How To Shorten Coat Sleeves. Do you want to learn how to shorten coat sleeves? If you regularly wear jackets, the coat should cover the jacket’s sleeves by between 3/8 inch and ½ inch. For a professional look, you will have to alter the coat and the coat’s lining separately. This will also make any future alterations easier. To change the length of your sleeves, you'll need: Tailor’s chalk Needle Thread Seam ripper Scissors Straight pins Decide how much you want to shorten the sleeve. Generally, the sleeve should fall below the wrist bone when your arm is down, but feel free to shorten it as much as you like.
Play around with different lengths until you find one you like. How to Grade Seam Allowances. Here I am, again, after 3 months away, to fill another tutorial need. If you want something done right... When you're sewing thick fabrics, or several layers, or just sewing a small enough project that every detail matters, you may want to grade your seams. It's simple to do. On a garment with a lining or facing, when all the layers of a seam allowance are cut to the same width, they can leave a bulky lump along the edge of the garment. I've sewn together three random fabric remnants to illustrate: I've run the iron along the edge of the seam allowance to make it show up better for the picture. You can see how thick the edge is, and how sudden the transition is from the seam allowance to the main expanse of fabric.
To ease the transition from seam allowance to main expanse, trim each layer of the seam allowance to a different width. And here you can see the second layer of the seam allowance trimmed to a width between the outer fabric and the inner fabric. How To Sew A Circular Bottom Neatly. Round bottom is a nice feature not only for bag bottom but also for a cylindrical pouches and bags.
Here is how! Step 1. Make a card board template for a half circle. Make sure that you do this very neatly. Fold the fabric in half, secure it with pins. Draw the half circle with the fold as the diameter. Step 2. Step 3. Step 4. Step 5. Step 6. Step 7. Step 8. Here is what I made earlier! How to Easily Hem Sheer Fabrics - CraftStylish. Excerpted from SewStylish Spring '09 See-through fabrics were front and center on the runways this season in everything from skirts and jacekts to dresses and skirts. Take a tip from a real-life couturier, Kenneth King: Hem those tricky sheers with pearl cotton thread and a simple technique. Pearl cotton thread is inexpensive and can be matched to just about any color you desire. You'll find it in the embroidery section of most sewing-supply stores. For more seam finishes for sheer materials, see "Sheer Seams and Edges" in Threads no. 106. 1. 2. 3. 4. How to Apply Seam Binding: A Tutorial. I often get questions about the rayon seam binding finish that I love to use.
So when Jeanette suggested a tutorial, I figured the timing was perfect! First, you will need to make sure you have the right materials. I use Hug Snug Rayon Seam Binding, but any rayon binding will do. This is not twill tape, polyester hem tape, or single/double fold bias tape. Whenever possible, I like to sew my seams before applying the hem tape to the raw edges of my fabric. There are a few different techniques I have used to apply the seam binding, and I am sure there are more that I am not aware of, but I will start with my favorite. *Double-Seamed Method* 1. 2. 3. For my first seam, I do not use pins, but you certainly could. 4. 5. 6.
This method obviously uses up a lot of thread, but I find that I get the best results. But that’s just me! *Pre-Fold Method* For this method, lengths of seam binding are cut to the length of each raw edge that needs to be covered. 3. 4. 5. 6. *Pre-Fold Hand Stitched Method* Flat Felled Seam with Trim {Tutorial} Last night I showed you Kadences Trendsetting Hounds-Tooth Shorts and today I'm going to show you how I made that really cool flat felled seam with a trim insertion.
A few things of note: This is basically a modified Flat Felled seam, and you can use this technique on any relatively straight seam. You can really apply anything as your trim - fabric, piping, rick rack, ribbon - what ever! I used 5/8 seam allowance (for kids shorts) you may want to increase your seam allowances. Flat Felled seams should be pressed towards the back when used in side seams.
Lets get started! Begin by stitching your fabric WRONG sides together. In the pictures below, the front of my garment is on the right side of the photographs, while the back of the garment is on the left. Press your seams open. Working on the seam allowance that is on the front half (of the garment) press it in half, meeting the raw edge to the stitching. You can see here the seam allowance has been cut away.
Tell us! Hong Kong Seams. Heather Dee asked on the recent pants post how I did Hong Kong seams. She had a general idea but I told her I would do a tute up the road and here it is. This is info that can be found in most sewing references but it always helps to see real pics.First is the fabric choice for the seam "cover". You want something lightweight and in keeping with the garment you are sewing. If I were sewing a silk garment, I would not use a poly for the HK seams. I'd use a lightweight silk. Iron the strip away from the seam allowance.
Wrap the strip around the seam allowance to the back. Adjust your needle position so it is now in the center of the foot, right in line with the blade. Now cut the excess seam allowance from the strip, leaving no more than an 1/8th of an inch. This treatment will definitely increase the time involved in making your garment. Be careful that your color or print of the strips does not show thru your garment fabric.
Underlining and Seam Finish in One. The technique I am about to describe allows you to underline a garment and finish the seams in one procedure -- this makes the most beautiful seam finish and is not much more work than simply underlining (less, if you are planning to hand baste the layers together). This works on almost any vertical seam such as the side and center back seams of a skirt (or the seams on a gored skirt) as well as princess lines. I cannot take credit for this idea. The first place I learned about it was in a class with Cynthia Guffey but I believe the technique has been around for many years.
When cutting your underlining, add 5/8 inch to the seam allowances along the vertical seams. If you are using 5/8 inch seam allowances you'll cut them 1.25 inches wide. Place the underlining and fashion fabric RST and pin the vertical edges together -- the underlining will not lie flat as it is bigger than the fashion fabric. This is a picture of a skirt made from sheer pink linen. Underlining & Hong Kong seam in one. I promised some time ago that the next time I'll be making an underlined garment, I'll take pictures and try to describe the process. Recapping things said previously: I'm very partial to underlining lately, I think I said it before on my blog, I like how the underlining moves with the fashion fabric, instead of having two separate garments joined at some seam, like in the case of lining.
