Serger edging on chemise ruffles?

[gem]

One of my very favorite chemises (actually made by our very own Silverstah!) has the edges of the sleeves and neckline trimmed with black serging. I don't have a good picture, alas, but you can see the sleeves here. I love this effect, and want to replicate it on neckline and cuff ruffles for a new project... but I'm not 100% sure how to do it. Is it really just as simple as a narrow serged edge in a contrasting color? Or would a rolled hem be better? I couldn't find serger thread in the right color, so I bought two cones of machine embroidery thread, and am hoping for the best.

And while we're at it, any suggestions for the ruffles themselves? I haven't done them before. My partlet (visible in the linked pic) has a box-pleated "ruffle" that IIRC was the product of some trial and error. Is there a formula for gathering ruffles (like for curtains--you want at least twice the finished width for enough fullness)? I don't need to do the gathering on the serger (do I??); I'm happy to do manually.

For the collar, should I plan to do a narrow hem along the front opening, and just serge the top edge? I don't know how to turn corners yet!

Any other suggestions? I am planning to set the serger up and experiment--I'm great at that; it's the actually-following-through-with-the-project part where I run into trouble. LOL

Gramercy!!

[Kate XXXXXX]

Machine embroidery thread might be a bit fine, so try it...  And a nice fine serged rolled edge should do perfectly.  Just finish the ends of the pieces and then serge the edges you want the serged finish on.  Take a large darning needle and run the threads up inside the stitches to finish off.

For sharp corners I just serge off the ends and then turn and start again for the edges and run the threads up the rolled edge at right angles to the one the threads come off so they don't make a lump.

For rolled edges I undo the chain by pulling the needle thread free before running the threads up the stitching.  This makes it easier to bury the threads.

[CenturiesSewing]

For sharp corners I just serge off the ends and then turn and start again for the edges and run the threads up the rolled edge at right angles to the one the threads come off so they don't make a lump.

*head tilt* Trying to visualize that, you serge off the ends (thread tails? Corner of the fabric?) Turn, the corner? or flip it over and sew back over the tail like backstitching? Or am I over complicating it?

[gem]

I *think* she means she just keeps serging past the end of the fabric... but Kate? Clarify? We are the brand-new serger initiates! 

[CenturiesSewing]

Finishing off the ends is the one thing my serger booklet left out  , I've done the darning needle trick before but that never seems too secure in my head.

[gem]

Yeah, and I haven't really understood any of the other methods that I've seen explained. Right now I'm satisfying myself with the darning needle thing--primarily b/c that's how I've been finishing off embroidery threads for thirtygulp years and I know I can get them secure, AND so far they've also usually been enclosed in other seams. (Also I tie a knot in the chain, as close to the fabric as I can get it, THEN feed the ends back through.) But I think there are supposed to be much better ways!

Hasn't Lady K done a bunch of serged-edged ruffles? Or am I misremembering? (Time for another stroll through the Completed Projects thread!)

[Kate XXXXXX]

Sorry...  Went off an pressed Lady Prudence's frocks!

Yes, just serge  off the end of the fabric, leaving a tail.  That will get snipped off when you turn the fabric round and serge at right angles.

If you thread about an inch of thread tail up the stitches, it won't come undone.  if you want belt-and-braces, dab a spot of Fray-Check right on the corner.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I heard my name!!!

The tight rolled serged edges are from Sergers that have the feature to do a tight rolled hem. That means one needle, with the 2 loopers. Different tension settings than with a regular Serge.





So check with the Serger Owner's Manual as to how to change the tension settings for a tight rolled serge hem.

[gem]

Thanks, Laura and Lady K! It sounds like I have a couple of options. My serger does a very nice rolled hem, although I've only experimented with it on chiffon. But I like the idea of narrow+dense, as well. I'm going to pull the machine out and play with it this afternoon, and see what I come up with!

I also found a nice blog tutorial for a ruffled chemise that suggests making the ruffles 3-4 times the length you need.

I washed and pressed the fabric yesterday, so now I just need to work up the courage to step from the planning stage to the making stage! Eep!

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

The Ruffs I do on Shirts and Chemises are the Stacked Box Pleat method I found on the Elizabethan Costuming Site 12 years ago.

