Getting Daring

I've been fooling around with extending the yoke on some shirts because I
thought it looked "sportier". However, I have a tendency to get some
tension across the backs of my shirts because I have broad shoulders,
extended yoke or not. I decide to go another route.

I was inspired by something in David Coffin's book. He had one shirt that
had a sizable reverse pleat down the back, with contrasting color for the
inside piece.

I took Coffin's idea about the large reverse pleate and decided to make two
reverse pleats at each shoulder blade. I then tapered each pleat down to
nothing by the time it reached the waist. This gives me some give at the
shoulder blades, but I only let the pleat expand for about six inches below
the yoke (which I shortened by 1 inch from the original pattern), and is
edge-stitched closed from there on down.

The pleats were angled in so as to give me a tapered line also to look at
(or for others to look at, rather). I'm just ponying it up with some cheap
fabric right now. It may look too funky when I get through, but, what the
heck, $7 in materials and a little creativity, and something to tweak for
later projects. Keeps me off the streets.

Dwight

duh who wrote:

I've been fooling around with extending the yoke on some shirts because I
thought it looked "sportier". However, I have a tendency to get some
tension across the backs of my shirts because I have broad shoulders,
extended yoke or not. I decide to go another route.

I was inspired by something in David Coffin's book. He had one shirt that
had a sizable reverse pleat down the back, with contrasting color for the
inside piece.

I took Coffin's idea about the large reverse pleate and decided to make two
reverse pleats at each shoulder blade. I then tapered each pleat down to
nothing by the time it reached the waist. This gives me some give at the
shoulder blades, but I only let the pleat expand for about six inches below
the yoke (which I shortened by 1 inch from the original pattern), and is
edge-stitched closed from there on down.

The pleats were angled in so as to give me a tapered line also to look at
(or for others to look at, rather). I'm just ponying it up with some cheap
fabric right now. It may look too funky when I get through, but, what the
heck, $7 in materials and a little creativity, and something to tweak for
later projects. Keeps me off the streets.

Dwight
Sounds like you are enjoying the experiments, which is part of the fun!

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Keeps me off the streets.

Well, then it's surely worthwhile!! LOL

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

"SewStorm" wrote in message
...
Keeps me off the streets.

Well, then it's surely worthwhile!! LOL

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati


I've been giving some thought to quilting, but just can't seem to motivate
myself. Seems like a lot of tedium, only to find out my color sense is
awry. Then, last night, as I was coming in off the streets (from a
bookstore looking for sewing books) I walked in the house and looked at my
Richard Diebenkorn print hanging on the wall. He's an abstract
expressionist whose works sometimes have some rectangular geometry to them.
I started thinking "Hmmm...maybe I could replicate one of his works in a
quilt."

But, its shirts first.

I've been giving some thought to quilting, but just can't seem to motivate
myself. Seems like a lot of tedium, only to find out my color sense is
awry. Then, last night, as I was coming in off the streets (from a
bookstore looking for sewing books) I walked in the house and looked at my
Richard Diebenkorn print hanging on the wall. He's an abstract
expressionist whose works sometimes have some rectangular geometry to
them.
I started thinking "Hmmm...maybe I could replicate one of his works in a
quilt."


Here's an example of a Diebenkorn:

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/d...k_114.jpg.html

duh who wrote:

I've been giving some thought to quilting, but just can't seem to motivate
myself. Seems like a lot of tedium, only to find out my color sense is
awry. Then, last night, as I was coming in off the streets (from a
bookstore looking for sewing books) I walked in the house and looked at my
Richard Diebenkorn print hanging on the wall. He's an abstract
expressionist whose works sometimes have some rectangular geometry to them.
I started thinking "Hmmm...maybe I could replicate one of his works in a
quilt."

But, its shirts first.

My very best friend rang me up one day and said 'I'd like to do something
creative. Not embroidery like you do, but something *bigger* with our old sewing
machine. What can I do?'

After giving him the basics of sewing and making clothing for his wife and
daughter, I advised him to go straight to his local quilting group and learn to
quilt. Today, he's a magnificent quilter and has made gifts for all his family
and friends and some magnificent hangings and furnishings for his home. Above
all, he's been utterly besotted with the bug and has become something of an
addict. LOL! It's so *good* to be an enabler!