It is a subjective things, of course, but I'm going to use underlining instead of lining for most of my projectsPart of my great liking of underlinings is this gorgeous knit lining (nylon sheer, sold in many online stores as bra cup lining; my beautiful friend Marji also recommends using Powerdry - which I don't know but from what I read about it, it is marvelous because it keeps your skin dry when you're sweating) that I'm using - it is stretchy, thin, it does not alter significantly the drape of pants and anyway it improves it, and it has a silky side that feels absolutely luxurious against the skin.
Nifty Way to Flatfell a Seam. Flatfelled seams are called for in sportswear such as blouses and men’s shirts. It is a very strong seam that will hold up through many washings. Here’s a quick way to flat fell a seam without having to trim and fold. First, fold under one seam allowance 3/8 inch. Overlap your pattern pieces, and sew as close to the raw edge as possible. You should just barely catch the raw edge. Press your seam open. Finally, edge stitch the seam in place on the right side of the garment. Your finished flat fell seam will be tidy and neat on both sides of the garment.
The inside is just a clean finished edge and a single line of stitching. That’s it! Flat-felled seaming. French All Your Seams. After posting my navy lace scout tee I got a few questions asking how I french seamed my armholes. It can seem a little confusing at first but, as with apparently all of my tutorials, I promise it really is very easy. I’m first going to do a run through of the french seam and then will show you how to apply it to the armhole. Just a few notes before we begin… 1. french seams are usually best used on light to medium weight fabric. 2.
French seams require you to split your seam allowance in two parts. This tutorial is done using a 1/2″ seam allowance, but if you are working with a 5/8″ seam allowance, sew the first seam at 3/8″ and the second at 1/4″. I’ve tried to notate where this applies. With that, lets get to it! Part 1 | French Seams on Straight Seams Step 1 | Cut your pieces from your fabric.
Step 2 | Sew the sides and shoulder seams with the wrong sides of the fabric together at 1/4″ (or 3/8″ if you have a 5/8″ seam allowance) and press the seam open. And that’s that! How To Mitre A Folded Hem. This is my favourite method of finishing hems on fine or drapy fabrics. It gives a quality finish inside and out, with no ugly overlocking to be seen. Occasionally it is necessary to hem a corner of fabric, and following are step-by-step instructions on how to neatly mitre the corner. Lay your corner that you wish to mitre on your table right side up, then fold it diagonally right sides together so that the cut edges meet. Fold the upper raw edge towards the wrong side (towards you) 5mm, and fold the lower raw edge towards the wrong side (away from you) by the same amount. Now stitch the mitre, from the hem edges that you have just folded, to the initial diagonal fold. It is important that you stitch perpendicular to this diagonal fold.
You will have stitched through four layers of the hem allowance. Finger press your tiny seam allowance open, and turn hem through to the wrong side. Repeat this for all corners that you need to mitre. Once your hem is completed you can give it a press. How To: Shorten Sleeves with a Lining. I do a lot of different sewing projects for people, and learn a lot of new things along the way. Today I thought I'd show you how to shorten sleeves of a women's blazer (or any sleeve that is lined). It is easy, even if you don't call yourself a seamstress, you can do it too! Here is the sleeve before I did anything to it: See how the lining is folded over the seam?
There is a little “give” in the lining to things don’t get bunched up in there while the garment is being worn. That is important, so I will be duplicating it in my new cuff! Use a seam ripper to carefully rip out the stitches that hold the lining and the sleeve together. Fold the sleeve over to the desired length. Press sleeve to make this a permanent fold. **Note: I read recently that water with a little white vinegar will take that other fold line away when doing a project like this. Now, you know how long the sleeve will be. Measure 1” off your lining.
Pin the lining in place and press. We want ours to look the same! Ta-da! How to Hem Suit Coat Sleeves. I have had this post in draft for a while. Altering suit coat sleeves is not difficult if you know a few tricks. It does take a bit of time, but it is very worthwhile. You can expect to spend one to two hours working on this project. You will need a few basic supplies such as good quality matching thread, a sewing machine (straight stitch only, don't panic), an iron, a press cloth or dish towel, tailors chalk, a ruler, scissors, and a roll of fusible interfacing approximately 1" wide.
The best advice I ever received on alterations, was to only work on one sleeve at a time. Fit your jacket sleeve length, mark with a pin, and measure how much needs to be hemmed. Remove the stitches that hold the lining to the sleeve. If your jacket is vented at the cuff, remove all stitches holding the vent in place. Now for the tricky part: measure how much your hem needs to be shortened and mark with tailor's chalk. On my jacket, I also used the ruler and chalk to mark the cutting line.
Designer Mom. Sheer Hem Technique. I thought I would share the hem/edge technique I will use on my blouse, BWOF #122-3,6-09, that you saw in the last post. After some fiddling with my last sheer hem, I came up with what was for me an original edge treatment but have since seen it referred to in BWOF 6/09. Their directions are cursory so here are mine in a little more detail. It is quite simple. I start with the starch you see above. Next I fold over to the wrong side and iron a 5/8 inch seam allowance until dry. Set the machine at a basic zigzag with a 2.0 width and a .7 length.
I will be using this edge on my sheer blouse but first I will make a muslin....bunny. Baby Hems. Flat Felled vs French Seams. Easy French Seams. How To Sew A Rolled Hem. A Guide to Seam Finishes. Shortcut Ruffling Technique and Faux Rolled Hem Method. How to sew a round hem. Hems.