Micro polyester. Macro pain in the ..

...didn't want to complete the title because I thought it might bring the wrong kind of browser here on a google search, but you get the drift.

I knew when I started this project that it would be a learning journey for me. And is has been. A big one. One with close calls between the scissors and the rubbish bin. I also knew that a muslin was a waste of time, that I would learn best by doing, and making mistakes, and unpicking and redoing and researching and getting help.

So now I offer you what I found out - by trial (many) and error (bags). Still, I love a challenge and I'm so glad I gave it a crack.

Once punctured there is a permanent hole.




Think through the implications of this:
- unpicking and resewing weakens the fabric
- no pinning except within the seam allowances (that goes for cutting out too)
- no fitting alterations that involve letting out the seams
- big stitch to keep the holes far apart -sew at around 3
- use tailors chalk to mark the fabric (not a tracing wheel, for obvious reasons)

The fabric has 2 sides with 2 different ways of sewing it! My fingers are on the bonded side.



The polyester side requires a moderately cool iron
- fabric scalds under steam leaving permanent wrinkles
- fusible interfacing needs to be high quality, low iron setting kind (I found exactly 10 seconds with the iron set at 1.5 gave the best results - by best I don't always mean good though)
- you can topstitch as normal, but I found I had to tighten off both top and bottom tension

The bonded side (waterproof coating) sticks to the presser foot
- use a walking foot or teflon foot or roller foot if sewing with right sides together - I tried winging it, the tension goes haywire if you use a normal foot. But as soon as I changed over to a walking foot - easy peasy! No problemo.

The waterproof coating bonds to the polyester so that there is no give - the fabric has no movement.
- doesn't turn corners well, the fabric has no give or stretch - try to keep to straight line styles.
- Ever wondered why this fabric is made up into ponchos? Wonder no more.
- Revere collars need a lot of stretch to attach through the back neck. Very difficult to get to sit correctly. Best plan is to stay stitch neck edges at 1.3 and then clip like crazy. (I will never ever sew a revere collar in this fabric again by the way, it was very very difficult)
- ordinary needle, ordinary thread work just fine.
- with an unlined coat, the coated side isn't slick enough to easily slide on. Lining recommended.


My advice overall? Wing now, cuss later.

Now that I know what I'm doing, things are coming together at a fair clop. Just have to attach the buttons (I checked, you can sew buttons with holes quite close together without ripping the fabric) and do the hems (which will have to machine stitched, of course, there are no fibres to attach hand stitches to) and then I'll start making Benjy's wet weather gear.

I'm so enjoying learning new things on this coat - like making my own belt with eyelets. I also love the top stitching and the pockets. They are such a cool retro feature.



I think this coat is going to do me proud in the sandpit.


Acknowlegements: thanks to Johanna for her comments on sewing this fabric. The tutorial from Gorgeous things for sewing leather was very helpful. This fabric is stronger than leather though, so it is more tolerant of puncture marks (thank goodness!)

If you have anything to add about sewing this fabric, I welcome your comments.

Coat - Burda 03-2009-115
Fabric - Micro polyester.

Set in sleeve tutorial

How do you set in a sleeve?

This is the way I attach sleeves for a set-in sleeve style. Now I am not a tutorial kind of gal, but this is one case where the pattern instructions are not the best way of doing it.

So, for the benefit of my fellow domestic seamstresses who have ever sworn and cursed over a puckered sleeve head, here it is:

Mark all notches on sleeve and shoulder as per pattern pieces. I nick in with the scissors just a few millimetres deep. The most important notch is the top of the sleeve head, shown below. That must match the shoulder seam otherwise you run the risk of puckers gallore.



Now match all other notches, the 'waves' inbetween is the fullness to be eased in. You are going to be sewing on the inside of the sleeve. Put the pins in the direction of sewing with the heads facing as you sew so that you can easily pull them out.




Pin the whole sleeve head, pins cheek to jowl, as it were. The pins are helping you manage the ease. If you can't make the seam sit flat with the pins, you're going to have a hard time sewing it later. Notice that we are matching seam allowances, not edges. The edges will, in fact, should, be wavy.




The whole thing is now pinned ready to go. We are going to slide this into the machine with the inside up, and the outside next to the feeddog. That is because we need to use our fingers to manage the ease of the sleeve cap.






Now start sewing, starting at the bottom of the sleeve. If you machine has needle down position, switch it on. Placing your hands either side of the fabric, start feeding it though, using your fingers to guide and smooth where necessary. As we sew, we are looking for that "straight line" we created with the pins, where the seam allowances of the sleeve and shoulder meet.




We are looking to "follow that straight ol' line." See how the edges wave, but there is a patch of clear waters to sew along?



As you head towards the back of the shoulder, the amount to ease in will increase. It may be necessary sometimes to stop, lift the presser foot with the needle in the down position and push some of the ease back past the needle with your fingers.



Eh voila! We have it. Our sleeve is now set in. Trim threads and ease out any wrinkles with a steam iron. Push seam allowances towards the sleeve to help support the sleeve head.



It's not hard. A little fiddly, but not hard. It produces far superior results than using the more traditional gathering threads, so it's worth mastering!

Acknowledgements

Carol Mill, Palmer/Pletsch instructor, told me not to use gathering threads but to pinch and squeeze the fabric through using my fingers.

The instruction to sew on the inside of the sleeve from the bottom up and to push the seam allowance into the sleeve head comes from "Palmer/Pletsch Jackets for Real People."