Clapping--and I Don't Mean Applause, Either

The blue jacket needs sleeves, hemming & lining (I decided to go with lavender). The sleeves are made & shaped-they just need to be inserted. It's looking real good, but it didn't until I used a clapper on the seams--what a difference it made! I'm still surprised at how much nicer, flatter and just more professional the clapped seams are. And I also used another pressing technique where you slip a piece of oaktag (I used a strip cut from a manila envelope) between the seam allowance and the fabric before pressing--it prevents the impression of the seam allowance from showing on the right side of the fabric.

Next up is a a basic blouse. Due to my generous curves the best bet will be an armscye princess style. Butterick 3784 will do nicely. The line drawing shows the styling better.