend – decorative suturing.
September 18th, 2007
8:31 AM
What a great (and sensible) resource. If we do not use everything available to us to learn, we cannot optimize our education.
As far as tailoring vs. surgeoning goes, a good fit is arguably somewhat more important for the latter.
September 18th, 2007
10:39 AM
Wow….fascinating, isn’t it?
While I was apprenticing with a Tailor by nights and weekends, I was in the medical industry by day…and did have the opportunity to actually stand over surgeons’ shoulders and watch procedures….which is probably why I will never ever have a face-lift…
But the theory really is totally applicable to how we decide to manipulate fabric into garments.
September 18th, 2007
5:32 PM
Eeewwww. But fascinating nonetheless.
September 18th, 2007
7:27 PM
Absolutely fascinating. I had an ex who was a plastic surgeon. I asked all the time to watch him work – he never let me. I did occasionally get things out of him. Like, when they do a jowl lift. One procedure is to cut a Z under the jawline and then criss-cross the Z flaps.
I incorporated this concept into the roll of a jacket front with great results. It worked great in the sample room. It doesn’t scale up to the rest of the factory, though. It’s a bear to cut a 1/8″ Z into the facing and fronts – no smooth cuts to abut in the marker.
The stitchers didn’t have a problem sewing it. In fact, several remarked that they liked the finished result. The cutters were downright dangerous to be around for about 2 weeks, afterward.
That’s when I learned: “Don’t mess with Lefty!” I guess, in retrospect, I could also say: “When Left has a good lay…” >:-)
February 17th, 2008
6:23 PM
As a physician I use my sewing skills often, however, for the first example above I would actually undermine the wound to allow me to draw the edges together, this is easy to do on the scalp as there are several very strong layers of fascia and muscle to pull the tissues where one would like them to go, However this technique does not translate to fabric ;-)
the Z-plasty however does and is rather cool.
May 13th, 2010
1:26 PM
[...] My earlier entry was about the distribution of tension and cut patterns surgeons use to offset and minimize “seam failure” (they obviously have a name for it). I found it interesting with many analogies to working with leather. With this medium, you learn to push the boundaries of cut lines, performance and fit. I thought it would be good to talk about because I think people are rigidly wedded to fabric grain; ours is not an x-y coordinate world. It is advantageous for varying garment sections to be off grain; I explained some of this in laying out a hide. [...]
September 26th, 2010
5:54 PM
I had a brilliant colleague in Australia who thought we fashion designers (the ones who could cut, I should specify) would make the best plastic surgeons. I agree.