Finishing the body seams and padding

[chargirlgenius]

Extra padding at the shoulders

Since Jeff’s armour straps over the shoulders and rests there, additional padding was necessary. Two more layers of heavy linen and one layer of cotton made a pretty big difference in stiffness. It actually made a pretty big difference in stitchability. The quilting was MUCH easier through 7 layers than through 10 layer. This small piece went into the back body piece, one at each shoulder.


The extra pieces placed between the layers:


Extra layers placed between the layers on the front body pieces. These pieces are really narrow, by the time you cut off the seam allowances.

And yes, I wear my Christmas jammies for lounging all year round.


The seam allowance of the hemp and the lining, plus the seam allowance of a couple of the inner layers, for more padding, are folded all to the front.


The seam allowance of the front is folded, and then pinned down.




This is the internal side seam that I’ve left unfinished. I wanted to wait and see how it fit before finishing this seam. I left all of the layers, hemp, interlining, and lining, in the one seam, so that it’s easier to adjust down the road if necessary. I had originally planned on simply flat-felling this one seam, but I thought better of it afterwards. To flat-fell it, I’d have to cut one side of the seam allowance. Since the hemp is a relatively loose weave, I didn’t want anything to pull out if cut too short. So, I decided to face the seam with a scrap of silk, like I do to the neck and front.

According to the fabulous Archaeological Sewing article, the St. Louis shirt had applied binding. Not quite in the same way, but I think this method gives it a bit more strength that the shirt would not have needed.

Here, the silk is stitched on one side, “Right sides” together. It’ll be folded over the S/A, and whipped down.