Men

Jedidiah SAL – Supplex w/ an elasticated waist

The sewing for this version of the Jedidiah shorts is pretty quick so we decided working it up in a photo blog would be better than incorporating it into the video series. There are still videos for the welt pockets and zipper fly but the rest of the sewing will be demonstrated in the photos.

For this version I created a welt pocket for one side of the back and then used an elasticated waist along with supplex for a more casual fit. In using a super stretchy fabric like supplex you can size down but I wanted to keep a straighter leg line so I opted to go with his measured size.

https://pheefabrics.com/supplex/

Altering Pattern Pieces

The first step to this was altering the pattern pieces. Attach the back yoke to the back pants piece overlapping the seam allowance (5/8″) and cutting into the top of the back yoke piece so it can lay flat. Mark 5/8 inch down on the back pants piece then line up the bottom of the yoke piece with those marks.

Then you can cut out all of your pattern pieces. Everything is the same as the original pattern except I DO NOT interface the entire waistband.

Make sure to mark all of the notches and if you’re doing the welt pockets the two top pocket placement notches shown here.

Welt Pockets

Next is to work on the welt pockets. You’ll need these size pieces:

For a 6 inch pocket

7-1/4 x 6in in main fabric

7-1/4 x 5-1/4in in main fabric

7-1/4 x 2-1/2in in main fabric and interfacing fused with an additional interfacing for the pants piece

I opted to only do one side with a welt pocket to emulate these rtw shorts travis has but you can do it on both sides easily enough.

Next is the front slat pockets. Supplex is a thick heavier fabric that does allow the shorts to look more professional but can also add bulk if you’re not careful. Since it is so thick I decided not to use the facings for these shorts.

Slat Pockets

With right sides together align the angled edge and stitch, I serged.

For the next step, finishing the bottom of the pocket, the directions used french seams. I found this to be too bulky for the supplex so I opted to just serge the pocket bottom with right sides together.

With right sides together sew along the bottom of the pocket from where the pin is to the folded edge.

Now the front of the pants are complete we can attach the front and back of the pants.

Inseam and side seams

The directions instruct us to use flat felled seams or french seams for the inseam and side seam but I don’t find this necessary when doing these in supplex. I serged both seams using the 5/8 inch seam allowance.

I opted to not use bar tacks on the pockets when using supplex.

You can hem now or at the very end I chose to hem at the very end.

Next I sewed the crotch seam. There is a notch on the fly part of the front pants piece make sure this is marked. Then we need to finish the edges of the crotch seams. I opted to serge these edges. When you sew the crotch seam we sew from the center back down to the inseam and then up until you’re 1/2 inch below that notch we marked.

Serge the raw edges of the crotch seams for both legs.

When you get to sewing up into the fly section of the crotch seam you sew directly from the 5/8 inch seam allowance straight up to the point you marked 1/2 inch below the notch. You do not follow the curve of the fly.

Fly

Next we’ll be stitching the fly. There will be a video for this!

There are two zipper shield pieces. One of them should be interfaced on the wrong side.

FLY VIDEO WILL BE INSERTED HERE]

Waistband

The first step for the waistband is to interface the ends. I used a 4×4 square of interfacing and reinforced both ends of the waistband. I then serged one of the long raw edges and ironed the waistband in half wrong sides together length wise.

To attach the waistband clip the non-serged edge of the waistband to the top of the pants with right sides together with the short raw edges of the waistband hanging over the zipper fly/facing edges by 5/8 inch. Sew the waistband to the main pants distributing evenly.

We’re now going to enclose the waistband starting with the 5/8 inch overlap. Fold the waistband in half right sides together matching the short raw edge.

Pull the main pants, where the zipper is, away from where you just clipped and line up the raw edge of the waistband with the serged edge making sure not to catch the main pants.

Clip along the short edge and along the long edge until the end of the interfacing sandwiching the main paints.

Now pull the main pants out of the waistband so it is right sides out.

