Retail Details: Embellished Pintucks
			E L I Z A B E T H   T I S I N G E R
			Twin-needle pintucks and topstitching in a contrasting metallic thread liven up a basic linen shirtdress.
			Materials Cutting & Construction Pintucking Tips

Materials

McCall's 3254 Linen or other mediumweight fabric in yardage indicated on pattern envelope Twin needle Metallic needle Thread: contrasting metallic or other decorative; matching all-purpose; matching texturized nylon (optional) Pintuck foot (optional) Notions indicated on pattern envelope

Cutting & Construction

Straighten the center back seam on the pattern and eliminate the seam allowance. The garment back pattern can now be cut on the fold, so alter the pattern cutting layout if necessary. Make any standard fit adjustments to the pattern as needed. The pintucks will be sewn and embellished before the garment pieces are cut out. Determine the yardage needed for the garment back and rough-cut; you'll make pintucks along this fabric length. Insert the twin needle and pintuck foot. Note: If not using a pintuck foot, use a zigzag presser foot with a wide opening. Thread the machine with metallic thread in the twin needle, and all-purpose or texturized nylon thread in the bobbin. Using a 2mm to 2.5mm stitch length and a tightened upper tension, sew sample pintucks on a fabric scrap, sewing along the same grainline as the garment. Follow the tips in "Pintucking Tips" to perfect the pintucks. If you're having trouble making pintucks with metallic or other decorative thread, use a twin needle specifically designed for metallic or embroidery threads. If the threads break while sewing the long vertical pintucks, remove the stitching and start over, or "cheat" by tying the threads on the garment wrong side. After making sure the thread tails are long enough at the break, start stitching again where you left off (don't backstitch). Pull the thread ends through to the garment wrong side, tie off and use a tapestry needle to weave them through the bobbin stitching. Sew a vertical pintuck along the length of the garment center back. Add the desired amount of pintucks to each side of the center, remembering that the more pintucks sewn, the more the fabric drape will be affected. The featured garment has five pintucks sewn 1/2" apart. Insert a metallic needle in the sewing machine; use metallic thread in the needle and all-purpose thread in the bobbin. For the embellishment over the pintucks, use one of the ideas shown here or come up with your own. The featured garment has groups of five rows of topstitching (backstitched at the beginning and end), spaced 5" apart along the pintucked length. Note: Use spray starch or a lightweight tear-away stabilizer before embellishing with satin stitching or free-motion embroidery to prevent fabric rippling and puckering. Fold the pintucked and embellished yardage along the center back tuck and cut out the garment back, aligning the tuck with the foldline placement. Cut out the remaining pattern pieces according to the pattern guidesheet or the altered pattern layout. Complete the garment according to the pattern guidesheet, topstitching the front, collar and machine-sewn hem with metallic thread.

Pintucking Tips

Needles. Use a 1.6mm to 2mm twin needle for lightweight fabrics and 2.5mm to 3mm twin needle for mediumweight fabrics. Fabric. Light- to mediumweight wovens work best for machine pintucking. Thread. Follow the sewing machine manual to thread the machine for twin-needle stitching. Make sure the two thread spools don't rub together and the threads aren't twisted together. Presser foot. Use a pintuck foot if available for your machine. Note: If you don't have a pintuck foot, use a zigzag, satin-stitch or embroidery foot. The pintuck foot has grooves on the underside that help form the raised tucks and keep them equally spaced. Use a foot with narrower grooves on lightweight fabrics, and one with wider (and fewer) grooves on mediumweight fabrics. Tension. Test samples with different tensions to create the desired look. Increase the needle tension to raise pintucks. If the pintucks aren't pronounced, try tightening the bobbin tension as well. If the fabric puckers, loosen the needle tension a bit, or loosen the bobbin tension. For the most raised and pronounced pintucks, use a pintuck foot, tight needle tension and thin fabric. Spacing. Mark the first pintuck with an air-soluble marker or crease, and stitch along the fabric grain. To keep the remaining tucks straight and consistently spaced, guide the first pintuck into one of the presser foot grooves or along the presser foot edge, or line it up with a quilting guide. If you have trouble keeping the pintuck in the groove, lift the fabric in front of the presser foot as you sew. Eliminating puckers. Pintucks on the lengthwise fabric grain tend to pucker more than those on the crossgrain. When making vertical pintucks on craft or home dec items, use fabric cut on the crossgrain. For garment sewing, where pattern pieces are usually cut on the lengthwise grain, try one or more of the following: Sew with a slow to medium speed. Spray-starch and press the fabric before pintucking. Loosen the upper tension slightly. Cord the pintucks. If the fabric still puckers, block the fabric before cutting it. Pin the tucks to the ironing board in the desired shape, and steam or spray-starch; allow the fabric to dry and cool completely before handling. Corded pintucking. Cording pintucks helps eliminate puckers and raises pintucks on heavier fabrics. With a slightly tightened upper tension, feed pearl cotton or topstitching thread through the throatplate cording hole from the bottom to the top, and back under the foot. Note: If the machine doesn't have a cording hole, use a 2" length of drinking or cocktail straw taped to the machine in front of the needle, and thread the cording through the straw and under the needle. Place the fabric over the cording, hold the cord and begin to stitch; corded pintucks are automatically formed. Pressing. Don't press the pintucks themselves, as this will flatten them. Press the fabric between pintucks or, if they're spaced very closely together, press the fabric on either side of the set of pintucks.

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