Cartridge pleating and seam finiahing questions

[chargirlgenius]

Cartridge pleating question

I'm planning on cartridge pleating the sleeves onto Jeff's gown. I've never cartridge pleated before, though I'm sure I can handle it. I have a slight problem, in that the edge of the armhole of the gown was finished assuming that I would have a seam allowance (I hadn't thought about cartridge pleating when I did it).

I know that you're supposed to sew the pleats directly to the edge of the fabric. Is it worth me refinishing that edge (maybe folding it over, etc.) or can I pleat the edge of the sleeve to a arm hole with a seam allowance?

I'm also toying with the Elizabethan sewing technique of finishing all of the edges first. The sleeves are fully lined. I've sewn one of the silk sleeves shut, but I didn't finish the raw edges first, so I'm not sure if this is going to work. Perhaps I should have sewn the flat lining to the flat silk, first? I have another technique I'll probably do, along the sleeve length seam, at least. Stitch the layer of lining down in the ditch, folk it over, and then whip the other half of the lining down. As far as I know, though, this isn't documentable, but a more modern tailoring technique.



Brief explanation: The black lines are the silk, and the red lines are the linen. Stitches are left out. The two silk pieces are sewn together with a running stitch. The bottom (straight) red line is sewn to the silk with a running stich that comes out in the seam of the silk, thus hiding it from view. The second (top, bent) red line is sewn to the first lining, and maybe to the seam allowance of the silk, but not all the way through, with a whip stitch.

For the sleevehead, I might just sew the sleeves right side together, for my nice finished edge. I was looking at attack-laurel's description of the process, and she suggests sanwiching them together, right sides out, and doing a running stitch. Only trouble is, this is a significant curve, and I'm not sure how I can avoid seam clipping. Maybe it doesn't matter so much, as a good portion of the sleeve will be cartridge-pleated in to my armhole, but maybe there's a better way?

*sigh* I have lots of ideas, but so far, none of them are jumping out as exactly right, or right without any problems (self-caused or inherent). I'm open to thoughts from people who have used these techniques.

Comments

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I had to hit refresh for the image to load.

I'm not going to pleat the raw edge. I didn't explain well. On the gown side, in the armhole, I bound the raw edge with linen, assuming that I would sew the sleeve on with a sleeve allowance, like I always do. If I have to fold the edge over, I will, but the lining is very stiff hemp and might be weird.

On the sleeve side, I'm trying to figure out how to finish the sleevehead edge (silk and lining) without needing to trim it. Maybe I'll double roll both edges and finish them, and then sew them together. A double roll is narrower, and frequently doesn't need clipping. Hmm.

[reabhecc.livejournal.com]

ah, okay. Well, then I have very little to say except that when I've cartirdge pleated with a layer of silk/wool blend and a layer of linen, I interlined it with felted wool to add teh springyness of cartridge pleating.

*pokes again about GFD lining*

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Oh! Sorry!

I usually line just to the hips. If you want to line lower, I would insert gores into your lining. If the lining comes down about 5" or so from the top of the gores, don't worry about adding them in.

[sskipstress.livejournal.com]

OK, this is a much clearer description.

On the sleevehead edge, I would trim the lining so that you get one fold from it and 2 folds from the outer fabric, folding both at the seam line and the outer fabric over the seam allowance of the lining, then stitch those down.

If you want me to draw that out, I can try.

As for the gown side, I'd probably need to play with it to see how best to not have the bulk of the hemp getting in the way of making an edge to stitch the pleats to. But chances are, I'd be grading the seam allowances somehow, possibly cutting the hemp at the seam and binding the edge of it with the outer fabric if the outer fabric is sturdy enough to hold the seam.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

But chances are, I'd be grading the seam allowances somehow, possibly cutting the hemp at the seam and binding the edge of it with the outer fabric if the outer fabric is sturdy enough to hold the seam.

That's what I wish I'd done. But I was thinking about normal sleeves, and that I'd need a seam allowance. I don't have that much time to work on this.

I have Saturday. I have to keep remembering Saturday...

The outer fabric, by itself, is not that sturdy. When I cartridge pleat, I have to make sure that I get the edge through the hemp as well.
Ah. Maybe that means that folding it is correct.

[attack-laurel.livejournal.com]

I see what you're thinking - the shoulder seam allowance was going to sit inside the sleeve, right? It might be possible to cartridge pleat the outside of the selleve, then sew the lining in on the under side, but I'm not sure how well that would work - my technique needs the armhole to be completely finished (folded under) before the sleeve is set in.

The sleeve, even with the curve, should fold under properly, unless your seam allowance is huge, in which case you might need to clip it, yes.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

I see what you're thinking - the shoulder seam allowance was going to sit inside the sleeve, right?

Yes, the gown body is lined in very stiff and heavy hemp, while the sleeve is lined in a lighter linen. I bound the edge with linen, since the silk ravels so badly. I'll try just folding it under (and stitching it - it will definitely need stitching to hold it there) but if that doesn't work, I'll rip the binding off, cut down the SA on the hemp, and fold the silk over it to bind. Or even use a facing on the inside of linen, but it will look like silk to the edge of the outside.

Once I started looking at your CP article and others, it occurred to me that this just wasn't going to sit right.

[attack-laurel.livejournal.com]

Your solution sound like it will work properly.

The heavier fabrics might well have been bound on the edges for seing - like the edges of corsets. There's also a possibility that the hemp will soften and become more manipulable over time.