Now flip the pants so you’re looking at the back side and we’re going to fold the waistband down using the memory seam we created earlier. Pin the serged edge to main pants enclosing the seam allowance we previously created and using the memory crease to keep the fold even.

The serged edge will be caught in the topstitching.

With the right side out topstitch along the edge of the waistband catching the back side of the waistband. I used a triple stretch stitch and started 6 inches from the waistband edge all the way around to 6 inches from the opposite short edge.

I used a triple stretch stitch for the topstitching.

I measured the distance that I topstitched and subtracted a couple inches to get a rough idea of how long I wanted my elastic to be. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and feed it through the casing. Then, tack the end of the elastic down 3 inches from the short end of the waistband.

Once you have fed the elastic all the way through you can guide it out of the other end and try on to measure exactly how long you want the elastic.

Now we can finish up the topstitching. From your previous topstitch line continue to the inside edge of the waistband.

We’re almost done!

Button and buttonhole

I love these buttons they’re applied with a hammer and look so professional.

Last is hemming!

I serged the raw bottom edge of the shorts and then folded wrong sides together and zig zag stitched 1/2 inch from the bottom.

You are finished!! Yay!!

June 16, 2019August 18, 2022 by Phee Fabrics Categories: SupplexTags: #pheejedsal, elastic waist hack, jedidiah, jedidiah shorts, Men, mens shorts, sewing for men, Supplex, supplex shorts, Techniques, thread theory, thread theory jedidiah, welt pocket, zipper fly 1 Comment

Strathcona SAL Day 4

Today we are finishing up! The video goes over the neckband, cuffs, and hemming. Can’t wait to see your finished products!

-Whitney

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 by Phee Fabrics Categories: UncategorizedTags: henley, Men, pheestrathsal, SAL, strathacona Leave a comment

Strathcona Henley SAL Day 3

Today we’re finally sewing! We’re going to be doing the shoulder seams, sleeves, and side seams!

First we’re going to sew the shoulder seams. Align the shoulder seams of the front and back bodice with right sides together and then sew. Here I’m using the olive rayon spandex.

DON’T FORGET THERE’S A 5/8 INCH SEAM ALLOWANCE. Ask me how I know haha.

Now that the shoulder seams are done we’re going to sew the sleeves. There are five notches on the sleeve pattern piece one in the center, two for the front bodice, and two for the back. The notches for the FRONT have the one notch that is closer to the center notch.

I always forget to mark my notches so often I have to mark them with pins afterwards haha.

Here I lined up the sleeve notches with the pinned notches on the bodice pieces. It’s really important to make sure that the front of your sleeve is with the front bodice otherwise the shoulder seam will pucker this sleeve cap ISN’T symmetrical.

Alright once the sleeves are both attached we’re going to be doing the side seams!

All of these photos are of the olive but most of them we’re taken with a flash that’s why they look so different.

First I like to line up the seams on the bottom of the armscye and then pin down the side and then down the sleeve. You shouldn’t need to stretch the fabric at all, they should be the same size 🙂

Tomorrow we’ll be doing the cuffs, hem, and neckband! I hope you’re loving your shirt so far.

-Whitney

November 29, 2018October 14, 2019 by Phee Fabrics Categories: UncategorizedTags: henley, Men, pheestrathsal, Rayon Spandex, sew along, sewing for men, strathcona, thread theory Leave a comment

Strathcona Henley Day 2

Today we are going to be working on the placket! This is the hardest part of the whole thing but after you figure it out the first time it’s smooth sailing. I made a video on the method and then here are some close up shots.

For some reason I always choose dark fabric when making videos why why why haha.

The most confusing part for me was the actual folding of the placket so I put the pictures of that below. At the point of folding the placket you should have the right front of the placket stitched to the garment from the neckline down to 1-1/2 inches from the bottom of the placket piece. On that right side the placket piece is essentially sandwiching the cut raw edge of the bodice. Don’t forget to tuck your seam allowance in there before you stitch.

