Efficient Sewing

(or How to Squeeze an Extra Hour Out of Your Packed-Full Day)

By: Lisette Carrithers

I don't know about you but there is something about a deadline that gets me going. As a result I get more sewing done during the run of Julie Timmel's Sewing With A Plan (SWAP) contest on the Stitcher's Guild on-line forum than I do any other time of the year. The challenges on Project Runway don't scare me from a time-planning standpoint. Of course, being creative on a deadline is a whole other ball of wax. Now maybe you never do SWAP-type sewing and you have no intention of sewing up a collection a la Project Runway in eight weeks. But all of us are trying to squeeze more time for the sewing we love into schedules that are full to bursting. If that is your life, have I got a plan for you! I may not be able to give you readymade style but I can show you how to sew up the stuff you are sewing more efficiently. What you need is a process. I am going to use the example of SWAP, but if you needed a prom dress on a deadline or a baby layette by the due date you can use the same approach.

First, research your pattern and I don't just mean decide on something cute. I mean research. Take it out of the envelope and poke around. Is there anything in the instructions that you don't get? Are the instructions any good at all? Now if you're doing your gazillionth pair of pants the instructions may not matter. If, however, they have something you haven't seen a lot, like a fly front with a facing, you may want to spend some extra time going through them. Also check the pattern pieces. Experienced sewists know what a good sleeve cap should look like. If you don’t, get yourself a copy of a good fitting book (check out the SEWN BookShelf for some great ones). If some of the pieces look odd to you, figure out why now. You do not want to find out after cutting your good fabric that (insert cursed pattern company name here) has created a Frankenpattern.

Now find some reviews for your beloved pattern. Sometimes this is harder than it should be, Patternreview.com (LINK) and Stitcher's Guild (LINK) are some places to start. Don't give up if you don't see it on either of those. Do a Google search. If you can Google your date's history before he picks you up, you can be damn sure that somebody somewhere has at least talked about that pattern on her blog. If you find the pattern on blogs, ask the writers about it. Maybe they just loved the picture on the envelope or maybe they got half way through it and decided that walking barefoot across Louisiana pavement in August would be more fun (been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it). Maybe it was just beyond their skills.

Now comes the clincher: is the beloved pattern even going to look good on you (or the intended victim)? We have all sewn up way too much stuff that looks like utter crap when we put it on. Sometimes we are just delusional about our bodies. I have fantasies that the "right" pattern will make me tall and willowy instead of my usual stumpy self. I am proud to say that at 43-years-old I am finally putting to rest the hope that I will have a growth spurt, that Japanese leg-lengthening surgery is a viable option, or that I will ever weigh the high school standard of 100 pounds for every five feet of height plus five pounds for every inch over. I am short and stumpy and, while I may be slightly less stout, I am never going to be willowy.

Sometimes it is that we have a whole wardrobe for a life we never lead or at least don't lead anymore. The end result of all that sewing is a wardrobe that may fit and even look great but gives you nothing to wear on a day-to-day basis. So stop and look at what ends up in the laundry hamper. If it’s all jeans and sweats and you're sewing suits, how are you getting dressed? Save some of them, because we all have the occasion to wear something other than our usual attire. But if jeans are all you ever wear and you're comfortable with that, learn how to sew jeans really well. Make great jackets that you can wear with them to satisfy the suit urge. But make stuff you actually need, not what you fantasize about.

At this point, you might think I'm nuts. You have no time to sew and I have you doing research and self-analysis, but trust me. I am talking about efficient sewing not speed sewing. If you just want to cover your body as quickly as possible and not care how you look, I highly recommend togas. They're bound to come back into style at some point. But this is a fashion magazine, so do your research, get a pattern you know will work, and take a good look at your figure and life. These alone may be improvements over your usual sewing.

Now we get to the nuts and bolts. As I said, I am going to use the example of SWAP but these techniques can be used any time you need to meet a deadline. First, cut out all of your pattern pieces. If you are making multiple garments, get a bunch of gallon-size Ziploc-style bag and store each pattern in it own bag. This will save time later on when you're going crazy looking for a particular piece. Label the bags.

