The reason why the stitch line along the top of the casing is wavy is that you have used a knitted fabric. If you use a woven fabric you can sew the stitch line on top of the casing for anyone, since it gives a finer finish to the casing.
There could be a few reasons that the slit would separate at the bottom when the skirt is worn.
The most common reason for this happening is when we have a belly that we are pulling the front of the skirt up on. This will cause the back of the skirt to be pulled on either side along the bottom. If we have a slit at the center back the slit will open up as a result.
Another reason for the slit separating along the bottom of the skirt is that the skirt is too tight along the bottom.
To fix the first issue, we need to let out some fabric along the center front waistline seam allowance of the skirt and lower the center back seam by about the same amount. The waistline will stay the same at the side seams, so we need to merge gradually towards them, on the front and back. This will result in the skirt falling properly on the body. Then we do a fitting to make sure we have let out and taken in enough on the front and back waistline seam allowances. If we have a belly we need to draft a full figure skirt block pattern.
To fix the second issue, we need to let out from the side seam allowances.
Basically what the instructions are telling you to do in the 3rd point, is to lift the presser foot once you are done sewing the dart. Then rotate the dart towards your self, with the widest part towards you. You should be doing this with the needle out of the fabric. Then you sew about 2.5 cm or 1 inch above the dart point on the folded fabric, using a stitch length setting of zero to secure the thread.
This is an effective way of sewing darts as well. However I prefer to sew the dart in one step, without changing the stitch length setting. I find that doing this will give a smoother stitch line. What I do is sew to the dart point and leave a long tail to tie off later. When tying the knots, I pull the threads a bit.
I made a belly dance coverup from a beautiful sari fabric which was very soft and silky, but would fray if you looked at it sideways. Before cutting I bonded fusible interfacing to the areas to be cut. I may eventually zig-zag stitch the edge in some areas, but this was a time saver and also added a little body to the fabric.
First make sure that your pieces have exactly the same seam allowances.
To get a perfect corner and consistent seam allowances, you can mark the location where the corner will be sewn to, by clipping a notch. Your notch should be a bit shorter than your seam allowance.
To sew the first seam of the 3-D corner, place the two pieces together, the fabric with the notch will go on top. The notch should be places with the same distance as the seam allowance from the corner while the edges are aligned.
Pin the two pieces together. Make sure to pin along the notch as well. Begin sewing the seam by machine. Once you get to the notch, keep the needle in. Lift the presser foot and bring the other edge of the top layer and align it with the edge of the lower layer. Again pin the two layers together while the corner is held in place by the machine needle.
Lower the presser foot and sew along the second seam line. You should now have a perfect 3-D corner. You can trim off some of the excess fabric diagonally at the corner, to let the fabric lie flat.
Welcome to our site and thanks for the compliment.
The peach colored skirt was sewn using the standard skirt block pattern not the full figure one.
I used the size 12 dress form to draft the straight and tapered skirt block pattern.
Yes, you can have one waist dart on either side of the front and back. If the dart intake is less than 2 cm the dart points will lay flat on the body, when we wear the garment. If the intake is 2 cm or more, I prefer to split the darts into two.
If you are sewing a dress, you draft your block pattern with one waist dart, later when styling your block pattern, you can decrease the dart intakes to add ease to the dress. This way you will have one waist dart on either side that lie flat on the body. In case you want the dress to be more fitted, you can always have two waist darts on either side of your dress.
Thanks for letting us know about this issue you are having. We have been doing some website updates and a previous version of some files might be causing this. Please try again now and if it doesn't work you might need to clear your web browser's cache by following the below instructions. Pardon any inconvenience this may have caused. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Andy J
eSewingWorkshop.com Support
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If you look at the body from profile you will see that the back goes in, compared to the front. In order to compensate for this difference, we have a center back dart on the pattern. We can not have a very large intake on the waist darts on the back. Therefore we need to have a centre back dart as well. This dart usually gets transferred to the centre back seam line.
No matter what, we always include the center back dart in our block pattern.
Some times we may choose to not take it in the centre back dart according to the style of the garment we are sewing.
Yes, you can use the bodice block pattern that you draft in this lesson for any garment that you would like to sew, as long as you style the block pattern beforehand.
In order to be able to insert a zipper on a pleated skirt, you need to have the seam where the zipper is inserted, have one pleat end and another one start.
If there is a difference between the front and back bodice lengths, this is okay. Everyone has a different body shape. Sometimes the front is longer than the back, sometimes the back is longer. Other times the front and back are the same length.
No matter what, you need to use your body measurements when drafting your pattern. The different lengths will affect the bodice pattern above the waistline as you draw your pattern.
My suggestion would be to try shoulder pads of differing thicknesses. Pin them on the inside and do fittings to find the one that you like most. You can also make some adjustments to the shoulder pads by trimming them, or adding or removing some layers from them.
Welcome to our site. I am happy to see that you like the lessons. Yes we will be sewing a garment with sleeves very soon. In the mean time I think that you may benefit from the sweater remodeling and the jacket shoulder alteration video Lessons.
