sewing topstitch

sewing topstitch

Some More Notes on the Lapped Seam

I have another article in this article directory on the lapped seam. This is another article below. It aims to give some extra information on this seam.

It is said that the lapped seam is on the 'surface' of the garment and this is true. Remember that the lapped seam is sewn wrong side to wrong side which would imply thus that the seam will be on the surface of the garment but it doesn't 'obviously' have to be on the surface side. And we see that with one variation of the lapped seam, the upper fabric is snipped by the amount of the seam allowance and then an overlap is made with the lower fabric. This implies above all that there is a manifest effort to make the seam less 'obvious' and even though the seam is 'on the surface' , stitching lines may be apparent on the surface but this could easily be construed as decoration or topstitching.

One of the elements of the Lapped Seam is how much to trim off on the upper or overlapping fabric. It is understood that in the Lapped Seam that, above all, there is lapping and this lapping involves forms of overlapping. However, seam allowances were added to give a suitable fit and there is always the question of how much to snip off since this will affect the fit and wear of the garment.

It is interesting that in another variation of the Lapped Seam, which Claire Shaeffer notes in her book ‘The Complete Book of Sewing Shortcuts’, that the upper fabric is snipped by e.g. half of the seam allowance i.e. ½ inch. Then this upper fabric overlaps the under fabric by ¾ inch. Thus there is an additional ¼ inch which is not ‘covered’. It is as if ¼ inch has disappeared altogether. However later on you can see that this ¼ inch hasn’t disappeared ; it will represent extra fabric that will be snipped off at the end.

Then when the overlapping is done, you can do two suitable topstitching lines. The first topstitching line is not an edge-stitch but approximately 3/8 inch away from the overlapping line. Thus there will be some fabric ‘left over’ so that when you have finished doing the two topstitching lines, then you can neatly cut off this ‘excess’ fabric.

It is obvious that this seam is so neat and tidy. No excess fabric is there..there is no need for tidying up of the seam. You may wonder what this latter form of the lapped seam is suitable for. It is not obviously suitable for woven fabrics because of the possibility of fraying.

You can question too whether this seam is strong enough for non-wovens e.g. suede. Still remember that the aim is to eliminate the seam allowances. The two fabrics can be glued or bonded together at the start when the overlapping is done. I do not know if this is done in industry i.e. this gluing/bonding before the topstitching. Yes this bonding may be an important step if certain fabrics require it or the design requires it.

kirby_jay@hotmail.com

http://creatavate.blogspot.com/

About the Author

9618 Sewing Pattern Simplicity Ladies Learn Topstitch Denim Jacket Top 4 6 8 10

$4.99

1 Pack Schmetz Size 16 Topstitch Sewing Machine Needles

$5.79

Help! FASHION DESIGN,CUTTING,SEWING,DESIGN?

Submit a machine sewn patch pocket. Cut a woven fabric rectangle 8”X 10”, center and topstitch a 5” X 6” patch pocket to the 8” X10” rectangle. Mount the sewn sample to an 8 ½” X 11” card board. Clearly label the top of the sample with your name and the label, Patch Pocket.

so what do i have to do again?!
Submit a machine sewn patch pocket. Cut a woven fabric rectangle 8”X 10”, center and topstitch a 5” X 6” patch pocket to the 8” X10” rectangle. Mount the sewn sample to an 8 ½” X 11” card board. Clearly label the top of the sample with your name and the label, Patch Pocket.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO NOW?this is for a project yes!

Cut a piece of material to 8 x 10 inches. (use pinking shears if you don't want it to fray) Get another piece of material (about 5.5 x 6.5 inches) and fold the edges under and sew it from the top to the first piece of material. A Patch pocket is just a pocket sewn on top of material (like on the back of your jeans) instead of inside a garment (like on the front of your jeans) . Then they want you to stick the whole thing on cardboard for presentation.