108 Successful Sewing 8
• You need to determine whether a stripe is even
or uneven. To do this, fold the fabric lengthwise
along the center of a main stripe. Then fold back
one corner. Compare the stripe pattern on the
bottom layer of fabric with the stripe pattern on
the top layer. If it lines up perfectly, the stripe is
even. If the stripe patterns do not line up, the
stripe is uneven.
• When cutting uneven stripes, use a “with
nap” layout. Cut each pattern piece from a
single layer of fabric. When cutting a pattern
piece for the second time, be sure to turn
it over. This will give you a left and right
garment side. Also, place notches at the same
point in the stripe pattern as you placed them for
the first cutting.
even stripe
even plaid
Working with
Plaid Fabrics
Keep the following suggestions in mind when
working with plaid fabrics:
• You need to determine whether a plaid is
even or uneven. To do this, fold the plaid
diagonally through the center of a repeat. A
repeat is one complete, four-sided design t
in the fabric. An even plaid has colored d
lines and spaces that are the same in both
the lengthwise and crosswise directions. An
uneven plaid has lines and spaces that will d
not match in either one or both directions.
• Plaids should be matched at seamlines to
form a continuous design around the body.
To match plaids, pattern pieces need to be
aligned on the fabric. The important thing to
remember when matching plaids is to match
stitching lines rather than cutting lines. Since
multisized patterns are printed without the
stitching lines, begin by marking stitching
lines on your pattern tissue in a few key
places. Simply measure in from the cutting
line ⅝ ⅝ inch and draw a stitching line. Then
line up corresponding pieces on the same
color bars of the plaid.
(Continued)
uneven plaid
uneven stripe
© Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
© Goodheart-Willcox Publisher