Sewing Instructions Provided by Sure-Fit Designs

I'm often asked if Sure-Fit Designs provides sewing instruction steps.  Beginners are particularly worried that they might not know how to sew the pieces together and what should happen first.

Even though Sure-Fit Designs is primarily a fitting and designing system, there are sewing construction steps provided for specific designs in all the Dress, Pants, Shirt, Children's kits and in the Men's Instructional Package.  Here's where you'll find the information and though construction illustrations are not always provided, the instructions tell you what to do and in what order.

Sure-Fit Designs Pants Kit:  

• How to sew basic pants together is provided on page 11 of the Pans Kit Instruction book. 
• Sewing jeans is provided on page 23.
• Sewing an elastic waist is on page 24.
• Inserting a pocket opening (eliminates the need for a zipper and is extremely comfortable) is on page 25.
• Inserting an inseam pocket is on page 25. 
• Sewing a zipper fly front is on page 27.                                                                                                                                                                              

     Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit:

• Bodice sewing construction steps are found on the following video tutorials:       
  D.8.a Pt. 1-Fabric Choice/Layout/Cutting                                                         
  D.8.b Pt. 2-How to Sew and Press Darts                                                        
  D.8.c Pt. 3-Sewing Shoulder & Side Seams                                                  
  D.8.d Pt. 4-How to Set in the Sleeve                                                                
  D.8.e Pt. 5-Staystitching/Pressing/Fit Evaluation  
• Sewing a V-Neck (Dress or Shirt pattern)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  Sure-Fit Designs Shirt Kit:          

• General Instructions for sewing the shirt are on page 13 of the Shirt Kit Instruction book. 
• Sewing robes are found on page 17.  
• Easy technique for stitching a Shirt Collar and Collar Stand. 
• Stitching a traditional Shirt Placket 
• Stitching a continuous lap Shirt Placket                 
  
   

   



    Sure-Fit Designs Children's Kit:

• General instructions for sewing elastic back pants are found on page 16 of the Children's Kit Instruction book.
• How to insert a zipper fly front is on page 17.
• How to attach a bib to a waist edge is on page 18.
• General instructions for sewing a shirt/blouse are on page 20.
• Sewing a child's cross-over shoulder T-shirt is on page 21.
• Sewing a hood on to a neck edge is found on page 22.
• How to sew a tab neckline treatment is on page 26.
• General skirt sewing instructions are on page 27.
• How to sew a tab front is found on page 29. 
• How to sew children's robes are on pages 30 & 31.
• How to sew a girl's party dress is on page 32.                                                                                                                                                                                        

 Sure-Fit Designs Men's Instructional Package:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

•   General sewing construction steps for men's pants is on page 12.              

   

Sure-Fit Designs Newest downloadable Fashion Leaflets (Digital Sewing Patterns:                                                                                                  

•  Go to https://surefitdesigns.com/collections/digital-e-goods                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
  Sure-Fit Designs designing book/DVD combinations:                                                                                                                                                            All new designs - each with complete step-by-step sewing construction instructions.  (Each book/DVD is designed specifically to go hand-in-hand with the Pants Kit, shirt Kit and Dress Kit.) In an effort to give you sewing guidance, first analyze your current resources.  Did you know all of these how-to sewing instructions existed in the Sure-Fit Designs kits, patterns, books and leaflets?  Use this information as a handy guide to find what you might be looking for. Second, so you have a stockpile of existing commercial patterns?  The sewing steps provided on the accompanying guide sheets provide an excellent source of instruction.  Their pattern may not be exactly what you are wanting to sew, but if there is any similarity in design to what you are creating, their instructions can be a great resource. Third, do you have any general sewing construction resource books?  There are a number of comprehensive books available that not only provide construction techniques, but will also provide step-by-step procedures.  My favorite is the Vogue Sewing Book.  It's a thick resource guide and well worth the investment.  For more information on how to sew the garment together read this article Part 1: Sewing Construction Guidelines
                              
  
                                                                                   
•  Pants that Mix 'n' Multiply  
• Sew Sensational Shirts 
• Beyond Bodice Basics   
• As you can see (and read) there are truly lots and lots of sewing tutorials and sewing construction steps given with the Sure-Fit Designs fitting and sewing system.
  
