A flatiron in the sewing room?

dog-612665_640 I’m conducting some in-home sewing lessons for a ten-year-old right now, and realized after the first lesson that we hadn’t made any arrangements for ironing. We’re making a dress so ironing is not optional, but there’s not a ton of space – and there is a large and boisterous dog wandering about (similar to the one pictured). I vaguely recall reading a tip to use a flatiron to straighten ribbon, and I happen to own a flatiron that I bought before abandoning 90% of hair equipment and products (I’m down to shampoo, conditioner, a hair brush, and occasionally a hair dryer). I thought we could use that to at least press the seams open close to the edges of the fabric, where they will intersect other seams, and then they could do a full press all at once at the end.

I tested it out on bias tape, and set to 15 (its max is 25) it did a decent job. You have to be careful not to stretch the bias tape; pushing your iron along fabric can stretch it (though moreso if steam is involved), so pulling something through a pair of heated plates would definitely do so. Turning it up to 20 might have made it a quicker job, of course, but we’re working with a satiny material so trying lower temperatures was a priority. I’ll probably set it to 10 and test it on scrap dress material at the next lesson.

Naturally the flatiron has to be transported and I don’t want to have to worry about its temperature when doing so. That meant an insulated carrying case of some kind. Another vague recollection came to me, of using a potholder or two to make a flatiron sleeve for travel. I didn’t have any potholders to sacrifice to the cause, but I did have a lot of leftover 100% cotton flannel and some random pieces of the silvery insulated fabric used to make ironing board covers. I did some measuring and cut a bunch of pieces.

flatiron sleeve pieces

The larger pieces are 10.5″x3.5″ and the smaller ones are 7.5″x3.5″. The silver fabric wasn’t large enough to make 10.5″ so it’s somewhere between 8″ and 9″, but that’s still way longer than the hot portion of the flatiron. I laid them out with the silver fabric in the middle, silver side in, and stitched the layers together at 1/4″. I also zigzagged the edge, but not very tightly. The short side got bias tape on its top edge, and then I zigzagged the two sides together. Bias tape all the way around the outside and it was done.

flatiron sleeve, front side flatiron sleeve, back side

The flatiron fits inside it perfectly. I am quite pleased.

flatiron in insulated sleeve

So what else is in my teaching bag? Seam ripper, seam gauge, two sizes of scissors, some rectangles of fabric for stitch practice, and painter’s tape. The sewing machine we’re using has eighth-inch marks, but they’re not labeled. I plan to run a length of tape along the 5/8″ mark to make it stand out, and my business partner suggested painter’s tape instead of the masking tape I was thinking of. Perfect!

Alterations toolkit

Teaching classes in alterations has made me ponder what I would recommend for having in your sewing stash if you plan to do much clothing alteration.

Some items are obvious, such as good scissors, a sewing machine, thread, straight pins, hand-sewing needles, and an iron and ironing board. Beyond that, here’s what I use the most, ordered by how I might use them to alter pants that are too long and too big in the waist. The waist comes first because changing it affects the length, but not vice-versa.

safety pins, seam gauge, mirror

Safety pins – the easiest way to mark when you’re fitting yourself.

Seam gauge – no better tool to transfer the measurements that come up in alterations. Those measurements are usually fairly small and often not round, so the sliding tab of the gauge serves as your calipers and your memory.

Full-length mirror – ideally hung on the wall (or on a stand), but propped up will do.

The first step in taking in the waist of pants is to put them on (the right way out) and, looking in the mirror, pinch the waistband until it is the size you want. One side at a time – you’ll have to re-pinch side two in between – safety pin the pinch where you would sew it. Measure from the fold to the pin with the seam gauge and average out what you get. Mark that amount on the gauge. Time for the next batch of tools!

tailor's chalk, fabric pencil, seam ripper

Tailor’s chalk or fabric marking pencil – the silver pencil, by Dritz, is the best pen or pencil I have come across for marking. It brushes or washes off. Tailor’s chalk (which is really more like a crayon) comes in a variety of colors and washes out, but if you use the white chalk it will also disappear upon ironing, turning clear. I have mine in sleeves made from post-it notes.

