Welcome back to part 2 of my V1645 sewalong. In the last post, I showed some of my process for prepping for a big project including doing some research, examining the pattern pieces, and making a muslin.
Today I'm showing the first half of the sewing process. As I mentioned before, my sewing process is a bit different than that of the pattern instructions. As written, the original pattern instructions felt like someone had sewn up the garment and then completely rearranged the steps for putting it together in random order. For example, you sew one pocket on starting in step 11 and the other starting in step 35 with lots of flipping and pivoting and other weird steps in between. I know they had their reasons, but I felt like there had to be a better way.
So, I've broken the steps down into just 15 steps that I think you'll find much more intuitive and straightforward than the pattern as written. But that's just my view and you're more than welcome to go back to the original instructions if they make more sense to you. Play around with the construction as you make your muslin and experiment with what works for you.
Here's the first ten steps of my process, with five more of "tricky" bits shared in my next post:
1. Bust Darts: Sew bust darts on left front (pattern piece #3) and front overlay (right side) (#6). Note that I have adjusted my darts by raising them 1/2" so mine may look different than yours. Press darts down over a pressing ham.
.
.
2. Pocket Bag: Place left front (#3) and front overlay (#6) right sides up on your table. Note how the side seams where the bust darts are located curve in a half-moon shape toward the hips. Place each pocket piece (#7) right side down on top of your front pieces along this curve, matching the notches closest to the hip. Sew the seam; you may consider stabilizing it with interfacing or another stabilizer to avoid stretching the seam out as you sew. Finish the raw edge you just sewed, press, and understitch.
Note: The original pattern instructions have you attach the pocket between the marked circles only. As I am changing the construction slightly, I ignored the circles and sewed across the entire pattern piece. No clipping required and I promise you still get a nice result.
.
3. Front Side: Again place left front (#3) and front overlay (#6) right sides up, this time with attached pocket bag (#7) open up and sticking away from the front pieces. Lay side front (#5) right side down on top of front pieces. Match notches and pin along curve of pocket bag. Sew together, stopping 2 inches before the top (this will allow you to bind and cleanly finish the underarm part later).
.
.
4. Finishing Seams: Leaving 2 inches unsewn at the top makes it trickier to finish the front side seam One way to handle this is to finish each raw edge separately before sewing the seam. Alternately, if binding or overlockig the raw edge, you could bind/overlock part of the edge now and finish binding/overlocking the rest later.
At this point, I also like to finish the inner and out leg edges of the left front (#3), right front (#1), lower back (#2) and front overlay (#6) (just the side leg seam of the front overlay). This works best if binding or overlocking. That way, you can press the seams open later. Note that this may obscure your notches; remark them.
.
.
5. Inner Leg: Sew right front (#1) to right lower back (#2) at inner leg, right sides together; repeat for left side with left front (#3) and left lower back (#2). As you've already finished the raw edges, simply press the seams open after sewing.
.
.
6. Crotch: Sew right side to left at crotch seam, right sides together. The crotch seam can experience a lot of stress when worn, so sew along the same seamline again to reinforce the stitching. Finish and press to one side.
.
.
7. Back: If you cut the upper back (#4) in two pieces as directed on the pattern, sew together at center back (I cut mine on the fold, so no need to sew). Finish the center back seam and press to same side as the crotch seam (again not shown because I cut my piece on the fold).
Then stitch the upper back (#4) to lower back (#2) at the horizontal waist seam. Finish seam and press down.
.
.
8. Belt: Assemble the belt front (#8) and belt back (#14) as per pattern instructions. I substituted the belt for wide (3") ties. For the ties, I made my front tie 16" longer than the back tie - it wraps around my body and then ties to the back tie (unlike the pattern, where the belt doesn't wrap fully around the body). Mine was based on my measurements and how much fabric I had available, but the front tie is about 50" and the back is about 34," which seemed to work pretty well for me.
Baste the back belt (#14) or tie piece into the back right dart so that it is centered on the horizontal waist seam. Baste front belt (#8) or tie piece to front overlay (#6) at waist, matching pattern marking circles.
.
.
9. Back Darts: Close up the back darts, sewing all the way through the upper back (#4). As with step 3, stop 2 inches before the top (this will allow you to bind and cleanly finish the top of the sides later). Finish the raw edge as you did in step 3 and press toward center. (Note that my picture is wrong as it shows them pressed towards the sides. It also doesn't show the tip of the dart, which is just below the frame of the picture - not sure what I was thinking here!)
.
.
10. Sides: With right sides together, sew the left back to the left front at the side seam. Sew all the way to the top (don't stop 2" before top as we did with the other pieces). Press seam open.
Next sew the right back to the right overlay (NOT the right front), leaving 3 inches unsewn at the hem. Remember that the front overlay is about 1" shorter than the side seam (don't ease it in to fit like I did on my first attempt!).
Finish the front and back shoulder seams of both sides, sew together, and press open.
.
.
At this point, you've done most of the work for constructing the jumpsuit! I recommend you pause here as the next five steps involve a few tricky bits but nothing you can't handle. I'll be back soon with the last five steps for finishing up this pattern!