   
• Happy Sewing! Glenda the Good Stitch!                                                                                

Unsure how to sew it all together? This Resource Guide is a Must!

www.surefitdesigns.com

When you’ve sewn for ages your mind kicks into gear when constructing a garment.  What do you do first?  What do you sew next?  You kind of know the order in which things should be done.  But for the novice, it might not be so obvious. Use these guidelines and you’ll generally be well on your way to a comfortable level of knowing how to sew something together.

First, do as much work on a major pattern piece as possible before joining them to another major piece.  All darts, pleats, tucks and style lines (like princess lines) would be sewn first.  Sew side seams and shoulder seams only when you can’t do anything more on the major piece.  This makes pressing easier, simplifies the sewing process, makes the garment easier to handle in the machine and the entire construction process will take less time.  

 

Read through these steps first, then analyze them in relation to the garment you want to sew.  Eliminate those that don’t apply, but stay with the general flow of steps.

1. Attach any interfacing.  Whether for a blouse, dress, coat, shirt or waistband of pants or shirt, do this first.
2. Darts, tucks, pleats.  Do these next.
3. Sew style lines.  Does your pattern have style lines like princess lines or yokes?  Anything that is not a shoulder or side seam should be sewn now.
4. Pockets.  Apply them to the major piece taking care that they are balanced from one side to the other.
5. Insert the zipper.  If possible insert the zipper while the major piece is still flat, but if it is a dress with a waist seam and the zipper extends into the skirt, it will be applied later.
6. Shoulder seams generally come next.
7. Sew a 'shirt-style' sleeve.  The lower, flatter sleeve cap lends itself to sewing into the front and back armscye at this time.
8. For shirts, sew side seams from hem up through underarm to sleeve hem edge.  For pants, sew inseams and side seams.  For a dress, if the design has an attached skirt, sew the skirt and bodice side seams separately, but don't attach skirt the skirt to the bodice yet.
9. For pants, sew crotch seams.
10. Sew waistband or facings for pants/skirts. Finish elastic waists at this time.
11. Sew collar.  Prepare collar.  Make sure facings have been prepped.  Attach collar.
12. Prepare sleeve.  Prepare any detailing like plackets, gathers, etc. before stitching the underarm seam.  Apply cuffs if applicable.
13. Set in sleeve.
14. Neckline/armhole facings.  Sew the neckline or armhole facings if there is no collar.
15. Dress waist seam.  For 2-piece dresses, sew bodice to skirt at waistline.
16. Apply zipper.  For dresses with waistline seams, add the zipper now.
17. Finish hem.
18. Closures.  Buttons, buttonholes, hooks and eyes, frog closures, snaps should be sewn at this time.
19. Belts, bows or additional trimmings may happen now.
20. Always Press As You Sew!

 

The more you sew, the more your confidence grows.

(Adapted from Industry Guide to Sewing Order by Connie Crawford)


(PS - Sometimes I really detest Blogger...I simply couldn't get the text and the images lined up where I wanted them to display...But I'm sure you'll get the picture.  LOL) 



Happy Sewing!
Glenda The Good Stitch

 

Slinky Issues!

At a recent Fit Retreat, we got into a discussion about sewing with Slinky.  Or should I say 'fitting with Slinky'?

Here's my black Slinky shell.

I rarely wear sleeveless tops/dresses, so I stitched up this diagonal hemmed cardigan to go over top of it.  If you're interested, directions for this lacy cardigan can be found in the bodice designing book - Beyond Bodice Basics.

And if you've ever sewn with Slinky, you know it can present some stretching, fitting and sewing problems...or should I call them 'issues'?

