The French Dart Shift… a new sewing pattern…coming soon to my ETSY shop!
A little sneaky look at VERSION C of the next Maven Sewing Pattern.
This is the third sleeve option: a long sleeve with a gathered cuff, finished with bias binding. The pattern also includes a short sleeve and a cap sleeve option. This is one of my most favourite garments I’ve made, it’s so simple and easy to wear…this is actually blue linen tunic #2, the first one had short sleeves, but I’ve worn it so much, usually over my jeans, that it now has holes in the underarm!
The collar is designed to be worn rolled down, you know…sixties style….but it made a such a great photo standing up – I can’t actually promise how practical it is to wear with the collar standing up, but hey…it looks good! Talking of practical, there are in-seam pockets at the side seams, always useful.
Hi there! Welcome to our in-seam pocket tutorial! I DO LOVE a side seam pocket, I find it very annoying not having somewhere to shove my hands!
The French Dart Shift is a tunic style dress PDF sewing pattern that has In-seam (side seam) pockets that are concealed and it took me a little while experimenting and researching to get a technique I was really happy with.
So, here’s the thing… you may look at the pocket bags on this pattern and think…Mrs M, really what the ???? I’ll admit they may look a little unusual, with the curvy bit added, but I do have a very good reason: I feel this method gives a much better result.
My problem with the usual way of making pockets that sit at the side seam is you can’t overlock around the pocket bag in one easy motion, so you need to overlock everything separately or end up having to pull the seam ‘straight’ to catch all of it in the awkward little angle created, which is a pain and eventually, as I’ve been finding, the overlocking just pulls away in the wash leaving a raw fraying edge exposed. Mmmm…messy.
And the other problem, with some methods, was sometimes having to snip into the seam allowance to get them to lie flat in the direction you want. It’s a pet hate, I don’t like doing ‘the snipping’ unless I REALLY have too because it makes a weak point on your seam.
So what I wanted was a pocket bag I could overlock everything easily and together so it is stronger, and NO snipping into the seam. Oh, and so the pocket bag is set back a little from the side seam so shows less when being worn. And I wanted to press the side seam open. I thought I was really easy-going until I started writing sewing instructions 😉
NOW, if you want to make your pocket bags the traditional way, without the curvy bit, just chop off the extra on your pattern piece and carry on with your usual method, the whole point of making and sewing is to enjoy the process and what works for me may not work for you. But this is my method and I like it!
Firstly cut out your garment, make sure you cut 2 PAIRS of pocket bags (so you have 4 bags in total). Transfer the marker dot positions to your garment (chalk, tailor tacks – whatever works for you. I’ve used neon orange pen so it would show in the photos – I don’t recommend it!) Fuse the strip of interfacing to the pocket mouth on the FRONT body.
STEP 1:
Place the pocket bags to the front and back garment, with right sides of the fabric facing each other, and so the notches on the pocket bags line up with the side seam notches and stitch together with a 6mm seam allowance. Overlock (or neaten with your usual method) the raw edge of the pocket bag and garment together, starting and finishing about 3cm either side of pocket bag – (shown in green thread).
***UPDATE***
On the back seam – rather than starting the overlocking just above the pocket bag – start at the underarm and overlock the entire seam right down to the hem. It’ll save you having to go back and overlocking the rest of that seam later. Which means you’ll have 1 less process to do and save at least 30 seconds – you’re welcome! 🙂
STEP 2:
Press the pocket bags AWAY from the garment and understitch on the front pocket bags.
STEP 3:
SIDE SEAM: Pin with right sides of fabric facing each other, line up the marker dots on the front body with the corresponding one on the back body. Take a 1cm seam allowance, start at the underarm and stitch down to the first marker dot, PIVOT * and stitch from the dot across the pocket bag until you are back at a 1cm seam allowance on the pocket bag. (The stitch line is marked on the pattern piece, so you could transfer the line across with chalk and a ruler if you wanted). Carry on around the pocket bag, and stitch TO the next marker dot, PIVOT again and continue down to the hem.
