Tuesday, June 2, 2009

How to Iron Out The Details {of J.Crew Shirts}

"Thanks!" to SC Crew who was kind enough to not only let us know that J.Crew was featured in an article from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, but also scanned the image for us to view! :)

The article (click here for larger image to read) showcases the Victoria Ruffle Shirts (Item 99694; Regular $89.50, now $49.99). It discusses how "detailed blouses can be ironed", with the following advice:

As with any shirt, work in sections: collar, cuffs, sleeves, back, and then front. Ruffles and pleats can be ironed to give them a crisp finish. Press the nose of the iron into the top of the father, flattening and pressing small portions as you work downward. Embellishments such as rhinestones and embroidery should be ironed on the wrong side atop a clean, terry-cloth towel. If these additions are glued on rather than sewn, make sure to avoid ironing the adhesive, even if you're working from the wrong side.

In a previous post (refer to "J.Crew Dry Clean Items {how do you care for them?}", I mentioned using Dryel for the Victoria Ruffle Shirt. I found that after a few instances (three or four times), the pleats lost the original crisp & tight shape. The result is the Victoria has more of a "free form" shape (similar to the image on the left of the Victoria Ruffle Cami) around the collar- which is not a bad look. I have not taken the shirts to a dry cleaner, since I am not sure they would be able to re-create the original pleats (considering how small they are).

What are your ironing methods for J.Crew items, especially detailed items (like the Victoria Ruffle Shirt)? Have you tried alternative methods (e.g. hand washing, Dryel)? If so, please share with us your results. Also, if you have used a dry cleaner for items, like the Victoria Ruffle Shirt, what were the results? :)

14 comments:

  1. So are the original pleats on the ruffle shirt a stitching detail or more of a heat pressing detail? I wonder how that's manufactured.

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  2. I was getting ready to add a fabric steamer on my amazon shopping cart until I saw this post. Thank you, Thank you. Very helpful post!
    Also, I am glad to see you back, we have been missing you here. Hope everything going well with you and your family.

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  3. I just used the current free shipping code on your sidebar and it saved me $15!!! Yippee...thanks!

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  4. I took this shirt to the dry cleaners the other week and the pleats lost their form. I tried ironing them back in without any luck, but I will take a look at your new instructions. I hope this helps because the shirt doesnt look nearly as good as when I first wore it! I came to your website the other week to see if anyone else had this same problem with this shirt, so thanks for posting this!

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  5. This is great advice as I have constant problems with ironing. Haha

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  6. Thank you for this advice!! Much needed!!

    This is OT, but I just tried using the "99" quantity trick online to check the number of certain items left in my shopping cart and it won't let me!! I can only put a 1 digit number in the "quantity" box ... so 9 would be the most you could check for at a time!! Am I just going crazy? Someone else please try it! When did this change?? (sorry if this was already talked about in a different post, but I'm just now noticing!!)

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  7. Lindsey B, I've been trying it without luck, too, for the last few days. I guess they really, really don't want us having decent intel on JC. This seems to have changed as of this weekend, and I hope it changes back.

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  8. Mostly OT: How is everyone caring for their leather bags? I finally applied a leather balm to about four bags last night, and I wondered how often I should do that. Once a year, once a season? And are folks using a different product for the Borge leathers? The balm I used doesn't seem to be absorbing as quickly into the pebbled leather, but I did do a patch test to make sure it stays colorfast and can wipe off the excess balm if need be.

    Thanks for sharing the info on ironing pleats. I tend to shy away from items that are labor intensive like the Victoria since I'm a klutz with that type thing, but it's good to have a care reference for different JC items. Maybe that could be a whole post? I know the issue of care for cashmere and ringspun comes up every so often.

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  9. Lindsey B - I am able to use the 99quantity to check inventory....

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  10. LindseyB & CheesyG - Couldn't yesterday, but can now today.

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  11. And thanks for the ironing post! I am the happy owner of six Victoria shirts (couldn't resist) and I want to stay that way even after artful ruffling of said perfect pleats.

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  12. Just got my victoria back from my dry cleaners and while some pleats along the buttons were not 100% perfect,it was minor enough for me to be happy with the job.

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  13. my wife loves this shirt and she's washed it on delicate our in washing machine and hung it to dry and it's come out with most of the pleats still intact (our washer uses very little water - not sure if that helps with keeping pleats intact). also taken it to dry cleaners and it's come back with amazingly crisp pleats -- they're a really good cleaners who is usually super attentive to things like that. (sf green clean in russian hill in san francisco)

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