Underlining and Seam Finish in One

The technique I am about to describe allows you to underline a garment and finish the seams in one procedure -- this makes the most beautiful seam finish and is not much more work than simply underlining (less, if you are planning to hand baste the layers together). This works on almost any vertical seam such as the side and center back seams of a skirt (or the seams on a gored skirt) as well as princess lines.  I cannot take credit for this idea.  The first place I learned about it was in a class with Cynthia Guffey but I believe the technique has been around for many years.

When cutting your underlining, add 5/8 inch to the seam allowances along the vertical seams. If you are using 5/8 inch seam allowances you'll cut them 1.25 inches wide. Place the underlining and fashion fabric RST and pin the vertical edges together -- the underlining will not lie flat as it is bigger than the fashion fabric. Sew these edges together with a 1/4 inch seam. Turn the panels right sides out. Press the edges so the underlining wraps around the edge of the fashion fabric and lies flat -- this looks a bit like a Hong Kong Finish. The following photo shows what this will look like.

The piece on the right is what the fabric piece will look like once the pressing is complete. The piece on the left is what the seam will look like once it is sewn and pressed open.

Once this part is completed you treat the two layers as one and complete your garment as usual. You can baste the upper edge together if necessary.

Here's a picture of the inside of a wool skirt where I used this technique, underlining with silk organza

This is a picture of a skirt made from sheer pink linen.

On this skirt I had planned to line but not underline. I discovered that the linen fabric was so sheer that the pressed seam allowances showed through unattractively. I used the lining fabric (bemberg rayon) to underline and finish the seams which also prevented any show-through of the seam allowances, a benefit lining would not have afforded.

This is an easy and elegant way to finish any vertical seam in a garment. It eliminates the need for a lining and gives a couture look to the inside of your garment. I don't think you will be disappointed in the results.

Update on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 9:40PM by Julie Bowersett

I get lots of questions about the best way to add the 5/8" seam allowance to the underlining fabric.  Here is the method I use.

After I cut out my fashion fabric I place the pattern on the underlining fabric.  I attach a Removable Rotary Guide Arm (made by Olfa) to my rotary cutter and set the distance from the blade to 5/8".

It is then a simple task to guide the arm along the edge of the pattern while the blade cuts 5/8" away from the edge.

Bag of the Week 39

Rooster Toile

For this week’s offering I am pulling out an old picture of a tote bag I made and donated to a silent auction.  The bag is a simple rectangular tote that I made fully reversible.  One side features a black and white toile farm scene complete with a rooster.  The reverse side features a red and white rooster print.  I used a matching red buffalo plaid as the top edge, bottom and straps.

Cupcakes for my Wingman

My littlest guy turned two today.   He’s come such a long way from his almost-three-month-early birth and 3 ½ pound weight to the happy, healthy and hungry toddler he is today.  To celebrate I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  The icing (Martha Stewart’s recipe) is luscious and rich, made with cream cheese and butter.  The cake, on the other hand, is a much lighter version of the traditional cake and is moist and flavorful with spices.  The recipe comes from Sunset’s Vegetarian Cooking, contains no eggs and uses a unique method of cooking the carrots and raisins in a sugar syrup before adding the dry ingredients.  Here’s the recipe:

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups lightly packed, shredded raw carrots
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 ½ cups each sugar and water
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon each salt, ground cloves, and ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Place carrots, raisins, sugar, water, and butter in a 3-quart pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat; continue to simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon; stir in whole wheat flour.  Stir dry ingredients into cooled carrot mixture until flour is moist.  Stir in vanilla and walnuts.  Spoon intoa greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool on a rack for 10 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes 12 servings.

Note:  I added ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom.  Omitted the nuts for little children.

The cupcake wrappers and picks are a Wilton product that I purchased at Michael’s.

My DIY Wedding

Tomorrow is my 9^th wedding anniversary.  I was married in late September 2001, a very emotional time in this country.  The Washington, DC area had not recovered from the terrorist attacks earlier in the month and a number of people were unable to come to our wedding because of travel difficulties created by airport closures in this area.  But we felt that it was imperative that we forge ahead and celebrate life and love in this very unsettled time.  One story I will always remember:  one of my DIY projects was to make fabric tissue covers which I stuffed with heart-printed tissues.  I remember my then-fiance watching me fill a basket with the completed covers and saying, “make more, make more”.  I think he had a good idea that there would be a few tears shed during the course of the day.

