Shirtmaking

A case of doing it slowly and getting it right being quicker than racing through and having to correct errors...

Lovely job, Doreen! :)

Thanks for the tips. I've found that top stitching makes a huge difference when I make the V neck tops I like to wear. I kinda go "top stitch crazy" and often top stitch 3 or 4 rows to make it really stand out. Barbara in SC

Dear Doreen,

I'm very fussy about shirt finishing, too. But I do the collar very differently to get a perfect finish. I attach the stand to the collar after topstitching the collar, by making a sandwich of the collar between the two stand pieces. I then open out the self facing down the front, and sew the end seam of the stand facing to the fold, and the rest of the front self facing to the stand facing. A bit awkward, but the fold transition from stand to front is always smooth and perfect. I have seen the stand poke over the front, even in a catalog cover I just received from Nancy's Notions. I hate that.

Teri

I'd add to your list: a properly drafted pattern, with separate under and upper collars, not "cut two on fold".

I'll second that and collar stands as well. Also, under and top cuffs shouldn't be the same size. By cutting different and stretching to match when combining will build in natural curvatures.

JPBill

Thanks, Kate!

Doreen in Alabama

Barbara,

I agree, topstitching can be very decorative. And at least one row is useful these days, when we don't just automatically iron everything that's laundered.

Doreen in Alabama

Teri,

Thanks for the interesting method. I'll give it a try...I can see where it could be especially useful when using heavier fabrics.

With a narrow stand, can you accomplish both steps (attaching it) in one pass, or do you break your stitching at the stand seam and start again?

You'd think Nancy's would do better! I noticed that too.

Doreen in Alabama

Kay,

DH's patterns have separate upper and under collars. With my homemade camp shirt pattern, I do cut the collars together (not on the fold, though), but do some strategic trimming before sewing them together. Same difference. :)

Doreen in Alabama

Dear Doreen,

I sew the outer stand, starting with the bit on the front facing, all the way across. I then fold in the bottom of the facing, with the tiniest of over hangs, and topstitch through all layers, starting at a point under the center back collar, so that there are no "loose ends" showing anywhere. (Note: When I'm stitching anything where I have to turn a corner, I never start at a corner--I find a place that won't be obvious.)

Teri

Sometimes I'll thread the machine as if using a double needle, but put both threads through the eye of a single needle.

Joy Beeson

Great thread, I'm saving this. Thanks all, Gives me hope of improving my skills. Kitty

But, imho, it's easier to trim a paper pattern down correctly and use it as the second piece, rather than cut a wiggly piece of fabric down accurately. Ditto for stands and cuffs (though I think the original question was just about collars.) I'm also crazy enough that I cut full pattern pieces, not "cut on fold"

If you'd like to do a dress shirt sometime, see if your library has the Islander Sewing Systems tape or dvd called Shirts. Some really good methods for producing a very nice shirt without wanting to wad the whole thing up and hide it in the back of the drawer, or toss the sewing machine from a third floor window.

Kay

I always thought of myself as a perfectionist, but I can see I've worn things others would have tossed in a back corner cause I thought it was the best I could do. Now I know better I may never wear anything I make again. LOL or maybe I'll experience a new Level of Quality in my clothes. LOL

I always end up remaking store bought skirts and dresses, now I'll be remaking shirts as well. Kitty

I pin them together with the undercollar sticking out a little bit.

In addition to rolling the seams under, it makes grading the allowances easier.

Joy Beeson

What I, in my official capacity as head nitpicker of the N3F Writers' Exchange, deem a *superb* description of collar assembly.

Twenty or thirty years ago, I made all of DH's sport shirts and never once used a fusible -- does fusing the interfacing to the collar actually *do* anything?

It might matter that all these shirts (except the cotton-print shirts I made in Hawaii) were made of permanent-press fabric with a lot of body, and whenever it was sufficiently opaque (and it nearly always was, when it had enough body for the permanent-press to work) I used the fashion fabric for interfacing.

Since topstitching on perma-press puckers, I assembled the shirts with french seams, and sewed the patch pockets on by hand. (Back stitches don't draw up in the wash the way machine stitches do.)

I was surprised at how easily a sleeve eases into a french seam. One would expect the first stitching, when you are enlarging the amount to be eased in and at the same time reducing the space you have to ease it into, to cause a lot of trouble.

Nowadays I sew only for myself, use only natural fibers, fell almost every seam, and do more hand finishing every year. I may end up hand-sewing seams! (I already hand-fell seams when I sew silk, since it's impossible to match thread to silk fabric & I have to do all the topstitching with ravelings.)

Joy Beeson

Joy, thanks for the shirtmaking tips. I agree completely on forgeting fusibles in shirts.

If you're a fan of handstitching, below referenced is a highly entertaining article by Larissa MacFarquhar in the New Yorker on the Washington tailor (Georges de Paris) who has made the suits for all our presidents since 1976, when Brooks Bros. stopped making custom suits, and has even "cut cloth" for Tony Blair and other heads of state. I expect Tony would visit Savile Row for most of his, though.

The jackets of these $3500+ suits (depending on fabric) are done entirely by hand, with a machine being used only on the trousers, which are done by an assistant in his small shop.

New Yorker Magazine, Sept 27, 2004.

Some of the facts appear at this link, if you can't get the magazine locally:

Teri,

Thanks for the additional info. That's the way I do the collar and stand topstitching, too.

(The reason my reply is so delayed is that we have been without telephone service and internet connection for almost 48 hours. Withdrawal pain, for sure!)

Doreen in Alabama