Today I'm showing the first half of the sewing process. As I mentioned before, my sewing process is a bit different than that of the pattern instructions. As written, the original pattern instructions felt like someone had sewn up the garment and then completely rearranged the steps for putting it together in random order. For example, you sew one pocket on starting in step 11 and the other starting in step 35 with lots of flipping and pivoting and other weird steps in between. I know they had their reasons, but I felt like there had to be a better way.
So, I've broken the steps down into just 15 steps that I think you'll find much more intuitive and straightforward than the pattern as written. But that's just my view and you're more than welcome to go back to the original instructions if they make more sense to you. Play around with the construction as you make your muslin and experiment with what works for you.
Here's the first ten steps of my process, with five more of "tricky" bits shared in my next post:
1. Bust Darts: Sew bust darts on left front (pattern piece #3) and front overlay (right side) (#6). Note that I have adjusted my darts by raising them 1/2" so mine may look different than yours. Press darts down over a pressing ham.
.
2. Pocket Bag: Place left front (#3) and front overlay (#6) right sides up on your table. Note how the side seams where the bust darts are located curve in a half-moon shape toward the hips. Place each pocket piece (#7) right side down on top of your front pieces along this curve, matching the notches closest to the hip. Sew the seam; you may consider stabilizing it with interfacing or another stabilizer to avoid stretching the seam out as you sew. Finish the raw edge you just sewed, press, and understitch.
Note: The original pattern instructions have you attach the pocket between the marked circles only. As I am changing the construction slightly, I ignored the circles and sewed across the entire pattern piece. No clipping required and I promise you still get a nice result.
.
3. Front Side: Again place left front (#3) and front overlay (#6) right sides up, this time with attached pocket bag (#7) open up and sticking away from the front pieces. Lay side front (#5) right side down on top of front pieces. Match notches and pin along curve of pocket bag. Sew together, stopping 2 inches before the top (this will allow you to bind and cleanly finish the underarm part later).
.
4. Finishing Seams: Leaving 2 inches unsewn at the top makes it trickier to finish the front side seam One way to handle this is to finish each raw edge separately before sewing the seam. Alternately, if binding or overlockig the raw edge, you could bind/overlock part of the edge now and finish binding/overlocking the rest later.
At this point, I also like to finish the inner and out leg edges of the left front (#3), right front (#1), lower back (#2) and front overlay (#6) (just the side leg seam of the front overlay). This works best if binding or overlocking. That way, you can press the seams open later. Note that this may obscure your notches; remark them.
.
.
5. Inner Leg: Sew right front (#1) to right lower back (#2) at inner leg, right sides together; repeat for left side with left front (#3) and left lower back (#2). As you've already finished the raw edges, simply press the seams open after sewing.
.
6. Crotch: Sew right side to left at crotch seam, right sides together. The crotch seam can experience a lot of stress when worn, so sew along the same seamline again to reinforce the stitching. Finish and press to one side.
.
7. Back: If you cut the upper back (#4) in two pieces as directed on the pattern, sew together at center back (I cut mine on the fold, so no need to sew). Finish the center back seam and press to same side as the crotch seam (again not shown because I cut my piece on the fold).
Then stitch the upper back (#4) to lower back (#2) at the horizontal waist seam. Finish seam and press down.
.
.
8. Belt: Assemble the belt front (#8) and belt back (#14) as per pattern instructions. I substituted the belt for wide (3") ties. For the ties, I made my front tie 16" longer than the back tie - it wraps around my body and then ties to the back tie (unlike the pattern, where the belt doesn't wrap fully around the body). Mine was based on my measurements and how much fabric I had available, but the front tie is about 50" and the back is about 34," which seemed to work pretty well for me.
Baste the back belt (#14) or tie piece into the back right dart so that it is centered on the horizontal waist seam. Baste front belt (#8) or tie piece to front overlay (#6) at waist, matching pattern marking circles.
.
9. Back Darts: Close up the back darts, sewing all the way through the upper back (#4). As with step 3, stop 2 inches before the top (this will allow you to bind and cleanly finish the top of the sides later). Finish the raw edge as you did in step 3 and press toward center. (Note that my picture is wrong as it shows them pressed towards the sides. It also doesn't show the tip of the dart, which is just below the frame of the picture - not sure what I was thinking here!)
.
10. Sides: With right sides together, sew the left back to the left front at the side seam. Sew all the way to the top (don't stop 2" before top as we did with the other pieces). Press seam open.
Next sew the right back to the right overlay (NOT the right front), leaving 3 inches unsewn at the hem. Remember that the front overlay is about 1" shorter than the side seam (don't ease it in to fit like I did on my first attempt!).
Finish the front and back shoulder seams of both sides, sew together, and press open.
.
At this point, you've done most of the work for constructing the jumpsuit! I recommend you pause here as the next five steps involve a few tricky bits but nothing you can't handle. I'll be back soon with the last five steps for finishing up this pattern!
No comments:
Post a Comment