Greetings all ^-^
I'm not sure if my troubles with understitching are unique to my ridiculous brain, or if it is a common gripe, but I have decided to write this post because something miraculous has happened:
I FINALLY UNDERSTAND!!!
Yes, dear readers, my mind is finally open to the wonders of understitching. No longer shall I cower in fear of this strange and confusing concept. No longer shall pattern instructions be thrown across the room in frustration! No longer will I suffer the shame of my ignorance and the ostracization that follows!
Many of the sewing patterns I have used in the past have called for understitching. Each time I followed the same pattern (of behaviour): I faithfully looked though my Dressmaker's Technique Bible, then Googled it, then had a nap, then ignored the instruction and continued making the garment without understitching.
I did try understitching once... the step-by-step instructions confused me and it all went horribly wrong. So I pressed everything and moved on with life.
Now I'm making something that will be posted in my shop whenever I finish it and I would very much like my items to have more of a professional look to them. Well, more-so than anything I make for myself. And so, understitching is kind of a necessity - especially when the stupid instructions demand it of me.
Anyway, this time I altered my pattern (of behaviour). The instructions on my sewing pattern are thus:
1. Press lining away from garment
2. Press seam towards lining
3. Lining side up, stitch close to seam through lining and seam allowances as far as possible
This confused me. So instead of following those instructions, I decided to pick out the words that have been repeated too many times for them to retain their meaning:
1. Press
2. Seam
Then I switched off my brain and made up my own instructions. Brain cannot be trusted. It has already proved than on many occasions. This is what I did:
1. Grade the seam:
I'm not sure if my troubles with understitching are unique to my ridiculous brain, or if it is a common gripe, but I have decided to write this post because something miraculous has happened:
I FINALLY UNDERSTAND!!!
Yes, dear readers, my mind is finally open to the wonders of understitching. No longer shall I cower in fear of this strange and confusing concept. No longer shall pattern instructions be thrown across the room in frustration! No longer will I suffer the shame of my ignorance and the ostracization that follows!
Many of the sewing patterns I have used in the past have called for understitching. Each time I followed the same pattern (of behaviour): I faithfully looked though my Dressmaker's Technique Bible, then Googled it, then had a nap, then ignored the instruction and continued making the garment without understitching.
I did try understitching once... the step-by-step instructions confused me and it all went horribly wrong. So I pressed everything and moved on with life.
Now I'm making something that will be posted in my shop whenever I finish it and I would very much like my items to have more of a professional look to them. Well, more-so than anything I make for myself. And so, understitching is kind of a necessity - especially when the stupid instructions demand it of me.
Anyway, this time I altered my pattern (of behaviour). The instructions on my sewing pattern are thus:
1. Press lining away from garment
2. Press seam towards lining
3. Lining side up, stitch close to seam through lining and seam allowances as far as possible
This confused me. So instead of following those instructions, I decided to pick out the words that have been repeated too many times for them to retain their meaning:
1. Press
2. Seam
Then I switched off my brain and made up my own instructions. Brain cannot be trusted. It has already proved than on many occasions. This is what I did:
1. Grade the seam:
 |
| Graded |
 |
| Before grading |
I.e. Cut the lining (black) near to the seam (red), within the seam allowance, leaving the main fabric (gold) at the usual 5/8" or whatever the pattern dictates
2. Fold the main fabric (or whichever one you didn't cut) over the sewn seam:
 |
| Don't fold ON the seam line, else you may stray from the allowance into the actual garment! This is akin to crossing the streams |
3. Sew as close to the fold as possible (the fold, not the seam!)
I should have used different colour thread for this to make it more obvious, but the main fabric from the seam allowance is now sitting over the cut lining & the seam - encasing the graded seam allowance.
Sewing near the fold, not the original seam helps to make sure you don't cross over the original seam & into the bit of the garment that will actually be seen. So always remember:
Don't cross the seams!!!
 |
| This is what you should be left with after sewing |
 |
| This is what the other (wrong) side of the fabric looks like |
4. Fold out the lining and the main fabric (so you can see both correct side sitting next to each other with a neat seam between), and tuck the now folded seam allowance under the main fabric & press:
 |
| Lining & main fabric sitting next to each other (wrong sides next to each other here) |
------>
This might be good enough for what you're making. You've got a nicely controlled seam that won't fray so easily. However, if you're needing your seam to sit in a particular place and/or need to hide those unseemly seams, then:
5. Fold the lining over the main fabric (wrong sides together) - it should fold along the newly pressed fold. Press again:
 |
| "Inside" of garment - the correct side of the main fabric is folding over on to the lining |
 |
| "Outside" of garment - no seam to be seen |
This nay not be the correct way to understitch. I may be over-complicating it. I may be simplifying it so much it is no longer understitching. I may have pressed/stitched things from the wrong side. The bottom line is, it works. Also, my brain can handle it. At least I don't have to google understitching every time I start a new project now ^-^
Sorry if that didn't make any sense to you. Your brain probably works. If it did make sense to you, don't worry, you're just a little bit odd.
Live long and prosper ^-^
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