Garnet Sewalong: Steps 1-2
Welcome to Day 1 of the Garnet Sewalong!
{If you’re just joining us, check out the Garnet Sewalong Intro post here}
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Today we’ll be cutting out our pieces, attaching the interfacing, and sewing the yoke shoulder seams together.
Just a reminder:
For this sewalong, we are making the simplest version of the Garnet top: view b with one fabric, no tucks and the elastic casings for the ends of the sleeves. For that reason, if you’re making your Garnet with two fabrics, adding the tucks, swapping in the Ruby yokes, or using a separate cuff piece, your pieces look a little different than mine. Don’t worry! I will add notes along the way for where things will be different; I will do a whole extra post showing how to add the tucks, for instance, and how to add the separate cuff, too!
CUT OUT YOUR PIECES
Start by cutting out one front, one back, and two sleeves. Choose the view a or view b cutting lines depending on whether you want tucks or no tucks, and use the “lengthen/shorten here” lines to add or subtract length, if desired.
For the yoke, cut out two front yokes and two back yokes, plus a front and back yoke from the interfacing.
DON’T FORGET: Include the notches wherever they are included - at the centers of all pieces, plus on the top of the sleeve caps to mark the spots where you’re gather the sleeve caps. I like to make a little triangle that sticks out from the edge of the fabric at each notch, but you can also make a small perpendicular snip into the fabric, just don’t make it bigger than 1/4” [6 mm].
If you are adding the tucks or have added length to the pattern your pieces will look longer than the photos here.
OPTIONAL (CUFFS) If you’re adding the separate cuff, cut two of those out of your cuff fabric, plus two cuff pieces out of interfacing.
(TUCKS ONLY) TRANSFER MARKINGS
Note: You only need to do this if you are adding the (optional) tucks!
Use a ruler and chalk to add the tuck marks and tuck lines to the fabric pieces. My favorite way to do this is to fold the pattern piece along the tuck lines (a), and then use chalk and a ruler to to transfer the tuck lines to the fabric (b). I line up the side of the pattern piece with the edge of the fabric to transfer the tuck marks (c); sometimes I make a small snip in the side of the fabric (d) rather than using chalk for the smaller marks.
STEP 1. ATTACH INTERFACING
Use an iron to fuse the yoke interfacing pieces to one of the front yokes and one of the back yokes (on the wrong side of the fabric). Those will become your main yoke — visible on the outside of the garment -- the other two yokes will be for the yoke lining, inside the garment.
If making separate cuffs: go ahead and fuse the cuff interfacing pieces to the wrong side of the cuff pieces at this point.
STEP 2. SEW YOKES TOGETHER
Sew both sets of yokes together at the shoulders with a 1/2” [13 mm] seam.
Press the shoulder seams apart. There’s no need to finish these seams, as they will be inside the yoke, but if you’d like to trim the seam allowances a bit, that’s totally fine!
CHECK FIT: At this point, I always recommend trying the main yoke on over your head and check a few things: first, does it look like the correct width for your shoulders? Remember that you’ll lose 1/2” [13 mm] along the shoulder edges, and along the inside of the neckline, so fold the edges under to visualize that if you want (just be careful not to stretch the neckline out). The interfacing helps mitigate this, but if you’re really worried about stretching it out, staystitch the edges of the yoke before trying it on. If the yoke seems too wide or too narrow, just swap out a different size yoke with the body and sleeve pieces you’ve already cut out. It’s not too late!!
That’s all for today — cutting, attaching interfacing, and a little sewing!! You did it! Take a break!!
TOMORROW: In the next segment of the Garnet Sewalong, we’ll sew the gathers and attach the yokes to the main body pieces (Steps 3 & 4).
Are you sewing along with these posts? Tag me (@madebyrae) and use the hashtag #MBRgarnet when you share your pics! Thanks for joining in our sewalong!!
Get pattern details, view size and yardage charts, and materials on the Garnet Page.
Still need the pattern? You can find it in my shop: