All Treadled Out? + Michael's shirt update

Readers, I treadled so much yesterday that I'm afraid I've run out of steam, though a treadle doesn't run on steam and neither do I.

I do enjoy treadling, but it's hard to do on a project like a men's shirt where there's a lot of starting and stopping and you can't just press a pedal to make it go, you have to crank the hand wheel and then start your feet pumping.  It takes a lot of coordination.  Plus my treadle doesn't have its own light so it gets hard to see in the evening.  Its stitch plate doesn't have seam allowance markings -- I've learned to guess-timate.  It also lacks a reverse and a stitch length lever.  (Why am I doing this again?)

But the shirt is turning out very nicely.







For whatever reason, this Singer 66 -- despite a recent oiling and a new needle -- isn't stitching as perfectly as I'd like.  When you least expect it, she'll leave a loose stitch -- rarely, but every so often -- and it's maddening because I can't figure out the reason.  It doesn't seem to have to do with starting or stopping.  I'm wondering if maybe her tension assembly could use a cleaning.  Anyway, having finished most of the shirt already, I decided to do the collar and collar stand -- arguably the most painstaking part of shirtmaking, and certainly the part requiring the greatest accuracy -- on my Singer 201.





Going from my 66 treadle to my Singer 201 is like going from the Flintstone's car to a vintage Rolls Royce.  It's no wonder most people stopped treadling seventy years ago; it's so much faster to sew with a motor and the 201 is super smooth.  Of course, you can treadle a more modern machine than my (vintage Twenties) 66 too, but you still have to pump it yourself.

Anyway, the shirt...

The shoulder seams are flat-felled, but the side seams are just stitched and serged: this pillowy flannel doesn't like excessive handling.



The collar, made on the 201, came out well.  Collars are never easy, and require a lot of concentration, accurate measuring, and careful pressing.  I'm getting a lot of use out of my June Tailor board -- a good thing since it's hard to store due to its size.  I use a bamboo point turner to keep my points sharp, molding the point on the turner rather than jabbing the turner into the point.  There's a new technique Pam Erny has come up with but I've yet to try it.  I find that keeping your interfacing out of your seam allowances makes a huge difference in how sharp you can get your collar points from the inside.







Here's Michael in the shirt so far -- it still needs cuffs, hemming, and buttonholes but I think I'm done for today.



There were a few questions about interfacing.  I use a weft-weight loosely woven fusible; I can't remember where I bought it.  It's super soft and a little stretchy.  I interface my out-facing collar, my out-facing collar stand, my out-facing cuff, and my front facings (where the buttons and buttonholes go).  I want these parts to be sturdy but to remain relatively soft.







If you have any other questions about how I make shirts -- with or without treadles -- feel free to ask.

Have a great day, everybody!