Faux Western Yokes?

[duh who]

I'm trying to adapt a shirt pattern to do a faux western yoke. I've been
doing these short-sleeve "sport" shirts out of contrasting batik fabrics.
The fronts and backs of the shirt, and collar, are one fabric, and the yoke
and sleeves are another fabric. The first one I did was with very bright
collars, and the contrasts popped out. This one I just did was with more
muted colors, and I'm feeling the need to show more contrasting material on
the front of the shirt, and to either lengthen the yoke in the back (and
shorten the back piece) or to do a yoke that comes to a point in th middle
of the back.

I'm looking in my Reader's Digest sewing book, and its not clear how the
shirt body is being constructed there for the western style yoke. It almost
looks like the back piece is sewn to the front piece at the shoulder seam,
with no hidden yoke piece, and then the pointed visible yoke pieces are sewn
on as an applique.

I want those body shaping darts at the back/yoke seam, so just sewing the
back to the front piece won't be a good idea. I do two darts, one near each
shoulder blade, not two darts in the middle.

So, I'm not sure if I've been clear here, but can someone give me some
feedback on this type of construction? Coffin's Shirtmaking book is silent
on the subject.

Dwight

PS Hi all. I've been on a sewing sabbatical. Just did two shirts in the
last three days, and am about to start on a herringbone weave shirt
(cotton).

[Kathy Morgan]

duh who > wrote:

> I'm feeling the need to show more contrasting material on
> the front of the shirt, and to either lengthen the yoke in the back (and
> shorten the back piece) or to do a yoke that comes to a point in th middle
> of the back.
>
> I'm looking in my Reader's Digest sewing book, [...] It almost
> looks like the back piece is sewn to the front piece at the shoulder seam,
> with no hidden yoke piece, and then the pointed visible yoke pieces are sewn
> on as an applique.
>
> I want those body shaping darts at the back/yoke seam, so just sewing the
> back to the front piece won't be a good idea. I do two darts, one near each
> shoulder blade, not two darts in the middle.

I just took a look at DH's RTW denim shirts. Some of them have pointed
"yokes" which are actually visible pieces sewn on as an applique, and
some of them have straight yokes with no hidden lining piece.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't construct the yoke just as you
want to. A straight one would be much easier to sew, but you can also
do the pointed style with a true yoke--it's trickier sewing, but you can
do it. You'll need to slash the shirt back to the sewing line at the
point, in order to turn the point when sewing it. Slash straight down
at the V to the sewing line, and then pin or baste carefully so that the
yoke piece matches right at that point on the sewing line. Practice on
a bit of scrap to get the hang of it.

--
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[Kay Lancaster]

> That true pointed yoke scares me. Hell, I don't even do pockets due to the
> curved seam allowance and trying to baste/iron/sew it.

So get yourself some lightweight cardboard (like shirtboard or oaktag) and
cut your pocket shape or whatever out of it *with no seam allowance*. Reduce
seam allowance on the piece of fabric you cut to 3/8". Put the cardboard
over the fabric, and dab the protruding edges of the fabric with starch;
let it soak in for a minute, and then, with the tip of your iron, push
the seam allowance of the fabric up over the template and press it dry.
Continue. You now have a nice, firm, shaped edge for sewing once you
remove your template.

See Carol Ahles' book, Fine Machine Sewing, the bit on scallops, for
more on the technique.

[Kathy Morgan]

duh who > wrote:

> That true pointed yoke scares me. Hell, I don't even do pockets due to the
> curved seam allowance and trying to baste/iron/sew it.

I don't think it would be too bad, as long as you draw the pattern
carefully and then at least pin the point--stab through the seamline at
the point from the one fabric to the matching point on the other fabric.

> I may just start with creating some front yoke extensions and try those at
> first. Its not really a "western" shirt. I just want to extend the
> contrasting elements. But, with your nudge, I may try something along these
> lines. Does his shirts have a box pleat or single pleats in the back?

Neither--these have no shaping built in. If I were sewing one that did
have a pleat or pleats, I believe I'd machine baste them before
stitching the yoke, just to make sure they behaved.

--
Kathy

[Kay Lancaster]

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:08:27 GMT, duh who > wrote:
>
> I tried something like that, except it was spray starch, and the cardboard
> was warping because of that. I want to get a bit of thin aluminum, cut to
> shape, so it will be impervious. Its just doing it that is the problem.

You can always spray the starch into the lid, then dab it on. You can
also buy liquid starch in a jug, usually a couple of quarts, in the
laundry aisle in many grocery stores. Or you can make it yourself...
just make up a cornstarch slurry in cold water and cook it on the stove,
or in the microwave, stirring every 15 sec in the microwave, constantly
on the stove.

There are also high-melt-point plastics (Templar is one brand) that can
take this treatment, though they won't tolerate a hot iron placed on the
plastic. As long as you keep the iron tip just on the starch-wetted
fabric, you're fine.

I use tagboard for one-shot templates, plastic for ones that will see
common use. Freezer paper works for some, too... trace the shape, iron
it on the back side of the fabric, moisten the edge of the fabric with
starch, press, then remove the freezer paper.

Kay Lancaster

[joy beeson]

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:01:00 -0800,
(Kathy Morgan) wrote:

> but you can also
> do the pointed style with a true yoke--it's trickier sewing, but you can
> do it.

I would sew both sides of the V, press the allowances toward
the yoke, then hand-slipstitch the very point: making a
combination of true yoke and applique'.

Be sure to miter the point: turn the point up, then the
allowances.

If the point is sharper than a right angle, the allowances
will stick out. There are ways to deal with that, but I
would blunt the point a little:
\_/
with the fold represented by the underscore being a
sixteenth or an eighth of an inch, which won't show from any
distance, but will convert one difficult corner into two
easy corners.

If the point is going to be covered with further decoration,
simply cut the corner off, leaving a small raw place
overlapping the shirt body. This reduces the lump that the
seams make under the decoration.

Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net

[joy beeson]

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:08:27 GMT, "duh who"
> wrote:

> I'll try your technique. Where do I get the liquid starch?

Any grocery. It may be hard to find because the bottles are
small, and only one shows. (Nobody will buy starch who
isn't hunting for it, so they don't bother to push it.)

A quarter-inch slice off the end of a cellulose sponge makes
an excellent brush for applying starch. Dampen it enough to
make it soft before each use, then allow it to dry to
preserve it for later use.

Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net