Stretch direction on shirt yoke?

Is it going to be double (lined)? If so, you will probably lose much of the "stretchability". But I would be inclined to cut with the stretch side-to-side, same direction as the body...

To clarify, I was referring to the yoke...

I was thinking I'd probably do a double yoke, yes. And I agree it will loose some of the stretch, but probably not all. Also leaning towards using the same orientation as the back.

If I'm doing that, I assume I should also use a narrow stretch stitch for the yoke to back seam. Most of the others won't matter as they run in the non stretch direction of the fabric.

I would certainly use a stretch stitch for *all* horizontal seams (yoke-to-back and yoke-to fronts, plus pockets, etc.). If you topstitch, that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish...

IME, you cut as normal.

In article , of

uttered>I scored some woven cotton/lycra blend to use for a dress shirt,>intended to have just a little bit of give so that it can be cut more>fitted. It also happened to be the sort of color I've been looking all>over for and unable to find.>>The usual rule for stretch fabrics is that the direction of stretch>goes around the body. On the other hand, the yoke of a shirt is>usually set out with the lengthwise grain running across the width ->which is to say, it's cut at 90 degrees to the way the back of the >shirt is.>

Ignore that "rule", unless you're using a pattern specifically intended for stretch wovens with less than 10% stretch, and it's relying on the stretch of the fabric for fitting.

I would do it as a standard shirt, with the grain oriented as it would be if you were using a non-stretch woven. Look at the stretch woven shirts in the store, and you will see that the stretch of the fabric is pretty much ignored in the construction. (I have a stretch shirting shirt that's cut on the bias.)

Any room for movement is provided by the cut of the garment, not by the stretch of the fabric. A stretch shirting doesn't stretch very much -- I've had loosely woven fabrics that stretch more than stretch shirting.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

(Sorry if this duplicates itself...google choked on my last attempt. :P)

How does one topstitch this fabric? I made a shirt out of a lovely sage-green lycra shirting a few months ago, & topstitched it with a very narrow (~1.5mm) zigzag. Even so, I got that funky pucker effect. I've looked at RTW garments of similar fabric, and noticed that many of them also pucker, but that doesn't mean I have tobe satisfied with not-smooth topstitching. Any tips?

gabrielle

walking foot? I topstitch on soft shells, with a walking foot, and that fabric has a lycra compenent.

I did some test, and the walking foot seemed to make a different in how much the fabric would creep.

Penny S

Have you tried "taut sewing"? I haven't worked on spandex/lycra stretch fabric, but if I did, that's what I would try.

Here's a link from our own Penny:

stretch fabric, but if I did, that's what I would try.

Yes, that seemed to make it worse, actually.

gabrielle

Maybe try a walking foot?

Doreen in Alabama

I think the issue in that kind of case is that the seam is expanded compared to the adjacent fabric. Taught sewing can actually make it worse, because then the seam is even more stretched when it is sewn. Sometimes it's possible with steam to get the fabric to relax back to where it was before you punctured its form with all that extra thread - othertimes the distortion seems permanent. I think finer pitch stitches can sometimes make this worse, because the density of the thread inserted is higher.

One reason the walking foot might help is that there's then less drag from the presser foot. Lightening the pressure might also help if you can still keep the feed and alignment steady with your hands. But I hate making something and then ruining it like that in the last stage!

There are ways the effect can be beneficial though - doing neckline elastic in ballgowns (derived from swimsuit methods) confining both pre-fold stitching and post-fold topstitching to the side of the elastic away from the opening makes that side grow slightly, building in a little curvature that helps it lay flat. This could be a reason for finishing an edge with elastic even when it isn't really required - you can build in just enough tension in the elastic to counteract any tendancy for the process of stitching it on to expand the edge.

I'm hoping I won't run into this problem with the lower stretch woven shirting. Still trying to decide if the (non-stretch) muslins are fit well enough to go ahead with the project, or if I want to put in a tiny bit more wearing ease.

Well, thanks for the suggestions. I've basically completed the shirt (at least all the risky parts) and it came out much better than any previous attempt at a dress shirt - though I cheated on account of the weather and made short sleeves.

I ended up going with the yoke oriented the same as the back.

I mostly avoided topstitching in the stretch direction - did the yoke seams ionside out with the front and back rolled up inside between the layers, using a narrow stretch stitch (will probably widen the yoke next time to make this easier). Most everything else is normal straight stitching and woven methods - flat felled armscye, etc. I did end up using the stretch stitch to topstich the hem on the short sleeves, and it did stretch out of shape a tiny bit on the first one so I lightened the presser foot for the second.

Now I just need to sew on the rest of the buttons and and decide if I have time to finish the hem and fell the sideseams before wearing it tonight.