Sunday, July 13, 2008

Want the fabric waistband, not the bulk...

An addendum to the 'invisble facing' concept:

I like to have the 'out' side of many of my skirt/trouser waistbands match the fabric of the finished garment. It is not always desirable to have the same fabric on the inside face of the waistband due to bulk issues particularly when using wool flannel, wool crepe or in this case burn-out embroidered silk organza.
Sooooo, I customarily cut the 'outside' width of my waistbands in self fabric, adding about 1/2" to 5/8" seam allowance along the top edge and I cut the other half adding the same amount of seam allowance in a facing-appropriate fabric, say scrap silk taffeta, shantung doupioni, or in the case, a plain silk organza to match the hue dominant in the finished fabric (burn-out embroidered silk organza).
The result this time is a wonderfully stable, yet 'non-intrusive' inside waistband face.





How's that for 'gorey' sewing details? I have plenty more where this came from :o)!

'Invisible' Facing

I am a fan of the facing. I like Vogue patterns for their facing tendencies. When working with a vintage Vogue pattern dating to the 40's, I made an error when cutting the lining for the front of this halter top (view A at left):


So, I created an 'invisible facing' for my rescue! This is not part of the original pattern that was to be faced, It was to be narrowly hemmed. When I cut my front lining piece too short to make it close enough to the bottom edge of the finished fabric front, I cut a silk organza facing from the bodice front pattern and stitched it to the bottom edge of the fabric front, turned and pressed it into place:



Turned the top edge of the organza in and catch-stitched it to the narrowly hemmed lining which comes down over it:

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Ahh, the dangers of sorting through a stash!

I am sure we can all relate to the snowball effect sorting through any stash can bring on. I leafed through a stash of ephemera I have been collecting over the years during my hunts for vintage patterns to find these dandies:






I delved into the box for German 1920's masters from which to draft some patterns to offer everyone later this year when I was broadsided by these 1950's styles and I started fantasizing about drafting patterns for them to make some pieces for my own professional wardrobe. Love the cheetah-print-looking skirt and now I am on the hunt for faille...but, also devoutly drafting 20's patterns :o)!