Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Bright Shirts - getting started

I started working on the bright blouses and then got sidetracked by some other things (not sewing). Then Peter came down with a cold last Thursday and now I have the stupid germ. Anyway, I shall persevere.

I got both the yellow and pink cut out in short sleeves in that pattern I seem to use for everything (Simplicity 9877). Then I discovered that I had pink thread but not enough yellow.
thread colours
So I’m sewing the pink first. I do my usual assembly line kind of thing, cutting out everything, marking pieces and ironing interfacing on all the pieces, pink and yellow. Then I start pinning things like the darts. Unfortunately, the pink doesn’t show up very well in photos. In this next photo, I have sewed the front vertical dart from the bottom up and am nearing the point. Most of the dart is sewed at a 5/8 seam allowance because it is slashed in the cutting process. When you get near the point, you have to taper to less and less.
dart
This shirt has front bands (which I prefer) instead of facings. In the next photo, I have attached a band to the front and you can see it (the right side of the band is sewed to the wrong side of the front) and the inside of the front dart. I fold over the seam allowances on the dart and sew them down in a flat fell. At the point of the dart, I sew in from the seam allowance and turn 180 degrees at the stitching line and sew back down again.
dart inside
The front band gets folded over itself and the folded edge overlaps the stitching line.
front band
Then you sew the band down to the front, using a zipper foot and getting as close to the folded edge as you can.
front band sewed

1 comment:

JuliaR said...

Hey Sharon, I was afraid of bands for a while because I had to make the buttonholes vertical but then I said what the heck and never looked back. :)

I see you are starting a new blog! Let me know when it's really going.