If the garment design allows it, that’s always how it will be sewed because it’s the most efficient way and companies usually want to keep the production costs low.
For a one piece jumpsuit with sleeves, that seam will go from the wrist to the hem of the leg. Then we can move on to the collar, wrists and/or hems. One long seam that goes from the wrist to the hem of the garment. Then, we’ll sew that seam that closes the sleeve and we’ll continue to close the side of the garment. We’ll start by sewing the shoulders together, so the front and back of a shirt, for example, will hold together by the shoulders.
If you don’t sew, you have to know that all the ‘ordinary’ tshirts/shirts/jackets in the world are usually assembled in one specific, efficient and profitable order. This detail probably deserves an explanation. Because of some specific design details, that devilish yoke that goes under the arm instead of the usual side seam, I already knew that the Vault suit would have an unusual assembling order.
From where would I start? There are so many yokes and steps in this Vault suit! Sewing mockups allowed me to determine the order in which some pieces would need to be sewed. So all the pieces were cut and I was ready to start sewing. Some subcontractors in the garment industry specialize in cutting pattern pieces in the fabric and adding fusible interfacing to the pieces that need it. Putting fusing interfacing takes some time too. but obviously not for jeans and tshirts), some pockets and their openings, etc. Usually, the pieces that will need interfacing are the collar, the wrists, any opening where there will be buttons and buttonholes, some hems (for fancy skirts, jackets, etc. I used fusible interfacing because I’m using stretch fabrics, 4 knits and 1 woven fabric with a stretch fiber, and fusible interfacing would keep some pieces from stretching and would add some strength to the different fabrics. It took me many hours to cut all the pieces of my 5 Vault suits and to add interfacing to all the pieces that needed it. Also, many little pieces needed fusible interfacing. We often underestimate the time needed to cut. Each pattern, in each size, will be tested before it will be sent to mass production, most of the time in another country.Īfter many mockups, I evaluated that all the design details were there and that I could finally cut the pieces in the real fabrics. For mass produced clothes, companies will even produce a mockup for each size that will be offered in their store. This is simply how every piece of clothing is developed in the garment industry, from the simple jeans that will be mass produced to the Haute Couture dress custom made for a specific client. This isn’t a question of being perfectionist. And I will make as many mockups as required until my pattern will be perfect. I use pins, I take notes by drawing again on that new mockup and one more time, I transfer these adjustments to my paper pattern pieces. Once I have all my paper pattern pieces, I cut and sew a new mockup to test my pattern. Then I cut my mockup following the lines I traced and I make the paper pattern pieces with all the yokes. Some yokes will be smaller or bigger than the original drawings in order to match my breasts measurements. As you can guess, my breast implants are always the challenging part in the adaptation of a costume’s proportions. It allows me to immediately see the proportions of each yoke compared to the reference pics. I sewed a suit with long sleeves without any detail and standing in front of my mirror, looking at my reference pics, I started drawing the yokes and seams of the Vault suit directly on the suit I was wearing.
When I work on a costume that has many yokes and seams, instead of guessing where the seams go on my flat paper pattern pieces, I simply make the mockup of a plain garment. I mentioned many times how making a mockup is an essential step in the development of a pattern. Turning around the mannequin in the game, I could see the costume from every angle and from head to toe, so I had plenty of reference pics that I printed and put on my wall in my sewing room.
I put a Vault suit on one of those mannequins in the game and I took pictures of my TV screen. Instead of looking at the pics on my computer or phone, I like to print the pics on cardboards that I can manipulate and put next to each other to have a global view of the costume. When I work on a cosplay costume, I always use many reference pics.