Red coat part 4 Sleeve insertion and book recommendation

It is worth getting the sleeves inserted well, a poorly inserted sleeve shouts home made to me! 

When the  long under sleeve seam is stitched, the seam needs pressing open and then an extra press on the right side with the clapper to get a flat sleeve seam. The sleeve board is useful for this, but a sleeve pressing roll could be used instead. 

Now to prepare the sleeve for a perfect fit in the armhole. Time taken on the preparation of the sleeve fit  will pay dividends. I make 2 rows of machine stitching, I used stitch size 4, one just inside the stitching line and one about 1/4 inch further to the edge . These 2 rows reach between the two small circles marked on a pattern around the top of the sleeve and bodice pattern pieces. 

I then measure the length this needs to be around the front and back bodice separately and pull up the threads around the sleeve top to match, distributing any small gathers evenly. It is essential to measure the back and front of the sleeves separately so the shoulder seam will sit at the centre mark of the sleeve so the sleeve hangs correctly when inserted. 

Before steam 

Now the gathers can be ‘shrunk away’ before they go near the armhole. I have found this works brilliantly. I use my ‘wet Handkerchief’ technique to get plenty of steam and then use the tip of the iron over a silk pressing cloth using the ham to shape the sleeve over. 

After steaming it will look like this 

And when in the coat like this, ie no gathers at all. 

Once the sleeve has been inserted I trim the seam allowance back and then stitch all round with a zig zag stitch  on the main sewing machine. To me, this is safer than using the overlocker and blade there! 

The bottom of the sleeve can be tacked up and given the normal double press. At this stage I do not stitch it. 

The sleeve  lining can be made ready for insertion, ie the long sleeve seam stitched and pressed open. 

The sleeve lining length is then calculated, it needs to join the bottom of the sleeve about 2 cm up from the sleeve edge on the Harris Tweed that is turned up. I found it useful to pull the actual  sleeve inside out and use a coloured thread to tack on this 2 cm line.  I then use  a different colour to tack on what will be the bottom edge of the lining (ie 2 cm shorter than the sleeve seam length.  Once these tacking lines are matched up, they can be pinned at right angles to the edge and then a line of machine stitching is made to join the lining and the sleeve. If you have not done this before, I suggest a ‘dry run’! Once stitched and trimmed the lining and sleeve are pulled through so the sleeve is the right way out and a very net line is made, no stitching showing, for the junction  with the lining. In this way there is no hem stitching needed for the sleeve. 

At this stage do not stitch  the lining to the armhole yet. 

The other book I always  use when constructing a jacket or coat is this one by Claire Shaeffer. 

It covers:

A particularly useful section is on p 142-3 and I made the sleeve rolls / heads based on this 

sleeve head in construction and ready to insert  

 

These are working well in the coat. (I often make a smaller one for a dress and on occasion a blouse as they work so well supporting the sleeve.)

The sleeve heads can be inserted at any point from now on 

Red coat part 3: Bodice construction and details of pressing

To me, this is a nice way to start. Basically an outer and inner  shell are made and then one is inserted in the other! 

However, first the lucet braid needed applying. This needs care: 

-each loop, from the machine stitching,  needs to be the same size so each protrudes from the edge  by the same amount

-a button needs to go through the loop easily but not too easily! 

-the arms of each loop need to have the same distance between each other where they protrude from the edge. 

Loop plans 

This all sounds very easy but it takes time. This was my third time of doing this and I had other finished examples to check but it was still time consuming. 

Making up the bodice was a treat afterwards. Each curved edge of the princess seams needed stay stitching first, but this makes getting the fit correct relatively easy. 

I pin most pieces 90 degrees to the edge, but all tricky areas are carefully tacked. 

I also use a magnet on the main sewing machine to help get the seam line exactly where it should be. 

magnet on machine 

Each seam was clipped  where needed, the curved seams needed grading as they were pressed to the front. So in trimming the seam the seam allowance on the side nearest the outer curve is left 1/8” longer so there is not a deep ridge visible from  the outside of the garment. 

Outer bodice on my body duplicate

Pressing

I was taught that you press for, at least, the same amount of time as you stitch. This has proved over the years to be very good advice. 

Initially I press seams on the wrong side using a steam iron over a silk pressing cloth. So as not to leave a line along the seam where the seam allowance is I hold a piece of Teflon under the edge. This does add to pressing time but is worth it. I then turn the garment over , use a large ‘gentleman’s white handkerchief’ which I have made entirely wet in a jug of water and apply steam, Teflon sheets in place below. Next I get the wooden clapper and ‘clap’ the seam line. It gives a great finish. 

A collection of pressing tools used in making the coat.  

So once I have the outer end inner bodice they need stitching together. This is where I do tack them. To line up the seams, eg shoulder at the front neck  line I stitch along the seam, through the machine stitching for about 5 cm, this anchors the seams and they are more likely to stay put snd match when the bodice is turned out. I also stitched exactly on the stitching line along the front neck corners and checked lengths to make sure these were exactly matching.

The neck / collar seams need very carefully clipping to allow the collar to stand up. The corners need trimming more than one might think possible and then carefully helped out with a corner pointer tool. Do not be tempered to use the point of scissors, the result could well be a hole or more likely individual threads poking through. I stopped stitching 5/8” short at the centre front of the lining  and outer garment. 

At this stage a hanging loop needs adding. I did not add this initially  in the two previous coats but I have now been to so many places where the coats have to be hung on a loop they I had to add these later. 

I collected together what I thought would be loops that I would love

My final decision was the red ribbon and I decided to hand stitch this. 

I then tacked the outer and inner bodice together at the armholes, the next task being to insert the sleeves