Moving on to the left side you’ll do the same thing sandwiching the raw cut edge but then at the bottom of the placket piece that extra 1-1/2 inches of the left side will sandwich that same piece on the right side.

Notice how the left placket in the picture is completely wrapped around the right.

Once you have that completed (it’s a little finicky) you need to trim the layers so it’s not so thick. I trimmed everything on the inside of the placket so that when you fold it up it lays flatter.

Notice how the bottom layer of the placket is really thin because I trimmed all of the underlayers. I also like to have my placket completely stitched on before I add the buttons and buttholes so after stitching the placket is when I would ideally add those. I get worried about too much shifting if I try to do it before stitching the placket.

I didn’t realize until it was too late that my main bodice was wrong side out but luckily Travis really doesn’t care! haha. So I just stitched in a square but you can also do the X as suggested if you prefer that look.

November 28, 2018October 14, 2019 by Phee Fabrics Categories: UncategorizedTags: buttonholes, buttons, ew along, henley, Men, pheestrathsal, Placket, Rayon Spandex, sewing for men, strathcona, Techniques Leave a comment

Drafting a Styling Curve and Alterations

Making your own curve stylist or French curve

A French curve is a set of curves made from varying sturdy materials that are used to draft the curves in patterns of different slopes. The French curve is also an invaluable resource for altering patterns.

Unfortunately I don’t have a French curve but I was really wanting to adjust my husbands t shirt pattern last week so I had to find a way to make it work. It was actually so easy! JK I bought one after writing this! Haha

All I had to do was to trace the armscye curve of his pattern piece marking where the side seam point and the shoulder point on the curve. Then I cut the curve out and traced this it onto some craft paper so it was a little bit more sturdy.

You can see here I just put a piece of printer paper behind the pattern piece to start and then traced the armscye curve. Most tops have a different curve for the front and back so you’ll have to do this twice. After you’ve drawn the line make sure to mark the top and the bottom, that’s where you’ll line up the new armscyes and shoulder lines and you can cut your curve out!

Forward Thrusting Shoulder Line Adjustment

(The one I use)

I have noticed that the forward thrusting shoulder is probably the most common adjustment needed on people now in the 21st century. With the amount of looking down that everyone is doing at phones, computers or keyboards the shoulder tends to rotate forward. Shockingly I noticed the other day in one of my husbands rtw shirts that they had adjusted for the forward shoulder and the shoulder seam was an inch or two more forward than the center point of the sleeve!

What it is:

A forward thrusting shoulder is when your shoulder sits more forward than the rest of your body causing your shoulder seam line to feel like it is riding back. I have also noticed that this can manifest itself when your front delt is more developed than your back delt cough cough my husband haha. When your shoulder sits more forward it means your back sits wider and your chest is more narrow which leads to your less than ideal fitting garment.

What it looks like:

When this happens there is too much fabric in the front and not enough fabric across your back which can cause drag lines going across your upper shoulder and some pooling between your neck and shoulder. This is shown by having drag lines from the center out to the shoulder point. Luckily this is a super easy fix!

Solution:

All you need to do is bring your shoulder seam of your front pattern piece down the designated amount and raise your back shoulder seam (making the armscye appear taller) that same amount! I started with 1/2 an inch and went from there but the rtw shirt that fits my husband perfectly for his muscular build is about an inch difference.

Step 1:

The first thing you’re going to want to do is measure down from the shoulder seam on the FRONT bodice the amount that your forward shoulder sits. I did one inch for Travis.

Step 2:

When you add to one side of the bodice you have to do the same but opposite to the other to keep the pattern even! So you need to add the amount you used in step 1 to the back bodice here.

Step 3:

Now using your styling curve or freehand you can ease in the neck curve to the new addition to the back bodice shoulder.

YOU DID IT!!!

I really hope this helps,

Whitney

Forward Thrusting Shoulder Point Adjustment

What it is:

This alteration is if just the shoulder bone sits more forward than the rest of your body or in the un-ideal place. Unlike in the forward shoulder line adjustment just the bone is sitting forward so the neck point is going to remain the same.

