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.

Inside a Contemporary Jacket

Apparently once you start ripping jackets apart, you can't stop! I remembered that I had this Banana Republic jacket in my closet from my early editorial career. I would guess that it's about 8-9 years old at this point. It's a little conservative for me these days, so I thought it would make a great comparative example to my 40s jacket deconstruction.

Of course, it's not a very fair comparison. I got this jacket on the clearance rack (I would guess I paid around $50, tops) while the 40s jacket was custom made by a tailor and would have been very expensive. The fashion in the early 2000s called for a very different silhouette than a 1940s silhouette, so it's no huge surprise not to find a lot of tailoring structure (or even shoulder pads) in the Banana Republic jacket. However, I honestly remember quite liking the soft silhouette of this jacket; which is part of why I bought it. Looking at it now, though . . . it may as well be a cardigan jacket. The thing is rawther filmsy.

From the outside, it looks pretty nicely tailored, if a little limp.

 The shoulder line, sleeve caps, and under sleeves look a bit sad.

(Like my new clock?)

The inside is another story. It's unlined (a detail I had forgotten), but all the seams, darts, and hem are finished with lavender bias binding.

 The back facing extends all the way across the back, giving the upper back some support.

I removed the front facing, back facing, and upper collar. The facings are fused with a lightweight tricot interfacing. 

The under and upper collars are exactly the same; both have a separate pattern piece for the stand and both are fused only with one layer of the tricot.

Inside the jacket, I found interfacing on the front and back (where the facings were).

This is good for support across the shoulder, but you'll notice that the area around the arm (which is prone to stretching) has no support.

There is a line of stay tape along the roll line, stitched on with a blind hem stitch.

I'm sure the whole thing was steamed well, which gave the roll line and collar some definition and set the shape.

That's really all there is to show--it was a bit of a letdown after that 40s marvel of tailoring, don't you think?

40s Jacket Deconstruction

Cool news: I have an exciting new job teaching fashion part time at Marist College. The class is for juniors, and it focuses on the development of a tailored collection. And you know how I love my tailoring! Over winter break, the students had a really interesting assignment: to find and deconstruct a vintage jacket, making a pattern and several new designs from it. I didn't want to be left out of the fun, so I decided to get in on the deconstruction action myself, which I shall document here.

First, the jacket. I found the perfect candidate at great shop called Bygones in Richmond, VA, over my holiday break. It's dated from the 40s, has a great tailored silhouette, but wasn't in great shape to wear. The fabric was corroded in spots and the lining was in tatters around the armholes. (You know I couldn't stand to completely take apart a stellar vintage garment!)

Bonus: it fits me perfectly so I can use the pattern I make from it.

It has a lovely crisp notched collar, classic two-piece sleeves, princess seams, a strong shoulder line, and double flap pockets.

There's a side panel under the arm for extra shaping.

It has a felt undercollar (which is traditional in fine tailoring), and very crisp roll line on the lapel--you can see the dimples from the pad stitching on the back.

The lining is a pretty rose-colored silk.

 Not in great condition in places.

There's a nice little handsewn hook at the collar. There's no designer's tag, but later clues have led me to believe it was custom-made by a professional.

Another cool detail: open vents at the side seams of the lining, where lots of wear and tear usually happens.

I could hardly wait to start taking this thing apart. (It felt wrong, but oh so right.) As you can see, the lining was entirely sewn in by hand with a slipstitch.

Once I got the lining out, I could see the jacket body's inner construction. The front revealed two different weights of hair canvas, and some thin batting for upper chest padding, all stitched together with diagonal basting. The shoulder pads were handmade with wadding.

 See labels below!

The pocket bags are made from tightly-woven pocketing fabric.

The back has padding to give a smooth line to the shoulder blades. There is no shoulder stay or reinforcement.

The seam allowances are uneven all over, and especially large at the fitting seams, indicating that this was a custom-made piece.

