tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post3118172231701994624..comments2024-03-13T07:01:56.529+00:00Comments on Black Tulip: Making allowancesBlack Tuliphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-1100113114586200652019-05-12T22:10:16.749+01:002019-05-12T22:10:16.749+01:00Thanks for the warning Rachelle, I'll be sure ...Thanks for the warning Rachelle, I'll be sure to check the instructions properly in future.Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-71877267002911287362019-05-08T09:41:12.051+01:002019-05-08T09:41:12.051+01:00Quite a few of the Indie pattern designers have go...Quite a few of the Indie pattern designers have gone back to a 10mm seam allowance; you always have to check before starting your project.Rachellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06409673383518447394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-47262576812823838692019-05-03T12:31:06.079+01:002019-05-03T12:31:06.079+01:00I had never realized that it is not a universal te...I had never realized that it is not a universal term. Because I grew up with sewing as part of my life, it's impossible now to think when and how I learned various details.Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-46717968450197594132019-05-03T12:24:00.370+01:002019-05-03T12:24:00.370+01:00I would love to read that! I was never very good a...I would love to read that! I was never very good at sewing at school: the emphasis was firmly on evenly sized tacking stitches and ruler-straight machine stitching, whereas I was making more complicated items at home but with neither of these skills at the top of my agenda!Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-16383059330526119042019-05-02T18:48:33.844+01:002019-05-02T18:48:33.844+01:00I'm rather taken with this discussion on turni...I'm rather taken with this discussion on turnings! Here's a quote from Clothes - their choosing, making and care by Margaret G Butler, first published in 1959. This was the textbook we had at school in 1969. It's excellent by the way - widely available on the second hand market. Here goes, from page 59 - Chapter 7 Cutting out and preparing for fitting ...<br />"If the pattern includes a turning allowance which is adequate in width, cut out round the edge of the pattern ...etc"<br /><br />sewingatdamgate.wordpress.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12099535256944875638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-3363421157805933012019-05-01T13:25:08.008+01:002019-05-01T13:25:08.008+01:00Sadly, dressmaking slipped off the school curricul...Sadly, dressmaking slipped off the school curriculum in the 1970s and has never returned - a whole generation missing out on the joys of the cookery apron and gym skirt. I am trying to write a book about this at the moment! sewingatdamgate.wordpress.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12099535256944875638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-90090030049941670222019-04-30T16:25:25.675+01:002019-04-30T16:25:25.675+01:00"Unsettling" is the perfect word for it!..."Unsettling" is the perfect word for it! While the ⅜" allowance definitely makes curved seams far easier to handle, as you say there is not much margin for error. It all makes me wonder who this pattern is aimed at. I've read about some new sewists preferring indie patterns because they find the instuctions in a Big-4 pattern confusing (too brief, and assume a lot of prior knowledge). The 'Grace' pattern comes with 17 pages of instructions, which to me suggests a target audience with limited sewing experience. In which case a narrow seam allowance could be asking for trouble.Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-53077836758855221122019-04-30T13:56:14.420+01:002019-04-30T13:56:14.420+01:00Interesting as ever! I am intrigued by your 1923 p...Interesting as ever! I am intrigued by your 1923 pattern! And very jealous. I remember the term 'turnings' from school in the 1960s. And I find anything other than a 5/8 th seam allowance deeply unsettling. It makes absolute sense to me - enough for a margin of error, enough for run and fell seams, enough to tidy up the final finish ... not too gigantic. And like Lynn says, if seam allowances are variable I am sure to forget which parts are less. My 1975 Bernina has eighth of an inch marks!sewingatdamgate.wordpress.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12099535256944875638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-29124147470521011412019-04-29T16:03:53.352+01:002019-04-29T16:03:53.352+01:00Yes, variable allowances always look like a recipe...Yes, variable allowances always look like a recipe for disaster to me! I always have to alter patterns to shorten the bodice anyway, so I usually trace them onto plain tissue, and make the seam allowance ⅝" all round to avoid the inevitable failure.Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-72712449181344560132019-04-29T15:59:28.274+01:002019-04-29T15:59:28.274+01:00I'm very lucky because the plate on my 1986 Jo...I'm very lucky because the plate on my 1986 Jones machine has ⅛" markings going up to 1", so I'm covered for all possibilities! Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-19098976446435509202019-04-29T15:54:40.239+01:002019-04-29T15:54:40.239+01:00Thank you Tegan. I think that 'turnings' m...Thank you Tegan. I think that 'turnings' must be a British term, as it is used on the Bestway pattern as well, as something different from a hem.Black Tuliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00399472362773743743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-84235320017461356592019-04-29T15:46:02.385+01:002019-04-29T15:46:02.385+01:00Perhaps those former seamstresses had better memor...Perhaps those former seamstresses had better memories than I do! When I have a pattern that suggests different seam allowances for different parts (like a wider one on the sides for fitting) I usually forget and cut the same all the way around.Lynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05413150151279160155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-35220813899381130472019-04-29T15:31:46.284+01:002019-04-29T15:31:46.284+01:00My Bernina is an 801, and the standard seam allowa...My Bernina is an 801, and the standard seam allowance mark on the plate is 1/2" (the machine was issued around 1980). Most of the older patterns I've worked with have 1/2" seam allowances, and I'm always at a bit of a loss about 5/8" since it isn't marked on my machine. (I should just mark it with masking tape or something).Julianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09134771358325901297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102653746369917661.post-66284865895532001742019-04-29T03:23:30.317+01:002019-04-29T03:23:30.317+01:00Could the turnings for maudella have been hems? It...Could the turnings for maudella have been hems? It seems such a strange term for a seam allowance!<br /><br />but what interesting research! I had often wondered when pattern standards changed like that. Teganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15174485685438721780noreply@blogger.com