>Now, about that top point. Don't try to do it on the machine! Yes, it can >be done, but it requires a lot of finagling and can cause a lot of >frustration. Consider that the people who used this construction were >working by hand -- this was never designed to be done by machine. It's >much, much simpler by hand. If you do it by machine, you need to do a lot >of marking of seam allowances and turning points and so forth. All very >exact -- too much like machine quilting for my taste ;-)
Everyone has a technique or 2 that they dont like or havent yet mastered. Perhaps Robin & others is missing out on a very nifty trick that will make this a tad easier. If setting a gore (godet) by machine is good enough for the couture industry, it's good enough for me. Here's how it's done. First we'll practice on a scrap: 1. Fetch 2 scraps of fabric, say 1 sq foot each. One, the garment piece, will be slashed and have the gore inserted. The other will be the gore. 1b. Prep the gore section. Typically, for us early period types up thru the 19th c, the gore is symmetrical and not on the straight grain, cross grain or true bias. It may have a seamline down the middle. If so, finish it now. Your gore should be several inches longer than the slash as measured down the center line. When using the true bias, the gore is at it's stretchiest. If you can master the technique this way, then every other gore should be easier. * Chalk 1/2" seamlines at the top of gore. They should cross at the top center. This is the apex of the gore. 2. On the garment piece, draw a chalk line right down the middle. The X marks the top of gore's seamline: ________________ ! ! ! ! !__________x ! ! ! !________________ 2. Stay stitch (check machine tension, ensure no pulling) 1/4" on either side of chalk line. When arriving at the point angle the stitching line gently toward the X. At the X, lift the foot, pivot your sample, and mirror-image stitch along the other side. DO NOT CUT the thread! That's possibly the most important part of this technique. There must be a continuous thread up, around & down the point. ! ! !_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_\x ! - - - - - - - - - - -/ ! 3. Slashing. Cut along chalk line, or, if you wiggled while stitching, cut between the stitch lines. Cut all the way to the X, but DO NOT CUT the thread. It's called slashing, but dont get too aggressive. If you twist, tug or pull you'll distort the results. 4. You'll need a powerful bit of imagination for this next bit. We'll be working right sides together, with the gore on the bottom, garment piece on top. Spread the slashed, garment piece so that the top of the slash aligns with the chalked seamlines of the gore. The top of slash threadlines goes exactly overtop the crossed chalked seamlines of the gore. Obvious the amount of seam allowance varies greatly on these 2 pieces. Believe me when I say the thread line goes exactly overtop the chalked seamlines. * slowly *baste* the last 2 inches toward the point; * at the X, put the machine needle down, pivot your work; * align the threadline with the chalk line on this side, and stitch a few inches Peek at the apex of the gore. Look good & smooth? finish stitching the seam. Look messy? pick out your stitches & try again. Assuming you've got the machine cleaned, a fresh needle, tension balanced, needle & thread correctly selected for the weight of the fabric and all the other basics under control, this should do you well. Cant understand w/o a picture? I love Claire Schaffer's books. Look up godets, gusset and/or "stitching a seam with an inward corner". Think you got it? How to cheat this technique: Stitch only the top 2" of the slashed section. After the gore is set into the slash, remove the stay stitching. --cin Cynthia Barnes [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
