Shirt *Construction* techniques

[Gerry]

I'm actually more intrigued by their use of pallet strapping as an edge stitching guide.

It's mainly used to provide traction for the feed-dogs. You'll note that they use a compensating foot for the edge stitching. Because of the gapped 'step' to the left of such feet, there's not much for the dogs to push against when fabric is thin, hence the use of a strip. Strips are also useful when commencing sewing from the edge/start of seams (no need to begin a little further down, then back-tack). Again, they provide traction: something for the back of the dogs to push against, in this scenario. But, as you mentioned, they can also act as a guide. Pretty useful things all-round.

Things are less problematic with industrial machines, but I have a compensating foot for my old Singer and it's very temperamental unless I use pallet strapping for at least part of a run - there's a lot of 'jogging on the spot' by the needle, otherwise, and/or skipped stitches when layers are thicker (the strapping helps to compress them). I found a long strip of the stuff in a neighbour's recycling bin while out for a walk, gave it a bleach to clean it (just in case) and was good to go.

[Chanterelle]

A very clever use of silk organza to aid the shaping of rounded pocket-corners. About 2 mins in:

This is clever. I use a wide stitch to gather the fabric around the pattern piece before ironing...produces good results

[Gerry]

As a more personal request, I'm looking to hear/see/read side seam and shoulder seam for inset sleeves construction techniques--specifically re: lapped, felled, or frenched seams.

I dare say someone else has thought of this before me, but I came up with an alternative method of doing double-lapped seams and it worked perfectly first time. It's only suitable for straight/straightish seams, but the advantage over the conventional, single-needle approach is that both pieces are to the left to begin with; which makes it easy to do on a non-industrial machine where the arm isn't as wide. It also pre-forms the first fold with the initial stitch run, which makes forming the second fold a lot easier. Pasted from my notes:

A lapped seam requires 1.5 times the intended seam allowance. A quarter inch seam requires 3/8ths, for example, and we will use this. Right sides together, offset the top piece by a quarter and fold the under piece over it by a quarter. First, however, we must decide in which direction the seam's outer, raised edge is to face. It will go in the opposite direction to whichever piece is on top: front on top of underside creates a backwards facing lap; underside on top creates a forward facing lap.

Relax the tension on the top thread, increase the stitch length and sew a machine baste down the middle at 1/8th. Don't backstitch, this acts as a temporary, holding-stitch only. The stitching doesn't have to be that accurate, but the folding and alignment does. The human eye is very good at judging parallel lines, however, so this can be done on the fly (no need to pin/baste).

After securing the two pieces, fold the top one to the right, over the edge of the seam we've just created. Finger-press - or press the whole seam at the board for the neatest results. Return stitch length and tension to where they were and edge stitch each raised fold of the lapped seam on both sides. A compensating foot gives the best results.

Remove the machine baste from the middle of the seam. It will slip out quite easily due to sewing with relaxed tension. Optional: reach into the end of the seam and pull out the top thread, using tweezers if necessary. It should slide out as a single thread.

Finally, wet the seam and press to revive the cloth (it will probably be pock-marked from the baste-stitch we put in).

[Chanterelle]

I dare say someone else has thought of this before me, but I came up with an alternative method of doing double-lapped seams and it worked perfectly first time.

This sounds like a great method, and not dissimilar from the flat felled method I use for the side seam and set in sleeve.

For the joining the sleeve to the body, I first press over a healthy 3/8" to the right side of the sleeve. Then, right sides together, I pin center notches and front and back pitch points of the sleeve and body, tucking the body under the folded over portion of the sleeve so that the edge of the body meets the crease. I stitch with a 3/8" seam allowance using either a compensating or guide foot. As I stitch, I gradually tuck the body into the folded portion so to accommodate the curve of the side seam...you can't do this all at once, hence why I only pin the notches together. I start from either the front or back, depending on which direction allows all of the fabric to sit left of needle.

Once the first seam is stitched, the shirt is turned so right sides are facing up. The seam is pushed to the body. It is then top-stitched at 5/16" from the right side with a compensating foot. If done correctly, the stitch should just grab the edge of the felled seam, making a clean inside and evenly stitched outside. If the initial stitch is larger than 5/16", especially around the cap of the sleeve (as usually happens)

I've seen that most people do the topstitching from the inside and I just can't abide. Unless the felled seam is done perfectly even, then the topstitching will be an inconsistent width along the length of the seam, which I think is entirely unacceptable. In my experience, given the convex curve of the sleeve and the concave curve of the armhole, the flat felled seam is very very rarely perfectly even through the length of the seam. Maybe user error, but imo topstitching should be done from the right side regardless.

I've used this same method but first securing the body and sleeve with a machine baste. This makes for a cleaner felled seam

The same technique is used for closing the side seam, wrist to hem. Except, for this seam, I finger fold the flat felled seam as I sew it and stitch at 1/8", top stitching at 3/16" Since there are no real curves to worry about, this method works just fine on the fly.