It’s a good idea to reinforce each of the corners at the pivot point as in-seam pockets can take quite a lot of stress. Set your machine to a smaller stitch length and just stitch a second machine row DIRECTLY ON TOP of your first row of stitching about 3cm either side of each marker dot. Don’t forget to put your stitch length back to your normal setting!
*TO PIVOT: stitch to the marker dot, leave your machine needle IN your garment, lift your machine foot and turn your work in the direction you want to stitch, drop your foot back down and continue to stitch – makes a nice tidy corner!
STEP 4:
Press the pocket bags towards the front body. Press the side seams OPEN above and below the pocket bag, as far as you can. Overlock the front side seam first, all the way around the pocket bag – it’s easier because of the curved shape!!!
THIS STEP IS THE ORIGINAL METHOD: (you can skip this step if you are following the updated method!) On the back side seam: overlock (shown in pink) from the underarm down to the pocket bag and overlap the new overlocking (pink thread) over the original overlocking (green thread), so there are no raw edges. Restart the overlocking below the pocket bag, again being sure to overlap as before, so the entire seam is neatened.
The French Dart Shift pattern has a lovely roll collar that needs to be finished at the neckline so it is neat and secure to the inside of the garment. I could have finished the neckline with a facing, but it would have annoyed me flapping about, so instead it’s held in place by a row of machine stitching called ‘Stitch in the Ditch’.
I’ve always called this technique ‘Sink Stitching’, but in an incredibly unscientific poll on Instagram consisting of at least 4 comments, ‘Stitch in the Ditch’ came out top as the preferred name – so I’ll try to remember to stick with that for this ‘How to Stitch in the Ditch’ Tutorial.
I’ve touched on the ‘Stitch in the Ditch’ technique before in the binding tutorial. It’s a very handy little process that can be used to stitch down waistbands and facings, as well as bindings, and often used in quilting too. It’s perfect when you don’t want any topstitching to show from the front of your garment. I’ve based this tutorial as if you are stitching the collar on the French Dart Shift so you have a folded edge to cover your seam with, but you could just stitch in the ditch at side seams to hold down a waist facing, or in a shoulder seam to hold a neck facing, or just overlock the bottom of a waistband and stitch in the ditch through the waist seam to secure in place.
DENIM = garment, PRINT = collar ( *could be binding, waistband, facing…you get the idea…)
1. WITH THE WRONG SIDE OF GARMENT FACING YOU:
Press all the seam allowances AWAY from garment. Cover the machine stitching by about 2mm with edge of collar (*waistband, binding, facing…) and tack to hold in place.
2. Now you get to stitch in the ditch…
With RIGHT SIDE of garment facing you, line up your machine needle with the groove (the ditch) of the seam and stitch right IN that groove. That’s it, easy peasy! It’s all in the prep, as long as you stitch IN the groove and to the right of your tacking thread the back will be caught and your stitches will be virtually invisible as they will ‘settle’ into the groove of the seam.
3. Stating the obvious here: I’ve stitched in red, but stitch in the same colour as your main fabric even if you are using a contrasting topstitching colour so those stitches do actually sink in to the groove and disappear.
Also it doesn’t look SO great if your needle jumps out of the groove! I did that on purpose, just to show you – honestly, the sacrifices I make 😉
Bias binding is such a useful technique and it’s not difficult to master, like everything a little practise makes perfect. Bias binding is a great way to finish the raw edge of a garment. It is hugely versatile and can be used on necklines, armholes, hems, pretty much anywhere really. You can buy ready made binding from your local haberdashery shop. I like to make my own and use up some of those scraps!
There are really two types of binding for our purposes:
DOUBLE BIAS BINDING
Will show on the right side of the garment. It can be decorative if made in a contrasting fabric.
SINGLE BIAS BINDING
It can be used in lieu of a facing on an armhole or neckline. Apart from a row of topstitching, only be seen on the inside.
In this tutorial I’ll show you how to attach your bias binding tape. If you want to know how to cut, join, press and sew bias binding, go check out my BIG BIAS BINDING TUTORIAL.
