Section One - Special Item One - Winter White/Ivory/Beige Wool Gabardine Skirt - Stage Four

Since I found the tutorial at the Sewing Diva site invisible zippers have become my new friend. I think everyone suffers the frustration of the little bumpy gap at the end of the zipper when they sew them in the traditional (official way). This way the seam is sewn shut BEFORE the zip is stitched in and while the usual degree of precision is required to match things up there is no bumpy gap and thus I am happy. Though I am getting ahead of myself, the first thing to do is reinforce the zip opening with some lightweight but firm interfacing and I used the tricot knit which is my new favourite interfacing of this type. No more bubbly nightmare woven stuff for me. I fused the interfacing to the underlining instead of the fabric and it worked out great. Then I press the invisible zipper teeth to flatten the tape. This seems usual no matter what method you use and it makes sense as the way the invisible zipper works is the coil turns back on itself to pull the fabric edges together.

I then pin each tape of the zipper onto the seam allowances to check for placement and once satisfied I tack it on tightly. The zipper tape is a firm weave and is always stiffer than any fabric you might use so it has the tendency to shift and present you with nasty surprises when you turn the fabric over. The stronger the tacking the more likely things will remain in the position you want them to be in. This is especially important when it comes to matching seam lines or pattern designs as in the lines of a waistband for instance.

I feel weird with this underlining thing with using it as the surface for the interfacing rather than the fabric, because it works so well why am I not seeing others using it? I am waiting for something terrible to happen to show me what an idiot I am for doing this, but so far it is yet to happen. It does make the garment more "spongy" so the fabric has a smooth rounded shape rather than a sharp finish, but I like that. Maybe I should relax and just enjoy the result without anticipating disaster ... maybe I should just quit breathing as well that would be just as easy!

See look! It is as close to perfect as I have ever managed. Well I did make one blunder and that was I didn't take the zip up high enough on the waistband so there will be a gap at the top which I will have to fill with some kind of closure. I was planning on doing a button and loop behind the zipper head to support it so I guess I will have to move that up and maybe put a hook and eye at the zipper top. Oh and I challenge you to pick where the end of the zip is. It is in this picture.

Ok, I have to be honest there is one bit on which my ideas turned out wrong. The waistband seam is too thick where it meets the zipper. I trimmed away the excess from the seam allowance but it was still bulky and caused a little gap right on the seam line. It is covered nicely by the zipper pull, though you can see it if you look hard enough, but it is still there and bothers me. Next time instead of pressing all of the seam allowances towards the waistband I will press them open, thus halving the bulk. Because of the way I plan to finish the waistband and lining the seam will not be visible and I think it will work. I wish I had thought of that this time!

I'm also happy that the skirt is hanging better with the waistband holding it in shape even though the hip area is still a little empty on the mannequin.

Wundabah! Though I am a little concerned about whether the vents are going to give enough room for movement. I guess I can always unpick the seam and turn them into splits but I don't fancy it. I will leave it for now and just have to practice ladylike mincing.

I always make skirt hangers but seldom use them as I get sick of picking the skirts off the floor as I have been rooting through my wardrobe and everything has fallen off the hangers. I tend to invest in proper skirt hangers but the loops just seem to give a bit of finish to the skirt. Or maybe I just like to make things as difficult for myself as possible .. who knows.

In any case I made the hanging loops for this one out of lining. I wish I knew how to make ultra fine tubing, others do not seem to have a problem but I always find myself struggling to turn things through changing from safety pin to clover turning rod things to a needle and heavy thread until I give up and go and sew a thicker tube. Is there a trick I do not know, or are others more patient and determined in this area? I really would like to know.

Guess what? Not only did I not have to sew the lining at the bum end of the project when my interest is wearing thin and I just want to finish it, but the lining is also nicely sewn and it fits well! I really really like this way of doing things and I promise to do the lining first from now on. Thanks Ann and MaryNanna for giving me the idea.

How I constructed this bit was to sew the lining to the inside edge of the waistband wrong side to wrong side. This has left a raw edge ( I will fix that in a minute )but it also means that I have full control of how everything sits and fits together, and nothing, such as hand stitching, will show even on the inside.

I am very happy with this skirt even though one of the hangers escaped to show in the picture. I will make loops to push them through to hold them flat whilst wearing. The waistband is only pinned down here but how good does this look? I love the pegged hem too, it is such a flattering shape I think, though, as mentioned, I am a little concerned about how much movement I am going to have ... eep.

Apart from the little hiccup with the bulky waistband seam this method is working for me. Everything is going together easily and it looks very nice both on the outside and inside. Here I have pinned the waistband edges together and everything is lying flat without excess bulk or stiffness. I think adding the tailors canvas was a success the only note I would make is to make sure that the canvas finished exactly on the fold line. I had to trim things ever so slightly as the folded canvas ruined the edge.

Ah hem. So I decided to bind the waistband edge with bias as I knew I would not be able to match the stripes like I did on the lining hem. My intentions were good and started fine with the first bit of bias all measured and on grain and stuff then things deteriorated from there as I just started to eyeball the angle. Yeah you could say it was less bias than just plain wonky by the end but I consoled myself that it didn't really need to be bias and I was just doing it that way for aesthetics ...

I used the same method as I used for the hem binding to attach the "bias". As lining is a stiff fabric that does not stretch much and as it wasn't actually on the bias I just did it as a single fold to avoid bulk as much as possible.

And I am happy with the way it looks, the angled cut means it doesn't look funny that I haven't matched things up against the straight lines of the lining. It looks like it is supposed to be like that!

Since I have done all this I noticed that the Sewing Diva's have done a post where they do almost exactly the same thing as I am trying to do with bringing the zip up into the waistband (only they succeeded) and I actually like the loop that they did better than mine. They made a tab then did a buttonhole in it rather than making the loop out of tubing. I will try that next time as I am not all that thrilled with this.

I included a shot of my damaged fingernail here to show the revenge of my stash cupboard. It seems to be complaining about how full it is by ricocheting it's door back and trapping my finger. It was much more painful than it looks ... grins.

But I am thrilled with this, I used the lining as a facing around the zip and sewed the waistband down at the same time. One thing I notice is that I did the loop on the wrong side the little asterisks indicates where I wanted the button to go ... oops.

So that is it ... almost. I only have some hand finishing to do (Hand sew down the waistband under the lining, sew the button and hook and eye on, finish the lining around the zip end, hand finish the lining to the skirt vents, thread chains for the hangers and to hold the lining to the hem) and will do that in the evening because now I am going to move on to the Jacket. Huzzah! I have not sewn a really tailored jacket for sometime and I have never used the underlining thing so I am excited though I am also feeling a little trepidation as I always do, jackets are the most challenging aspect of sewing in my opinion even moreso than coats as they require precise and delicate attention to detail. My favorite, but you can never guarantee how things will turn out. Fingers crossed for me?