Hemlines: Trouble With the Curve

Cutting Line Design New Release-   Danger: Curves Ahead.   

I'm already in the Spring sewing mode.  I know it is still March and we still have snow on the ground.  The daffodils are up about 6 inches now.  I have been waiting for an opportunity to use batik coordinates and this pattern is just perfect to add a contrast.  I will be making the tunic which pops over the head.   I held up the pattern tissue to determine finished length.  It actually covered my butt and then some because I am 5' 2 ".   I decided it was best to shorten it 1 1/2 inches so I wouldn't be sitting on buttons.

The suggested hemline finish is pretty much standard; add a gathering line and pull the bobbin thread to gather.  This method works rather nicely on softly woven fabrics like rayon challis.  I am using a crisp cotton batik and know from experience that a tightly woven crisp fabric will produce tiny, hard bumps at gathering points.  Additionally, the curved areas can be prone to 'cupping' because they are in a 'bias zone'.   

(Serger thread can add bulk as well. )

I decided to use a French bias strip which is smooth, adds a touch of body and looks cleaner.

  

There are two rows of top stitching around the neckline and armholes placed 1/4 inch apart which adds a nice touch.

Personally,  I feel the curved hemline is more flattering across the hip line. 

This went together beautifully.  Nice design. 

Vogue 9293 Screams Spring in Hyacinth Purple Stripes.

This Vogue 9293 dress reminds me so much of Vogue Nina Ricci 1244 from the year 1975.   The bodice and cap sleeves are quite similar.  I have noticed quite a few designs from the 70's making a re-appearance.  I still have most of my patterns from the 70's and 80's.  It pays to hold onto your patterns.  Many of them are still available on Ebay and Etsy.  I still think the guide sheet directions were better in those days.  The Nina Ricci design is a back wrap dress.  I made that pattern at least five times.

I purchased this high quality purple and white shirting from Banksville Fabrics in Connecticut.  They may still have this in stock. Stripes can be very attractive if you take the time to plan out a design. (Otherwise they can make your eyes go crazy!)

My college textiles professor said, " people usually select a color or pattern as shown on the envelope."   Oh, how true.

Bodice alteration:  Pattern companies design the upper bodice to fit a 'B' cup.  The greater majority of dress patterns do not offer multi-sized pre-printed cup sizes to date.  Slowly but surely they are showing up in the pattern books. Typically these cup variations are for the princess style bodice.  Bodice patterns with side and waist darts require a different approach which scares off  too many garment sewing people.  I used white cotton lawn to underline the entire bodice.  I used the same white cotton to make French bias strips for the cap sleeve edges.

The bodice on the Vogue 9293 is a two-piece over-lap with two darts on each side.  The Vogue Nina Ricci 1244  has three small tucks on each side.  This may appear to be a slightly more involved alteration at first glance but it's really not hard at all.  Simply slice horizontally from side seam to side seam on the lengthen and shorten line. Leave the side seam in tact as a hinge point.  You do NOT want to reduce the side seam length.  To reduce the bodice cup size pretend you are taking a small tuck across the bust to remove excess volume.  Overlap the horizontal lines near the center by 1/4- 3/8 inch.  To increase cup size spread the pattern apart .

The small darts are covered by the tie which works out nicely.

I was able to make a French seam on the center front and still match up my stripes pretty well. Just love those Bernina feet with the side flange for perfectly straight seams.

Signs of Spring

My daffodils are already 4 inches high and today is March 1, 2018 !  Spring always motivates me to get sewing on some brighter fabrics. 

Vogue 8997 has proven to be a very successful pattern for a few reasons;  the bodice pattern comes printed in a variety of sizes which means no alterations !   Zipping up the back of the dress is so much easier because I can actually reach the zipper with the lower back neckline.







I have made this dress in linen, cotton sateen and cotton voile.  Of course in cotton voile the entire dress needs an underlining.

The two-piece sleeve is such a pleasure to install because you don't have to worry about a 'flat cap' or  extra easing. The seam allowance in the middle eliminates about 1 1/4 inches of fabric at the shoulder seam.  Setting in a one piece sleeve can be a daunting and frustrating experience getting the ease distributed smoothly.  A poorly installed sleeve can scream 'home-made' as opposed to 'custom made'. And yes, I hand baste the sleeve unit into the armscye to avoid stitching with pins.  The sleeve unit has the cotton lawn lining.

This is the bodice front.  I match my notches.  Clip my curved areas to allow the fabric to bend gently to the side bodice.  I hand baste with a contrast thread at 1/2 inch.   Pins do NOT lock the fabric effectively like basting.  Stopping to remove pins also interrupts the continuity of the stitch line. Stitch from the bottom to the top on both units .  If you stitch from top to bottom on one side the final results usually look somewhat distorted.  An 'unbalanced' look at the bust line isn't attractive.