Slinky is an elastic acetate knit.  It's available in different weights and stretch and is sometimes combined with spandex to help eliminate the bagging that can occur.  It is really soft and comfortable to wear, has a supple hand and really drapes well.

For the pattern design, keep it simple with few design lines, minimal seaming, elastic casings, loose sleeves or sleeveless.  Avoid real close fitted styles.

Let me pass on some tips on working with Slinky.
1.  Pre-treat Slinky in cold/warm water (no bleach) and throw it in the dryer - cool/warm temp.  When washing after wearing, wash in cold  water and line dry.
2. You can definitely sized down your pattern at least 1- 2 dots in all circumference areas.  Everything is going to stretch - both horizontally and vertically - so you're likely safe to 'dot-down' at all points on the SFD master pattern.
3.  Add 5/8" seam allowances.  This width will make it easier to handle.  Then after you've basted and adjusted the fit, serge/trim to 1/4" allowance.
4. When cutting, make sure that none of the fabric hangs off the cutting table.  It will definitely stretch out of shape.
5.  Treat Slinky as a napped or one-way fabric with all pieces headed in the same direction.
6. Cut with extremely sharp fabric shears or rotary cutter.
7.  Decide which side you want as the 'right' side and mark with a visible marking pencil or place a piece of plastic tape on the 'wrong' side and write 'wrong' on the tape.
8.  Use a 'walking foot'.
9.  Test sewing on remnants.  Stitch horizontally, vertically and diagonally.  Use long embroidery pins.  Since the fabric does not feed evenly, stop periodically, raise the presser foot, smooth the fabric then continue stitching.
10.  Baste - baste - baste with the longest stitch possible!  Test the fit.  There is no way to gauge how much your Slinky is going to stretch vertically or horizontally until you put it on.  Adjust the fit to your comfort level.  If the Slinky is a very dark color, baste with a bright contrasting color thread.  It will make it much easier to pick out.
11.  Always stitch directionally i.e. from the hem up.
12.  Then when you are satisfied, to complete the seams use a long straight stitch but not necessarily a stretch stitch, trim or serge/overlock the seams.
13.  If you're sewing pants, the length of the crotch seam WILL stretch vertically.  Stabilize with a narrow flat, clear elastic as you stitch the seam.  This allows the seam to have a little give, but not stretch excessively.  Shoulders, necklines and long side seams can also be stabilized with clear, flat elastic.
14.  To bind the neck and armhole edges, as I have done on this tank top, cut the ribbing and binding strips on the crossgrain approximately 25-30% shorter than the edge to be finished.
15.  Hemming.  They say you can use fusible webbing, but I couldn't get mine to 'melt' and adhere the 2 layers together, so I simply top-stitched the hem in place.  But since Slinky isn't going to ravel, you could just cut and leave the hem as a raw edge.

These tips should help you out on your next Slinky project.
Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Sewing Instructions Provided by Sure-Fit Designs

I so often am asked if Sure-Fit Designs provides sewing instruction steps.  Beginners are particularly worried that they might not know how to sew the pieces together and what should happen first.

Even though Sure-Fit Designs is primarily a fitting and designing system, there are sewing construction steps provided for specific designs in all the Dress, Pants, Shirt, Children's kits and in the Men's Instructional Package.  Here's where you'll find the information and though construction illustrations are not always provided, the instructions tell you what to do and in what order.

Sure-Fit Designs Pants Kit:  

• How to sew basic pants together is provided on page 11 of the Pans Kit Instruction book. 
• Sewing jeans is provided on page 23.
• Sewing an elastic waist is on page 24.
• Inserting a pocket opening (eliminates the need for a zipper and is extremely comfortable) is on page 25.
• Inserting an inseam pocket is on page 25. 
• Sewing a zipper fly front is on page 27.                                                                                                                                                                              

     Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit:

