Pattern Pieces Not Matching Up
Hello! I am very new here and I don't know if I'm putting this post in the right place but hopefully it works out.
I'm working on my first corset using TV110. I don't have a lot of sewing experience at all so this is a bit of an adventure for me. I've made one mock-up which fit quite well and was comfortable, but I wasn't satisfied with how well I ( Read more... )
I'm not in charge here but I'd say you're in the right place.
Congratulations on making an ambitious and courageous early project! Never be intimidated by mere fabric and patterns. You can do this. A human being designed this pattern and hundreds of thousands of women before you have learned to sew and even have mastered the art of sewing (I'm not a master and probably never will be but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying what I do at the sewing machine) and a number of them became respectable corsetieres (corsetmakers).
It is possible that the pattern pieces shifted when you were cutting them out, if you left the pattern piece on the fabric, either pinned in place or weighted in place. (I've not had any hands-on experience with TV patterns, but many, many home sewists and corsetmakers copy out the pattern size's pieces they need in tissue paper or onto blank newsprint so they never compromise the integrity of the original, printed pattern and it remains pristine for any later use.)
If you copied the pattern pieces onto other paper, you may have had a bit of slippage or shifting going on at that time, and if there were any when you cut out the mock-up pieces, that could and would compound that situation. Corsets need to fit closely and really more exactly than not (but for the record, in the latter part of the 1800s corsets or stays could be purchased ready-made and those who bought theirs that way had to do the best they could.)
The mere act of pinning a pattern piece, original from the envelope or copied out, to sit on the fabric differently and affect the measurements of the garment pieces.
Sometimes the cutting line is farther or not as far as it ought to be from the eventual stitching line, also called the seam line, and that will place the seam line a bit more toward the center of the garment/corset panel or a bit farther from the center, and this in turn can affect how things line up.
If you want to be absolutely certain that the pieces' seam lines are matching, know where the seam line is to be (some patterns don't include seam allowances and it's up to the sew-ist to determine what those are going to be and to add them in---you say you're new to sewing, so: the seam allowance is the planned distance between where a line of stitching joining two or more pieces of the garment together is going to be, and the raw or cut edge of the fabric relative to that line of stitching), get a seamstress's tape measure, a flexible one, and measure the seam lines.
All of this having been said, decide whether slightly uneven top and/or bottom edges are acceptable in a mock-up. Odds are, however, that whatever is going on in the mock-up will also be in the final corset, so you might want to decide before you cut into your good fabric.
EIther of your proposed solutions is viable. I think the question you have to answer for yourself is, what are you willing to do to make sure you have the corset you want?
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I am trying to preserve the original pattern's integrity for future use. I know this pattern allows a 1/2" seam allowance (my vocabulary is sadly lacking in sewing terms so thanks for the explanation!) so I just went back and did some comparisons to the original pattern with my tracing of it.
My tracing matches up with the original pattern pretty well. I found one deviations which is only a millimeter off so I'm not terribly bothered by it. Then I decided to measure the difference between the edges when I laid 4 on top of 5 as if I were about to pin them together. When I lined up the top and bottom edges, the difference at the waist was 1/4". I also measured for the seam allowance at the top and it comes out to be 1/4" beyond the "cross" where the seam would make both pieces of fabric line up exactly. When I only try to line up the bottom and waist edges, the measuring the 1/2" allowance brings it a lot closer to that "cross" but that's only a 1/2" allowance on piece 4. On piece 5 the allowance is more like 1/4".
Also, I am planning to wear the final corset pretty often as I have horrible sitting posture but have to sit for long periods to study, so I do need it to fit well. I'll keep making mock-ups until I'm confident I won't botch up the final result.
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Let me respond, though, to what you've said about vocabulary, because vocabulary is important: every area of study or endeavor has its own "language," and vocabulary is that language so it's a good thing to know.
Decades ago, the Simplicity pattern company mounted an advertising campaign which ran, if I'm recalling the facts correctly, for something close to three years, and it was based on this premise, expressed in this slogan: "If you can read, you can sew."
And I agree, but you do have to know what the various terms mean. May I suggest that you either find a sewing vocabulary site online, or look for a good, all-purpose sewing book in a second-hand store such as Goodwill, or a local rummage sale? Or both.: nothing wrong with having more than one resource. Better Homes and Gardens had or has an all-purpose sewing book, one edition from the 1960s is, as I recall, dynamite; Singer (the sewing machine company) also published one that was one volume, and in addition published a series of books about various aspects of sewing and apparently the idea was that you'd collect them all; Simplicity published one; Reader's Digest has one (Reader's Digest seems to have a book about just about any do-it-yourself subject you can name, but I've had a look at their book on sewing and it's good value for whatever you pay for it.) I KNOW there are more than those few.
Does the pattern say anything about something called "lapped seams?" (Slightly different technique than just pinning right sides together and then stitching in a specified distance from the cut or raw edge.)
Whether it does or doesn't, the seam lines of two pieces intended to be joined together may not be exactly the same contour even if they are the same length. It might sound counterintuitive, but it is nonetheless the way it is and it is correct. In general, you'll be looking to have the seam lines on the two pieces to be joined be the same length, not exactly the same "path." Sounds impossible, but it happens and happens beautifully.
