Fashion Design Drawing

TAILORED SEAMS

MANY KINDS of seams are used in the making of tailored costumes. It is necessary to keep the cloth extremely smooth at the seams and to make the stitching as even as possible. In making a garment that requires a tailored finish one should not be sparing in the use of bastings and the hot iron. He was a wise and honest tailor who declared "In the flat-iron is our fortune," and the dressmaker who would be successful along the same lines will do well to keep in mind this well-tried maxim.

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IN PLAIN SEAMS of very closely woven material that does not fray or ravel, the edges of the seams may be simply notched or pinked, and pressed open. (Fig. 251.)

Plain seams of jackets, cloaks and other garments made of heavy material that will fray should be bound with satin, silk or farmers' satin. This is cut in bias strips just a trifle wider than the depth of the seam after it is closed. Stitch the binding on the right side of the seam edge, close to the edge, then baste it flat, covering the edge. Close the seam of the garment with bastings catching through both cloth and bindings. Then stitch.

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A better way, requiring more labor, however, is to stitch the seam and press it open. After pressing, the seam will have spread at the edges, especially if it is curved, and the binding can be safely applied without any chance of pulling later.

Baste the strip of binding on the right side of the edges; turn it over the raw seam edge and

fell it down on the underside, keeping the turned edges of the binding even on both

sides of the seam edge. (Fig. 252.) It is finished with one row of machine stitching

close to the edge of the binding.

When Trimming is to be applied over seams, the plain seam is used. It should be