While making a test version of the long ham, I learned a few things. It's more work for me than the oval ham, I forgot to trim away 5mm from around the edges of the outer layer, I sew too close to the raw edge of the darts, and I forget to fold and pad stitch the ends of the darts towards the bottom seam.. Arg!
I'm now waiting for heavy-duty flannel for the outer layer to arrive. In the meantime, I need clarification on what areas of the outer layer to trim away 5mm; this will ensure the outer layer is a little smaller than the skeleton layer to ensure a tight final fit.
I know we have to trim away 5mm from the outer layer's raw edges. But do we also need to reduce the size of the fold by 5mm? What I heard and saw in watching your video isn't clear to me. I don't want to screw up my final ham. I made my test version without trimming 5mm away from the fold.
Thanks.
Hello Sandra,
When trimming the raw edges of the outer layer by 5mm, you will have to smooth your cutting line into the fold. This will indeed make the fold line shorter compared to the inner layer by about 5mm - 1cm.
But that is not something you MUST do. You can also start right at the fold and smooth into 5mm towards the end of the raw edge.
In fact, I advise you to do the latter. It will shorten the dart on the outer layer and keep it away from the pressing surface.
If you had any further questions, please let me know.
I understand that you don't want to mess up the final ham. It takes a lot of work.
You're nearly there...
Reza
International School of Tailoring