What it looks like:

This is shown with drag lines extending from the center front neck out towards the shoulder.

Solution:

The first thing you’ll want to do is measure the amount you want to change down from the front bodice shoulder line, then connect the neck point to that new point with a straight line. Similar to what we did on the forward shoulder line adjustment but this time you’re only altering the outside point. This will have shortened the armscye of the front bodice so you’ll have to move the armscye down your designated amount just like to did in the forward shoulder line adjustment. Next we’ll move on to the back bodice, Since you shortened the front bodice shoulder you’re going to have to increase the height of the back bodice shoulder. You’ll do this the same way but opposite. Measure your designated amount up from the shoulder point and then connecting that point to the neck point. By connecting these two points you’ve created the new shoulder seam for the back bodice. You’ll then have to increase the height of the back bodice armscye just like we did in the forward shoulder line adjustment.

By changing this you’ve also changed where the center point on the sleeve will hit. You’ll want to adjust your notch for the center sleeve. If you moved the shoulder point by 1/2 inch for instance you’ll want to move that notch forward 1/2 inch as well.

I hope to add photos to this too I just haven’t had the chance yet!

Sloped Shoulder Adjustment

What it is and what it looks like:

A sloped shoulder adjustment is really common and I had no idea about it until just a couple months ago! When your shoulders slope down from your neck out to the shoulder bone and the pattern isn’t altered for it, it causes drag lines that extend from the armpit up to the neckline. I have also noticed that overly big trap muscles can appear to cause this same thing and give the illusion of a sloped shoulder but it is really a higher neck base adjustment that you’ll need.

Solution:

Good news is that this is a super easy fix! All you have to do is pinch out on the edge of the shoulder to see how much you need to adjust for your particular sloped shoulder to make the drag lines disappear.

Once you have that measurement, for us it was 1/2 inch, you’re going to lower the shoulder seam on the outside by that measurement and then connect the neck point to that new shoulder point.

In order to keep the armscye the same size you’re going to have to mirror this same alteration at the bottom of the armscye. Again for us we did 1/2 inch. So you mark 1/2 inch down from the armscye and use your French curve or a mirror of the curve your shirt has to create a new armscye that ends at that point.

You’re going to mirror these same adjustments on the back bodice as well and you’re good to go!

A sloped shoulder adjustment is commonly paired with forward thrusting adjustment and a rounded back adjustment so be sure to check those out.

Hope this was helpful!

-Whitney

I hope to add photos to this later today but I just haven’t had the chance yet!

October 25, 2018June 15, 2020 by Phee Fabrics Categories: UncategorizedTags: adjustment, alteration, Bodysuits, drafting, Dresses, forward, forward shoulder adjustment, Kid's Tops, Men, shoulder, shoulder line, sloped shoulder, styling curve, Techniques, Women Leave a comment

Adding Zippers to Polartec (or any knit fabric)

Zippers!! A lot of people are afraid to tackle a zipper, but don’t be! They definitely take some practice, but they really aren’t that hard to do. This tutorial will help walk you through the process with some tips and tricks for getting the perfect zipper. Some of the instructions and photos may vary based on your type of sewing machine, so definitely consult your manual as needed, but the basic steps still apply for sewing zippers onto Polartec or any kind of knit fabric.

My son lives in t-shirts and hoodies year round, so I wanted to make him a new hoodie from the gorgeous new Heathered Gray Polartec PowerStretch from Phee Fabrics. I chose the Ziggi Zipper Hoodie from Wardrobe By Me, and went with one size bigger than his measurements so that he had some room to grow.

Let’s get started!

When adding a zipper to knit fabrics, I always use stabilizer to keep the fabric from stretching out of shape while sewing the zipper in place. You are working with a non-stretch material (the zipper tape) and trying to make it fit a stretch material…trust me, stabilizer is your best friend here!

