Sewing #610... Sewing the bust darts.

Aaaaand we're back with more bra sewing! At this point, we've drafted our pattern and cut out our test muslin for the bra. Don't you just love how the whole bra is just one piece of fabric? It definitely makes life easier!

I have cut out and sewn the darts in my silk version - the fabric I'm using? It's from an old set of silk charmeuse pajama pants that didn't survive my tossing and turning for long. The fabric has a bit of wear to it, but it's still pretty and feels heavenly on the skin. Waste not, want not - n'est pas?

For both your test muslin and the actual bra, you'll be sewing quite a few darts. Between my muslin, my adjusted muslin, and the bra in silk, that's 12 darts - 16 if you're lining the darn thing. So it helps to know a few things about sewing bust darts, and darts in general.

It's smart to start at the bottom and sew your way towards the tip, but here are a few more tips:

• For bust darts, adding a very slight curve at the tip of the dart will help the garment contour better to the roundness of your bust. See more about that here.

• At the tip of the dart, don't back-stitch, instead, pull the garment out from your sewing machine and leave a trail of threads long enough to tie a loose knot. Make sure that there are a few millimeters of ease between the knot and the dart.

My pin stealthily rusted onto my fabric, the horror!

•  Press your darts flat before pressing them open. This will help set the stitches in the fabric.

• And by far, my favorite tip for pressing my bust darts is to use an old bra! Fold the bra (the ones that are thickly padded are best) in half so that it supports itself and then cover it with a towel or press cloth.

The lovely little mound that it creates is vastly superior to my own pressing ham and perfect for pressing bra darts.

An old bra makes the perfect shape for pressing bra darts on.

So I've sewn my bust darts in the bra and now I'm going to take a short week-long break from sewing.

Pardon the wrinkles, I pressed the darts ok but the rest of the bra will just wrinkle again during handling, lining or binding so I don't even bother with the rest of it.

This coming weekend, I'm flying back to Nebraska to help my family manage the auction we're having to liquidate the family antique business. It was run primarily by my mother and with her now gone, none of us has the heart to continue with it. It's a very sad, but necessary part of adulthood, I suppose, letting go of the things you loved as a child. In this case, my sister and I grew up in our Mom's antique shop (home schooled and everything) and it will be awfully hard to say goodby to that chapter of our lives.
My wounds are still very raw from losing Mom only four months ago so this coming week will not be an easy thing to survive sober (though I'll be trying).

Wish me luck!

Continuing Education... and changing everything I knew about darts!

Hello lovely readers. Things are starting to settle down here a bit. We're 2/3 unpacked and my studio has a semblance of order (it's all an illusion) and so with a few quiet moments to spare, I thought I'd share what I've been up to.

With our return to the U.S. from Norway, all sorts of possibilities opened up. Should I look for a job now or continue with Mrs. Depew Vintage? Should I go back to school? Take a yoga class or learn Kung fu? Should I dye my hair pink? All of these ideas have been rolling around in my head for the last 6 months, even before we started packing. Some were put on the back burner for now... the Monterey area is nearly as expensive as Norway was and maintaining pink hair would be pricey... but I did settle on a few important things.

I love my job. I love running Mrs. Depew Vintage more than anything else I've ever tried, so it follows that I should continue to do what I love! But what next? I'm a huge fan of continuing one's education, in any way one can afford or find time for. I decided to take 2 days each week off from work and take some classes at my local college in the Fashion Design department. Right now I'm taking Fashion Illustration (very useful so far, as I can't draw to save my life) and Pattern Design. Granted, I know how to draft a pretty good pattern already, but I never studied it formally and would like to add some industry expertise to my skill set. So far, it's challenging and so much fun.

My professor has a great range of experience and so far has been a fount of useful sewing tips. One of which I simply had to share with you all the second I tried it!

My whole sewing career I have been sewing darts the wrong way! I followed my sewing books and blog tutorials when I first learned darts, and as everyone knows (or seems to) you sew a bust dart from the outside to a perfect point. And it always bothered my that there was a slight point at the bust apex. Whose boobs are that pointy?
Certainly not mine! So to fix this and get an incredibly smooth finish to your dart, simply change your stitching angle, just at the very tip of the dart, and slightly curve away from the dart tip as you sew.

Just a dart sewn into a scrap of muslin... notice the slight curve away from the dart tip. Pardon my battle scarred cutting mat.

The dart pressed open to reveal a very smooth bust dart, curving instead of pointing.

 Remember, this should only be done for bust darts. Any darts, say on your bodice back, won't need this.
I know it's a bit geeky, but hell, I'm a sewing blogger so I can totally be excited about learning a new way to sew darts better!

How about you? Have you ever taken any courses that you consider continuing your education (but not necessarily working towards a degree)? Have you enjoyed taking Italian for no reason, or perhaps a bread-making class?

Happy sewing,

Lingerie Sew-Along: Tap Pants Cutting, Darts and Yoke, Part 8

Most of you have already read that this week I lost my very dear uncle. It has been a very bittersweet week for me, getting to see so many loved ones for the first time in years (since we moved to Norway) and doing a few vacation-like things, yet still mourning the loss of someone who made my life so much richer.
I did something amazing on Friday in remembrance of my uncle. He was a great adventurer, living his life to the fullest at every opportunity. So in honor of him, I jumped out of a plane. I went skydiving with my husband and father in law, fellow adventurers, and 2 of the three people I would want to jump out of a plane with. The third was my uncle, no longer with us, but I jumped with him in my heart, and his name on my lips before the 120 mph fall completely knocked the air out of me.

My uncle said yes to every adventure, every opportunity for something new and exciting, and I mean to live the rest of my life just like that.

Still, I have been feeling horribly guilty for leaving you all hanging, having bought your patterns only to have them sitting half done for too long. I'm sorry. So with a buzz of relatives about, I was able to jot down a quick bit about cutting out the pattern pieces, and sewing the darts and yoke.


So today, if you haven't already, you can get started on cutting out our pattern pieces for the tap pants.  Here I have cut out 2 yokes from my contrasting solid fabric. This is the same cotton I used for my bra band. Whether or not you use a contrasting yoke is entirely up to you.

Note: If you have already made the mistake of cutting out the "V of Doom" at the placket opening, you might consider extending the edges of your second yoke piece by about 2 1/2" so that they face our "placket extension."

Here I am cutting out my main panty piece. To my eternal disappointment, I didn't have enough fabric left to make my plaids match very well. Oh well. It's times like these that I wish I could just pop to the local store and grab another yard or two.

Lingerie Sew-Along: Darts, Pressing, and Attaching the Bra Band, PART 3

For today's post we'll go over our darts, pressing aids, and our first seam for the bra band.

If you have a bit of experience sewing already, you should be familiar with marking and sewing darts. If this is new to you, or you just want a quick refresher, here's a blog post I did on darts.

Here I have marked my darts with pins. This is what it would look like after I pulled the pattern piece off, but before I separated the two pattern pieces. Make sure your darts are on the WRONG side of your fabric! If you have a fabric that makes it hard to tell one from the other, use a chalk mark on the wrong side to help you keep track.

Once you fold your darts and pin them in place, start at the bottom and straight stitch up to a point.