I underlined the entire bodice with a fine cotton lawn.  Underlining the bodice helps to prevent the underarm area from discoloration from perspiration and deodorants.

An underlining makes everything cleaner .

An underlining adds subtle structure.

(sleeves are lined)

This dress has a full skirt which is similar to sewing a round tablecloth.  A Ban-roll hemline will totally eliminate the forward ripple on the cross grain. 








This fabric came from Banksville fabrics in Connecticut. They have a fabulous website.  Their staff is great!

 Cotton sateen with a small amount of lycra.  The full skirt is fluid. Too much lycra can dramatically increase body taking away from fluidity.

DIE CUTTER APPLIQUE

It has been a long time since I have done any applique work.  I remember putting appliques on my son's clothes when he was a toddler and of course on pillows, home decor or small blankets.  I don't believe I ever put large appliques on my own clothes. 

Back in the day there was only one way to cut appliques- by hand!  Now we have die cutting machines, laser cutting machines and the cutting needles in our sewing computer machines.  I have tried all these methods and they all have specific advantages and disadvantages which depend on the intricacy of the design.  I don't mind cutting out simple designs by hand.  The price is right!

I used my Accuquilt die cutting machine to cut out the alphabet letters for these pillow cases.  I applied Heat and Bond light weight fusible to the wrong side of the fabric with the paper still attached before I cut out the shapes.  The results were very, very clean.  From there you either stitch them on manually with a decorative stitch which is quite tedious or you purchase  the coordinating software to stitch out a placement line and the decorative perimeter stitching.  The end results are very professional.  If you prefer the look of hand stitches then the manual method may be more to your liking. Thankfully my sewing machine has the 'hover' feature which makes the manual method a great deal easier but I still find the process quite tedious.  The Bernina 'knee lift' is also a great help.

My 'Cut Work' software program allows me to use the cutting needles within the sewing machine to cut out the letters.  The fabrics must be stiffened and stabilized to achieve a decent cut.  The cutting needles perforate the fabric like the tiny perforations on bank checks.  The final appearance is not as clean as a die cut but can still be covered up nicely with an appropriate decorative stitch in the software program.  There are numerous stitches available to pick from.  It's a matter of testing out a few of the stitch options to see which covers best for your fabric choice. The final results can be just as clean with the right stitch.  Next time around I will experiment with different style fonts in my Cut Work software program.  The letters above are simply arial . 

I made pillow cases for two little boys and placed their names on the side hem.   I also added a very light weight fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric to support the appliques which worked out nicely.   I'm sure these new pillow cases will make bedtime more pleasing! 

Our sewing world continues to grow every day with all these new toys to make things more fun !  The end results are really great ! 

Audition Those Decorative Stitches !

I am guilty!  I have NOT used many of the decorative stitches probably because I didn't appreciate the stitch shown on the sewing machine screen.  Some machines have the stitches printed on a lid or index card like panel.  Sadly, those images really do not allow you to see how beautiful they can be.

I made a couple of these display panels out of linen but most of them in canvas.  That's what I had in my stash.  There may be other fabrics you may prefer.  I used a pen to graph out  the lines.  I made each box approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by 2  1/2 inches deep.  Next time around I think I will make the length about 4 inches long.  It takes about 15 minutes to draw all the graph lines and then about 45 minutes to stitch out the patterns.

I maintained all the default settings.   If I plan on using a design then I will play around with the settings depending on how the stitch is being used and the type of thread I might use.  My samples charts are sewn with polyester thread.   I have tried to stitch out all the stitches from different machines.  I'm not going to post  15 display panels.  You get the idea. I find most stitches do quite nicely on linen without adding fusible interfacing to the wrong side.   Some of the stitches will need additional support from fusible interfacing especially on light or mid weight cotton.   ( click on each photo to see enlargement of the stitches.      

                                      These samples are ribbon wound on the bobbin for reverse bobbin work.   Bunka cord works nicely too.                                                                                                         

I made three rows of a snow flake design to echo the scallop shaping  on this linen bodice.  It takes a little imagination to figure out where to use some of these designs.  

The tan fabric is a silk and linen blend.  The stipple stitch was sewn upside down with perle cotton wound on my bobbin.   I plan on using the yardage for  a wearable art vest. 

I started to play around with the stitch width and length .

It Looked Better On The Envelope !

The Sewing Workshop Collection has several very loose fitting tops that fall into the wearable art styles.  I'm working on the Japonesque Top this week.  I cut this on the Small size.  Wow, this is very loose-fitting!   My salt and pepper fabric was left over from a dress so this is an experiment.

