It's been ~20 years since I took home-ec in junior high, the only other time I've sewn clothes. My teacher Mrs Bauman's nowhere in sight so I turn to you for help, lovely forum people :)
Step 3 of the Music Box Jumper instructs (and offers a supporting drawing):
"Staystitch the neckline of the outside front-yoke and the two outside back-yoke pieces...sewing from each shoulder toward the center."
It's the "each shoulder" part that's causing my confusion.
It is clear how this can be done on the back-yokes (these being 'half-pieces' of the front yoke, I'll start at the one shoulder, follow the curve along, and finish in the place that on these pattern pieces will end up being at the center of the back). But on the FRONT-YOKE, how on Earth can I staystitch from each shoulder and end at the center?
If I didn't have these words, or the drawing with the arrows and was given only 'staystitch' as the title or task for this step, I would simply start at one shoulder, sew allllll the way 'round the curve (passing alongside the lowest point, adjacent to where a notch is), continue onward and end at the opposite shoulder. Yet the drawing clearly indicate two arrows starting at the shoulders and converging at the center (thereby supporting the written instructions to start at "each shoulder").
Hmm... My thought process:
- Am I really meant to sew two seams that meet in the middle, near that central notch?
- How could this be better than going from one shoulder to the opposite shoulder?
- Perhaps the "each shoulder" refers to back-yoke only?
Help!
And, relatedly:
In whichever direction I go in with this staystitching business: do I need to reinforce (forward-reverse-forward) at the start and finish of these seams (ie to help the staystitches themselves stay put?)?
Thank you, in advance, for helping me venture from 2-D sewing (quilts) to 3-D (this darling jumper). I'm determined!
-Lori