[gem]

So I finally had a chance to experiment, and I'm getting the best results with the rolled hem. (My "super narrow" serger stitch isn't as narrow as Laura's, evidently! ) Now I just need to wait for the right color of serger thread to get here... tappity tappity tappity.

The Ruffs I do on Shirts and Chemises are the Stacked Box Pleat method I found on the Elizabethan Costuming Site 12 years ago.

Lady K, can you elaborate/explain your technique? I looked at her pleating tutorial, but I'm just not wrapping my brain around the stacked box pleats.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

gem

Here is my technique for making Ruffs using the stackdec Box Pleat method.



In some cases, where extra fullness is desired, you can do "double box pleats", also called "Stacked Box Pleats", shown to the right. This type of pleat requires five inches of fabric to create one inch of pleating. It will make the fabric spring out even more from the seam, and produce deeper pleats. It also creates more bulk at the seamline. This type of pleat is very handy for creating small neck and wrist ruffs--if one edge of a 2-inch-wide band is pleated in this fashion, the other side will produce very nice figure-eight ruffles.

"Stacked Pleats" are another variety of box pleat. Instead of the edges of the pleat meeting in the middle, they overlap eachother for the whole width of the pleat. They are similar in nature to rolled pleats, and a picture of a "stacked pleat" is shown in the picture . It is the pleat to the above.


/

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Continued...

I make my Ruff Strips for Necks 3 yards by 2 1/4" tall. I serge the entire strip on all 4 sides, sew lace if I am using lace, then finish the ends.

I make a 1/2" mark at the RIGHT side end, then 1" marks after that. There should be a 1/2" mark at the LEFT end. Doing the Stacked Box Pleat. I pin each pleat down. On the worng side, pins facing down, I use a basting stitch to secure the pleats down and to sligthly gather them to make a nicer figure 8.

For Wrist ruffs, depending on wrist size 64 to 70 inches suffices.







Hope this all helps. You can see the Stacked Box Pleats in these ruffs

[gem]

Gorgeous, Lady K!

Would you use the same length of ruffle for a woman's collar? Or go a little shorter? (I've decided to use the high-collared shirt A from Simplicity 4059 in a size S or XS, so I guess I am starting with a men's pattern and measurements... Even tho' the shirt is for me.

I am still having trouble conceptualizing how to make the actual pleats themselves. I can definitely see the soft box pleats in your collars, so that's a start!  And although I am a basic box-pleating *pro,* this picture makes no sense to me:



I just don't understand what the fabric is doing, or how to fold it to get it that way. Maybe it will all come together once I actually sit down and try it?

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

gem.

It is a matter of Boxpleating once and then again to get the DOUBLE effect. It will take practice.

Practice on scrap pieces until you get it down. Making 1" marks helps in keeping the size of each pleats side consisent.

Depending on the neck size, making a strip 2 1/2 yards should suffice. Again, PRACTICE!!!  That makes Perfect.

[gem]

Huzzah--I have RUFFLES!!!



They were hard won, but I am delighted with them. After seemingly endless trial and error, I finally convinced my serger to produce an acceptable rolled hem (if for some reason you are interested in that saga, it is detailed here.) I did a full mockup and decided that 3 times the length of the collar/cuff pieces produced the best fullness. When I actually sat down and played with the fabric, the "stacked box pleats" WERE actually really easy to figure out (basically, you fold an extra half pleat under each side as you go along)... but mine didn't make the nice loopy figure 8s that Lady K's did. They just looked like box pleats--very crisp Zs. So I did a single row of cartridge pleating instead, which gave me the results I was looking for!

Whew!

Now I can make the *rest* of the chemise! LOL

[Kate XXXXXX]

Hm...  I read through your report and the answers.  I can't understand it at all.  My Brother 1034 produces perfect rolled hems.

If you look in the instruction manual and START with the stitch width and tension settings in the book, you'll get close. but every combination of needle, thread, and fabric will need tweaking.  I usually find that on some fabrics I need to increase the cutting width a tad and tighten the needle thread.  On others just lengthening the stitch a teeny bit works...

[Orphena]

Very Pretty Gem!

The only ruffles I produce is the ribbon running through a channel type on my cuffs!

I love how crisp and finished your work always looks!