Now I am not much of a muslin-maker. I realize this is heretical, but hear me out. I don't have tons of time or money to buy muslin fabrics so I do a quick tissue fitting (see Fit for Real People for the best method I've ever used) if a pattern is very different from something I've sewn before. Once you start sewing clothes you really wear and that work for your life, the shapes probably aren't going to change much. You don't want to get into a rut but what works on your body is what works and that is that. So let's assume you're working with all new patterns but you have an idea of some of your figure differences, i.e., the things you always have to change. For me, that means short legs, sway back, tipped waist, and full bust. So I know I have to fix the pattern for at least those items.*

For SWAP, I move through all of the patterns fixing the issues methodically: length problems first, width issues second. This is important and something I didn't learn until well into my sewing career. If you stop to think about it, the logic is obvious. Doing a full bust adjustment (FBA) is pointless if the bust point is to low or high and the same goes for everything else. Unless otherwise noted by the pattern company, patterns are sized for a B-cup bust. In the industrialized world, women have been increasing their cup size steadily over the last 100 years. Odds are you may be a whole cup size bigger than your grandmother was. Unfortunately, that means that if the garment is at all fitted and if you give a rat's patootie about how it fits you are going to have to start doing the dreaded FBA. Altering the patterns probably takes a whole sewing session. But because you didn't fix it on the fly and worked methodically, these garments are going to fit instead of almost fit.

Now that you know everything is going to fit you can go ahead and cut your fabrics. I cut everything - fashion fabric, interlining, and lining - before I start sewing because I cut and sew on the same table. This way, I only have to clear the decks once. For SWAP, I cut all the garments from the same fabric together that way I can lay them out in the most economical fashion. Once I am done with a fabric, I can put it away and not deal with it again. As I am cutting my fabrics I set aside all the pattern pieces that need to be cut from interfacing. Then I cut all my interfacing at once. When I am cutting interfacing, I also cut long strips about 3 inches wide to add to hem areas and anywhere else that may need a little oomph.

I do all of my fabric cutting with a rotary cutter. If you have never used one of these just switching from shears will save you hours of time. I have the biggest cutting mat I could find but I just saw that Olfa makes an even bigger one. This is definitely one of those areas where bigger is better. Now it took me awhile to master my rotary cutter and I still regard it the way I do a snake in the wild. Carefully! I have scars on several fingers and once sliced through the pad of my thumb with one –don’t ask! As someone on a thread said, never grab for a falling rotary cutter. I now use a magnet to change the blades, I practice Zen cutting, as in fully present in the moment, when I am using my rotary. I am not by habit a “notions” person but if I had to give up my rotary and go back to shears I think I would give up sewing.

Now I want to introduce you to a favorite concept of mine: project bags. You can use the extra large sealable bags or do like I do and save the heavy plastic zipper bags that sheets and comforters come in. When I cut fabric, each item or set of items goes into a bag. For SWAP, the jackets when into one bag, shirts in another, pants and skirts in another - you get the idea. This keeps a project together when you are not sewing. If you have kids the point is obvious; everything is protected from sticky fingers and no bits are lost. As pieces are cut, they go into the bag. After the interfacing is cut, fuse everything for all the garments. After fusing, everything goes back into the bag. It’s even better if you picked up all the notions for your project when you decided on a pattern. I usually choose my pattern and then choose fabric from my stash or vice versa, and then realize that I don't have thread to match or any of the notions I need. So I make a quick trip to the fabric store with swatches to match thread or buttons or whatever. Then the notions for each project go into the appropriate bag.

For multiple items like SWAP I usually have a master envelope with all the pattern pieces, instructions, printed reviews, swatches, whatever I need. That way, if I need some information it is all in one place. I've been known to bring that envelope to bed with me.

At this point the pieces are cut and fused, notions are bought, and everything is organized into manageable parts. The pattern is a winner, workable for your life and shape, and checked and fitted. You are ready to sew. Now the beauty of this is that all you have to do is sew. Yes, you will still need to have the iron going to press seams and darts, but you won’t have major downtime until you can pick up something from the fabric store or because you need to clear off a space to cut out interfacing or whatever. If you only have 15 minutes to sew, it will be a very productive 15 minutes. I have tested this method with SWAP and can tell you that having enough time is something I will probably never achieve. I work full-time and have a family that demands attention and even to be fed on occasion. I suffer from sporadic insomnia but tend to surf the web in the middle of the night, not sew (needles through fingers are so unpleasant). I have the same 24 hours you do so if I can do it, you can do it, too. More importantly, I want you to do it so treat yourself to some sewing today. Call it therapy and then you’ll have the added gratification of having saved yourself $300 an hour and you don’t even have to leave home.

* For tips on fitting and altering patterns, SEWN Magazine recommends: Fit for Real People by Palmer & Pletsch and Fast Fit by Sandra Betzina. Both of which you can find on SEWN's Bookshelf in the navigation tabs up top. Also don't forget community site's for wardrobe planning and other FREE sewing info. New Mexico State University’s Clothing Publication Listing is a particularly good source.