New things! Week 4

Putting a flap into a jetted pocket – for my sample, I only did the jets, wanting to get the hang of how to do the ‘simple’ ones before I attempted the flapped ones.

Pad stitching – looks dead easy, is very straight forward, but is time consuming and requires regularity of stitch length, width and spacing.  This was particularly challenging working green on the shoulder canvas which was a difficult contrast to see – to be done in daylight only.

Working on the centre front edge – more stayflex that would probably have been some kind of canvas in yester year, and working with the very small seam allowances

The lapel being separated from the beginning of the collar – this needed precision and guts to cut right down to the sewing line

The lapel iron-aid – this is a very narrow wooden spit on a block that you slide your newly sewn lapel over to help you press it into a very crisp corner, neatly turned and flat as a pancake.

New things!

We learnt how to doing the finishings on the waistband: this involves more hidden, secret canvas, basted into place; pretending to machine sew linings on but actually doing them by hand; how to attach trouser hooks and bars that won’t move or pull at the opening by tying a short length of cotton tape to them, couching this down, and then hiding everything beneath the lining, leaving just the hook end poking out over the edge of the lining.

We also were shown how to do curved hems on trousers. By curving the hem up over the front and down at the back you create a hem that sits well over the top of the shoe while keeping the length at the back.  Long-looking legs = good.

Jetted pockets...

Now then; everyone said that jetted pockets were easier, but I wonder if they had to do one first time with checks.  Precision, as with most things in tailoring, is the key, but here, it is very, very visible if you get it wrong.  With most things, you can put something together not quite right and the majority of people might notice that there is something slightly off about it but they won’t be able to put their finger on it unless they know exactly what they are looking for.  With Jetted pockets, it is excessively plain to see when you have failed to a) match your checks, b) sew in a straight line and c) sew two straight lines that are parallel. With our jacket pockets we were actually going to be putting a flap over them, but while this might help hide a very little inaccuracy, you have the added hurdle of getting the flap to match up with everything involved too.

Practice, practice, practice...