Linen Kirtle Sleeves

I’m calling this project done, because all I have left to do is whip the wrists of each sleeve, then I can move on to other (dare I say more interesting?) projects.

Not that this particular project has been intricate or challenging, but it certainly has been hard to get motivated and stay on track.  I am curious to see how the final product fits & looks!  (I’ll try to grab a picture or two of her wearing them…..if I remember!)

Red Kirtle = DONE

Oh sweet, sweet success!  The red kirtle is finally done!  I’m very close to being able to play dress up with Bertha and get an outfit for this Saturday together.  (Oh yeah, and get my classes together too.  That would probably be good……)

Red Kirtle–Stitching Progress 2

I finally got the skirt sorted out, and was able to move on to the center back boning.

I used plastic zip ties (one of the best, cheapest boning options out there!) for the center back to keep it from collapsing when laced.  I use a heavy duty pair of wire cutters my dad gave me years ago (one of my favorite tools to this day).  I generally don’t do much to prepare the zip ties other than cut them to length & cut the corners on an angle.  (If the fabric is particularly delicate, I’ll sometimes file & melt the ends.

I think one of the most important things about inserting boning at an opening is placement.  I know I’ve had disastrous results when placing the boning in the seam.  I find it’s a lot stronger when placing the boning in the fold of the interlining (or lining, as this particular case).

Then it’s just a matter of pinning in place and stitching a casing line. 

Next up:  Eyelets.  Lots and lots of eyelets.  (I’m thinking it was a very bad idea to stop at the eyelet stage on the black kirtle….now I have twice as many to do.  Wish me luck…..

Red Kirtle–Stitching Progress

I’ve got the neckline and the armscyes all stitched up.  (Hooray!)

Next up; because I put the skirt on backwards, I will need to unpick, re-press and re-sew the seams in the skirt.  Not a big deal, but it is taking time that I’d rather put towards the next steps - center back boning & bodice stitching.  (And because I spent a goodly amount of time today messing about with pincushions, I’m a smoodge behind on my self-imposed sewing schedule.)

After that, I’ve got eyelets for both kirtles, and a whole stack of sleeves to do (The original green sleeves ended up not fitting correctly, and rather than unpick and re-do them, I took some scraps to make new sleeves.

Red kirtle–Shoulders

I generally try not to put seams at the top of shoulders, but this particular pattern does, in fact, have a shoulder seam.

So, to start out, there are some ugly raw edges of the shoulders. 

Because these straps are so tiny and narrow, I wasn’t able to easily clip corners, so I just turned everything under as-is and pressed the living heck out of it all.

Then, placing the insides together, whip the lining together.  These stitches are going to take the bulk of the strain.

After the seam is whipped, I opened the seam up and press flat.

                     

Then, stitch the top layer together, using bitty, pretty stitches.  (Since these are actually going to be seen!)

Red Kirtle–Skirt attachment

After pleating, I sewed the skirt to the bodice, and zig-zagged the top edge.  There is a mild dip in the back, so I clipped that curve.

Then I pressed the seam up, making sure that the pleats were lying nice and straight.

Next, I pressed over the seam allowance on the bodice, making sure that the stitching line was covered.

Then I pinned the whole thing down.  I’m not going to sew down the bottom edge of the bodice until I’ve done the shoulder straps, top stitching, and boning casing; but when that’s all done, I’ll run a line of top stitching along the bottom edge, going all the way through each of the layers to hold the pleats in place and make the skirt attachment even stronger.

Red Kirtle Progress

Before pleating, I hem the two edges of the skirt. (This becomes the center back later on)

After the hemming is done, I laid out the skirt, folded in half on my table. Then I clip every 1/2” to mark for my pleats.

Then lining up the center front and center backs, I begin pinning each side, using the 1/2” snips to line up box pleats of 1”. By starting at both the center front and center back, there is relatively little fiddling at the end to make the whole skirt fit, usually it’s only a matter of unpinning and re-pinning a couple of pleats.

Next up: Sew shoulder straps & skirt to bodice

Red Kirtle–Bodice

The bodice is cut all in one piece, with a seam on the top of the shoulder, and opens down the back.  First step is to pin the linen fashion fabric layer to the linen canvas lining (strengthening) layer.
Next, I sewed around the neckline, center back, and armscye; leaving the bottom of the bodice and the shoulder straps open.  I clip all the curves and corners and then press the seams open.  I generally find it necessary to only press the heavier (white) layer, but depending on the fabric, I may press the other side as well.  In this case, I only pressed the canvas layer.
I turned the whole thing right-side out, making sure the corners were nice and crisp. 
Side-note:  My favorite tool for poking corners is a bone folder.  I used to use scissors, but ended up shoving the scissors all the way through and destroying the fabric half the time.  With the bone folder/point turner, there are no sharp edges to catch on fabric, and the point is trim, but not too pointy.  I highly suggest them as an essential tool in the sewing arsenal!
Back to the kirtle…….I pressed all the seams again, once again making sure all the seams are nice and crisp.
The next step is to pleat and attach the skirt and whip the shoulder seams.