Sewing Lessons & FAQ

[Amie]

Here I posted some sizing info on the different sizes for woman's vintage patterns.


LD

interesting bit and I love your writing style. btw, is a vintage junior miss size 12/30 bust the same as a plain miss 12/30?

 

[kamikat]

In my experience, a 12/30 is drafted for a junior figure (meaning less difference between waist and hip) no matter if the rest of the sizes in that design are miss or junior.

 

[Amie]

Great info. Thanks.

You're so lucky to fit the 50s shape. I probably fit 20s/60s shape better: flat all over.

 

[kamikat]

The grass is always greener on the other side. I'm totally in love with 20s/30s fashion.

 

[Lady Day]

interesting bit and I love your writing style. btw, is a vintage junior miss size 12/30 bust the same as a plain miss 12/30?

Thanks

Also very early on, the size of the pattern often estimated the age of the wearer. A size 12 was meant for a twelve year old and so on. This age/size comparison I've seen used up until size 18/20. This tended to be a guide especially in the 20s and early 30s. I think it was more for pattern makers than actual consumers.

Though they say there is a difference in juniors/misses, I think its more age of the consumer than anything. I often see these two lines lumped together in my vintage catalogs, not just in patterns but in RTW as well.

LD

 

[Gracie Lee]

My understanding of the difference between junior and misses sizing was that the bust:waist ratios were different, i.e. a greater difference between bust and waist measurements for misses than juniors. I'm not certain if this was the case with vintage patterns too, though.

 

[Lauren]

Ditto Gracie Lee- the basic shapes were different between junior, misses, and womens. Kind of confusing since sometimes the numbers cross over, but the envelope should say which it was meant for. I think the juniors were also a bit shorter in the torso. The vintage books say the juniors is basically for teens and young women, misses for average women, and womens for mature women. Still good to make a mockup as proportions were generally different depending on decade, like KamiKat says.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to sew in a non separating zipper? The videos & tutorials I found online are less than helpful.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

 

[sheeplady]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to sew in a non separating zipper? The videos & tutorials I found online are less than helpful.

Thanx!!!
Charlie

Are you trying to put in a hidden zipper or a visible zipper? Is it going into a pair of pants or something else like a dress (ie, do you want a flap to cover it, it to disappear into the seam, it to be plainly visible, etc.)?

I typically only put in invisible zippers, but what I do is baste the opening closed (right sides together). Press this seam open. I pin the zipper so that the teeth run exactly along the basted seam, and so that the face of the zipper is against the seam. (If you're looking at the inside of the garment, you are seeing the inside of the garment and th back of the zipper.) Then I sew down one side of the zipper, backstitch, pull up the presser foot and pivot. Sew the bottom part of the zipper above the metal bit that signals the end of the zipper- this makes it stronger. Backstitch, and then pivot and go up the next side. You are basically sewing a big square-bottomed U shape. Remove your basting and you are done.

Always test your zipper before you put it in. Once I got a zipper that didn't work, thankfully I had tested it before I sewed it in.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The zipper is going on a sleeve of a heavy jacket. It doesn't matter if it is hidden or not. There is going to be a piece of fabric behind the zipper that is only visable when the zipper is open.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Thanx Sheeplady! It took a couple of readings but I think I understand what to do. I will let you know how it comes out.

 

[sheeplady]

The zipper is going on a sleeve of a heavy jacket. It doesn't matter if it is hidden or not. There is going to be a piece of fabric behind the zipper that is only visable when the zipper is open.

Bruce- the one thing I forgot to mention is that you are going to need to do something with the end at the top where the zipper opens. There are two strategies. One is for a V-shaped zipper opening, which is like the opening at the top of a pair of pants- you undo the zipper and open it looks like a V. There are also applications when the zipper is opened it looks more like an elongated O-shape- because there is no opening on the top. The O-shape is similar to an application where there is a pocket- the sides of the zipper can't open because there is stitching/ cloth there. I think your description could be either one- like a pocket (O-shaped) or like a zipper on a pair of pants (V-shaped), you just have fabric behind it.

