Meanwhile...

I was right - I ran out of seam binding. I have done the entire under-arm seam, both sides of the seam, on one side of the jacket but still have the other (about 2 meters), the hem (about 1.5 m) and sleeve hems to do so I need at least one more package for the jacket and then there's the skirt hem. So tomorrow, I'll be out on my bike, going to my fourth annual mammogram test - I'm telling you, they have GOT to invent a better way! - and on my way home, I'll swing by the store to get 2 more packages.

In the meantime, I thought I'd try again to illustrate the benefit of a clappered (or is it clapped?) seam. (There is no definition for the wooden tool that is the almighty clapper in any online dictionary I have found. I just discovered Wikitionary and now I guess I have to add to it but whatta pain to sign up, etc.) Anyway, these are the underarm seams, put side by side. I have pressed both but only clappered the right one. I can see the difference, so I hope you can too. If you are still straining to tell the difference, the right hand one is a little bit flatter, so the tiny trench formed by the seam is a tiny bit deeper on the left hand one. It may not seem like much but when the entire garment has been carefully pressed like this, it looks more professional than if it wasn't.

Okay, I just went back and made the photo "original" size and Flickr and it really is hard to tell the difference. That big fold in the middle is the entire jacket back folded out of the way, so I am pointing to the seams! Trust me. :)

In the meantime, while I wait to get my seam binding, I ironed and laid out some inexpensive but fun cotton with which I will zip up another of the bike shirts that Peter loves. It's just a plain old shirt pattern with short sleeves but he likes the roomy (capacious, even), breezy style as he commutes to work. I wasn't sure if he'd like these birds but he claims to. I am wondering which way is "up". I think "up" looks like it is on the left but that's the cross grain so I have to choose one of the other ways.

The Clapper

Here's what a clapper looks like. It's a nice hardwood of some kind and very smooth. It doesn't weigh that much - less than an iron anyway. I have seen other conformations in photos but never used any one other than this one.

The only "trick" to a clapper is in when you use it. First you press the area that you want to be really flat. I am using the blue jacket I currently still have not finished as the demo. Make sure your iron is warm enough for the fabric and preferably using steam. There could be some delicate fabrics that won't take much heat or any steam but I'm not sure you'd want to use a clapper on them anyway.

As soon as you remove the iron from the pressed fabric, place the clapper on the hot fabric and press. You can rub the clapper along the fabric or pat it, or, if the fabric is heavy cotton, pound it. The idea is to get the clapper to absorb the heat and steam and sort of force it back into the fabric. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but you do end up with really flat fabric after using the clapper.

This demo uses the jean jacket because of all the bands and things on it. On the bottom band, I sew the patterned fabric (the inside of the band) to the WRONG side of the jacket. Then I fold it up and attach the folded edge to the OUTSIDE or right side of the jacket. In order to make the seams flat, I first press them open, regardless of whether they will stay open. In this photo, I am pressing both seam allowances into the band area, after I have pressed them open.

Then I turn the garment over and press the seam on the finished side (which in this spot is the WRONG side of the jacket body). This is effectively the third time I have pressed this seam. Since it will be the final press in this spot before I do the top stitching, I also use the clapper.

As I go along pressing a seam, I make a little train out of the iron and the clapper, first pressing with heat and steam and following with the clapper to make it good and flat. With this twill fabric, I just run the clapper along the seam. But if I get to areas that won't stay flat, I won't hesitate to pound on them with the clapper.

Then I make the bottom band ends by sewing right sides together, folding the band along the seam where I have joined the print to the plain fabric.

Once I turn the corner right side out and poke the point of the corner out with a point turner, I can iron the end flat too. In this photo, I have not ironed it yet.

Finally, I have to see how much seam allowance I have to turn under, when I get ready to sew the folded edge of the band to the jacket with topstitching, on the RIGHT side of the jacket body.

First I fold the seam allowance under so it just covers the stitching line where I first attached the band. Then I pull it away to see that I DO have about 5/8ths of an inch and so I will trim about half of that away before I pin the fold down and topstitch it.