[Chanterelle]

On another note, The Caffeinated Tailor on youtube recently uploaded a 'bespoke shirt construction video' in which he absolutely butchers the collar construction (leaves the interlining visible for some reason, rather than adding a third piece of cloth in between interlining and collar stay portion) and the sleeve and collar attaching...he top stitches from the inside of the shirt, leaving undoubtedly an ugly and inconsistent top stitch on the outside of the fabric. Shame, I otherwise appreciate his work. His previous shirt making video is better btw but involves a lot of hand felling and whatnot...not really practical for production and pricing shirts reasonably.

still haven't figured out how to get clean and consistent results both inside and out top stitching collar and cuffs. What I do now is attach the collar from the outside, then turn the collar to the inside. I'll then fold under the seam allowance and glue or thread baste the collar down to cover the initial stitch. I then top stitch all around from the outside. This yields good results but how well the inside turns out depends on how spot on the glue or thread baste is. So sometimes the 'top stitching' on the inside is a bit uneven, as in there are in spots more and less fabric hanging down from the top stitch. Attention to detail is a killer...feel like if its not perfect all around i just can't be charging what I do for shirts...

[Hendrick]

I was told to sew the sleeve on first, and then, close the sideseam and sleeve length seam in one go. This was all hand sewing. No machine.
Since you are using a sewing machine or overcaster/serger the needle or foot does not go high enough. These can, most likely, be adjusted, so you can go over the high places where seams get thick. Same technique as hand sewing. Sometimes hand sewing is faster.
Back a couple of hundred years ago, since the sleeve seam is longer than the scye, you decide where you want the ease and from that point on you push with your thumb an 1/8 inch extra per stitch until end of ease stitches. Beginners learn to take two threads and sew them, about half an inch apart, through the part of ease and pull the threads the to amount to hold them properly together. Then baste it to the scye to sew that seam later. There is a name for this, but I don't remember.
After the seam is finished the hem is finished and the bottoms of the are sleeves (plackets and cuffs) are finished.

The name for "worked in" shirt sleeves is drawnwork or drawn seaming, I believe. It requires more skill than needle pleating, used in womens'clothing.

Cheerio, Hendrick

[Schneiderfrei]

still haven't figured out how to get clean and consistent results both inside and out top stitching collar and cuffs.

It is tricky. I usually just machine or hand sew the outer piece and fell the inside edge, by hand. Catching the whole piece with machine top stitching requires very close concentration, obsessive cutting and lining up, and lots of practice.

[Greger]

I was told to sew the sleeve on first, and then, close the sideseam and sleeve length seam in one go. This was all hand sewing. No machine.
Since you are using a sewing machine or overcaster/serger the needle or foot does not go high enough. These can, most likely, be adjusted, so you can go over the high places where seams get thick. Same technique as hand sewing. Sometimes hand sewing is faster.
Back a couple of hundred years ago, since the sleeve seam is longer than the scye, you decide where you want the ease and from that point on you push with your thumb an 1/8 inch extra per stitch until end of ease stitches. Beginners learn to take two threads and sew them, about half an inch apart, through the part of ease and pull the threads the to amount to hold them properly together. Then baste it to the scye to sew that seam later. There is a name for this, but I don't remember.
After the seam is finished the hem is finished and the bottoms of the are sleeves (plackets and cuffs) are finished.

The name for "worked in" shirt sleeves is drawnwork or drawn seaming, I believe. It requires more skill than needle pleating, used in womens'clothing.

Cheerio, Hendrick

"Gathering" with two threads. Mom did this.
Drawn work. Not sure I heard of this. May have.

[Gerry]

still haven't figured out how to get clean and consistent results both inside and out top stitching collar and cuffs.

The problem is, a lot of the time we compare our shirts with those of ready-to-wear, and factory standards get higher and higher every year. Larger bespoke firms are still using workshop methods of a few decades ago. Meanwhile, the largest, high-end RTW factories (at least those in Europe) are almost fully automated. They have machines that top-stitch collars, cuffs and plackets. No human involvement other than loading the machines.  The cutting of cloth is done by a computer-controlled laser, so pattern matching is spot on; and pockets are positioned and sewn by a computer-controlled machine. The end results can look immaculate.

OK, the main joining is still done by humans, but even then specialist machines, or attachments, are used at every stage. Periodically I look round clothing shops and even mid-range stuff is looking better than it did 30 years ago.

It can break your heart. Other than an advantage over fit, and the ability to pre-shrink cloth (not that the bespoke firms do that - a pet peeve of mine) how do we compete? I spend an inordinate time on shirt pockets, utilising tearaway stabiliser etc, just to get the sides as straight as those on a (good) RTW example. They can do the job in seconds.

