From: alg@cs.cornell.edu (Anne Louise Gockel)
Subject: Re: underlining rayon challis revisited
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 15:14:03 GMT

In article <4162@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us> bekowski@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us (Rebecca Churchbells Bekowski) writes:
>
>I've decided that underlining is a really useful technique
>in constructing garments and if anyone has any pointers

Some general comments on underlining follow.  I'm in the process of using a
rayon challis underlined with a cotton-poly batiste to make a loose fitting
suit jacket.  So far it's going pretty well..... but I've definitely learned a
few things in the process!  The following comments are based on articles I've
read over the past few years.

-o) If you want to use a fusible interfacing, but are afraid that the fusible
will bubble in a few years and look bad, consider underlining the garment.
Use a lightly weight material, underline it and attach the fusible to the
underlining.  (suggestion from one of the Sandra Betzina books?)

-o) Nancy's Notion's current catalog includes a material called "flannelette"
with a note that says that Sandra Betzina recommends this material as an
underlining for silks or rayons.  This makes sense to me; a flannel or chamois
material is slightly sticky and the silk/rayon outer material would cling just
a bit to the underlining.  The sturdy flannel or chamois would provide a good
surface to attach the interfacing too.  I haven't tried this, but I plan to!

-o) Cotton bastiste is generally recommended as an underlining material.  This
would be best with wools, linens or cottons.  I think that flannel would work
better with very light weight or "slippery" fabrics.

-o) Betzina also recommands underlining with a light weight knit fusible
(maybe Stacy's Easy Knit).  This would be appropriate for underlining a cotton
or medium-weight linen or wool.  The knit fusible will add the body, but will
keep the fabric somewhat soft.  You will still need a traditional interfacing
for jacket lapels, etc.

-o) I used hand padstitching on the lapels and undercollar of my jacket.  It
took forever (8-12 hours to tape and shape two jacket fronts and a collar!).
Furthermore, I carefully caught one thread of the outer rayon in each
pad-stitch and IT SHOWS!  Indeed it's rather messy looking, but since it is on
the underside it won't matter.  

The next time I do this I will probably use machine stitching instead of hand
pad-stitching.  Betzina discusses machine stitching to stiffen a lapel.  I
will use parallel rows of stitching on the lapel, parallel to the roll line.
I would also use parallel rows of stitching for the undercollar.  I will
probably use the technique of "channel stitching" as described in the Aug/Sept
1992 Threads.  This is a type of quilting used to stiffen a material.  This
should shape the lapels and collar, and would not be quite as tedious as hand
pad stitching.

Alternatively, I'll consider using a fusible interfacing.  Or use a medium
weight flannel or chamois for the undercollar and fusible interfacing for the
lapel.

-o) I also used some simple pad-stitches to lightly tack the interfacing to
the garment front.  Again, I caught a single thread of the outer fabric and
these stitches *do* show on the outside.  I will consider just tacking the
interfacing to the underlining and not catching the outer material.  These
stitches would not show with wool or linen, but they will show with silk or
light rayon.

-o) Similarly, the stitches used to apply stay tape to the jacket front show
on the outside.  I might try camaflouging these with several rows of top
stitching.

-o) I suspect that "channel stitching" (as described by Roberta Carr in
Aug/Sept 1992 Threads) could be used with underlining to stiffen a material.
For example, take a hand-dyed silk, underline it with a light cotton and use
channel stitching along the grainlines to add extra body.  This would be alot
of work, but I'll bet the results would be spectacular.

-o) The Aug/Sept 1992 Threads has an article about an underlining that has a
self-finishing, like a Hong Kong finish.  The author read about this method in
one of Claire Schaffer's books and she describes underlining an old wool skirt
using this method.

-o) Preparing the underlined fabric is *alot* of work.  Each pattern piece is
cut out twice and each piece must be basted to the underlining.  There's alot
of hand basting involved.  I found that it took almost 12 hours to cut all the
material (outer material which was a *slippery* rayon, underlining and
slippery lining) and baste the material to the underlining.  The Vogue pattern
I used *does* have alot of pieces however (two piece sleeve, pockets, flaps,
welts, back with vent, etc).

-o) Most books suggest that you shouldn't underline the facings.  In the case
of a jacket I felt that the facings have to be underlined since they will
often be visable.

-o) details like welts and pocket flaps *are* difficult with the underlined
material.  If you you are using the regular material for the welts you have a
light-weight slippery material to deal with.  If you've underlined the flaps
and welts you have several layers to deal with.  Fusibles may be an
alternative.

-o) When underlining large pieces, the books recommend a line of basting from
corner to corner on each piece.  It is probably good to use a very thin silk
thread as it's easy to get marks left on the material with a traditional
polyester thread.

-o) Practice.  As always, each project is a wonderful learning experience!

Note: Sandra Betzina has two books that are collections of newspaper articles
(e.g. each is 1-2 pages long) called _Power Sewing_ and _More Power Sewing_.
Both are highly recommended.  Threads is available on newstands and by
subscription from Tauton Press.  See the FAQ for more details.

					-Anne
Anne Louise Gockel			Cornell Computer Science
Internet: alg@cs.cornell.edu		UUCP: cornell!alg