A month of months

The 5th time's the charm, or how I beat the lapped zipper into submission

Wed, 30 May 2018 04:56:49 GMT

Before I reconstruct the dress I deconstructed (and make another dress - posts to follow), I am making a practice lapped zipper using Kathleen Fasanella's method, starting with cutting out the pattern.

I assembled my constrasting fabrics, 7" zipper, scissors, and oak tag paper (left over from making a tie for a facebook meme-thingy, which also included the Geordie La Forge sleep mask, which Wil Wheaton then made explode all over the internets (well, a tiny corner anyway)).

Uh. Where was I. Oh, right. And I need a stapler. OH! And a hammer! Yay! I found I like using oak tag as pattern paper - it's easier to keep everything in place. I started out fusing the facings, ie interfacing them, but quickly lost interest.

The neck seam allowance is 1/4" and everything else is 3/8". I noticed this on the deconstructed dress, as well. Where, when, and why did the 5/8" seam allowance come into play in commercial home sewing patterns?

I'm so used to following commercial sewing patterns where you're instructed to "sew in the middle of the zipper tape" that I didn't realize the seam allowances apply to sewing on the zipper in this case. I did noticed her stitching is really close to the zipper teeth, which I tried to replicate. But then I had a hard time moving the zipper pull.

And the top doesn't close that well. I'm starting to feel like I suck at sewing again.

First try. Yes. First.

Side note: This post is an edited version of notes I took during construction, and I actually did come up with this thought early on. "Ok. Thinking this through: the placement of the stitching line on the zipper tape doesn't really matter because it's the notch in the fabric at the neckline, indicating where to fold it, which results the lap." THE FOLD LINE IS THE IMPORTANT THING. I know this when sewing a regular lapped zipper, but for some reason, folding it right sides together folded my brain.

"Clipping at the bottom of the seam 1/4" does nothing unless you want the seams pressed to one side? You would have to clip 3/8" to get it to lay flat." I still don't get this.

Since the first try wasn't great, I tried again. I really don't like doing things twice. It's one of the reasons I hate writing: editing.

Second try. I pulled a zipper out of my stash because I thought, "Surely, I will not need this anymore and I can reuse this".

The top was uneven, probably because I didn't cut the zipper to length. And the zipper slider pushed the lap open so you could see the zipper tape when it was supposed to be closed.*

So I tried again. I forgot to take a picture of the third try.

On this one I tried to make the lap wider so as to hide the zipper pull. I had the hardest time figuring it out. I thought I was reeeeally overthinking it, then I wasn't, then I was, etc, and ended up with about 50 bajillion "Oh, add 1/8" here and subtract it here" written on the patterns. It didn't work.

Fourth try. You can see I'm getting tired of taking out threads.

Fifth try! I finally figured it out! You need to extend both edges of the center back zipper seam allowances only. The more you extend, the further to the side it goes. So, theoretically, you could make a lapped zipper where the person in the seat next to you could unzip it for you. And so, correspondingly, the facings need to be adjusted. On the right, you would simply add the same amount you added to the seam. On the left, you would SUBTRACT. Think about it after looking at the picture.

Of course, in this example the left neck facing would be -8 inches long, thereby creating a rift in the space-time continuum and you would get dumped out in Ladd's Addition never to be seen again (inside joke with gorthx , haha).

Fifth try with 1/8" wider lap and zipper pull well hidden. Jeezy Creezy!

*And boy, were these zippers cheap! I'm glad I used these for this project and not something in which I actually wanted to have functioning zippers. The zipper pulls on both ended up crooked in the slider, and while straightening one of them, I actually tore it off with my bare hands, and I have laughable pinching strength. The zipper stop on one just... fell off.

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Oh, and another thing

Wed, 30 May 2018 04:27:04 GMT

I read something on the web recently about hemming jeans, but I can't find it in my history. It was about hammering the thicker part of the hem where the side and inside leg seams meet it to flatten it for easier sewing. I also read a post on Fashion Incubator that talked about a hammering things that you've sewn, but with a special sewing hammer.

I tried it, of course, because who does't like smashing things with a hammer, especially while sewing? I point you again to the link that shows exactly what I look like when sewing (starting around 2:40, anyway).

Basically, press the hem into your jeans, then go at it with a hammer. It works pretty well. Instead of getting hung up going over the seams, my machine just strained a little.

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Jeans waistband tutorial

Wed, 30 May 2018 04:22:40 GMT

I love this method of attaching waistbands! I adapted it from David Page Coffin's technique for attaching cuffs on dress shirts from his DVD Shirtmaking Techniques¹. This works consistently well for waistbands in general. I especially like using this on jeans as it really cuts down on bulk in the corners and makes it easier for me to topstitch.

