Sewing Question

[saje]

I have very recently started teaching myself to sew in hopes of sewing some skating dresses for myself (off the rack dresses don't tend to fit well due to my wonky measurements).  My first two skating related projects have been practice skirts, using Jalie pattern 3240.  (See here: http://www.jalie.com/jalie3240-tankskatingdress-sewingpatterns.html)  I did a simple modification by cutting the bodice off around the waist area in my pattern.

Anyway, what I'm noticing now with my partially finished skirts (haven't added elastic yet), is that the skirt rolls slightly where it is attached to the brief and upper piece.  I can be somewhat of a perfectionist, so this is driving me nuts.  I don't mind it so much for a practice skirt, but if I ever make a dress for testing or competing, I don't want that roll.  I saw on Sew, Skate, Read's skating dress tutorial (http://sewskateread.blogspot.com/2013/08/skating-dress-tutorial-part-vi.html) that she topstiches her skirt onto a leotard instead of sewing the skirt in between the brief and bodice pieces.  While this does seem like it would take care of the rolling issue, I must admit I don't know how I feel about having exposed stitches on my dress. 

So, what do you sewers do?  Do you inset the skirt or topstich it onto the leotard?  If you inset the skirt, any tips so that it won't roll?  Thanks in advance!

[Loops]

I have the same problem, especially on the back.  So I'm curious as to what other's suggestions are, too.  And wanted to tell you Saje, that you aren't alone in this!!!

Neither do I like the idea of just stitching the skirt onto the bodice.....exposed stitches bleh.  I use an old Kwik sew pattern that my mother bought back in the late 80's.  For that you put the skirt on upside down, right sides facing, and stitch it that way (directly onto the leotard, this is a 2-piece construction- leotard and skirt) so that when you let the skirt fall into it's final position, the stitches are hidden underneath.  It works in the front, but not on the back.....rolls-ville. 

[DressmakingMomma]

I sew skirts two ways, my favorite is to add the skirt last but I do it a little differently the Sew, Skate, Read. After the leo is done, I slip the skirt on over the skater and mark exact placement with a tailor's pencil. then I pin the skirt over the top of the leo right sides together but with the skirt hem facing towards the neckline. Next sew a generous quarter inch zig-zag seam to attach the skirt. There is a little less bulk then attaching the skirt between a bodice and pantie seam and the raw edge is hidden under the skirt.

When I do sew a bodice and panties separately and add the skirt between the layers, then I use a zig-zag topstitch afterwards just under the skirt line, catching the seam allowances and pushing it all flat down, towards the panties.

If it is more puckering and bulging, especially at the center front and back, it is probably the cut of the skirt and not so much the method of attachment. It took me a few dresses to develop a skirt with a gentle v the sits right on my daughter's hips and doesn't pucker, and that also doesn't have the fabric at the hem 'puddle' between her legs (one of my skating dress pet peeves). The secret is the curve at the waistline, how deep the v is and the angle in relation to the center fold. Once you have a skirt pattern worked out for your body type, it is easy to make simple style modifications for each dress and is well worth the hassle.

If you've sewn the skirt on top of the leo and it is puckering a bit at the centers, you can carefully remove the stitches at the v to slightly change the depth of the v and get rid of the puckers. If the skirt is 'rolling' up over the top of the v part in the center, then the depth of the v is probably too deep for the angle of the skirt cut (does that make any sense - really hard to describe - LOL).

If you don't want to take it all apart, you can sort of cheat it by flipping the skirt towards the neck, adding a zig-zag topstitch to lessen the depth of the v and make it a softer curve, and that might sort of flatten it out a bit. Try pinning it first and putting it on to see if changing that line helps before actually stitching. I made a quick diagram because it's really hard to describe.

[DressmakingMomma]

I should add, the little dashed red line is where you add that stitch line. - oops

[Loops]

Ooh, very interesting.  I do the V at the back, and it deffo rolls right at the deepest part.  A lot.    I can certainly do your cheat, but in the future, that means that if I stick with the V at the back, I need to do a shallower one to avoid the roll?  Another skirt I did was straight across the back, and it rolled, though maybe not as much.  That one had a yoke, too.  I can't seem to win.