Next, I removed one of the facings for the Holy Grail of tailoring. There's twill tape on the edges and a wide strip of some sort of interfacing on the roll line. The whole thing is neatly pad stitched.

 I had to cut around the machine-made buttonholes to remove it.

Now I could peek under the collar to see the pad stitching there. 

A few other notes, if you're still reading at this point:

• Lining: seams and darts on each individual piece machine sewn, then hand stitched into jacket separately with a fell stitch. The handstitching tacks the lining down to jacket interior in several places. Lining sleeves set in by hand.
• Hem is pressed up and held in place with large catch stitches. 
• Delicate hand pick stitches all around jacket front, lapels, and collar for crisp look.
• Felt undercollar applied by hand with fell stitches--felt undercollar has no seam allowances; raw edge is aligned with turned-under seam allowances of the upper collar.

My next step is to completely deconstruct the pieces to make a pattern from. More to come!

Coat Sew-Along: Marking and Interfacing

Once your fabric is all cut out, it's time to think about marking and interfacing.

Marking

First, let's talk notching and marking. Note: wait to mark the facings (pieces 8 and 11) until after you have interfaced them. The interfacing usually covers up your marks so you just have to do it again anyway! Just re-attach the pattern tissue after interfacing and do your marking then.

Go piece by piece. Start by notching. My favorite way to notch is to simply snip into the point of the notch, leaving a little clip that will help me match up pieces.

I also like to snip into the legs of my darts to help me match up the dart lines as I'm sewing. 

Next, look for any marks you'll need to transfer. These will include: darts, buttonholes, small circles, large circles, and stitching lines (see below). The easiest way to transfer marks is with dressmaker's carbon paper and a tracing wheel.

I like to X through my circles so I can see the precise center of the circle (plus it's easier to X with a tracing wheel rather than try to make a circle). An alternative is to use the end of a knitting needle or chopstick to make a circle.

There are a couple marks on this pattern that are not-so-straightforward. They're both at the inner corner of the collar on the Bodice Front (piece #1) and the Upper Collar and Front Facing (piece #8). There is a reinforcement point here (check out #2 in the directions).

Make sure that you mark the small circle at the upper end of the dart, on the right dart leg (as you're looking at it). It's called out with a red arrow in the picture below. This is the point you reinforce in step #2 of the directions.

There is also a stitching line that's pretty hard to decipher. It leads to the small circle in the pic above. See the purple highlighting below.

Make sure to mark these points on piece #8 as well.

Interfacing the Facings

You will need to cut out fusible interfacing using pattern pieces #8 and #11. Fuse your interfacing to the fabric pieces, using a press cloth to avoid getting any glue on your iron. Make sure that the interfacing is completely adhered.

Interfacing the Undercollar (Optional)

This next step is completely optional; it's a fusible tailoring technique for giving more shape to the undercollar. This step will help the collar stand up a bit better around your neck, and it will give the roll line of the lapel more definition.

Here's the way I did this. Get piece #1, the Bodice Front. The undercollar is cut in one with the Bodice Front, rather than being a separate piece. The dart under the collar is there to help the collar roll out nicely. We're going to put another layer of fusible interfacing in the undercollar area, up to the roll line.

First, make a line from the edge of the undercollar dart to 5/8" in from the edge at the waistline (to account for the seam allowance). Check out the photo below. The purple arrow is your starting point and the red arrow is your ending point. This is your roll line.

Grab a piece of tracing paper and trace around the roll line and the rest of the undercollar.

Make a grainline that is parallel with the roll line (this gives stability to the fold of the roll line).

Label your pattern piece.

Cut out along your tracing line.

Use this pattern piece to cut out interfacing (on a double layer so you get two pieces). Fuse the interfacing to the undercollar area of piece #1, the Bodice Front.

Voila! Nice and stabilized. We'll do some basting and steaming to accentuate the roll line later in the sewing process as well.

Tomorrow we'll get to the actual sewing!