Seam ripper – naturally! Make sure it is sharp.

The waistband of pants is altered separately from the legs and so must be detached in the vicinity of the side seams. If the waistband doesn’t have side seams, the proper way to shorten it is by removing it nearly all the way around and shortening from one end (if there is a button, leave the buttonhole end attached to the pants and shorten at the button end). If there is a side seam or you don’t mind making one, just give yourself about two inches’ clearance on each side of where you’ll be stitching. If there are side belt loops take them off entirely. Turn the pants inside out and fold them at the original side seam. Mark the new seam at the waist using your seam gauge’s memory and tailor’s chalk or pencil and gradually slope it out to meet the original seam. If there is topstitching (stitching down the seam allowance, visible from the outside), take it out wherever your seam line is on top of the seam allowance and for a distance below and above that. Pin (away from the seam is fine because you are just keeping the fabric underneath from shifting) and stitch, avoiding stitching through the original seam allowance. I usually semi-freehand the first seam and then mark the second to match, in terms of slope and rejoining the original seam. Take the waistband in by the amount marked on the seam gauge.

The next step is to press, which can be aided by the following tools.

sleeve board, tailor's ham

Sleeve board – looks like a mini ironing board, inserted into sleeves and other tubes too small to go over the end of the full ironing board, this tool helps you press one side without adding creases to the other accidentally. I use mine quite a bit.

Tailor’s ham – By shifting the angle and direction of this densely-stuffed beast, you can iron curved seams smoothly. Learn how to make your own at No Big Dill or Chance of Rain. Commercial hams have a cotton side (heavy, like canvas or duck) and a wool side. I use mine infrequently, but there’s no substitute when you really need it.

Press the side seams open or to one side, according to how they were originally. Press the waistband seams open if the side seams are, and either open or to the opposite side if the side seams are pressed to the side. Trim excesses of seam allowance and zigzag to overcast if desired; replace topstitching if there was any, removing any original topstitching that turns out not to be in the right place. Pin belt loops on if you removed them and sew the outer layer of the waistband to the pants. Fold the waistband to the inside and stitch in the ditch to secure the inner layer. Sew the tops of the belt loops on.

We’re on to the hem! You’ll need your safety pins and full-length mirror again, and you may want one of these guys:

yardstick, clear ruler

Yardstick – Wood or metal. I am surprised to realize I’ve never seen a plastic yardstick.

     and/or

12″ ruler – I <3 <3 <3 my transparent one. To mark the length, put the pants on again. Estimate how much to turn up and do so, pinning the turned-up part of the pants in place. Go by what happens at the back of the foot. If you have carpet, wear shoes and base your length on position relative to the top of the sole (I like my pants to hit the top of the sole in the back; you may want them higher, or lower if you're going to wear the pants with high heels). Make sure to drop them, settle the pants at their natural position on your waist, and twist as little from the waist down as you can manage - if you stand barely facing away from the mirror you can usually see yourself with twists that are in the shoulders and neck only. If the hem line is straight to the ground, determination of which is sometimes helped by standing on tiptoes, you can mark up the appropriate amount on the front and back and then use the yardstick or ruler to mark a straight line across. If it isn't (some pants are higher in front, which may not be desirable), pin so the back is the right height and mark perpendicular to the inseam. If you are making pants to a particular inseam measurement, the yardstick will allow you to measure that easily. That's it! Alter in good health.

Wrong way round?

Apparently, I install the washers on my safety eyes upside-down. The bump is supposed to face away from the eye, according to every site where I found instructions. I’m going to guess they’re easier to put on that way. The little spikes I stab my fingers with are supposed to grip the fabric and stabilize the eye.

I have no intention of changing, though. I place them bump down for a reason: on the eye sizes I use, the washers are always far larger than the eyes. My amigurumi are small, and there’s generally a strong curve around the eye. Putting the washers on “correctly” can create ridges around the eye; putting them on bump down gives a bit of clearance above the washer.

I haven’t been able to find any information about the security of the washers in either orientation, and I’m not equipped to measure it myself, but they certainly don’t come off easily even when upside-down.

This is the sort of thing I research on a Sunday night.