Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Piping the silk jacket

So cute, so far!
piping the silk jacket
When I sewed (basted) the piping to the jacket, I used a slightly contrasty pink thread in the bobbin so that I might be able to see it and follow that line when I sewed the facing to the jacket. It worked here and there but blended in too much with the fabric to be really useful.
piping the silk jacket
In the end, it didn't really matter because I could following the fat piping cord pretty well with the zipper foot except for one collar corner that I had to unstitch and re-sew. In this shot, I am sewing up the front toward the lapel corner. You might also notice that I have ironed on a but of interfacing to the jacket front (in addition to the facings which is normal). I am anticipating buttonhole issues.
piping the silk jacket
First of all, it looks like a jolly mess at the inside corners, where the lapels meet the collar.
piping the silk jacket
And it IS a mess - you sort of have to feel your way like Yoda. You have to trim some of the excess fabric and piping cord but not TOO much, otherwise the ends will pull out. And don't sew too far into the corners because you could catch more fabric than you want. Better to sew less and then stitch it up by hand when it is turned right-side out.
piping the silk jacket
Here's what the piping looks like down the front. It is turned into the seam allowance 1 and 1/2 inch above the bottom because that is where the hem will be.
piping the silk jacket
Here's one collar corner turned right side out but not yet pressed. Looks okay but...
piping the silk jacket
When you poke around in there, it is clear that there is a big gap where I didn't machine sew too closely into the inside corner. That's the blue handle on my seam ripper, showing through the gap.
piping the silk jacket
Also, at quite a few places along the piping, you can see some of the basting stitches because I didn't press closely enough to the piping cord as I sewed the true seam. I think I am going to sew by machine, a topstitching type of line down the piping to flatten the fabric and to compensate for missing some of these basting stitches.

6 comments:

Vicki said...

The piping is looking good - it really compliments the fabric.

Dee Light said...

WOW!! This is "real" sewing!! Your jacket, piping and all look great. You have a wonderful and informative blog.

Anonymous said...

Hi Julia,

I have been following your projects. Your jacket is comming along beautifully. As a person who's still learning, I appreciate all the detail information you have been providing.

Thanks,
Charlene (PR)

JuliaR said...

Thanks Vicki, my husband was just asking if maybe I shouldn't have made the piping a solid colour and I said, "no!"

Thanks Dee! It is true, I am no longer a beginner so I have that more advanced ("real"?) perspective. But I still make silly mistakes every now and then!

I'm glad the blog is useful Charlene. May I ask what the "(PR)" means?

Faye Lewis said...

I think the piping on your jacket is so beautiful!

JuliaR said...

Thanks Faye, and welcome to my blog! My husband isn't really convinced about the patterned piping but I think he will be once the pockets are on too. I may even use the piping fabric in working the buttonholes.