Being a lover of all things handmade I determined early on that I would take on as many DIY projects as I could for my wedding.  I started with the invitations which I created from beautiful handmade paper overlaid with vellum sheets and tied with a ribbon.  I love the look of hand lettered envelopes but didn’t want to spring for the expense.  Instead, I printed the addresses in a beautiful script on my computer but at only a small % setting for the ink, making the letters barely visible.  I then used a large-nibbed gold metallic pen and traced over each letter, giving the appearance of hand lettering.

I also decided I would do all of the flowers.  I have had a wee bit of experience making wedding flowers in the past, mostly artificial flowers back in the 1980’s when those were popular for weddings.  After a lot of research and searching I found that a local grocery store had the best price on roses; I think they were $6/dozen.  I went to six or seven different stores of the same chain and bought up all of the roses they had in my chosen colors as well as dozens of bunches of alstroemeria lilies.  I used all warm shades from gold to red and everything in between.  I decided that what I lacked in variety could be made up in sheer volume.  I made all of the boutonnieres, corsages, and venue décor.  I decided to wear a wrist corsage instead of carrying a bouquet as we had planned to have a cocktail hour before the ceremony and I did not want to be encumbered by a bouquet.  I used simple vases from Ikea filled with roses on the tables and also filled a milkglass urn for the top of the cake pedestals I used to hold the cupcakes, as well as two standing candle holders.

The cupcakes were another thing I did myself.  My husband does not particularly like cake so I thought it would be silly to spend a large amount of money on a cake he would not enjoy eating.  I considered pie (his favorite) but couldn’t image how messy it might be to feed this to one another so we went with cupcakes.  To this day people still tell me these were the best cupcakes they had ever eaten (including my husband).  It’s no surprise considering the name:  Whipped Cream Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream.  Both recipes come from Martha Stewart’s 1987 Weddings book.  I flavored the buttercream icing with Frangelico liqueur which gave it a wonderful flavor.  I piped the icing on in a swirled pattern and sprinkled the tops with edible glitter.

My biggest project for the wedding was making my own dress.  I took a series of classes at G Street Fabrics in Falls Church, VA, working with a wonderful woman who became my sewing mentor.  Starting out I made several dress muslins attempting to create the wedding dress I envisioned wearing.  Finally realizing that the styles I was choosing were not appropriate for my figure I changed my plan and decided to find a flattering silhouette and learn to love it.  Which is what I did.  I used a Vogue pattern by Vera Wang (#2118, now out of print) which featured a fitted empire waist, princess-line bodice, and flared skirt.  I piped the empire waist seam and added self-covered buttons down the back.  The fabric, was a champagne-colored silk matelasse with an embossed floral design.  The center back of the skirt was left open and designed for layers of tulle to peek out.   I substituted a flounce of lace which I hand beaded with gold and ivory pearls.  I loved making this dress and hope it will be passed down one day as an heirloom to someone in my family. 

I loved all of the hands-on work I did for this wedding.  It not only allowed me to achieve certain looks that I craved (and appealed to my budget mindedness) but also fed my soul like only working with my hands can do.  My wedding really was “from these hands”.

I'm sharing this post today with the folks over at Today's Creative Blog on their Get Your Craft On feature.  Check them out.

Bag of the Week 38

Fall Leaves

Fall arrived at 8:09 p.m. on Wednesday but here in Washington, DC it felt more like the height of summer with temperatures this week in the 90’s.  Hopefully those of you reading this post in cooler parts of the world will fully appreciate these little wool bags with appliquéd fall leaves.  For those of us still sweltering, may they bring hope that cooler weather is just around the corner.

Each of these bags is made from a variety of wool, many of which were repurposed from thrift store finds.  The bag design is a simple lined pouch.  The machine embroidered leaf designs, made from cotton batik fabrics, are from Kathleen Parman’s Herky Jerky line.  I featured other designs by Kathleen in my January 20^th and February 10^th posts this year.  Each bag was finished with an I-cord made from a novelty yarn (or two) and each has a twisted yarn strap.

Happy Fall!