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A flatiron in the sewing room?

I’m conducting some in-home sewing lessons for a ten-year-old right now, and realized after the first lesson that we hadn’t made any arrangements for ironing. We’re making a dress so ironing is not optional, but there’s not a ton of space – and there is a large and boisterous dog wandering about (similar to the one pictured). I vaguely recall reading a tip to use a flatiron to straighten ribbon, and I happen to own a flatiron that I bought before abandoning 90% of hair equipment and products (I’m down to shampoo, conditioner, a hair brush, and occasionally a hair dryer). I thought we could use that to at least press the seams open close to the edges of the fabric, where they will intersect other seams, and then they could do a full press all at once at the end.

I tested it out on bias tape, and set to 15 (its max is 25) it did a decent job. You have to be careful not to stretch the bias tape; pushing your iron along fabric can stretch it (though moreso if steam is involved), so pulling something through a pair of heated plates would definitely do so. Turning it up to 20 might have made it a quicker job, of course, but we’re working with a satiny material so trying lower temperatures was a priority. I’ll probably set it to 10 and test it on scrap dress material at the next lesson.

Naturally the flatiron has to be transported and I don’t want to have to worry about its temperature when doing so. That meant an insulated carrying case of some kind. Another vague recollection came to me, of using a potholder or two to make a flatiron sleeve for travel. I didn’t have any potholders to sacrifice to the cause, but I did have a lot of leftover 100% cotton flannel and some random pieces of the silvery insulated fabric used to make ironing board covers. I did some measuring and cut a bunch of pieces.

The larger pieces are 10.5″x3.5″ and the smaller ones are 7.5″x3.5″. The silver fabric wasn’t large enough to make 10.5″ so it’s somewhere between 8″ and 9″, but that’s still way longer than the hot portion of the flatiron. I laid them out with the silver fabric in the middle, silver side in, and stitched the layers together at 1/4″. I also zigzagged the edge, but not very tightly. The short side got bias tape on its top edge, and then I zigzagged the two sides together. Bias tape all the way around the outside and it was done.

The flatiron fits inside it perfectly. I am quite pleased.

So what else is in my teaching bag? Seam ripper, seam gauge, two sizes of scissors, some rectangles of fabric for stitch practice, and painter’s tape. The sewing machine we’re using has eighth-inch marks, but they’re not labeled. I plan to run a length of tape along the 5/8″ mark to make it stand out, and my business partner suggested painter’s tape instead of the masking tape I was thinking of. Perfect!

Pattern cutting tips

I’ll be helping someone sew a dress soon, and thought some information about cutting out patterns that I’ve gathered for that person would be of general usefulness. There are hows and whys and Opinions.

Patterns

The back of the pattern envelope will help you choose your fabric, as well as telling you what you need for fasteners, elastic, etc. Pay special attention to pattern envelopes that say “sized for stretch knits only.” That means the way the pattern is designed and sized, using non-stretchy fabric may produce a body cast. Note also that pattern sizes don’t match off the rack sizes. This may be less true for children and juniors, but for adults… I’m two sizes bigger in sewing patterns than in off the rack clothing. Measurements are provided to make sure you’re cutting the right size.

Cut apart the pattern pieces needed for the garment you’re making. This will in most cases be far from all of the pieces in the envelope. If there is a length variation given by pieces with two possible bottom lines, and you’re making the shorter version, if you think there is any chance you’ll ever want to make the longer version, then cut neatly along the dividing line, fold up the bottom portion of the longer version, and save it in the envelope. Otherwise, just cut somewhere near to and outside the cutting line; no need to be precise when you’ll be cutting again anyway.

If unfolding and running your hands over the pattern pieces doesn’t smooth them very well, you can iron them. My grandmother always did, with a dry iron at the wool setting.

Fabric Preparation

I always wash fabric for clothing prior to cutting it out (clearly I avoid dry clean only fabrics). That way if the fabric makes any changes in the wash, it’s happened ahead of time. I run a zigzag stitch along each cut edge first, to prevent fraying. The zigzag doesn’t have to be tight – I use the widest zigzag and often the longest stitch, though for something particularly fray-prone like satin I’d probably shorten the stitch. Depending on the fabric, you may need to iron it afterward, though with some fabrics if you remove them from the dryer promptly they are ready to go. Something I have learned recently is that pushing a steamy iron along fabric will stretch it, and so now I only use steam for persistent wrinkles, and when I do use steam I try to pick up and set the iron, maybe wiggling it a bit in place, rather than pushing it along.

A little vocabulary, in case it’s needed: perpendicular to the cut edges are finished edges. “Finished” doesn’t necessarily mean smooth – they may be a bit fuzzy – but does mean that the edge won’t ravel. The finished edge is called the selvedge, and its direction is called the straight grain (or sometimes just the grain) of the fabric. The direction from selvedge to selvedge (parallel, or parallel-ish, to the cut edges) is called the cross grain. Halfway between straight grain and cross grain, which is to say diagonally on the fabric, is called the bias. Some selvedges are shown in the picture to left.

The pattern instructions will show you layouts suitable for different width fabrics. Most of those will have the fabric folded in half, selvedge meeting selvedge, so you can cut two mirrored pieces at once. It is important that the fold line be smooth, and this will sometimes require the cut edges not be aligned. The picture to left shows the diagonal ripples that indicate the selvedges need to be slid a bit along each other; the ripples are caused by the cross grain being a bit twisted.

