Gaping at the Armscye

While the topic of gaping (or Gaposis as Sandra Betzina calls it),is still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd show how to deal with a gaping armhole. I just experienced this problem with the LND (little navy dress) I just made and took a couple of shots on how to fix it.

1. Run a line of stay stitching along the area of the armhole where the problem is. As you sew ,place your index finger directly behind the presserfoot of your machine so it causes the fabric to bunch up at the back. This is sometimes called stitch crowding. The tighter you push the more the seam will pucker. Don't worry,these puckers are good puckers.The idea here is to shorten the armhole so it will lay closer to the body.





2.On the garment side of the seam,press out the puckers so they won't show on the finished garment. Don't iron out the puckers in the seam allowanse. They won't show anyway.



3.To strengthen this stay stitching, take a piece of twill tape (I often use the selvedge of a soft fabric like silk)and on the wrong side ,sew it over the seam.



Finish the armhole as usual. On this dress,I sewed the lining and dress together at the neck and arms, then I sewed the facings to the outside of the dress, understitched and sewed each facing to the lining by hand.






The dress now fits well at the armhole and there is no gaping! A simple solution for a very irritating problem!

Avoiding that Gaping at the Bottom Center Front of Your Coat

This fall, I want to make this coat. It's Butterick 5295.



I happened to be in Fabricville the other day and I saw this coat made up as a display by one of the women who work there. I asked if I could try it on and when I did,I loved everything about it except it gaped at the center front bottom. And I know how to fix that problem..I learned it by watching Sandra Betzina on Sew Perfect and I never forgot it. This is what you do:

1...Take the center front pattern piece and draw a straight line a few inches in from the outside edge and parallel to the grain line almost all the way to the shoulder .Cut along this line but don't cut through the shoulder line.

2...Spread the pattern apart at the bottom about three or four inches like this



Put paper under the splice and secure it to the pattern piece. ( This is how I alter patterns.)


That's all there is to it and you haven't disturbed the grainline. No more gaping . Your coat will close nicely at the center front bottom.

Tamara,my DD, told me that this coat



which I made for her this past winter,gapes at the bottom but she likes it that way! When I make one for my self out of this fabric



one day, I'm going to use the above method to avoid that gape.

I hope this helps someone and that you make yourself a coat.