I was not and am not sure what you're describing in your "...difference of the waist was 1/4"." You're not talking about a segment or two segments of the corset's waistline measurement, are you?
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There are 3 likely causes:
1. The pattern shifted, and was not cut out smoothly.
(Second mockups will show whether this is true or not)
2. The complicated double curve is causing you to want to join the pieces in a more 'logical' straight forward way, however, double curves (like "s" line from overbust to overhip, or from high back to top of hip) will NOT pin flat. You are doing 3-D sculpture when you make a corset, and those curves don't always 'match' but they will MATE, even if they look like they CAN'T possibly work. (This is what Virginia Dear is talking about)
3. You perhaps did not follow the grain-direction instruction on the pattern AND/OR using a material that has too much stretch and the process of sewing the pieces together is stretching ONE of the pieces (due to stretch, light weave, or too much bias cutting).
On a pattern, there is usually a bold arrow going straight up/down, straight across, OR diagonally at a 45 degree angle. Simplicity patterns highlight this mark by stating it as a "grain direction guideline' but patterns for more experienced seamstresses may neglect pointing this out. This line may be on the pattern piece itself OR on the pattern-instructions telling you EXACTLY how to lay out your pieces for cutting.
These instructions seem obtuse, but really they are very important to follow. Bias (diagonal) cuts stretch more than any other direction of pull. This can make pieces fit together badly. The grain direction of the pieces in a corset is *very important* so that it can maintain structure under the pressure of wear. Laying pieces out for cutting in "any way they fit" on your chosen fabric does not actually work best for this type of garment.
Also, if it is just a little overlap with one longer piece, that little bit isn't hard to get rid of further down the line when you are constructing your final piece. As long as it's making the shape you want, all ends and bits can be smoothed into your final piece!
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You see in the middle how the edges don't line up on the left side, even though the top and bottom do. Is that a problem I should fix?
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If that's the case, then we can tell you that what you're seeing on the left hand side is the extension of the fabric beyond the stitching line, also called the seam line.
If you mark the seam line lightly in pencil one-half inch from the cut edge on the pattern edges which are supposed to pair up, and if you mark a line which is perpendicular (at right angles) to the seam line across each seam line, top and bottom, one-half inch (1/2") from the top cut edge and from the bottom cut edge, and then make a round dot---not too big, but big enough to see it easily---at those intersections, of which you'll have four (two top, two bottom, total, for the purpose of this exercise), and match the dots to each other, the two top dots (pin through them) and the two bottom dots (ditto), you'll see how well the two seam lines for each piece (#4, #5) match up.
Do the marking by measuring one-half-inch in from the heavy line which represents the cutting line. When I do this, I mark little dots or ticks of the pencil lead a half-inch in from the cutting line, and then connect a few inches of them, leave about three-quarters of an inch unconnected, connect a few more inches, leave about three-quarters of an inch unconnected, and so on until I've marked the entire seam line; ALWAYS carry the line right to the top cut edge and the bottom cut edge, and mark that "hatch" or "cross" mark across the seam line, in this case half an inch from the pattern piece's top edge and from its bottom edge.
The "Big Four" pattern companies (Simplicity, Butterick, McCall's, Vogue) always include these dots where seam lines or stitching lines cross, but not every pattern company does this.
Usually you can count on the seam lines pairing up pretty darned closely, unless the pattern instructions are using words like "ease" or "ease invisibly" or "stretch from [small dot] to [large dot] even though the cut edges---those are the heavy outlines of these pattern pieces---don't appear to match up exactly. As geminiwench said, they may not match but they will MATE, and that's what matters.
Please try it, and you'll see what we mean.
And, as you gain experience with this sort of thing, whether it's a corset pattern or a modern-day shirt pattern or a fairy princess or a dinosaur pattern, your eye and brain will adjust to the fact that you may have what appears to be too much or too little fabric right along those cut edges, but it's the seam lines which matter, here, and not the cut edges.
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Me? I am a VERY lax and loose with my sewing, and am NOT a technically advanced seamstress, even though I've been sewing for 20 years. I usually draft my own patterns, and I would be pretty happy with a pattern that was only 1/4" off in one place on one piece;) For me, I would use it as an opportunity to ensure that piece is well back-stitched at the top (to MAKE SURE the seam doesn't fray/loosen/split, when folded over/bound) in the final piece and no worry another second over it, as long as the garment, itself fits.
There are some garments (and pieces) where 1/4" makes all the difference (sleevils!!) but there are other places (along the top/bottom of most garments, for instance) where it really is inconsequential since the garment will be finished with a hem or binding anyways.
I can tell you are very detail oriented and whether or not any of this helps with THIS corset... VirginiaDear has offered TONS of really helpful and insightful information about sewing, pattern reading, and construction which might be helpful as you progress as a seamstress in general. GOOD LUCK! You're gonna look LOVELY!
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**I noticed I am late here but thought this may be useful to show others that may come later
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