Dress 4016 Gussets

Last (only) time I inserted a gusset, I told a dancer playing the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, 😉 to leap as hard as he could, then I inserted a square of fabric into the spot where the seams had failed. Easy and effective. 😉 I was innocent and am now learning the sophisticated details of gussets. Hah! I feel like a graduate! Okay, still room for improvement…

Gussets have a reputation, deservedly. I read the Threads issue #153 article, pp. 38-43. It was very helpful and I mostly followed it precisely. Somehow I missed the part about *on the bias*.  Not enough coffee?

So I went back to The New Vogue Sewing Book, 1980. “Because the area under the arm receives a maximum amount of strain and needs ease for movement, the gusset should always be cut on the bias.” I did use the staytape idea, not organza. A Moment of Silence for our independent fabric store, 27th St. Fabrics, RIP. No organza in the stash.

So, a sequence:

• Beautiful gussets, cut on straight of grain. sheesh. I measured like the Threads article, extended the pattern slash to 3″. The gusset was not quite 4×8″, with a 3/8″ curved tuck in the middle.
• Ribbon basket raid for bias binding and found the “stay tape” I’d never used. “use it up…”
• You can see the tape sewn inside & outside the sleeve sash, tiny stitches nearer the point, sewn around, not to a vee. BTW, the ribbon is sewn to the outside. I used a bead of fabric glue to keep it in place, had to gently pry it off to put it on the outside. I Love Pendleton Wool- took it without a whimper and didn’t fray. [nope, not on commission. ;-)]
• The ribbon gets pressed to the inside and acts a bit like a seam allowance. Pressing is entertaining with gussets, which side is up?
• The gussets are supposed to be sewn then top stitched. Okay, no extra credit for me. I just pinned in place and top stitched. One down!

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Next, the other gusset, other cuff, waist seam, front panel, buttons, collar. Hi-Ho!