Still, I take your point about getting motivated! I've been collecting fat
quarters for years and years and *still* I haven't been able to get started! I
don't know why it is... something to do with cutting up all that fabric only to
sew it back together again. Or maybe like you I'm afraid I won't be able to make
much of a colour combination. Or maybe it's just not my algorithm... Dunno...

If I do anything, it'll probably be something along the lines of crazy patchwork
where I can incorporate embroidery and embellishment along with the piecing. One
thing I do know: the first thing I ever make will be a picnic rug. I've
collected all my DH's old cotton shorts (all in various shades of blue) and cut
them into four inch squares. One Of These Days, I'm going to piece them all
together into a throw rug and back it with some flannel-backed vinyl. One of
These Days...

I wish you success with your shirts and hope like mad you can get started
quilting! It's so good to have something you do just for beauty rather than for
pure functionality! :-D
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

I wish you success with your shirts and hope like mad you can get started
quilting! It's so good to have something you do just for beauty rather
than for
pure functionality! :-D

Well, that shirt is getting daunting. I've got the shell together, but
there's something about the reverse pleats that want to stay open once
opened. I had someone look at it, and the lines tapering down to the waist
look good, but she thought the pleats staying open looked a little funky.

I'm closing the pleat from both ends to narrow its expanding area and this
seems to help. Perhaps I should just do a large 1/2 pleat on each side.
Maybe pictures would help.

On my regular shirts I do this:

...............______________________
_______\ /______


My current design is like this (ignore the periods, that's just so things
line up):
...............__................................. .....__
_______\ /___________________\ /______

What I might do is this

..............._______________
...............\............................/
________\......................../_________

"duh who" wrote in message
...
I wish you success with your shirts and hope like mad you can get
started
quilting! It's so good to have something you do just for beauty rather
than for
pure functionality! :-D

Well, that shirt is getting daunting. I've got the shell together, but
there's something about the reverse pleats that want to stay open once
opened. I had someone look at it, and the lines tapering down to the
waist
look good, but she thought the pleats staying open looked a little funky.

I'm closing the pleat from both ends to narrow its expanding area and this
seems to help. Perhaps I should just do a large 1/2 pleat on each side.
Maybe pictures would help.

I wonder if a very close to the fold top stitching would solve your problem?
I did some two toned cheerleader skirts that I top stitched knife pleats
from waist to hem. They hung nicely as one color when standing perfectly
still, as soon as they moved at all you could see the second color. If you
top stitched the yoke, collar, cuffs and placket, too, it would be just an
integral part of the shirt design. Lots of good steam pressing before top
stitching those pleats would probably also help. Also, a pleat that should
lie flat put over any sort of a curve, as a body does, will open if there
isn't enough extra ease in the over all across the back measurement, maybe
just giving yourself another inch or so would help. However, even if you
have those pleats hanging perfectly and not pulling open, as soon as you
bend forward or reach with your arms they are going to pull open. Just the
physics of how your back moves makes pleats a design feature that will not
be perfect at all times.

Just a thought,
Val

duh who wrote:

Well, that shirt is getting daunting. I've got the shell together, but
there's something about the reverse pleats that want to stay open once
opened. I had someone look at it, and the lines tapering down to the waist
look good, but she thought the pleats staying open looked a little funky.

I agree with Val; try topstitching the edges of the pleat right next to
the fold/seam line.

--
Kathy

"Kathy Morgan" wrote in message
.. .
duh who wrote:

Well, that shirt is getting daunting. I've got the shell together, but
there's something about the reverse pleats that want to stay open once
opened. I had someone look at it, and the lines tapering down to the
waist
look good, but she thought the pleats staying open looked a little
funky.

I agree with Val; try topstitching the edges of the pleat right next to
the fold/seam line.

Well, it didn't seem to like the outside of the pleat being open, as it
would never close back once expanded. So, I edgestitched that seam all the
way down, and left only about a 4" opening to the inner pleat side. This
seems to work.