You will need something that is suitable for knit fabrics. My go-to stabilizer is Shape-Flex, a.k.a. SF101, from Pellon.

After you have cut out your garment pieces, you will apply the stabilizer to the edges of the fabric that will be attached to the zipper. For my hoodie, that means I attached a small strip of interfacing to the wrong side of the front center pieces and also to the front center edge of the facing pieces (also on the wrong side). You don’t need a lot of stabilizer here…just a strip about .5″ – .75″ wide and as long as the fabric (minus the SA if desired).

Be careful when fusing the stabilizer! Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s directions and that you are not going to “melt” your fabric. I like to take a scrap of the fabric and a scrap of stabilizer and test it first before trying with my “real” fabric. For the Polartec PowerStretch, I definitely needed to use a pressing cloth so that the high heat and steam needed to adhere the stabilizer wouldn’t damage my fabric.

Once you have your stabilizer attached to the necessary pieces, follow the instructions to assemble your garment up until adding the zipper.

I HIGHLY recommend basting your zipper before stitching – especially if you are working with a facing as well. My hoodie also has kangaroo pockets that I wanted to make sure were lined up correctly.

Take your zipper and place it face down on the right side of your fabric. Here I’ve used clips to hold it in place.

I’ve also marked the top of my zipper outside of the SA. Since I’m using a longer zipper, I will have to shorten it, but I always wait until after I have added the zipper to do so. Also, since I’m using a metal zipper, I need to be extra careful that I’m keeping the zipper teeth out of the SA. Stitching or serging over a metal zipper could damage your machine! I’ve marked my zipper about .5″ down from the top of the front piece, as this pattern has a .25″ SA.

When sewing your zipper, you are going to use a straight stitch. For basting, you don’t even need to switch to your zipper foot yet. I have a narrow teflon foot that I use 90% of the time, and it’s small enough that I usually don’t bother with my zipper foot unless I’m using a zipper with 1″ zipper tape. Then the zipper foot is handy. I also use Microtex needles, which are super sharp and help get through the zipper tape.

For basting, just choose a long straight stitch. I set mine to about 5.

Now, baste the zipper to the first side of your hoodie. Make sure you stay within the SA. In other words, the SA for my zipper is .25″, so I basted at about 1/8″.

Basted!

Once you have that side basted, unzip the zipper and place it face down on the right side of the other front edge.

Again, you want to mark the top edge the same amount as the other side. Now, while it’s still clipped, you can zip the zipper up and check the alignment. As you can see in the following pic, my bottom hem and the pockets were not aligned.

To fix that, I take my ruler and line it up with the seams on each side and then make a mark on the zipper tape where the seams need to be on the un-basted side.

Now unzip the zipper again, and line those marks up with the corresponding seams and reclip the zipper to the fabric.

Baste the zipper to the second side in the same way as you did the first. Once it’s basted, zip it up and check that everything is still lining up. Perfect!

If things are still not aligned, you can easily take out the basting stitches and shift things around. Once you have everything where you want it, it’s time to sew it in place.

Now is the time to change over to your zipper foot and also set your stitch length shorter – about 2.5-3. My pattern calls for facings, so here I have lined up my facing on top of the zipper before sewing.

Stitch through all the layers to sew the zipper to the garment.

When sewing the side with the zipper pull attached, you may need to move the zipper pull out of the way in order to manoeuver around it. To move the zipper pull, make sure the needle is DOWN and in the fabric, then raise the presser foot, shift the garment, and slide the zipper pull out of the way of your stitching.

Once you have moved the zipper pull, shift the fabric back into place, lower the presser foot, and finish sewing.

And there you have it – your zipper is installed! Easy peasy! 🙂

I hope you have found this helpful, and I look forward to seeing what you make with all of the awesome Polartec fabric from Phee Fabrics!

October 11, 2018June 15, 2020 by magella Categories: Fabric TypesTags: Fabric Types, hoodies, Men, polartec, Techniques, zippers Leave a comment