When it comes to stitching evenly on both sides of cuffs and collars, the best you can hope for when machining is not to roll the seams to the underside. Keep them even, press, then baste the edge to prevent rolling when machining. However, you still have to expect some difference. The main thing is to get it looking nice on the display side.

[Hendrick]

still haven't figured out how to get clean and consistent results both inside and out top stitching collar and cuffs.

The problem is, a lot of the time we compare our shirts with those of ready-to-wear, and factory standards get higher and higher every year. Larger bespoke firms are still using workshop methods of a few decades ago. Meanwhile, the largest, high-end RTW factories (at least those in Europe) are almost fully automated. They have machines that top-stitch collars, cuffs and plackets. No human involvement other than loading the machines.  The cutting of cloth is done by a computer-controlled laser, so pattern matching is spot on; and pockets are positioned and sewn by a computer-controlled machine. The end results can look immaculate.

OK, the main joining is still done by humans, but even then specialist machines, or attachments, are used at every stage. Periodically I look round clothing shops and even mid-range stuff is looking better than it did 30 years ago.

It can break your heart. Other than an advantage over fit, and the ability to pre-shrink cloth (not that the bespoke firms do that - a pet peeve of mine) how do we compete? I spend an inordinate time on shirt pockets, utilising tearaway stabiliser etc, just to get the sides as straight as those on a (good) RTW example. They can do the job in seconds.

When it comes to stitching evenly on both sides of cuffs and collars, the best you can hope for when machining is not to roll the seams to the underside. Keep them even, press, then baste the edge to prevent rolling when machining. However, you still have to expect some difference. The main thing is to get it looking nice on the display side.

Agreed, but... There are curves ad forms that these automated machines and folding attachments cannot do, so often the patters are adjusted to allow for automation, a downer...

My advice; use spray on starch when you prepare collars, cuffs and gussets, you'll be surprised at the results. And make "old style" cutting shapes for gussets, pockets etc. that you use a lot in a light gauge aluminum sheet that you cant cut with old scissors or a stanley knife. These are perfect to press allowances around! It works great.


Cheers, Hendrick

[Gerry]

A second vote for starch. I use it all the time in shirt-making.

However, be sure to place some grease proof paper over your ironing board (if used) when spraying. Not only does it protect the board, but excess collects on the surface of the paper. You can mop it up with the piece you're starching, thereby economising on starch (you don't have to spray so heavily). Then leave the starch to settle. The amount of people who immediately iron after spraying annoys me, the starch needs time to impregnate the cloth.

Also use a pressing cloth when drying out the starch, to protect the iron. Just place a dry iron over everything (leave the grease proof paper in place) for about ten to fifteen seconds and leave it. Steam will eventually start to rise, so you know when it's time to take off the iron.

[Gerry]

And make "old style" cutting shapes for gussets, pockets etc. that you use a lot in a light gauge aluminum sheet that you cant cut with old scissors or a stanley knife. These are perfect to press allowances around! It works great.

Do you use a guillotine to cut the aluminium, Hendrick? I like the sound of this.

[Hendrick]

And make "old style" cutting shapes for gussets, pockets etc. that you use a lot in a light gauge aluminum sheet that you cant cut with old scissors or a stanley knife. These are perfect to press allowances around! It works great.

Do you use a guillotine to cut the aluminium, Hendrick? I like the sound of this.

Umm no, the "t" after "can cut" was a typo! Scusi per la confizione! Just use an old pair of scissors and for straight forms use a cutting ruler and stanley knife and if necessary soften the edges with fine sanding paper, ddoes the trick.

Cheerio, Hendrick

[Gerry]

And make "old style" cutting shapes for gussets, pockets etc. that you use a lot in a light gauge aluminum sheet that you cant cut with old scissors or a stanley knife. These are perfect to press allowances around! It works great.

Do you use a guillotine to cut the aluminium, Hendrick? I like the sound of this.

Umm no, the "t" after "can cut" was a typo! Scusi per la confizione! Just use an old pair of scissors and for straight forms use a cutting ruler and stanley knife and if necessary soften the edges with fine sanding paper, ddoes the trick.

Cheerio, Hendrick

Cool. Do you happen to know the thickness of the aluminium?

[Hendrick]

And make "old style" cutting shapes for gussets, pockets etc. that you use a lot in a light gauge aluminum sheet that you cant cut with old scissors or a stanley knife. These are perfect to press allowances around! It works great.

Do you use a guillotine to cut the aluminium, Hendrick? I like the sound of this.

Umm no, the "t" after "can cut" was a typo! Scusi per la confizione! Just use an old pair of scissors and for straight forms use a cutting ruler and stanley knife and if necessary soften the edges with fine sanding paper, ddoes the trick.

Cheerio, Hendrick

Cool. Do you happen to know the thickness of the aluminium?

Yes 0,8 mm...