How To sew Double Bias Binding
Double bias binding is used when you want to see it on the right side of a garment. It is both decorative and practical. YAY, One of my favourite combo’s!
Take your prepared binding and pin RIGHT side of binding to the RIGHT side of garment. Align the raw edges together. Machine stitch along the fold.
TIP: if you are binding a thicker fabric or a few layers of fabric, take a smaller seam allowance so you have extra binding where you need it to help accommodate that extra bulkiness.
Press binding AWAY from the garment.
Wrap binding over to the raw edge to WRONG side of garment. Position the folded edge of binding so your machine stitching is covered by a few millimetres. Pin to hold. Tack right on the edge of the binding to hold into place. Ensure you catch all the binding on the reverse side and just cover the machine stitch. Keep an even distance away from the binding on the front. Take your time to get this right now, the tack line will be a guide to your topstitching!
TWO OPTIONS TO FINISH:
OPTION 1: EDGE STITCH ON THE BINDING
Top stitch the binding to finish
With the right side of your garment facing you, edge stitch the binding. As long as you stitch to the inside of your tacking stitch, you know you’ve caught the back of the binding!
OPTION 2: If you don’t want your stitching to show on your binding try this method…
Finish your binding by Stitching in the Ditch (also known as sink stitch).
‘Stitch in the Ditch’ is a really useful technique to know, good for finishing waistbands as well as bindings. When stitched in the same colour as your main fabric the stitch line practically disappears as it settles into the seam.
Position your machine needle in line with the groove (the ditch) of the seam, you are going to stitch right in that ditch, NEXT to the binding but not on it. And as long as you stitch to the inside of your tacking thread, you know you’ve caught your binding on the back 🙂
Just remove your tacking thread, and you’re done!
And another way to attach binding!
There is yet another way to attach bias binding to finish a raw edge!
This way was shared with me by Shelley, one of my lovely testers of the new Maven1832 patterns. Shelley was making the French dart with the bishop sleeve in a slippery fabric and found this was an easier way to attach the binding at the cuff.
It’s pretty similar to the above methods, except you attach to the wrong side of the fabric and flip binding to the right side of the fabric and stitch. This method only works with visible edgestitching but you might find it less fiddly if you are working with a tricky or slippery fabric.
It’s really a personal preference which way you prefer to sew your binding, but it’s always good to have more than one way to stitch something. Different fabrics do sometimes require a different method!
METHOD
Place the right side of binding to the wrong side of fabric and stitch in the fold to attach.
Fold binding over to the Right Side so all the raw edges are enclosed and the stitch line is covered. You can trim the seam allowance down a smidge if the biding doesn’t quite cover the stitch line.
And then, with the Right Side Up facing up, edgestitch the binding in place.
How To Sew Single Bias Binding
Single bias binding is used to finish a raw edge without it showing to the front of your garment, a great choice if you want a fuss free finish without a facing.
This isn’t everybody’s method, but this is the method I was taught by a sample machinist I worked with about 20 years ago, she called it the Cheat Method. I liked the method because it was quick and that binding NEVER frayed no matter how much I washed those garments (baby and kids clothes), must have been the combination of a folded edge and the extra understitching – great for linen fabrics. I’ve used this many times over the years instead of a having a flappy facing. The only drawback is some fabrics are just too bulky, but just bind anything too thick with a contrasting fabric and make a feature of the inside!
PRESS: Fold your binding in half and press.
ATTACH: Line up the raw edges of your binding with the raw edge of your garment, with right sides together.
Stitch with a 6mm seam allowance to attach.Press binding and seam allowances away from garment. Understitch (machine stitch an edge stitch through all the layers on the binding close to the seam.) The understitching is an optional step, there won’t be a disaster without it, but it does make the binding roll to the wrong side better and I think it makes the binding stronger.
Tack along the edge of the binding to hold in place, this will also give you a guide line for your next row of stitching.
Flip your garment over and topstitch with the right side up. If you stitch inside your tacking line so you know that you will catch all the binding!
(You can make narrower binding if you prefer…simple bit of maths… finished width of binding + seam allowance, x 2 = cutting width of binding.)