Stitch to Style

Hi everyone,

We're so excited to bring you inspiration, specific tips, wardrobe planning, sewing techniques, fabric info, pattern restyling, pretty pictures, pattern alterations, sewing tools, interfacing info, and whatever else we dream up in our quiet moments.  So here's our first installment of our thoughts about sewing.  I hope you enjoy it!!

ADDING A CASING TO THE COLLAR OF FUN WITH FABRIC

Here's a great tip from Louise about how she came up with the casing to shape the collar on the Fun With Fabric jacket.  Wouldn't you know it--right after the pattern was printed, a light bulb went off in her head.  She went right into her sewing room and brought her idea to life.  Here are her instructions for adding a casing and tie (or ribbon) so the collar can gently gather and add a frame around the face, making the jacket even prettier.

MAKE YOUR JACKET FIRST

• The garment was totally finished.  I wanted the stitching to go through both layers of the collar...if the casing was only attached to the underside of the collar...it would not gather the top collar correctly and would just 'bunch' up in clumps.

Step 1: Creating the casing. 

CREATE THE CASING

• The drawstring casing is ¾" wide, finished (I started with 1¼" wide). Staystitch at ¼" along both long sides and turn and press the 1/4" edges to the wrong side. I made the casing 25" long...but this would really depend on the size jacket you were making. You want the drawstring casing to stop about 3"- 4" back from the vertical front fold of the band on the underside of the collar when folded into the final position...so from the top side of the collar you only see 2 rows of stitching...faintly.  I turned the two short front sections of the drawstring casing back ¼" and stitched them before applying the casing to the underside of the garment collar.

• I put 1/4" Steam-a-Seam along the long ¼" turned back edges of the casing as close to the edge fold as possible. The placement for the drawstring casing is 1½" above the neckline where the collar joins the body of the garment at the center back and parallel to the top edge fold of the collar band. This is placement for the long bottom edge of the casing. Make sure the casing is parallel to the top fold of the collar and centered so both ends are the same distance back from the front band fold.

• Stitch the upper and lower long edges of the drawstring casing. Pull all threads to the underside and tie off at all four corners on the under side of the collar so no back stitching is visible on the top collar. It's all in the details!

MAKE THE DRAWSTRING

• The long drawstring is ½" wide finished and 45" long.   Note that this drawstring was cut on the straight of the grain because I didn't have enough fabric for a bias cord.   I was using 45" fabric, so I have the selvage at both ends of the drawstring and knotted the ends after the drawstring was slipped through the casing.

AND YOU'RE DONE!  HAVE FUN WEARING YOUR JACKET.

Here the collar is pulled it up just slightly to make it stand on its own. That's it, you're finished! Another Fun with Fabric (under the yellow top) jacket with a decorative ribbon for the casing And of course you can see the pattern and all the fabulous fabrics you can use to make it at cuttinglinedesigns.com.