V1526, Paco's plaid shirt #2

I got to work on the plaid shirt today and much was accomplished. Above you can see the pattern match complete for the front bodice. The fourth attempt was the charm! This had a fold over facing along the center front and it made it doubly tough to get the plaids matched.

Just in case someone wants to match a plaid across a foldover facing here is what finally worked.

Plaid matching on 1526 

Cut ONLY the right bodice. In the facing area there are two fold lines and a raw edge. Center front is marked as always. That is critical. You are matching one center front exactly over the other center front on the right and left bodices, NOT the folded edge.You have only cut out the right bodice so far!

*  On the right bodice fold the facing  area out of the way and under the bodice. Your crease is on the first fold line near CF. The rest of the facing is behind. Match that folded line to the fabric on the table.  Make sure it matches vertically and horizontally. Measure it along center front edge. My squares were two inches square so I measured the whole square at the edge that was on the right bodice and  lined it up with the fabric on the table.

* Take a removable marker  and mark that folded edge on the "table" fabric with tiny dots. The right bodice is still overlapping the fabric on the table. Place  the pattern piece on top of the right bodice and table fabric,   lining up the CENTER FRONT MARKINGS, not the edge line. Pin down the pattern now on top and outline the shoulders and neckline on the fabric on the table with the little dots. Remove the right bodice.

* Lay your pattern back on the table fabric again, lining up the edge fold closest to CF with the little dots. Cut it out. Make sure when you lay out on the table there is enough room for all the folds of the facing to be cut.  I messed that up twice, lining everything up perfectly and doing it too close to the edge to have enough for the foldover facings.

* Cut! Yay! Whew!

Flat Lining

This garment will be "flat lined", one of my favorite techniques. The vertical seams end up with a Hong Kong finish when complete and a nicely lined garment. I am lining this garment because flannel is notorious for sticking to whatever is under. I want it to hang nice and smoothly.




The first fold of the facing is shown above. The pattern specifies sewing that raw edge "invisibly" to the bodice before doing the other folds required to make the facing.

For flat lining you will need a quarter inch foot and an edge stitching foot. The edge foot really helps but is not totally necessary if you have a good eye.

Every edge of the lining is cut normally except vertical seams. The CF area of the lining is cut to the first folded edge so as not to add bulk to the facing. It sits underneath the folds.

 There are red arrows pointing to the foldover facing underneath. The side seam is cut one half inch wider.

The lining and bodice are place right sides together. The vertical seams, here the side seams, are matched and sewn with the 1/4 inch foot. It is then trimmed to an eighth of an inch. The lining is then pressed toward the lining and folded over the edge and wrapped around the seam allowance. . It is now stitched "in the ditch" with the edge stitching foot. Hong Kong seams, voila!

You can see much more about this technique in the tutorials page by clicking the tab just under the banner.




I've really enjoyed my sewing time this long weekend. Fingers crossed I will finish this tomorrow. I have not cut out my sleeves yet as I know there will be decisions there for the plaid matching. This is a VERY dropped shoulder so it should be interesting. More coming.............Bunny