If the alteration you intend to make, does not decrease the opening of the side pockets too much, you can take in from the side seam as if there are no pockets there. If the side pocket openings decrease too much, you can change the angle of the pocket openings, to be able to pass your hand trough them.
Since women tend to not use their side pockets too often, you can also eliminate the side pockets completely if the pocket opening goes totally into the side seams, but you need to let the pants owner know that the pockets will be eliminated. If you create new pockets then the cost of the alteration should reflect this.
When tapering the pant legs you will need to take in from the side seams and the inseams. But make sure to take in twice as much from the side seams as you do from the inseams for each leg. You can use the same technique for marking one pant leg and copying your marks over to the other leg using thread, as I show in the Pants Alteration Video Lesson, Side Seam and Waistband.
Right now we have some video lessons regarding different alterations. If you watch the lessons regarding sewing essentials, garment sewing, alterations and remodeling, you will be able to learn many pointers that you can apply to many different types of projects.
For standard sewing machine you can follow the below instructions.
If you align the raw edge of your fabric with the guide lines of the needle plate you can sew a straight line parallel to the raw edge of your fabric. To sew the second row of stitches parallel to the first line, it is enough to align the edge of your fabric with another guide line on the needle plate.
If the needle plate does not have clear lines, you can apply a piece of masking tape and use it as your guide. Make sure the edge of the masking tape is parallel to the needle plate guide lines. To sew the second line of stitches, move your masking tape closer to the needle. Again make sure the masking tape is parallel to the guides on your needle plate.
The gathering attachments usually come with instructions and diagrams to help you. There are also video on YouTube for different sewing machine brands and their gathering attachments.
Dear Di,
Your beautiful daughters make wonderful models for your work. I appreciate you sharing your lovely creations with us.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Enas,
The reason why the stitch line along the top of the casing is wavy is that you have used a knitted fabric. If you use a woven fabric you can sew the stitch line on top of the casing for anyone, since it gives a finer finish to the casing.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Kusuman,
There could be a few reasons that the slit would separate at the bottom when the skirt is worn.
The most common reason for this happening is when we have a belly that we are pulling the front of the skirt up on. This will cause the back of the skirt to be pulled on either side along the bottom. If we have a slit at the center back the slit will open up as a result.
Another reason for the slit separating along the bottom of the skirt is that the skirt is too tight along the bottom.
To fix the first issue, we need to let out some fabric along the center front waistline seam allowance of the skirt and lower the center back seam by about the same amount. The waistline will stay the same at the side seams, so we need to merge gradually towards them, on the front and back. This will result in the skirt falling properly on the body. Then we do a fitting to make sure we have let out and taken in enough on the front and back waistline seam allowances. If we have a belly we need to draft a full figure skirt block pattern.
To fix the second issue, we need to let out from the side seam allowances.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Kate,
I like your suggestion and will add it to my list for future video lessons.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear boohbee,
Basically what the instructions are telling you to do in the 3rd point, is to lift the presser foot once you are done sewing the dart. Then rotate the dart towards your self, with the widest part towards you. You should be doing this with the needle out of the fabric. Then you sew about 2.5 cm or 1 inch above the dart point on the folded fabric, using a stitch length setting of zero to secure the thread.
This is an effective way of sewing darts as well. However I prefer to sew the dart in one step, without changing the stitch length setting. I find that doing this will give a smoother stitch line. What I do is sew to the dart point and leave a long tail to tie off later. When tying the knots, I pull the threads a bit.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Hi dancinggirl2 - did the interfacing show through the material in the finished product?
I made a belly dance coverup from a beautiful sari fabric which was very soft and silky, but would fray if you looked at it sideways. Before cutting I bonded fusible interfacing to the areas to be cut. I may eventually zig-zag stitch the edge in some areas, but this was a time saver and also added a little body to the fabric.
Thank you both for your encouraging words. Much appreciated.
Dear Enas,
Thanks for your interest. We will be sending out an email invitation to all our members, where you can vote for future video lesson topics.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Enas,
First make sure that your pieces have exactly the same seam allowances.
To get a perfect corner and consistent seam allowances, you can mark the location where the corner will be sewn to, by clipping a notch. Your notch should be a bit shorter than your seam allowance.
To sew the first seam of the 3-D corner, place the two pieces together, the fabric with the notch will go on top. The notch should be places with the same distance as the seam allowance from the corner while the edges are aligned.
Pin the two pieces together. Make sure to pin along the notch as well. Begin sewing the seam by machine. Once you get to the notch, keep the needle in. Lift the presser foot and bring the other edge of the top layer and align it with the edge of the lower layer. Again pin the two layers together while the corner is held in place by the machine needle.
Lower the presser foot and sew along the second seam line. You should now have a perfect 3-D corner. You can trim off some of the excess fabric diagonally at the corner, to let the fabric lie flat.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Di,
Congratulations on your accomplishment. I really enjoyed looking at your dress from all the different angles and also your description.