1. Sew one long edge of the waistband to the pants, stopping exactly at the edge of the side seam of the pants.

2. With the wrong side of the pants facing you (on top) and the waistband on the bottom, fold the side seam at approximately a 45° angle so it lays along the stitching line of the waistband and pin. Do not cover the stitching.

3. Fold the waistband in half, long edges together, so the side edges and corner align. You'll have all the jeans that you just folded and pinned out of the way uncomfortably sandwiched in the waistband.

4. The ending thread is a guide for where to pivot your stitching for the corner. Sew from the folded waistband edge down to the corner where your thread ended, pivot, and continue sewing for about 1". It will look like you are sewing in the wrong place. It's okay!

5. Trim corners and grade seams.

6. Turn the waistband right side out. This will take some finger strength. Pull the corner out so it's square. Do this in whatever way works best for you so you don't poke your point turner through the corner. :)

7. Topstitch and edgestitch at will.

Of course, after I finished this (dare I say it?) perfect waistband, while sewing the buttonhole for the THIRD TIME, my machine sucked such a huge ball of topstitching thread into the bobbin (I'm talking at least 1/2" (1.27cm) in diameter) that I actually had to put my foot on my machine and pull with both hands to get my jeans out. I also broke my seam ripper in the course of wrestling with this. They finally (and suddenly) gave a few extra fractions of an inch, but that was because the denim RIPPED. And this wasn't a cute little tear I could mend with a jaunty zig zag, this was the whole edge up to the buttonhole. And the replacement waistband? Didn't come anywhere near this perfection.

I will think about it as my sand mandala. Ohmmmm...

¹ I can't recommend David's DVD highly enough, and especially recommend it along with his book Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing if you want to improve your technical sewing skills by an order of magnitude.

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Jeans side zipper tutorial

Wed, 30 May 2018 04:03:46 GMT

I put a side zipper in my jeans as it seemed more 40s/50s period appropriate. However, I couldn't find any detailed-enough-for-me pictures of what one from that time looked like. Here's what I did, in more or less chronological order (some of the things I realized I should have done sooner or later, so the pics don't reflect that accurately):

1. Finish seam edges before sewing. The side edge of the pocket is the front side seam, so finish that before making the pockets. I'm lucky to have a serger (compliments of gorthx) so use that, but I've been making jeans for years and a simple zig zag stitch works just as well. I've never had any more problems with seams raveling with a zig zag than serging.

2. Sew side seam up to bottom of zipper insertion point and back stitch. I used a 7" zipper and it's just long enough. A 9" zipper would have run too far into the pocket area where the seams are really bulky. Press under 1/2" seam allowance on the back and 3/4" seam allowance on the front.

3. Pin the zipper to the back, with folded edge along zipper teeth. Sew it!

4. Pin the under lap under the zipper with raw (finished) edge lined up with the sewn edge of the zipper tape. Stitch from the right side through all layers next to folded edge - yes, you will have two rows of stitching on the right side. I finally realized my stitching is curved on the wrong side/inside because the side seam in the hip area is curved. I might cut the underlap with a curved edge in the future. Not that it made a difference on the outside. Or maybe it did! Who knows.

I realize now looking at this picture the "under lap" may be confusing: I'm
calling the "under lap" the rectangular piece of fabric, so a better caption
for what's going on might be "The zipper is under the under lap". And
hey! the seams are now magically finished!

5. Clip 1/2" into the back seam at the bottom of the zipper tape to facilitate folding the side seam under for flat-felling.

6. Edge stitch and top stitch side front opening down to the bottom of zipper opening.

I outlined the zipper tape in black in Photoshop to distinguish the jeans
blue zipper from the jeans blue jeans under lap. Ha.

7. As for a regular lapped zipper application, pin opening closed over zipper matching center lines (ie, the front folded edge will extend 1/4" beyond the back folded edge). I pinned the lap out of the way this time (if I sewed through all the layers, I'd be sewing the opening shut!), sewed another 1/4" away from already existing top stitching (at this point 3/4" away from edge), then across the bottom to the side seam. The stitching across the bottom should be about 1/4" away from the zipper stop. You do not want to try to sew through that on a plastic zipper much less a metal one. Note: I would probably have had an easier time adding the underlap after this step. Somthing to try for next time.

8. Edge stitch and top stitch side seam (flat fell it!) to join up with the zipper top and edge stitching.

9. Unpin under lap and tack the bottom of the zipper.

I'm not completely enamored of this closure, but it was pretty easy to do and works well. What's your favorite side zipper closure? Or do you skip the zip and use buttons?

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