Yes, I'm still there! Whilst waiting for a new piece of canvas to arrive, I spent my time with mark stitching (which I actually liked doing!) and sewing darts and seams.
Now, finally one or two things which I know how to do. No, not an expert - intermediate, I'd say.
Enough blabla, one pictures says more than 1000 words... so, here are a few more.
Mark stitching's done.
Sleeves were sewn, back seam too, as well as some darts.
In the middle, you can see a hint of "blades". This is something I haven't done before, so I am not too happy with the results, but my cloth started shining more and more - so I rather stopped.
Those who know all about these things:
- How much force is used here? Is it rather a "massaging" the fabric, with some slight pulling? Or is it with rather much force on the iron and a forceful pulling?
Rory does this with so much ease, it's really hard to see how much force he's putting in there. (Apart from one scene, where he actually mentions the "elbow grease" - there I can clearly see him pushing)
- This "shining" of the cloth (bad side, thank goodness):
"No problem, keep going" or "Stop immediately". Iron is on "wool" - so shouldn't be too hot.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about shine at all on the wrong side of the cloth. The only thing you would have to worry about is if you were using an iron that was super hot, and leaving it on the cloth too long, in which case the shine would probably be a precursor to damage. But in that case it would be obvious.
In terms of pressure and force - I think it depends on the area being stretched. For back blades, only slight pulling would be appropriate in my opinion, especially on modern cloths which are generally light. You don't want to create huge bumps on the back area which will look grotesque... Try with only slight force, and stretch cross-wise in diagonal directions only, then lay the pieces down flat and have a look at the shape you've created. If it's not enough, try a bit harder. Work gradually to the shape you want and you'll get a feel for it.
For something like the side-seam inlay, I stretch quite forcefully. It's also important to remember that in that case you're stretching with the grain, rather than with the bias, so more force is needed to get an adequate result.
The "shinning issue" just go easy with the iron. I usually use a teflon foot on the iron, added a picture below. If your using a domestic iron and the foot isn't an option turn heat down slightly. I like to usually keep the iron at the same temp always, when i take the teflon foot off and want to press with more a direct heat ill use the press cloth which is just 2 pieces of selisha