• Bodice sewing construction steps are found on the following video tutorials:       
  D.8.a Pt. 1-Fabric Choice/Layout/Cutting                                                         
  D.8.b Pt. 2-How to Sew and Press Darts                                                        
  D.8.c Pt. 3-Sewing Shoulder & Side Seams                                                  
  D.8.d Pt. 4-How to Set in the Sleeve                                                                
  D.8.e Pt. 5-Staystitching/Pressing/Fit Evaluation  
• Sewing a V-Neck (Dress or Shirt pattern)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
  Sure-Fit Designs Shirt Kit:          

• General Instructions for sewing the shirt are on page 13 of the Shirt Kit Instruction book. 
• Sewing robes are found on page 17.  
• Easy technique for stitching a Shirt Collar and Collar Stand. 
• Stitching a traditional Shirt Placket 
• Stitching a continuous lap Shirt Placket                 
  
   

   




    Sure-Fit Designs Children's Kit:

• General instructions for sewing elastic back pants are found on page 16 of the Children's Kit Instruction book.
• How to insert a zipper fly front is on page 17.
• How to attach a bib to a waist edge is on page 18.
• General instructions for sewing a shirt/blouse are on page 20.
• Sewing a child's cross-over shoulder T-shirt is on page 21.
• Sewing a hood on to a neck edge is found on page 22.
• How to sew a tab neckline treatment is on page 26.
• General skirt sewing instructions are on page 27.
• How to sew a tab front is found on page 29. 
• How to sew children's robes are on pages 30 & 31.
• How to sew a girl's party dress is on page 32.                                                                                                                                                                                        

 Sure-Fit Designs Men's Instructional Package:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

•   General sewing construction steps for men's pants is on page 12.              

   

Sure-Fit Designs Newest downloadable Fashion Leaflets:                                                                                                  

•  Go to http://www.surefitdesigns.com/Downloadable-Fashion-Leaflets.html                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
  Sure-Fit Designs designing book/DVD combinations:                                                                                                                                                            All new designs - each with complete step-by-step sewing construction instructions.  (Each book/DVD is designed specifically to go hand-in-hand with the Pants Kit, shirt Kit and Dress Kit.) In an effort to give you sewing guidance, first analyze your current resources.  Did you know all of these how-to sewing instructions existed in the Sure-Fit Designs kits, patterns, books and leaflets?  Use this information as a handy guide to find what you might be looking for. Second, so you have a stockpile of existing commercial patterns?  The sewing steps provided on the accompanying guide sheets provide an excellent source of instruction.  Their pattern may not be exactly what you are wanting to sew, but if there is any similarity in design to what you are creating, their instructions can be a great resource. Third, do you have any general sewing construction resource books?  There are a number of comprehensive books available that not only provide construction techniques, but will also provide step-by-step procedures.  My favorite is the Vogue Sewing Book.  It's a thick resource guide and well worth the investment.  For more information on how to sew the garment together read this article Part 1: Sewing Construction Guidelines
                              
  
                                                                                   
•  Pants that Mix 'n' Multiply  
• Sew Sensational Shirts 
• Beyond Bodice Basics   
• As you can see (and read) there are truly lots and lots of sewing tutorials and sewing construction steps given with the Sure-Fit Designs fitting and sewing system.
  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Demystifying Sewing Construction Steps

What fun...drawing your own patterns, particularly when you know they're going to fit...but how are you going to sew it all together? I am often asked if the Sure-Fit Designs fitting system provides sewing construction steps.  The answer is that some designs and leaflets have sewing steps, but not all of them do particularly when the construction is really simple.
When you're a beginner, often times, nothing is simple until you've sewn the process a number of times and become familiar with it.  And then as with anything you've learned, it becomes second nature.
In this blog, I'd like to share with you the generally accepted and established order of constructing a garment.  The steps make perfect sense.  You work with a flat pattern piece as long as you can until you have to sew an adjoining piece to it.  The fewer steps the better when it becomes a 3-dimensional shape.
And. after 50-plus years of sewing (like I've had), I rarely think of the process anymore unless it's a complicated design.  Then I begin at the beginning and think my way through the steps before I ever take the pieces to the sewing machine.
But when you're just starting out, it's important to understand that there is an established order to sewing any garment. The steps listed here are the industry standards. Use the list to refer to as often as needed, and soon, you'll find that it will be second nature to you.