Laying Out

Again, the pattern instructions will show you options for laying out the pattern pieces. Some pieces may be laid out with one edge at the fold line (often the piece that crosses the center front of the garment). Others will be out in the middle of the fabric, but have a long line on them showing the direction of the straight grain of the fabric (pictured; depending on the brand it may or may not have arrowheads or a “grainline” label). The easiest way to get that line the right direction is with a ruler: make each end of it the same distance from the selvedges.

Why? Aside from making sure that, say, the sheen of the fabric is the same on each piece, the grainline marking has structural purpose. The straight grain of the fabric is the least stretchy direction. Most patterns have the grainline positioned so that the straight grain will be vertical in the finished clothing. This makes the vertical line of the clothing the most sag-resistant direction of the fabric. For patterns that use stretchy fabric, the grainline makes sure the stretch goes the correct direction. Some patterns, for swirly skirts for instance, will have the grainline pointing diagonally, so that the vertical (and horizontal, too) line of the clothing is on the bias. The bias is the most stretchy direction, and provides for a lot of mobility even in non-stretchy fabric.

Knowing this, you can figure out when it’s okay to violate the rules. If I’m cutting a boxer shorts pattern out of cotton flannel (read: not a lot of weight hanging, reasonably sturdy fabric, no stretch to worry about orienting), I let the grainline marking be with the straight or cross grain as necessary to fit the pattern on the fabric.

Pin your pattern pieces through both layers of fabric, with the pins parallel to and within the cutting line, making sure to get pins in each corner. How frequent your pins are depends on the fabric and the need for precision; for stable fabric every 5-6 inches might suffice, whereas for shifty light fabric, you might need them every 1-2 inches.

Cutting

There are numerous markings on patterns, and to me the ones essential in the cutting process are the triangles. These will later help you correctly line up pieces of varying shapes in order to sew them together. I was taught to cut the triangles outward, so as to avoid weakening the seam allowance, and that the most important thing to be accurate with is where the main cutting line meets the outside edges of the triangle(s). The height or shape of the triangles isn’t so important as long as you can match those corners (not every pattern mirrors the triangles on the outside of the cutting line like the one pictured does).

There are numerous other possible markings, including dots, and dashed-line triangles or diamonds indicating darts, but I haven’t found a good system for transferring them to the fabric and tend to just go back to the pattern while sewing and mark these (with sewing pins, typically) when I’m ready to use them. Generally, instructions say to transfer those with chalk or a fabric pen – the kind that fades or washes out.

There you have it: my approach to cutting out patterns. Keep the pattern envelope with its instructions and pattern pieces close at hand.

Pattern assumptions

Crochet has its own conventions and standard operating procedure. You know already about crochet abbreviations for stitches and methods, but I’ve realized there are plenty of other things assumed to go without saying in patterns which perhaps don’t go without saying. I thought I’d make a list of all the ones I’ve thought of or seen recently, in hopes it will help a newer crocheter. Of course every one is “unless otherwise specified,” and although many of them may be so basic as to be self-evident to everyone who tries crochet, I wanted to err on the side of completeness.

Please feel welcome to comment with your own clarification questions!

Beginning:

There are two sets of terminology in crochet, known by the shorthands US and UK. I always use US (including throughout this post) and say that in my website but not the individual patterns. There are a few telltales if you don’t know which terminology you’re working with:
- If you see sc, it’s US. I’ve seen some warnings that US slip stitch can be called sc in UK patterns but (a) I’ve never seen it in an actual pattern, and (b) it wouldn’t be used as a primary stitch unless you were doing slip stitch crochet, in which case you’d know what to expect.
- If you see hdc, it’s US.
- If it’s an amigurumi made with dc, it’s UK.
- If you see htr, it’s almost certainly UK – I’ve seen htr in US-terminology patterns, but there it’s a nonstandard stitch that needs to be defined.
If you are asked either to chain some number or attach new yarn with a slip stitch, it is implied that you are to tie a slip knot and place it on your hook first.
The instruction “sc 6 in magic ring” or similar is preceded by an implied “coil yarn into ring, pull up loop, and chain 1.” The chain 1 is often but not always included in the written instructions; the first two implied instructions are what forms the magic ring.
“Join with sl st into ring,” which would be applied to a chain, always means to slip stitch into the chain closest to the slip knot.

Middle:

Stitching “in ring” or “into ring” is done by inserting your hook into the center of the ring, not between the strands of any of its stitches.
In general, in fact, it appears to me that whenever you make stitches on a chain that is attached at both ends (i.e. not a starting chain for work in rows or a chain out/stitch back situation), you will insert your hook under the chain (in the chain space) rather than between the chain’s strands. It is certainly true for granny squares and other afghan motifs worked in the round.
When working into the top teardrops of previous stitches, make one new stitch per old stitch if not directed otherwise.
A range of row or round numbers followed by a single set of instructions (e.g., “8-14: Sc around”) means to do the same set of stitches for each row/round numbered, except for anything that cuts or otherwise finishes off the yarn, which (unless the instructions have you start new yarn) are meant to occur only at the end of the last row/round of the range.
For double crochet and taller stitches, the row or round stitch count includes the turning chain, but not the joining slip stitch (if applicable). This may also be true for hdc but it is less universal.

End:

“Finish off” (FO) means to cut the yarn, pull up the last loop on your hook until the cut end emerges from the final stitch, and weave that end in. “Finish off” may itself be an implied instruction, as well.
“Cut a long tail” or similar instructions, on the other hand, mean to pull the cut end through as with finishing off, but then await further instructions. And, of course, it also means to leave enough yarn attached that you can use it to sew two pieces of crochet together or sew an opening closed.