Sebs sweatshop

[Spirou003]

Ah yes, light cotton fabric, it doesn't surprise me that you see unwanted folds that appear. I don't see what you are meaning by "interfacing the folds", but sure it would be a lot of work just for that.I suppose that your fabric would require smaller pleats in order to make them stay in place.
For polyester, indeed pleats are staying in place for a long time without any care. But I've already seen some polyester pleated skirts so used that the pleats did almost disappeared, and the elegance as well was quite low. A problem I noticed with such skirts when wearing them is the static electricity that appears when moving. Very little is supportable, but for me it is a no-go for lots of synthetic skirts I've tried.

Still in curiosity, how long did it take you to do that skirt? You did motivate me to work on mine (which was not even started one week ago), I've made good progresses on it but it still remains a lot of work to do. I've estimated the total time to 17 hours, and already have spent ~6h40 in it. I expect it to become "wearable" - yet not complete (belt loops, external pockets made of same fabric attached by the belt, and some other details) - in roughly two hours.

[Seb]

Yeah, I'm no fan of plastic clothes either, I like cotton, linen and wool.

I did'nt actually count, but I would expect it to come out at around 15h, not counting time thinking of how to solve the next step. Just folding the pleats took a lot of time.

This is my next project. Its in the same material(but Navy Blue) so I'm going to pleat it but only at the waist and it can self-fall as it wants. Its more or less a prototype for a hiking dress I want to make. On the fence about chest pockets, it would be a nice detail but might get in the way of the backpack, might end up putting them on the prototype to test it out. Same with the epaulettes.

IMG_20240214_115813-01.jpeg

[rode_kater]

Looks good. Do you have a pattern you're basing it off, or is it from scratch? I haven't yet found a good pattern for my top-half, so I'm curious what you use.

[Seb]

I draft my own patterns but I got two books from my wife that I have used for inspiration and figuring out what order and how to do things.

The top part I have drafted and based on Cornelius Quirings tutorial on YouTube, its a good base. Im making the appropriate changes to the neckline, I will have to find another tutorial for the collar. Skirt is another rectangle and the details I make up as I go.

I made a tunic from the linked tutorial, so I have some adjustments and fixes I need to incorporate in my pattern before cutting the fabric.

[rode_kater]

Thanks for the link to the video. I actually have that book and it's just a list of steps how to draw the patterns. But his running commentary explains why certain steps are required, and how to adjust the pattern if it's not correct. Very very helpful.

[Seb]

Yeah, he does a lot of good videos - I just used another of his videos to make a cuban/camp collar.

pattern.jpg

I use the leftover paper rolls from renovations around the house to make patterns, its a little weird to work with as it likes to roll up(unless you use the peices that have been taped to the floor for weeks) but its sturdy and makes it easy to place them on fabric and draw lines with chalk on it. I already had a mostly ok bodice/shirt pattern so I just copied it down to make a few adjustments to the neckline and shoulder slope, no need to redo the draft from scratch when you have a working one to template from. Spent about two hours fiddling with the pattern and cutting out pieces for the bodice.

bodice 1.jpg

Today I spent probably 3 hours sewing the pieces together(well, as usual most of the time goes to Ironing and pinning...) a little fiddley and a lot of breaks to re-watch sections of the above linked video.

bodice 2.jpg

I am super happy with the results so far though, still some top-stitching to do and at least one more seam to finish on the inside and tacking the facing to the inside so it wont flip out. Then I guess I need to decide what to do with the sleeves, they need to be sown in before I continue on with the waist and skirt portion.

[Mouse]

Seb
Looking good. I see you are overlocking the edges, which always make home made, less home made.

Nice work.

[Skirt18220]

Very nice. I'm just getting into making my own skirts. Appreciate your sharing.

[Spirou003]

This is very clean actually, you are talented. It needs patience to be crafted, and being happy of the result is the best we can hope for (I've not had that luck with my red pleated skirt, but I'll elaborate in a separate topic if I find motivation to write it)

[Seb]

Thanks, I don't know about talented, yet, but determined at least, and people say I'm patient(even if I don't fully agree ), but I learnt that you need to spend more time measuring and ironing than sewing and it usually turns out closer to what you expected.

