Week 2: Sew Chic Pretty Petticoat Sew Along LN1208

Here we are at WEEK 2 of the Pretty Petticoat Sew Along. How is your project going?

A lot has been said in the Facebook Group about the interfacing layout and WHY we must cut with the length of goods. Group member, Rebekah, has started her tutorial this week with a blunder in this direction and cautions you to not make the mistake she did. Let me give you a visual of the interfacing layout and all the reasons why you are instructed to do so:

Perhaps understanding the WHY will keep you from taking the same wrong turn.

A WORD OF CAUTION

I will now return to Rebekah's post for week 2, with a few edits from me for clarity:

 Rebekah: 

 So this is where I say DON’T DO WHAT I DID! Lol

The very first steps in the instruction booklet specifically say:

So, I got ahead of myself and decided to go against the grain… just DON’T! This interfacing and most are only 20” wide, so not quite wide enough for the front yoke to be placed crosswise on the on a lengthwise fold. I decided to avoid having to zig zag two pieces together, so I turned  the pattern piece to the crosswise fold. As I sewed the yoke together all seemed fine until… I had to baste the bottom of the yoke together. The top layer or outer layer I didn’t interface. Just the inside layer (or my facings).  And since the yoke hem is on a slight curve, it stretched a bit. Which means the 2 layers are uneven in circumference around. It causes a fold … ick! ( below image of white yoke  is from the very first attempt at this petticoat last year and I got bummed and quit. Although now its been pulled out and I’ll correct it). I refuse to waste fabric lol

REMEMBER: place pattern pieces correctly on the grain and you will avoid such a disappointment. I had a slight tuck on my black yoke which I was able to fix easily enough. Not as severe as here on the white yoke.

 Apply the Interfacing and Sew the Side Seams

Rebekah:  

It’s hard to see here, but I have placed some of my tracing paper down underneath my yoke pieces and interfacings pieces. So as I press it won’t stick to my ironing board. It peels away nicely and toss. No mess! Interfacing on top, facing down. No messy iron either. After inter facing, sew up you side seams  per instructions. You will have two separate yokes.

 Laura: Concerning the yokes, one will be your facing (to the inside, against the body) and the other will be to the outside. I recommend the yoke with the interfacing be the OUTSIDE, or fashion side. WHY? 1) Because it provides stability for your zipper and 2) because this is an undergarment, the interfacing provides a smooth surface for your clothing to move against.

 Zipper Application

Rebekah: 

 Go ahead and baste shut the center back seam on your yoke that is the fashion layer, not the interfaced layer. And clip about every inch or so along the basting. It will help with removing stitches once the zipper is in.

Laura:  

So here is where Rebekah and I temporarily part ways. I do not recommend any kind of fusible, gummy strip, interfacing strip to hold or apply zippers.  WHY?   

Because they ARE sticky and add bulk, might be inappropriate for some fabrics and add expense. I worry about the risk. In the end, the adhesive doesn't do anything for me that a pin can't do so if you are okay with the old fashioned "pin the zipper tape to your seam allowance" method, this video will be of help to you. It's very long because I go through the whole process.

In the video I talk about zipper types and recommend against using an invisible zipper. The WHY behind this is that it's simply not sturdy enough to hold up against the hard use this type of garment is sure to get. 

Remember that centering the zipper teeth exactly over the seam allowance isn't critical. A mostly on center is good enough. If pins just don't do it for you, the tape is ready to serve. Rebekah does a wonderful job showing you how that is done.

Rebekah:  

Here I’ve prepped for my zipper insertion with wonder tape ( it’s water soluble & washes away). Just make sure it not too old or it may be past its prime in quality.

Mark 5/8” down from the top and make sure you place the zipper stop just beneath it. Peel off the paper backing to expose the adhesive.

Place  the zipper face down on the adhesive, zipper teeth centered right over the seam basted shut. Follow instructions for sewing zipper down to just the seam allowance.

Once the zipper is in, I continued with putting the yoke together. Don’t forget to trim your seams at the waist after sewing the layers together, CLIP, its on a curve so it will help it to lay flat. UNDERSTITCH the facing at the waist. 

Laura: 

Now you are ready to top stitch your zipper at center back. MARK the top stitching line from the seam on both sides before you stitch. Always stitch with the right side of the garment towards you. How can you see that the top stitching is straight if you aren't looking at it? Another good tip: I often use a walking foot to do my zipper top stitching, especially with long zippers, slippery or loosely woven, or stretchy (lycra) fabrics. This way, ALL layers can move forward in unison. Be sure to sew all the way to the top, moving your zipper pull out of the way.

Rebekah: 

Here is my black yoke,  you can tell on the bottom right where I had a tuck due to my incorrect interfacing direction. I fixed it as well as I could without deconstructing the yoke too much. Also, this will be inside the seam allowance after attaching the petticoat ruffles, so I didn’t stress myself too much over it. If it was like the white yoke, then yes. 

TIP:  I serged with a single needle three thread overlock stitch. But, be careful if you’ve chosen to use a 7” zipper. The zip stop at the bottom will most likely be in the direct path of the needle on the serger, so when you get to that part , slow down and hand walk your serger past it so you don’t break a needle… ask me how I know! Lol  OR use a 9” zipper and then no zip stop to worry about. Serging the edges cleans them up since they will be exposed after petticoat is done. Or you can use a tight narrow zig zag If you don’t have a serger, OR you can bind with bias binding! Which brings me to my next part.

 Laura: 

It's okay to shorten the Zipper above the stop before sewing. 

 Rebekah:

Have you considered binding you hems? I adore the look of binding on the hem of a petticoat. It gives a lovely finish in my opinion. But it will work just fine without one also. So if price is a consideration, you can cut costs by not bothering with binding. It can be a bit costly depending where you buy it.

I just happened to have 2 yards of black cotton in my stash so I went to work making my own bias binding. Not terribly hard, just an extra step and time , but since I had it, I decided to make it!:) I saved myself $20-$40.

With the settings I used on my pleater, I needed between 12-13 yrds of binding per petticoat layer. So roughly 26 yrds give or take. I ended up with a lot more from my 2 yards of black cotton fabric. A LOT more! So I have extra for another project! Yay! 

Also, binding helps with the body and structure of your petticoat! BONUS!

If you want to be real fancy, you can purchase or make satin/ acetate bias binding. 

Etsy has it for around $1.00/ yrd and higher.

Ebay, amazon,  ( sources listed in materials needed at beginning)

It comes in many different widths. I would suggest ½” as opposed to ¼”. This comes after binding my hems with the bias seam binding foot. The ½” allows a bit more of the fabric to be grab in between the layers. Which keeps the binding from ripping off too easily from the organza…. Ask me how I know! Again. Lol

And I suggest double fold bias. It’s just easier to manage in my opinion. But use what you are comfortable with.

 

Laura:

We had an excellent supplemental  2nd week video in the group today, and I'll be posting one tomorrow. The group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sewchicsupport/

 Let me know how you are doing! Until next week....