Looking forward to see more of your project.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear azeez,
Welcome to our site and thanks for the compliment.
The peach colored skirt was sewn using the standard skirt block pattern not the full figure one.
I used the size 12 dress form to draft the straight and tapered skirt block pattern.
Yes, you can have one waist dart on either side of the front and back. If the dart intake is less than 2 cm the dart points will lay flat on the body, when we wear the garment. If the intake is 2 cm or more, I prefer to split the darts into two.
If you are sewing a dress, you draft your block pattern with one waist dart, later when styling your block pattern, you can decrease the dart intakes to add ease to the dress. This way you will have one waist dart on either side that lie flat on the body. In case you want the dress to be more fitted, you can always have two waist darts on either side of your dress.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Katharine,
Welcome to our site. I hope that you will benefit from the lessons. I would be very happy to see your projects.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Great Job :)
Hi
Thanks for letting us know about this issue you are having. We have been doing some website updates and a previous version of some files might be causing this. Please try again now and if it doesn't work you might need to clear your web browser's cache by following the below instructions. Pardon any inconvenience this may have caused. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Andy J
eSewingWorkshop.com Support
Notes:
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Each time you access a file through your web browser, the browser caches (i.e., stores) it. By doing this, the browser doesn't have to newly retrieve files (including any images) from the remote web site each time you click Back or Forward. You should periodically clear the cache to allow your browser to function more efficiently.
A cookie is a file created by a web browser, at the request of a web site, that is then stored on a computer. These files typically store user-specific information such as selections in a form, shopping cart contents, or authentication data. Browsers will normally clear cookies that reach a certain age, but clearing them manually may solve problems with web sites or your browser.
A browser's history is a log of sites that you visit. When you press a browser's Back button, you are moving back one entry in the history log. Browsers will normally clear their history at regular intervals, but you may want to clear it manually for privacy reasons.
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Dear asmapoh,
If you look at the body from profile you will see that the back goes in, compared to the front. In order to compensate for this difference, we have a center back dart on the pattern. We can not have a very large intake on the waist darts on the back. Therefore we need to have a centre back dart as well. This dart usually gets transferred to the centre back seam line.
No matter what, we always include the center back dart in our block pattern.
Dear Owoeye,
In order to be able to insert a zipper on a pleated skirt, you need to have the seam where the zipper is inserted, have one pleat end and another one start.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Stephanie,
If there is a difference between the front and back bodice lengths, this is okay. Everyone has a different body shape. Sometimes the front is longer than the back, sometimes the back is longer. Other times the front and back are the same length.
No matter what, you need to use your body measurements when drafting your pattern. The different lengths will affect the bodice pattern above the waistline as you draw your pattern.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Kate,
Thanks so much for the complements.
My suggestion would be to try shoulder pads of differing thicknesses. Pin them on the inside and do fittings to find the one that you like most. You can also make some adjustments to the shoulder pads by trimming them, or adding or removing some layers from them.
Hope this helps.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Diane,
Welcome to our site. I am happy to see that you like the lessons. Yes we will be sewing a garment with sleeves very soon. In the mean time I think that you may benefit from the sweater remodeling and the jacket shoulder alteration video Lessons.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Mollie,
If the alteration you intend to make, does not decrease the opening of the side pockets too much, you can take in from the side seam as if there are no pockets there. If the side pocket openings decrease too much, you can change the angle of the pocket openings, to be able to pass your hand trough them.
Since women tend to not use their side pockets too often, you can also eliminate the side pockets completely if the pocket opening goes totally into the side seams, but you need to let the pants owner know that the pockets will be eliminated. If you create new pockets then the cost of the alteration should reflect this.
When tapering the pant legs you will need to take in from the side seams and the inseams. But make sure to take in twice as much from the side seams as you do from the inseams for each leg. You can use the same technique for marking one pant leg and copying your marks over to the other leg using thread, as I show in the Pants Alteration Video Lesson, Side Seam and Waistband.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Mollie,
Right now we have some video lessons regarding different alterations. If you watch the lessons regarding sewing essentials, garment sewing, alterations and remodeling, you will be able to learn many pointers that you can apply to many different types of projects.
Happy Sewing,
Nehzat
Dear asmapoh,
Not yet, but we will be making a video lesson covering this topic very soon.
Happy sewing,
Nehzat
Dear Sudi,
For standard sewing machine you can follow the below instructions.
If you align the raw edge of your fabric with the guide lines of the needle plate you can sew a straight line parallel to the raw edge of your fabric. To sew the second row of stitches parallel to the first line, it is enough to align the edge of your fabric with another guide line on the needle plate.
If the needle plate does not have clear lines, you can apply a piece of masking tape and use it as your guide. Make sure the edge of the masking tape is parallel to the needle plate guide lines. To sew the second line of stitches, move your masking tape closer to the needle. Again make sure the masking tape is parallel to the guides on your needle plate.
The gathering attachments usually come with instructions and diagrams to help you. There are also video on YouTube for different sewing machine brands and their gathering attachments.
Happy sewing
Nehzat