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.

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.