1.  Darts, tucks and pleats.  Do these first and don't forget to press!

2.  Style lines like yokes and Princess lines. This does not include seam lines like shoulders, side seams or armholes.

3. Interfacing. Attach (either sew-on or iron-on) to any pieces that require it.

4.  Pockets. Apply them where indicated on the pattern.

5.  Zippers. Install any zippers required unless it is for a dress.

6.  Shoulder seams. 

 7.   Side seams, inseams, crotch seams.

8.  Prep collar. Do not attach it to garment yet.

9.  Prep sleeves.  This entails sewing the sleeve seam as well as any plackets, cuffs or elastic to sleeves. Also any gathering lines done in a baste stitch would be done now.  Do not sew the sleeve into the garment yet.

10.  Collars. Now is when you attach a collar to the garment.

11.  Bodice facings. Sew facing pieces together.

12.  Sleeves. Sew the sleeves into the armholes matching notches and remembering to gather the sleeve cap if needed.

13.  Bodice to skirt (if sewing a dress).

14.  Waistband. Or a waist facing or elastic if this is what your pattern requires.

15.  Dress zipper. 

16.  Hem.

17.  Buttons and buttonholes. Any closure such as hooks and eyes, frogs,snaps and belts should be done now.





Stay tuned next week for the list of SFD sewing patterns that do provide sewing guidelines and steps.


"The more you sew, the more your confidence grows." - Glenda the Good Stitch

(With thanks to Connie Crawford, The Industry Gide to Sewing Order.)

Gift for You! Free for a week

As many of you know, from time to time, I send out 'thank you' gifts for you, my loyal subscribers.  For one week, you can claim your new Fashion Leaflet 'the Princess Line Blouse'  After July 21, 2015, there will be a nominal fee for this newest Fashion Leaflet.

So many of our SFD sewists ask for directions to make a basic blouse and how do you size up for just a little more wearing ease from your finished bodice blueprint.  These directions tie all the concepts together for you.  Please enjoy!

Princess Line Blouse

You'll be using your Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit bodice to design this great-fitting princess line blouse which can be worn open or closed.  The blouse features:

• shoulder princess line detail
• 'V'd Center Front
• CF Placket/band
• Collar & Stand
• Shirttail style of hem
• 3/4 Length Sleeve
• Inverted 'V'd Sleeve hem detail

 It's yours free for a week - until July 21 - as another one of my gifts to you, my loyal customers, subscribers & followers.

New Fashion Leaflet - Click Here 

Happy Sewing

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Fun & Easy Color Blocked T-Shirt

Color blocking is super simple and easy to design into your sewing patterns.  Of course, you all likely know that color blocking is definitely back in fashion.  But do you know where it all began?

It all dates back to a Dutch artist - Pieter Cornelis Mondrian (1872-1944) - nicknamed 'Piet'.  He was one of the principal members of the Neoplasticism art movement.  In 1919 he began producing grid-based paintings for which he became renowned for the rectangular shapes, solid black lines and random placement of primary colors.

In the 1960's, Yves St. Laurent popularized his 'Mondrian' dresses using Piet as his inspiration.

Color blocking has become popular again and of course, you can do this with your SFD patterns.  Creating areas to color block on your patterns is creative and easy to do.  Just start off with Sally Silhouette as your croquis and experiment with where you'd like to draw your style lines for color blocking.

If you don't yet have your copy of Sally Silhouette, you can download her from the Free Stuff page in the SFD Learning Center.  Click Here.

And now there is also a new downloadable Fashion Leaflet for color blocking your new SFD T-Shirt that I introduced to you last week.  There is a nominal cost for this leaflet, but if you read the SFD newsletter from January 12th, you will be able to download this leaflet completely free for a limited time if you use the link that is provided in that newsletter.  It's my 'get busy sewing gift' for you to jump start your 2015 sewing projects.  In addition to this...it could easily be 'Made in a Day'...just another quick, easy and rewarding project.

