Cool Tailoring Trick: Carrier Strips

Unless you use the same materials and patterns over and over, you're bound to encounter construction challenges with each new tailoring project. In a current garment, I'm using silk gazar as an underlining in a silk faille jacket. I wanted crisp, bulk-free edges to the jacket front--and the gazar would have been bulky and messy in the seam allowances. In classic hand tailoring, twill tape is applied by hand all around the jacket front. In search of a more efficient solution, I decided to try the machine tailoring method outlined in my favorite tailoring book, Tailoring: the Classic Guide to the Perfect Jacket. 

This book outlines a method using "carrier strips," which I haven't encountered anywhere else. Essentially you use a separate muslin piece as a transition between your underlining/interfacing and the seam allowance. Here's how it works:

On your jacket front pattern, make an outline of the front edge, and then make a second line 1-1/2" in from the edge. Cut this out in muslin. It's basically a 1-1/2" muslin border to your jacket front, cut on exactly the same grain as your pattern.

Pin and stitch the muslin strip to the outside of your underlining/interfacing, and then stitch again right inside your first line of stitching. (Note: you may be using an heavy underlining like the gazar, or more probably, you're using a heavy interfacing like hair canvas. This method works for both.) Your first line of stitching is 3/4" from the edge, and the second is about 7/8" in from the edge (this is assuming a 5/8" seam allowance).

Turn the work over, and trim away the underlining/interfacing from the seam allowance.

On the right side, cut away excess muslin to the inside of your stitching lines.

Now you have a smooth transition from your underlining/interfacing to the muslin in the seam allowance. The muslin creates a smooth, bulk-free edge on your jacket.

The next step is to baste your underlining/interfacing to your jacket front (the one cut out in your fashion fabric).

I thought this technique was pretty awesome: quick, easy, and effective. You could use it on any garment where you don't want the underlining or interfacing to extend into the seam allowance, but still want lightweight support on the edges of the garment.