Trouser seam finish: to hand overcast or not?

Hi, readers! Kids are delivered to respective educational institutions after demanding double attention yesterday, and I finally got some time to share with you! Yay!

This U.F.O. celebration worked so far, my cape is finished! Now, I could not make up my mind which project to tackle next - that's always my problem. I wish I had a wardrobe full of beautiful hand-made clothes, but, alas...

So, at the end, I settled with my Clovers. Remember, it was a bonus project for Colette Fall Palette Challenge. Hmmm... So far, I have been working on bonus projects only, not on the planned ones. But, on the other hand, I do need an extra pair or two of trousers, so here we go.

The muslin was done long ago, fabric cut, pants underlined. What slowed me down is the decision on how to finish the seams. You know me, I love to use couture techniques - so, my initial thought was to hand overcast the seams. Crazy, right?

I checked David Page Coffin's Making Trousers for Men & Women: A Multimedia Sewing Workshop - he has a great chapter at the beginning 'Learning from Custom and Ready-to-Wear Garments'. And, of course, what I found there? YSL couture pants from Claire Shaeffer's collection!!! Naturally, all seam allowances were hand overcast... But I just wasn't ready for hand overcasting some five yards of seams with winter approaching soon.... I thought, those YSL pants are vintage - do they really still hand overcast? The answer is, most likely, yes, readers... (I've seen it in documentaries - but I tried to suppress it) So, I was still looking for faster solution. I feel really, really guilty about it!

Let me explain, readers! Hand overcasting considerably reduces bulk and stiffness of the seam edge, which is, obviously, an advantage as it won't show through on lighter weight fabrics, or leave an impression after pressing. However, my trousers, are made of medium-weight stretch tweed, and are underlined, so bulk is a relative issue. Stiffness, maybe.

I went further and paid a mandatory visit to The Cutter & Tailor forum for some advice. I mean who would know better than a bunch of best custom tailors?! There was a discussion on seam finishes, and I finally found what I was looking for.

Is sewing too trivial for a suspense moment, readers?.. Ta-da-da-DAM!

...Anyway,.. I decided to go for serging {Did I say the s* word?} Sorry!.. well, yes, s*rging! However, I used fine silk thread instead of the bulkier polyester. It made soo much difference. It's not as pure (forgive me) as hand overcasting, but it is only tiny little bit bulky and only somewhat stiff.

Of course, it took me several samples to adjust the tension - the thread was breaking all the time. At the end, I got it. Here is the proof:

well, the face side is not that visible, but what's more important is that it's not bulky or stiff.

To conclude, I just wanted to say that I would have chosen hand overcasting the pants if I had more time. Purist or not, to me it seems to be a better finish!

Now, back to you, readers! How do you finish pant seams? What are the pros and cons of your method?

Work-in-Progress: Sencha

I know, I am probably the last one to make Sencha... So what? My plan was to finish the cape by the end of last week, but kids take turns in catching the same virus I started with... and my youngest is still at home with me! Have you tried sewing with 2-year old around? Such a project would be doomed, I tell you! The luxury of napping toddler is a rare treat and I enjoy this time finishing some hand sewing, tracing, basting, muslinning - basically anything that doesn't make noise. Luckily temperatures help not get upset about lack of cape - 29 degrees Celsius in New York.

So, to prove that I am working hard on my fall wardrobe, aka Colette Fall Palette Challenge (CFPC) here are rather mediocre images - it's past twelve and all I can think is finish the muslin and go to bed until my toddler wakes me up! She still doesn't sleep through!

You may ask, why I decided to make a muslin? Well, while everyone is praising this pattern, I find that quite a few projects I saw on the web have a pretty baggy back and high neckline. I will be doing Sencha in printed charmeuse, and I don't want to do any fitting with this rather finicky fabric... Here is your answer!

I traced the pattern - hate the absence of stitching lines, which adds another 30 minutes of prep work - and am going to put together the muslin. Will try to snap some pictures for you tomorrow.

I also thought that the pattern itself was rather scarce with regard to text markings - rather different from Big 4 and Burda patterns. As a beginner pattern, I think, it should say clearly which one is center back or center front, or which is grainline, etc. But maybe it is clear anyway. I had no problems whatsoever.

And look at those pretty curves on the image above! The shape looks very adorable already - I am looking forward to the results!

By the way, decisions to be made about seam finishes and facings... Anyone?

Thanks!

NYC Sew Weekly Meetup & Blogtober Fest #2

By the way, did I tell you how much I loved this Friday? Despite having caught some nasty cold with earache and sore throat.

Yes, fabulous Sew Weekly girls organized a meetup in NYC. See yourself:

Group photo at Paron's {thanks Oona!} 

Dinner at Room Service, featuring Debi from My Happy Sewing Place

Meg the Grand, voila

Now, I wish I could give you an extensive account of what happened during the day, which  was packed with events, including lunch, pattern swap, fabric shopping (yay, I finally got lining for my cape), and, finally dinner... But I was just able to join for an hour at lunch and then have dinner with the girls...

All the present bloggers are on my blogroll, so check it out. And if you were wondering about the progress of my Colette Fall Palette, I do have something to report:

If you can follow the red thread on bouclé, yes, it is thread tracing and on the left is the lining I liked and could afford - it's printed silk charmeuse and at this moment it is already cut and pinned to bouclé pieces, ready to be quilted.  And I got a little treat for you tomorrow, quilting tutorial, based on Chanel couture techniques. It is really easy, and not that time consuming - stay tuned!

And, so, it was Blogtober Fest post #2.