Have fun and don't forget to send photos when you get yours done!  I'll put together a T-Shirt collage and show off all your work.  Send to info@surefitdesigns.com.

Thanks so much,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

Squishy, Spongy, Stretchy!

Topstitching a fabric that is squishy, spongy and stretchy is no fun!  And on top of that, the fabric I was using was a leather-like stretch, which meant once the needle pierced the fabric, it left distinctive holes.  And on top of this, the fabric would not press flat, which made it very difficult when turning and pressing seams.  No second chances on this project!

Here's what the finished jacket looks like.

It's a Sure-Fit Designs knock-off of a jacket I saw in NYC.  Exposed zippers are ever so popular.

Mine of course, being all black, doesn't have quite the bizazz appeal like the black & white ready-to-wear, but it's still a stunning jacket.  And the SFD version does have a shoulder yoke - just not as deep in toward the armscye area.

This blog is going to focus only on the topstitching process and tips that I'd like to share with you if you ever come across this type of situation.  Since I knew I had one chance only to get it right, meaning evenly spaced, straight, no skipped stitches and no puckers, testing prior to the final topstitching was definitely required.

Yup!  This fabric is great to look at, but it sure did have it's challenges.  It just simply wouldn't feed well when the leathery side is face up.  I'd purchased both a solid black as well as a perforated patterned piece.  I got them both in the Stretch House during my NYC excursion.

I combined both these fabrics in this jacket.  With a traditional seam, if right sides were being sewn together, it wasn't a problem, but if you needed to topstitch...well - watch out!  It has kind of a leather-like look and a little bit of a sticky feel.

The feed dogs didn't like it.  The walking foot didn't help feed the under and upper layers equally.  Perhaps a roller foot would have worked, but since I didn't have that machine attachment another solution needed to be found.

After much testing, I settled on a paper-like tear-away stabilizer.  I had 3 different ones to test and ended up using this Sulky Tear-Away.  It's years old and I'm sure the price is more than  $1.99 now, but for this project, it worked the best.

What did I test before sewing the one and only chance I was going to get?
First, I recreated a seam scenario as close to what the finished jacket had - meaning the solid black fabric was on the underside of the lapel.  The perforated fabric was on the top side.
Then I tested:

• the best needle choice to prevent skipped stitches.  Of course, new is always preferable.
• stitch length - what would look the best on the finished edge.
• which stabilizer tore away the easiest without too much pulling and stress on the stitches.

This is just a photo of the test sample.  I did about 3 different swatches.

































After choosing the most appropriate stitch length, best needle and stabilizer, I prepared the stabilizer.  It had to be cut in the exact shape of the neck line curve so that I could lay it in place and see the folded edge of the seam.  I used the pattern's neck edge for this.

Then I took a deep breath, centered my thoughts and began topstitching.  Remember, I had only one chance at this - this fabric was so unforgiving that I couldn't pick it out if I happened to sew crooked.

 

Here's a close-up of the stitching before the stabilizer was torn away.

Next came tearing the stabilizer away.  Even this needed to be done with control - one side at a time for both the upper and under layers.

When it was all said and done, I was quite happy with the results, but I'd been agonizing over this final process for the last few days, knowing that it was one chance or the whole thing would be ruined.

Here's a close-up.

I am happy with the results.  Feel free to comment or add your opinions of how you would have tackled a similar challenge.  Also, watch for a new downloadable Fashion Leaflet describing how to modify your SFD bodice blueprint to achieve this jacket.  I hope to have that available for your soon.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

P.S. Although this next jacket isn't quite the same (nor is it a Sure-Fit Designs jacket), when I saw it on Imogene Lamport from Inside Out Style - I thought it was so similar in design with the exposed zipper offset on one side, that I wanted to show it to you.  And what a difference it makes to sew it in white for a summery look...also notice the shorter hip length...more like the NYC jacket in white and black.