Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #83

finished gloves + teacup

Slowly, slowly, but I finally hand sewed the gloves. I usually sew gloves by hand, using a backstitch, mostly because I'm afraid my sewing machine will eat up the fabric, especially this type of thin jersey (my machine isn't supposed to be able to sew knits, but it does, because it's a workhorse), and thin seam allowances. Still missing the hems, but, because I still have a lot of sewing to do, I decided I'll do the hems AFTER the clasp things and the coat's skirt trim.

98% finished gloves

Although I corrected the pattern from Miss Piggy's gloves, and I will eventually remake it again, after watching a glove drafting tutorial, by Nicole Rudolph. I sewed them using the same basic steps I did for Piggy's gloves. I cut both hand patterns in the silk jersey (which is polyester), plus the thumbs, but didn't separate the fingers. Yet. I sewed the thumbs into... thumbs, and, after cutting the thumb hole in the hand piece, I sewed them to the hands. Then I cut a bunch of strips, about 1,5cm wide, in the jersey, cut open the fingers, and started sewing them to the fingers. The index finger is folded in half and the pinky finger only has a gore on the inside. Starting with the index finger, after sewing the tip on itself, I inserted the gore strips. First I find the strip's middle, on the shortest side, and pin it to where the finger splits. With the strip facing me, I sew the first 1,5-2cm part in a curved diagonal, and then all the way to the bottom, leaving a 3mm wide allowance. When I reach 1cm before the in between fingers part, I pin it to the strip, and then 1cm after, keeping the seam allowance on the strip a constant 3mm. Finally, I sew it back up on the next finger, making a curved seam on the top 1,5-2cm part, cut the excess fabric on top, and even out the seam allowance. I repeat for all the fingers and, starting at the pinky finger's tip, I sew the side seam of the glove shut. I will probably either hem it with a herringbone stitch, or a zigzag stitch, but a zigzag stitch by hand takes a long time, and the hem won't be visible, underneath the shirt and the jacket, that's why I won't be hemming them just yet, I still have a lot to do.

Silk jersey is a very heavy and fiddly fabric, that's mostly why it took me so long to sew the gloves. It took me much less to sew Piggy's gloves, velvet is much more forgiving. I also prefer to make gored gloves, because I have very touch sensitive hands, and I feel very claustrophobic if they don't feel comfortable, which non-gored gloves aren't.

+ They're done, and I'm mostly satisfied with the gloves.
- I want them 100% finished, and I'm not entirely happy with the fit, which is much more noticeable in this fabric.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Finish the clasps, starting with the smaller ones, for the cuffs and the shoes. Attach them to where they're supposed to go.