Hideaway fabric - new shirt finished

Nata · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 84

I finished a shirt from Hideaway fabric. You can see the picture here :

I washed the fabric and dried it in the dryer. Pleats held beautifully. They came out fully closed and springy as they were before washing. I’ll probably air dry the shirt on a hanger, so I don’t need to iron it much.

I got to let you know that working with the pleated fabric is a little slow. I basted my seams before stitching them to hold pleats closed.

I am wearing it today and I found out that I have a slight problem with hems. Pleats pull open at the hem fold and it’s hard to get them staying closed. This causes hems to ruffle out. I think I know how I am going to fix this. I’ll have to rip out the hems, open them and stay stitch close to hem fold on the inside. This should hold pleats closed. And stitching will be hidden on the inside of the hem.

I also thought about hand-tacking every pleat. I can do it while watching TV at night. I almost prefer this to re-hemming. I don’t think it’ll be strong enough, however.

Fusing hems with light weight interfacing was another option I considered. I decided against it because the fabric is so light. It’s almost batiste weight. I think interfacing will weigh it down.

Please feel welcome to share your ideas on how amend this problem.

PS: it’s not horrible looking, even if left as is, but I like crisp hems better.

Nata · Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 84

My link didn't post. I can't figure out how to edit my previous post.

Here is the link:
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=22535

Hope this will do it

Janee · Sawyer Brook Staff Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 64

Hi Nata!

Your blouse is lovely! I had an idea for the hem that might have worked as well - how about a row of edgestitch/topstitching at the hem edge? This would be crisp and like a tailored broadcloth or oxford shirt, and would stablize the hem pleats well. I'm sure it would work with a tiny hem as it would look like a flat-felled shirt seam, but you might not have liked it with the wider hem you put in. Your solution seems to have worked well though. Thanks for sharing!

Dixie · Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:21 am Post subject:

Hi Nata,
It's good to read about your experiences with the Hideaway fabric. I've been eyeing it at the warehouse for a couple of months now, but was hesitant to sew it because I wasn't sure how the pleating would withstand laundering. It's good to know that isn't an issue.
I have also pondered methods for keeping the pleats intact at the seams and hemline. I wondered if there is some sort of basting tape available, that would hold the pleats in place during the construction process.
Your finished shirt is very nice. I think your pattern choice was good for this fabric. The two work nicely together!