@Mouse, I do finish the edges, I'm using a woven cotton fabric that frays quite a bit so I don't think it will withstand many washes if I don't. Its not a proper overlock but its a stitch the sewing machines manual said to use to prevent fraying, I don't know if its better than a zig-zag, but it looks nicer so I use it mostly for that.

The machine has loads of different stitches I don't know when or where to use, my wife bought a good machine before we got married, she wanted to sew her own wedding dress - well that didn't materialize but the machine, a Husqvarna Viking Opal has stayed with us, it only got sporadic use until I picked up sewing again. It would be nice to get a proper overlocking machine, but I'll hold off on that for now.

[Seb]

I did some more work today, got the sleeves done, opted for short ones. I also cut the epaulettes from the design, the shoulder width turned out a little less than expected and I think it works have looked crowded.
Then I cut peices for the skirt, pockets and belt loops, hopefully I can get that assembled and pleated during the week. Saving the waist band for last when I can measure how long it has to be before cutting.

sleeve.jpg

bodice.jpg

[Mouse]

I did some more work today, got the sleeves done,

I find sleeves to be tricky, You can mess up the entire project by getting the sleeves wrong. I think the wide range of movements the human arm can makes this area of a garment difficult. Well done for getting this bit done.

[Seb]

Mouse: Yeah, sleeves are tricky and finicky, its just hard to get that cylinder shape around correctly in my head. I think these turned out okay, but the shoulder seam is a little short so they start a little higher up than intended - lets call it a feature. They are comfortable and provide good mobility so that's an important part, hopefully it wont change much when I add the buttons.

Today was the day to finish off the skirt, I still need to staystich it but its all hemmed, pleated, pinned and ready to go to the machine. Then I just need to fix a waistband and sew the two projects together.


I use a cardboard guide to make sure the pleats are evenly wide, its just a scrap from the recycling that I cut to the desired pleat width, one side for the long(outside) and one for the short(inside) of the pleats, very helpful, last time I measured them all up with a ruler and that was a pain. I figured I might show you this, it might help someone.


Pleat width is just over 5cm, with a box in the front and an inverted box in the back so the knife pleats flow backwards. This was I can hide the side-seams and the entry into the pockets in the deep part of a pleat. I ended up with a back seam too, in hindsight it would have been easier to just make the back panel into one 2/3 instead of two 1/3rds like I did with the black skirt, but I would have had a very oddly shaped piece of leftover fabric, now I have a full 145cm wide and 1.5-2m leftover piece I can try to make something with.

(Oh, I posted the pictures to Imgur this time, so please tell me if they did not show up, there are two of them, and the show in the preview)

[Mouse]

I use a cardboard guide to make sure the pleats are evenly wide, its just a scrap from the recycling that I cut to the desired pleat width, one side for the long(outside) and one for the short(inside) of the pleats, very helpful, last time I measured them all up with a ruler and that was a pain. I figured I might show you this, it might help someone.

I did something similar when I was making my kilts pleating to get the fell right. Great tip.

(Oh, I posted the pictures to Imgur this time, so please tell me if they did not show up, there are two of them, and the show in the preview)

Pictures come fine in my Safari browser.

[Seb]

Good good!

So today was the last day of my "weekend", got four shifts the coming days so I'll have to save the details for next week. Got to seams to finish and I need to add buttons(and learn how to do buttonholes... yikes) and tack down the inside of the collar so it wont turn out but its all assembled now!


Thought I'd take a picture of the waistband but forgot before I attached it to the skirt, but you can see that the belt loops are integrated into the waistband, looks a lot cleaner I think. (I also put one in the right pocket to hang my keys from, but it was rather hard to use, might thread a small piece of rope on it to make it a little easier)


I did try it on, sleeves are a little wide perhaps but very comfortable and it looks okay. I tried to take a picture outdoors but the sky is really dark today and the snow has all melted so no reflective light either, I'll guess have to wait until I'm all done to show it off.

Its been a fun project. Especially the collar. Think I will make a skirt each for my daughter and wife next, bout time they get something too. I did find a nice pattern for both leggings and socks so I was thinking of combining those and make some work appropriate durable opaque tights, if I can find a good fabric for it.