help - terminology and factors
 

Ok, just got my Wild Ginger software in. Its asking for a couple of setting
I'm not sure of.

One is facing width. I'm doing a coat. What's an adequate setting? 1.5
inches? 2 inches.

The other is hem allowance. What would that be, about 1 inch? 1.5 inches?

duh who wrote:

One is facing width. I'm doing a coat. What's an adequate setting? 1.5
inches? 2 inches.

Are you lining it? (Check some high-quality RTW garments in as close to
the same style and see what they do)

Is this your mandarin-style coat? (You can put a binding around the
edge and bind in the outside fabric and the facing if so)

The other is hem allowance. What would that be, about 1 inch? 1.5 inches?

When I took sewing lessons back in the dark ages, they said that the
ideal hem was something like 2-5/8 inches. But I have since read that
(a) the more flared the garment, the narrower the hem should be while at
the same time reading that (b) the wider the hem in general, the better
quality the garment is considered to be. But see above if this is that
mandarin thing, because a self-binding around all the edges would look
really nice and you would need neither facing width nor hem allowance.

Yes, you will get to the point where you can figure all this out on your
own. Ask lots of questions, look at lots of patterns (even ladies' wear
if it's the same style) in the fabric store or online to see
construction details, and you will get there faster than you can imagine
possible.

If you have a plain straight coat, 2-5/8 inches sounds reasonble to me,
or make it an even [sic] 3 inches.

--
I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. - Mother Teresa

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 02:22:39 GMT, duh who wrote:

Ok, just got my Wild Ginger software in. Its asking for a couple of setting
I'm not sure of.

One is facing width. I'm doing a coat. What's an adequate setting? 1.5
inches? 2 inches.

The other is hem allowance. What would that be, about 1 inch? 1.5 inches?

I go for the deeper option, if the fabric is opaque. Garments generally
hang better with deeper hems, IMHO (I usually double mine), and I notice on
higher-end RTW the hems are usually deeper, and so are they on vintage
clothing, which is generally better made than modern clothing. I have some
coats and jackets with facings up to 4-5 inches deep, especially if there
is no lining. It usually goes hand in hand with a wider seam allowance.

Agree with what Melinda says re binding. Looks very good on Mandarin-style
jackets.

Don't forget to sign up to Patternmaster Chatter, too. I don't know who
else on there is using PMTM, but it's worth asking.

:) Trish

The facing width desired for the coat would depend on the weight of the
fabric. I would want at least a three inch facing for a medium weight coat
fabric (thinking melton cloth here), but facings are a personal choice. A
two inch facing seems awfully narrow to me - but then, I would also put a
two inch hem (at minimum) on the bottom edge of the coat as well. Look in
your closet or the shops at measure the facings and hems of the coats that
you like the fit and wear of. If you're going to the shops to get the idea,
don't take a measure tape - use your fingers since a) we don't lose our
fingers and b) you can check 'measurements' unobtrusively that way.
Cynthia
"duh who" wrote in message
...
Ok, just got my Wild Ginger software in. Its asking for a couple of
setting
I'm not sure of.

One is facing width. I'm doing a coat. What's an adequate setting? 1.5
inches? 2 inches.

The other is hem allowance. What would that be, about 1 inch? 1.5
inches?