Also, if you do a zigzag, how do you avoid stitches popping?  I don't have a serger, so do a very long and, I guess narrow? (a la Jalie, my width is set to 1mm and length to 3mm, 'normal' is 3mm x 1.5mm) zigzag, and I am constantly blowing stitches as I pull the dress on and off, especially along the horizontalish hems. I did a cheaters princess line- straight across the top of the breasts on the last one, and that seems to be where I'm losing the most stitches.  I thought it was the skirt, but I ended up attaching that with my machines super-stretch stitch and that seems to be holding.  That latter is H E double hockey sticks to rip out though, so I'd like to avoid using it in the future.....

Sorry Saje, not at all trying to hijack, you and I are having similar issues at the same time.  Hopefully your skirts aren't popping stitches!

[DressmakingMomma]

The skirt pattern I've had the most luck with is Kwik Sew 3272, though i flatten out the front but kept the back full - this style is  flattering and I like how the bottom is swingy and evenly distributed along the hem in the back.

For somebody with hips, I cut the sides long and change the front angle so there is a little less fabric. For girls less hippy, then I cut the skirt up a bit at the sides and make it fuller. I cut my back longer then the pattern and I almost square off the center back before rounding out to the side so that the skirt doesn't look too short during backwards crossovers. I sew mine with a rounded dip rather then sharp v, no matter how deep it is because I find it much easier to make work and I think it's softer looking. Part of getting the skirt just right is  experimenting with what works best with your particular curves. It took me awhile to get my dd's skirts so that I was happy with them, but they always turn out now.

As for the zig-zag, I usually set mine from 1-2 mm wide and then go .25-.5 mm longer then the width. Long and narrow means you don't have much extra thread for when the garment is pulled, same width/length means you have more thread for stretching. I use a ball point needle and standard thread, but I do have a good (albeit OLD) machine that stitches very evenly. I use a zig-zag for top and finishing stitches and a stretch stitch for any seams that hold the garment together. My tension is set to as low as possible while maintaining the stitch. My kid is hard on her dresses, sometimes wears them for practicing in, and yesterday I even found a dress piled in a heap on the her floor, which I assumed she stepped on when getting in and out of bed - she heard an earful from me on that! I don't have popped stitches.

[aussieskater]

Agree with everything dressmaking momma said.  I also attach skirts to a whole leo by flipping the skirt upside down towards the neck, then flip right side down once sewn.  I use a "1.5-2 wide/2.5-3 long" zigzag to sew the skirt on, and haven't had stitches pop.

The advantage to this method is that you can unpick and move the attachment line of the skirt if you find it's not quite right.  Pretty much the only time I would split a leo and insert a skirt is if the briefs are to be made of a different fabric to the bodice.

In my experience, the "rolling" you are describing occurs because the curve of the skirt's waist seam is too flat/straight/tight at the area of the rolling to accommodate the body inside.  My usual fix for the "rolling" problem is to scoop out a little of the waist-hole of the skirt at the place where the rolling is occurring, most often centre front and/or centre back, grading the scoop back to the side seam - in other words, the opposite of what dressmakingmomma does (she alters the attachment line; I alter the skirt).

If the "rolling" happens at the side seam, as can happen in a flat box skirt, it's likely that the skirt side seam is too vertical for the hips inside it, and the skirt needs to be cut slightly more A-line.

[saje]

Wow, DressmakingMomma - that was super helpful!! I think I'm going to try another practice skirt using your technique.  I do think perhaps my V was too deep as the fabric is rolling slightly up over the V. 

If the "rolling" happens at the side seam, as can happen in a flat box skirt, it's likely that the skirt side seam is too vertical for the hips inside it, and the skirt needs to be cut slightly more A-line.

This happened to me as well!  I realized that the skirt I chose to cut did not work with my hips, as there was a roll around the widest part of my body.  I was able to solve the issue (for the most part) by ripping out the majority of the side seams where I had sewed the front skirt to the back skirt.  Thus, I now have a practice skirt with side slits.  Guess I'll have to fiddle around with my skirt pattern in the future.

Must show off my finished product - I've never used a sewing machine before and I'm mildly pleased with the results.

[sarahspins]

Neither do I like the idea of just stitching the skirt onto the bodice.....exposed stitches bleh.

If you do it "upside down" (put material right sides together, with skirt going upwards towards shoulders, then stitching on the 'wrong' side of the skirt) then the stitches aren't visible... it isn't my preferred method (I prefer sandwiching between bodice and brief), but it is more flexible if you are concerned about fit/placement/fixing puckers.