Hi everyone,
I hope that some of you have spent a few spare minutes making a sample placket. There's nothing like trying this technique on a sample to see whether there's anything that will give you a bit of a problem. That way, you get to figure it out before you have the problem on an actual garment.
I've had those nightmares of getting 3/4 of the way through a garment and finally realizing there was no way I could salvage it after making some sort of mistake. AAAAggggg!!
Anyway, I'll post some photos of the remaining steps to achieving a pretty sleeve placket.
Let's just take a look at where we stopped in my previous post. The placket has been correctly placed with its peak pointing toward the front notch on the sleeve cap, marked by the scissors. I've completed the stitching box and cut it open.
Pick up the portion of the placket to the right of the stitched box, lay it on the box, and press along the line of stitching.
Finally, push the bit of fabric at the top of the stitched box down toward the bottom of the sleeve and press.
I do this pressing now to make the next step easier and more precise. Let's see how things look when that pressing is done.
Now you can deal with the short side of the placket. In this photo, it's ready for your next step.
Fold the 3/8" pressed edge wrong side to wrong side so it extends a thread or two beyond the stitching of the box. Stabpin it in place and press.
Slide a strip of Steam-a-Seam under the placket, press lightly, and remove the paper backing. Verify that the placement is perfect, then press again to fuse the placket's short side. (Louise and I use 1/4" Steam-a-Seam Lite. It uses a minimal amount of glue and makes steps like this easy to execute perfectly.)
Using the appropriate presser foot and changing your needle position, edgestitch the placket a few threads from its edge. In this photo, I've marked the stitching line.
We're almost there! Now we'll treat the long side of the placket in the same way. Here it is lying on the finished short side ready to be folded.
Fold it on itself, extending the edge a thread or two past the stitching underneath. Stabpin and press. Examine it carefully, making sure it's straight and the peak is even. Make any needed corrections. (Glass-head pins allow this kind of stab pinning and pressing. The glass heads won't melt!)
Let's just make a quick check of the back side of the placket (on the wrong side of the sleeve). There are those little ends at the top of the placket. Make sure they are tucked up inside. The first photo shows them sticking out, and the second shows them tucked inside.
Ok. Now all the details are perfect. Time to lay strips of Steam-a-Seam under the vertical edge of the long side of the placket and the peak. Be sure you are fusing the correct side of the placket! You don't want to glue it closed! Make sure you have transferred the markings from the pattern that show you where the final edgestitching should be placed. The plackets on the right and left sleeves must be stitched in opposite directions. This photo shows you the stitching. I've included arrows to show you the direction I've stitched and long thread tails to show you where I began or ended. On one placket you'll begin at the bottom edge of the sleeve. On the other, that's where you'll end.
This final photo shows how the plackets will still open if you've edgestitched them correctly.
I hope you've had fun executing a pretty placket. Plackets may seem intimidating, but if you just move ahead step by step, you'll be successful.
