3.8 Making a garment  (Page 2/2)

• Must the fabric have specific instructions for washing?
• The design stage

You will need:

• newspaper
• pencil
• tape measure
• pins / sellotape
• old shirts
• brown paper / unprinted paper

Assignment 1:

[lo 1.12]

Step 1:

Try on the old shirt to see whether it still fits you properly. If the fit is slightly tight or loose, you must bear this in mind so that you can make adjustments to the width at the seams.

Step 2:

Carefully unpick the seams of the old shirt. Place the different parts on a large sheet of newspaper and trace the outlines carefully, using a pencil. At this stage you must ensure that the shirt will fit properly. If necessary, you must use a tape measure and adjust the measurements of different parts to do so. If you should like to change the style, it must also be done at this point. You might decide to change the round neckline to a V-neckline, to have long sleeves instead of short sleeves, or to cut the shirt shorter, and so on.

Step 3:

Cut out the different pattern pieces and pin them together, using straight pins. Fit the pattern loosely around you to see how you are managing. Check whether you have made proper allowance for all the seams and hems. Is the length correct? Are the sleeves long enough? Check all aspects of the pattern. Then indicate the notches that will ensure that you fit the different pattern pieces together correctly.

Step 4:

You may now remove the pins and lay out the pattern pieces neatly on unprinted paper before tracing the final pattern. Cut out these pattern pieces.

Step 5:

Study the different pieces of a bought pattern to find out as much as you can about the information that is given on the different pattern pieces. Try to transfer the most important information to your own pattern pieces, e.g.:

• How many of each pattern piece you need to cut out (you will have one pattern piece for a sleeve, because the sleeves will be the same).
• How many cm are allowed for seams.
• he direction in which the pattern pieces should be laid on the fabric.
• The name of the pattern piece: this probably is the most important information.
• Whether the pattern piece should be laid against a fold?

Step 6:

Fabric is usually sold in 3 approximate widths: 900 mm; 1 150 mm or 1 500 mm. Join newspapers together to obtain these widths and lay your pattern pieces out on these to try to work out approximately how much fabric you will need for your garment.

Step 7:

Get suitable cloth for your garment. (You need not use expensive fabric).

Lay out the pattern pieces on the fabric according to the necessary specifications and pin them to the fabric. (It is important to work on a clean, smooth surface that is large enough).

Cut out the pattern, using a sharp pair of scissors. Work with care to ensure that you indicate all the notches clearly. Try to keep your cutting line straight, with long even cuts. Do not unpin the pattern from the fabric, or you might have difficulty in recognising the different parts afterwards.

1. Making the shirt

1. Hand sewing or sewing machine?

Do not become discouraged if you do not know how to use a sewing machine, or do not have one available. You can manage equally well with a needle and tread.

Study the sketches below to learn more about the basic stitches that you will need for seams and hems. Practise sewing them on a piece of fabric.

1. Tacking stitch : If the stitches are long, they are meant to hold the pieces of the pattern together temporarily. If the stitches are fine and close together, they can be regarded as permanent stitches. You usually start your sewing with a knot in the thread.

1. Backstitch : These very small stitches form a sturdy seam. At the beginning and the end of a seam, the thread should be worked in firmly.

1. Hem stitch : Small, slanted stitches that are used to sew hems. They should preferably not show on the right side of the fabric. Sew the thread in securely at the beginning and at the end of a hem.

1. We'll finish the shirt step by step.

What do you need?

• Cut out pattern pieces.
• Thread to match the fabric.
• Tacking thread in a different colour.
• Pins.
• needle.
• A sharp pair of scissors.

Do the work as follows:

• Sew the facings for the front and back to the neckline edges. Remember to pin it in place first, then to tack and then to stitch. Iron the seams flat.

• Sew front and back sections together at the shoulders (right sides of fabric must be placed together). Iron the seams neatly.
• Sew both sleeves to the arm openings.
• Sew the side and sleeve seams (underarm seams) all the way to the sleeve edge.
• Decide how long the sleeves and the shirt body should be, pin the hems, tack and sew neatly. Iron, if necessary.

Neatly sew down the facing around the neckline, using hemstitch. Iron the whole garment , if necessary.

1. Fitting:

You may now try on the shirt to see what it looks like. If it is a loose-fitting T-shirt, seams that aren't perfectly straight will not be too noticeable.

Next, you can organise a competition to design a suitable emblem for grade seven and paint it on your shirts, using fabric paint. By doing this, you will be creating a garment that will always remain unique and remind you of your grade seven year.

How successful is my product?

Next, you as a class must, under leadership of you educator, establish a set of criteria that you could apply to evaluate your final product, which, in this case, is the T-shirt. Make use of factors such as the following:

1. how well does the shirt fit?
2. is it comfortable?
3. how good is the finish?
4. is the emblem striking?
5. is the fabric that was selected suitable?
6. and so on …

Set up a standard table according to which each item (shirt) that was made can be evaluated and choose a winning T-shirt.

Assessment