The semester in review, part 1: Sewing lessons

The semester is nearly over. All that remains for me to do is finish my shirt and take my final exam. To help prepare for the exam the class was given these 16 study questions. This is easy first semester stuff, but we all have to start somewhere. Perhaps some of you will find this useful too.

1. Define lengthwise and crosswise grain. I grew up in New York. So what does that have to do with grainlines? I have lived in flyover states for the past 15 years, but I still think of myself as a New Yorker, and view grainlines with a New York perspective. Avenues are on the lengthwise grain (wrap), streets are on the crosswise grain (weft), and, as my grandfather was wont to say, Broadway is on the bias. The Hudson and East Rivers are the selvage. I like working with bias cut pieces; they make me think of Grandpa.

2. How do you find the true bias on your fabric? The true bias is at a 45 degree angle to the the lengthwise and crosswise grains. Fabric stretches the most at this angle.

3. Define ease. Room for movement. A little extra measurement.

4. How do you correct bad tension on your sewing machine? Test your machine on a scrap piece of fabric. Turn the tension know one way or the other until the tension is good.

5. What is the purpose of darts? Darts add shape to garments. They fit a two dimensional piece of fabric to a three dimensional body.

6. How do you know a pattern piece is on the straight of grain? Measure from the edge of the fabric.

7. What are the most common seam allowances used in industry? 1/2", 1/4", and 3/8".

8. Why is accurate cutting important? If you do not cut your pieces accurately they may not line up right. Fabric is expensive and we do not want to waste it.

9. Why is it necessary to press after each sewing step? Seams must be pressed so that they will be flat.

10. Define the difference between a 4 and 5 thread serger. The 5 thread seam is stronger than the 4 thread one. The 4 thread seam is stretchier. Both machines can be used for a 3 thread seam which is weaker and stretchier than the others.

11. What is the difference between topstitching and edgestitching? Edgestitching is very close to a seam or edge of the fabric. Top stitching is (often) 1/4" from a seam or edge of the fabric. The distance from the needle to the edge of the presser foot is 1/4". both topstitching and edgestitching are on the right side of the fabric. They can be decorative, functional, or both.

12. What is the purpose of interfacing? It makes fabric firmer and less stretchy.

13. What factors influence the type of interfacing you use in garments? The type and weight of the fabric. How firm I want the fabric to be.

14. How do you recognize the front and back of sleeve patterns? The front has one notch, the back has two.

15. What is the most common setting for stitch length? 10-12 stitches per inch. The stitch length know on industrial machines is set between 2 and 3. At least that is the stitch length we used in class. The machines can be set for bigger and smaller stitches, but I have not yet learned about them. I do know that long stitches are used with leather. I do not know about the shorter stitches yet. I have a lot more learning to do.

16. Define Vicki's golden sewing rule. Vicki is my instructor. Her golden sewing rule is, "Right sides together when stitching a seam. OK, Vicki was not the the first one to say this, but it is an important rule. There are are a few occasions when we do not obey this rule, but they are rare.

I learned a lot more this semester than what is listed above. The main focus of the class was learning how to sew with industrial machines. I will address that along with some of the other things I learned in part 2 of my semester review.

One ugly shirt and what I learned from it

I continued work on my tailored shirt in class today. That shirt is not the ugly one; the ugly shirt is the one I made at home this past weekend. My shirt for class will be beautiful. I will get to the ugly shirt soon, but first a few words about today's class. I attached a pocket and finished the two front pieces. I also had time to take my serger threading test. Students must thread a four thread serger to pass the class. I threaded the serger. My instructor's lesson about serger threading made me think the process would be difficult, but the moment I got my hands into the serger's guts I realized that threading it is easy. Just follow the color coded threading guide and there is nothing to worry about. I have not yet threaded a five thread serger, but I expect it will be no more difficult than the four thread one.

This past week I tried to make a tailored shirt at home. My goal was to gain experience and pick up a few tricks that will make the shirt for class a little easier. i did not expect my first attempt to turn out too well, but I have to start somewhere. The shirt is no good, but while making it I learned a lot. I will make at least one more shirt each week. As long as each one is better than the last I will call it a success.

I was going to use muslin for my first shirt, but at Walmart I found a print for three cents per yard more than the muslin. It is polyester, and the print is horribly ugly, but I had not worked with prints or polyester before so the fabric presented me with two more things to learn from this project.

What was good

Buttons and button holes - I still want to learn how to use the industrial buttonholer, but using my home machine was a lot easier than expected.

Pocket - this was the first pocket of this type I have made. All the edgestitching we have done in class this semester has paid off.

Shoulder and sleeve seams - Attaching the sleeves was easier than expected, and I am pleased with the seam finishes.

What was bad
The collar - This was my first collar, and I did not do a good job with it. I made a few mistakes as I attached the collar. The pattern was confusing, but I accept the full blame for the problems. My next one will be better.

Sleeve and bottom hems - The hems did not turn out well. I know I can do better.

The loop - The pattern called for this loop. I made it well, but I do not like it. I think this loop is a silly way to fasten the top button. My future shirts will have buttonholes rather than loops.

Pattern pieces - I began work by transferring the pattern from pattern paper to oak tag. I then used my oak tag pattern to trace the pieces on fabric. With each step there is a slight margin of error. As I pinned together the pieces of fabric I found my notches did not always line up perfectly. Precision is necessary.