For a V-style opening, there are two ways to deal with the top of the zipper. The easiest is if there is some kind of casing to cover it with. If you look at a pair of pants, the wasteband usually is sewn over to cover the top of the zipper, so that the zipper actually disappears into the wasteband. If your opening ends next to a cuff, you may be able to un-stitch part of the cuff and tack it over the end of the zipper. If there is no casing there, you can just sew the zipper up the sides (when stitching the square U-shape)- stitching on both sides at the top, and carefully trim the excess of the zipper. If you are using a nylon zipper (which I assumed you were, but you might not be), these are trimable off the top where there are no teeth. (You can also trim off the teeth, but that can be tricky.)

For an O-style opening, the easiest is to make sure that you have regular sized sewing stitches that come at least to the top and bottom of the planned opening of your zipper, with the basting starting a bit down and up from the ends of the zipper. (In other words, if your zipper measures 8 inches, your basting should be about 7 inches.) This allows for the regular stitching to "cover up" the two ends of the zipper. If it is the case, then rather than a square U shaped stitching, I actually stitch in a rectangle around the entire zipper (making sure that my rectangle would be 7 inches long for my example, so that it catches the regular sized stitches).

I don't know if you are replacing a zipper (in that case, I'd try to figure out how they did it and reverse engineer it) or if this is a new installation. Sorry for the wall of text, but following your description I realized that you could be trying to do more than just a V-opening. And I didn't want you to finish it and say what did that crazy sheeplady tell me to do?!

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Thanx again. What I am going to do to finish the zipper is sew teh cuff of the sleeves in place AFTER I sew the zipper in place. I can also sew some thread in by hand between two teeth near the end.

 

[sheeplady]

Thanx again. What I am going to do to finish the zipper is sew teh cuff of the sleeves in place AFTER I sew the zipper in place. I can also sew some thread in by hand between two teeth near the end.

Yeah- that sounds like a good idea. Sorry for that wall of text. Zippers aren't easy (particularly the first one), but if you take your time they can be very rewarding. It sounds like you have a good plan, which is 90% of the battle. They just take some patience and some muddling through it.

Let me know how it goes!

 

[kymeratale]

I know everyone talks about how tricky zippers are, but the first ever zipper (lapped) I put in came out perfect without any trouble. Now I am a little afraid to do another one, in case that first one was just dumb luck.

 

[MissHawthorne]

Don't worry! I was told zippers were hard, too. Every one I've ever done has been a breeze. Especially since I found my zipper foot.

 

[sheeplady]

To be honest, when I was in 4-H we started every second year 4-Her on a zipper (their second clothing project). They were typically 8 or 9 year olds. But they also had an adult and a teenager (me) to help them put it in and to guide them for the first time- we'd check their pinning and get them to talk through the process. I think it is more threatening in appearance- you just need to try one and understand the logic of putting one it. Once you do one, you're all set, mainly because you understand how it works.

We did buttonholes during their third year, so about age 9 or 10. The most nerve-wracking thing is helping a 9-year old put buttons in a garment they have worked so hard on for 6 months.

 

[lareine]

Funny, I was never scared of zippers and could do an alright job with my machine, but I find they are SO MUCH EASIER when done by hand, and the results are better too. My hand-picked zippers are way better than my machine sewn zippers on garments. I used this tutorial to learn how to do it (before you ask, no I don't usually add the beads!):
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/5135/a-hand-picked-zipper-is-worth-the-effort

 

[MarieAnne]

The Fashion Incubator also has some great (machine) zipper tutorials. The process is more complicated but the application is easier I find.
Here is the tutorials section, http://www.fashion-incubator.com/tutorials/.

 

[zombi]

Oh my, I'm so excited! I finally got around to taking my grandmother's machine to be serviced. It's an old New Home machine -- heavy as the day is long, but my mother's mother did all her sewing on it, including mum's wedding dress. I'm so honoured to be its owner now and I feel the need to put it to good use. When I was calling 'round about having it serviced, I found this place which gives you free basic sewing lessons if you have your machine serviced with them! So I've decided I'll do that.

I'm not so great at teaching myself to do things. I think this way I'll be able to have a basic, good start from which I can move forward and start sewing my own things. I've been dying to start sewing my own. So I'm terribly excited. I just wanted to share my excitement with people who might understand! And I guess I should ask what's the best place I ought to be looking for vintage patterns?