Post by Anna on Aug 20, 2009 5:02:11 GMT -5
I finally got tired of the oh but I can't get to my sewing machine to work on my ball clothes noise and decided to start my shift by hand at half-past eleven. I'm using a self-drafted pattern (if one can even go so far as to 'draft' a bunch of rectangles to the appropriate measurements).
The sleeves are the usual rectangle-with-gusset, and the body is cut as a rectangle with the shoulders on the fold. To provide shaping, the rectangle is cut a few (4-8) inches wider than the shoulders, and a triangle is removed from that distance to half the length. The removed triangles flip around and become gussets in the lower side seams. The shape when all's said and done but the side seams haven't been sewn yet is a sort of hour-glass shape, with the shoulders at the 'waist' of the hourglass. The top and bottom of the hourglass are the back and front hems.
Sadly, my camera is mysteriously not where I remember putting it when I moved, so peektures will have to wait. At the moment it's not all that exciting, anyway. I got all the pieces torn from a queen-sized sheet I got at the thrift store for making underwear and mockups out of. It's incredibly soft, but probably a bit fragile.
2 sleeves, 15 x 6 inches
2 gussets, 5 inches square
1 body, width of queen-sized sheet by 25 inches
Then I folded the body in quarters, marked off my cutaway triangle, and cut them two at a time. When the triangles are cut away the narrow side is actually on the shoulder fold, so they aren't triangles at that point. Then you cut the fold, which becomes the bottom hem. The triangles began nine inches along the shoulder fro center (approximately 3-4 inches wide). Everything was ironed, to get rid of the rippley just-torn edges, and the sleeves were sewn by hand (mostly running stitch, whipped hems).
Doing the sleeves by hand let me very easily sew up one side of the gusset and down the other without catching any excess seam allowance and leaving a tiny bit of underarm seam open. The underarm seam was then finished (from the gusset point to the hem) and the seam allowances were folded over once and stitched through with a fairly coarse running stitch. I was hoping to flatfell them, but I didn't really have enough SA to do it and I didn't really care in either case. The hem was then turned up twice (except over the underarm seam - once only) and fairly roughly whipped down. The long part of the whip stitch is on the inside, so even though I wasn't especially careful it still looks decentish on the outside.
The sleeves may be a little tight. I measured my bicep and added three inches (including seam allowances) and when I slide the sleeves up onto my shoulder and put my arm down it pulls tight a bit. I know a little of that was perfectly period and is ineradicable, and I don't think it's going to interfere with wearing the shift particularly, so I'm not all that worried. However, next time I do this I may add another inch.
Next steps: sew gussets to sides, sleeves to shoulders, and sides from hem to gusset. Cut out neckline as small as possible, put on stays, mark neckline. Cut to shape, try on again to confirm. Check hem length. Even and hem.
The sleeves are the usual rectangle-with-gusset, and the body is cut as a rectangle with the shoulders on the fold. To provide shaping, the rectangle is cut a few (4-8) inches wider than the shoulders, and a triangle is removed from that distance to half the length. The removed triangles flip around and become gussets in the lower side seams. The shape when all's said and done but the side seams haven't been sewn yet is a sort of hour-glass shape, with the shoulders at the 'waist' of the hourglass. The top and bottom of the hourglass are the back and front hems.
Sadly, my camera is mysteriously not where I remember putting it when I moved, so peektures will have to wait. At the moment it's not all that exciting, anyway. I got all the pieces torn from a queen-sized sheet I got at the thrift store for making underwear and mockups out of. It's incredibly soft, but probably a bit fragile.
2 sleeves, 15 x 6 inches
2 gussets, 5 inches square
1 body, width of queen-sized sheet by 25 inches
Then I folded the body in quarters, marked off my cutaway triangle, and cut them two at a time. When the triangles are cut away the narrow side is actually on the shoulder fold, so they aren't triangles at that point. Then you cut the fold, which becomes the bottom hem. The triangles began nine inches along the shoulder fro center (approximately 3-4 inches wide). Everything was ironed, to get rid of the rippley just-torn edges, and the sleeves were sewn by hand (mostly running stitch, whipped hems).
Doing the sleeves by hand let me very easily sew up one side of the gusset and down the other without catching any excess seam allowance and leaving a tiny bit of underarm seam open. The underarm seam was then finished (from the gusset point to the hem) and the seam allowances were folded over once and stitched through with a fairly coarse running stitch. I was hoping to flatfell them, but I didn't really have enough SA to do it and I didn't really care in either case. The hem was then turned up twice (except over the underarm seam - once only) and fairly roughly whipped down. The long part of the whip stitch is on the inside, so even though I wasn't especially careful it still looks decentish on the outside.
The sleeves may be a little tight. I measured my bicep and added three inches (including seam allowances) and when I slide the sleeves up onto my shoulder and put my arm down it pulls tight a bit. I know a little of that was perfectly period and is ineradicable, and I don't think it's going to interfere with wearing the shift particularly, so I'm not all that worried. However, next time I do this I may add another inch.
Next steps: sew gussets to sides, sleeves to shoulders, and sides from hem to gusset. Cut out neckline as small as possible, put on stays, mark neckline. Cut to shape, try on again to confirm. Check hem length. Even and hem.