I rarely follow the guide sheet directions simply because they usually use serged or 'turned and stitched' methods which aren't as polished as French seams or flat fell seams.  Secondly, I stabilize both the cross grain and bias grain whenever possible to keep the fabric from stretching out of shape with silk organza or fusible interfacing strips.  Pattern companies rarely suggest any additional steps to stabilize grain.  Years ago pattern companies supported 'stay-stitching' procedures. They tend to omit extra steps whenever possible.  I felt the vertical and  diagonal placket areas needed to have a little support from super light weight fusible interfacing.  Then, just to complicate things even more I wanted a clean finish.  I combined these two procedures using fusible interfacing.  Sounds a little confusing but it's not that bad. I sewed on strips of fusible interfacing using a 1/4 " seam allowance. Then I under stitched the fusible interfacing on the seam line to create a nice crisp edge.  Then I folded the fusible interfacing toward the wrong side of the fabric and bonded the two together.

 On the curved facing piece you can see I stitched  a 1/4 inch seam. Trim down to 1/8 inch.  Because the interfacing is fusible the seam allowance can not be pressed open.....therefore it requires a line of under-stitching to press the seam flat.


Next, I fused the interfacing and then trimmed off the excess.

This is much easier to handle and fuse than having the fusible interfacing cut to size.

This certainly is not the typical method of fusing.
Now the edges are 'clean finished' and I don't have to add ugly serger thread!

I have these absolutely beautiful Hmong hand made patches that I have been trying to incorporate into a garment.  I have it pinned just to audition it.








I normally make a muslin if the garment is fitted. No, I didn't make a muslin because this is a  super loose design. Dropped shoulders are definitely NOT flattering on my frame.  The sleeve cap hangs more than four (4) inches from the actual shoulder!   I look totally lost in this loose fitting design.  It actually looked better when I held my arms out straight like the black and white graphic on the envelope!. That's fine if you want to stand like a scare crow all day.  Perhaps this design would be more flattering on someone with a larger frame.  The photo on the envelope looks a great deal more flattering than it does on me.  It looks like a tent after a rain storm.  I think I should stick to patterns that are more proportional to my height and frame.
Not every garment is going to be successful or flattering.  You can walk into a dressing room with a half dozen garments and walk away with nothing.  Sewing is no different.  I know I will not wear it.  It will just hang in the closet.  I can easily cut this up and re- cut it into another garment.   I'm thinking of a Vogue 1316 Rebecca Taylor dress at the moment.  (I don't want to waste the fabric.)

I learned a few things here:

 1. Don't go by the image on the pattern envelope!   2. I should stick to extended shoulders as opposed to dropped shoulders. 

Wheel Chair Tote Bag

My Mom just celebrated her 91st birthday and I decided she would truly appreciate a gift that I had made more than any store bought item.  She uses a walker and sometimes a wheel chair if we are out in public. I found myself needing to add a tote bag onto the handles of my Mom's transport chair.  You need both hands to push a wheel chair ! 

So, I'm going to make a custom tote!  The width from handle to handle is exactly 18 inches on center.   It took me about 5 hours to construct this creation since I didn't have a pattern.  I just sort of figured things out as I went along.  I decided to put a zipper across the top for privacy.

My first zipper placket was a closed bottom metal zipper.  After I had the zipper installed I realized it really needs to open up.   I decided to use a separating zipper instead.  I looked through my vast collection of zippers and found a plastic separating zipper.  Yes,  I had to shorten it.  It is sooo easy to use nippers on plastic teeth.  Then I  add the top stops. 

 I found this utility denim in my stash.  No lycra !  I decided to add fusible fleece to give more 'body' to the overall structure. 






I experimented with a few decorative stitches.   I wasn't all that pleased with the results. Heavier threads seem to affect the stitch quality. Oh, well. So,  I used a simple triple straight stitch.






Handles:  Cut two strips 4x12 inches. Fold raw edges toward middle.  Press.  I added decorative trim tape.  (Some items have been accumulating for 10 or 20 years! )

 

Here you can see why a separating zipper works out better.  It will allow you to open up the entire opening.

I added a nylon zipper to the inside pouch.  Fully lined.

The bag can stand up by itself due to the fusible fleece.


The loop handles should slide onto the chair handles nicely.   I think I will spray this denim tote with Scotch Guard since it may be exposed to rain or snow.  Should also help to keep it clean.

Everything was going along rather well until I tried to stitch around the upper edge through the handles.  I got an error message on the machine telling me I needed to use thinner fabric and the machine could not sew through that denim !  Needless to say I ended up using my trusty Bernina 930 to stitch through the upper edge and handles!   Wow,  that is thick denim!  I have sewn wool braided rugs on the Bernina 930.  What a workhorse!!! I will never sell my 930. (Sorry,  during photo edit I erased the name for privacy.) I know my Mom will love it. I'm sure her friends will want one too!