Ok I mastered the bound button last weekend. I know you have been wondering when or if I would get to this part of my couture jacket and skirt I have been making. The quilting is done so I decided to do the button holes before doing anything more. Even though it was tempting to just experiment with the jacket front that was quilted I forced myself to try my first bound button hole on a sample piece of tweed and silk.
If you have been following this blog you remember the jacket of last summer that I made. Look at this button hole! It is sad and lumpy. I really hate it! I hate it because you can see blackness when the coat is buttoned. BLASTED THING. I have been wanting to try this bound button for a long time.
Couture Sewing Techniques, Claire B. Shaeffer
Like roasting a chicken, I followed directions to the T. I mean to the tip of the T I followed it. You still awake? Go get your jammies on because this is going to take a while. You might even dream about this later. Trying to find your college class but never making it. You have a test for an Algebra class but you never found where the classroom is.
First, I ironed interfacing to the silk lining. This is the first one and kind of puckered later. For the final button holes I stretched all the bias out of the silk by spraying it with water and then ironed it quick so it wouldn't ruin the shee shee silk. Oh and you have to do this silk piece on the bias! Bias is setting the fabric at a 45 degree angle.
Notice the placement for the edge to edge button hole is basted by hand with the white thread. I cut the silk with the interfacing the size of a business card.
Then I had to copy the same spacing onto my silk piece. It gets better. You and your whole family could climb into a snuggy and read this together before bed.
Then I traced 1/8" offset from the center horizontal line. It's a good thing I am an architect.
Then I hand basted on top of my traced pencil line. At this point pencil is the safest thing to use. After all this work if marker got on the silk *which it did a tiny green dot* it really sucks.
Machine sew the rectangle. For all my sewer friends I suggest going really slow with needle down. CONTROL.
Now cut the button hole with a sharp exacto blade. Amateurs beware, it takes a steady hand.
Pull the whole thing inside out and sew up the middle by hand.
This is my first one ever. The bound side is a little crooked, but the next three that I performed on the final jacket are much better. I must say that even someone like myself who has been handy with the exacto since birth, it was impossible to get my button holes exactly the same. For the most part they look the same.
When I completed this I started humming Gypsy Kings like I used to do in architecture studio.
1 comment:
I had started to wonder what was happening with you, Lara. Glad you posted.
Were it not for crazed perfectionists such as yourself the world would be a poorer place. My admiration for your endeavours is profound.
As someone who'd just buy any old jacket from a shop after deliberating for about a single minute I can admire even if I cannot understand.
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