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Sew-In Interfacing: Cotton Shrunk Overnight Before Cutting
The cloth basted inside a collar or coat front to give it body is only useful if it has been shrunk first: otherwise, as Butterick's New Dressmaker (1921) warns, it "will shrink on the first damp day and will draw in and wrinkle the coat". This is the book's sponging method: roll the cloth up with a damp muslin overnight, press it dry, then cut it by the pattern.
Butterick names soft canvas, cotton serge or cambric for wool, and butchers' linen, cambric or muslin for linen; ours is cotton muslin. The picture: the book's Ill. 102.
Beginner
Overnight + 30 minutes
Instructions
1
1
Choose the cloth
Choose the cloth
For wool: soft pliable canvas, cotton serge or cambric. For linen: butchers' linen, cambric or muslin. For silk: cotton serge, sateen or cambric. Ours: cotton muslin.
Materials for this step:
Cotton Muslin Cloth1 piece2
2
Clip the selvedge
Clip the selvedge
Cut off the selvedge, or clip it at intervals, so it cannot pull the cloth as it shrinks.
Tools needed:
Scissors3
3
Lay it out
Lay it out
Lay the cloth face down on the table over an ironing blanket. Ours: the ironing board.
Tools needed:
Ironing Board4
4
Damp the sponging cloth
Damp the sponging cloth
Wet a strip of heavy unbleached muslin, as wide as your cloth and half as long, in cold water and wring it out.
Tools needed:
Muslin Cloth
Water5
5
Fold and roll
Fold and roll
Spread it without wrinkles over half the cloth, fold the other half over it, and roll the two up tightly together.
Tools needed:
Muslin Cloth6
6
Leave it overnight
Leave it overnight
Leave the roll overnight, covered with a piece of muslin and some newspapers to keep the moisture in.
Tools needed:
Muslin Cloth
Newspaper (padding)7
7
Unroll and press dry
Unroll and press dry
In the morning unroll it, pressing the cloth dry on the wrong side as you go.
Tools needed:
Clothes IronIroning Board8
8
Cut by the pattern
Cut by the pattern
Cut the interfacing by the garment pattern. For a strictly tailored collar, cut it 3/8 inch smaller than the pattern at all edges. Baste it to the wrong side of the garment.
Tools needed:
ScissorsMaterials
1- 1 piecePlaceholder
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