What I learned
Buttons and buttonholes - These were the first buttonholes I made with my current sewing machine. With other machines I found making buttonholes a very difficult process, but this time it was easy. It was the first time I used a buttonhole presser foot. I do not know why I did not learn how to use a buttonhole foot in my seventh grade home economics class. As I was reading my machine's user manual to learn how to use the buttonhole foot I discovered that I also have a presser foot for attaching buttons. I did not know that I could use a cheap home machine to attach buttons; I have always sewn on buttons by hand. It was much easier with the machine, and the machine did it better than I can do by hand. The lesson: read your machine's user manual.

Polyester - Ironing shrinks polyester. It shrinks as I press seams, and it shrinks a lot more as I attach fusible interfacing. If I iron over a pin I will leave a burn mark in the fabric. Removing stitching from polyester can be difficult. Tearing or stretching the fabric while removing stitching is easy. The lesson: do not use polyester if other materials are available.

General stuff - Making this shirt helped me understand how tailored shirts are constructed. Knowing that I already made one shirt, even a bod one, gave a boost to my confidence as I worked on the shirt in class today. Some of the other students were nervous about attaching their pockets, but I knew I could do it because I attached a pocket yesterday. The lesson: sew a lot. Then sew some more. Practice, practice, practice. Experience counts.

T-shirts

My instructor began class today by returning some assignments to us and going over our mistakes. i got back my baby t-shirt, adult t-shirt, French seam, coverstitch hems, and piece of muslin with concave and convex curves that the students all called a large Peep. For the French seam and coverstitch piece I received full credit, five points each. The Peep was deemed too easy to deserve a grade. I knew my t-shirts were not perfect. I would have liked higher scores, but I cannot complain about what I received. Out of a possible 40 points I received 34 points for the baby t and 37 points for the adult t.

The baby t was the first shirt we made. Everyone in class agreed that of the two it was the more difficult one. I do not know if that is because it is smaller or because by the time we started work on the adult t we had more experience with sergers.

It took me three attempts to make the baby t. Fortunately I had finished my previous assignment early so I had time to cut out multiple copies of the pattern pieces before the class began work on the shirts. My first attempt was a dismal failure, but it provided useful experience with sergers. The shoulder seams were easy, but after multiple attempts and failures to attach a sleeve, the fabric had been trimmed too much for me to continue. I used what I had already assembled as scrap. It would have been nice to finish a shirt on my first attempt, but I was neither surprised nor upset with the outcome. I began that first shirt knowing it was just practice. By the time I gave up on it I felt I had finally figured out how to successfully attach a sleeve, and I learned a trick that proved invaluable on all my following shirts. I found it to be a lot easier to attach sleeves and neck ribbing if I used two different color fabrics. This allows me to see exactly where the two pieces of fabric are so I am able to sew the seams without any holes.

Before I began work on shirt number two the instructor made one to show the class how to do it. It took her no more than ten minutes, and she was working slowly so that she could explain each step along the way. I spent nearly 90 minutes working on my shirt. The neck ribbing was the most difficult and time consuming part, and while I managed to attach both sleeves on the first attempt without any problems the process was also quite difficult. I had not yet learned how to use the coverstitch machine, so for the bottom I did a mock coverstitch hem with the serger and a straight stitch. Unfortunately, as I was using the serger my hands slipped and I gouged a large chunk out of the shirt. I knew I would not be able to turn it in, but I finished it anyway. It was still good practice, and I was doing fine on time.

I do not know any babies, but my teddy bear was willing to model the shirt for you. It is a little big on him, but at least I do not have to worry about him outgrowing it.

Attempt Number three was a lot easier. I finished the shirt in about one hour. I knew what I needed to do, and I was sewing with a little confidence. I knew the shirt was not perfect, but I was pleased with it and I wanted to give one of my classmates time on the serger. There are 20 students in the class and only nine sergers. I lost one point because one of my shoulder seams was not perfect, one point because the neck ribbing was not perfectly centered, two points because the armpit seams did not line up perfectly, and two points because the bottom hem was not perfectly straight.

The adult t-shirt was the easiest one yet. It took me less than 45 minutes to make. The only men's pattern was for a v-neck shirt, and I do not like v-neck shirts, so I made a women's shirt. I will give it to my sister. The pattern called for the sleeves to be hemmed with the coverstitch, but I thought they would look better with a ribbed cuff. I told the instructor how I felt, and she said that as long as I could make it work I could make the sleeves however I liked. I went with the cuff. My classmates were impressed with my innovation, and the instructor gave me a perfect score for the sleeves. The total grade consisted of eight sections, each with a maximum score of five points. I lost one point for a shoulder seam and two points for the armpit seams. It did not change my final score, but I was thrilled to see that for the neck ribbing and serger use my score was five plus.

The semester is almost over. The only things left to do are make a tailored shirt, learn to use a button hole machine, and pass my serger threading test. I could have threaded a serger today, but I wanted to let my classmates who still needed to finish their t-shirts use the machines; I will do it next week. The instructor did not want us to start sewing the tailored shirt today. She will provide detailed instructions for it next week. I was able to cut out all my pattern pieces though, so I will be able to start work as soon as she says go. It is a big project, and I admit I am a little intimidated by it, but I think I will make a good shirt. If there is one skill everyone in class has become great at this semester it is tearing out stitching. I hope I will not have to do too much of it, but at least I can do it well.