Lessons from the sewing room

I like sewing because I am constantly learning. Even if I think I have solved a problem, I usually create another problem in the meantime. I do try to do my research, but somehow I can never predict my results. Recently I washed a pencil skirt that I made last year. The lining is fully enclosed so I assumed I would be okay with not finishing the seams. It came out of the machine all weird and would not lay flat. I discovered a hole at the seam where the seam had shredded and when I felt inside the lining, it seemed the frayed lining seams had tangled and  were distorting the skirt. Obviously I need to wash my lined clothes more gently but I vowed to finish all the seams of my clothes, lined or not and try using other materials to line with.

 

My next project was my blue pinafore, so I used a cotton sateen for lining and overlocked all the seams. I am sure it will hold up well with the wash, but the sateen catches on my tights and lifts my dress over so slightly (still annoying). So with my next lined project, I thought I would go back to using lining fabric for Winter garments but I will overlock the seams. What I did not anticipate with my overlocker would gather the fabric ever so slightly and make it a little shorter that it was supposed to be. Next time, I will pink the seams and hope for the best (oh, and use a gentle wash too).

 

 

Anyway, on to the sewing. I used my go-to pencil skirt pattern (Burda magazinne 1/08 #127 without the waistband and with added vent) and the leftover dark blue wool crepe. I  really pushed myself to fit as I go but have trouble trying on garments full of pins. I constantly get the sharp ends of pins scraping down my leg and they leave sores.

 

I am a huge list maker already, but I have started writing comprehensive lists for construction order, when to baste, adding in all the tips from tutorials and so on to get the best possible outcomes. For this skirt, I used a fashionable stitch's drafting and sewing a vent lining , Eugenia's tips for achieving a nice finish at the top of invisible zippers and creating ease in the skirt lining , Sherry's tute for mitring hems on vents (Sherry's is for jacket sleeve vents, but it is the same principle)

 

My overlocker dilemma chewed the ease above the vent but I am confident that my seams are not going to shred. And the skirt does not catch on my tights. You can't tell that I used read lining from the outside, can you.

 

I have many projects to document from this term, including some grey wool pants, a petrol coloured knit top and a tiered skirt for my daughter.

Wool sheath dress

 

 

I realised when taking photos that I am really out of practise taking photos. I had to take photos over two days and I am extremely stiff and wooden. I can't seem to relax when taking photos - I am paranoid of being caught by a neighbour. It is not like I don't have a legitimate reason should they ask and it seems quite silly when I am writing it down, but I just get embarrassed taking photos of myself.

 

I finished Burda #111 from 09/07 on Saturday.   

I thought the sheath dress made with a dark blue wool crepe would be great to wear over knit tops in Winter and extend me Winter dress options. The blue crepe must be my oldest stashed fabric, bought back when I was 19 or 20, was always earmarked for pants.

 

My enthusiasm waned when I realised the dress was very similar to my high school pinafore dress. Having already purchased the lining and zipper, I attempted to persuade myself to finish the dress but it was slow going. Yesterday I got stuck into it and finished it up to wear last night. I wore it with this tee, but with a denim jacket so the tee is not visible.

 

 

I did not bother to read the instructions, so I did not realise that there can be some topstitching along the darts. I have also omitted the belt loops and haven't bothered to make the belt either. I constructed the dress with a lot of basting stitches, so I could easily unpick and take the dress in. Apart from a little at the waist/high hip in the side seam, I did not need to take the dress in like I was expecting. Of course, I wanted a little extra room so I could slip a tee under, but the dress fits well on its own.

 I lined the fabric with a cotton sateen, which does catch on the stockings. I just can't seem to find a lining fabric I like. Polyester zaps me no end in Winter and attracts fluff and acetate lining is weak and painful (third time fixing a dress lined with acetate and it has only been washed a handful of times). I wish a knew a local source for rayon lining. I am going to use cotton voile or similar as much as possible until I find something else similar.

Second serve of Tiramisu

I made myself a second Tiramisu after finding myself wearing my first version to work on a weekly basis. I bought this lovely and bright cotton lycra fabric specifically for this pattern, but in it's first wash (with the fabric for this dress), it developed a few blue stains. Note to self - don't be lazy wash only like colours together in their first wash.

 

Being the second run through, it went together very quickly. I couldn't remember if I had moved the notches on the pattern like Steph had suggested in an email to me. It does show up some drag lines on the midriff that I don't notice in real life.

 

The weather is starting to cool down now, so I am going to experiement with layers to see how long I can wear this for. I am a wimp when it comes to cold weather - I do like to wear bright colours but need to wear a few long sleeved layers normally, so not sure I would cope wearing the shorts sleeves during a cold day. For my next version. I am thinking of changing the bodice to a tank style and keeping the waistband and skirt portion. Maybe I should think of doing something with sleeves for wintertime.

 

I should add that to my to-do list which, as like most sewist, is a mile long. I am contemplating a show entry (for which I have less than a month to get done), dreaming of new jackets but currently working on some wool pants which I thought was going to be an easy project but giving me grief with lots of wrinkles.

Good sewing day, bad sewing day

Thursday was a good sewing day. After shopping for groceries, I devoted the day to sewing some pants. Normally I get a bit distracted when sewing for any longer length of time and will usually finish a pants project over 2 or 3 days. I kept going at these since I want to increase my sewing production, and have other projects I want to get onto.

 

The pattern is Jalie 2909. I have made this pattern several times but always as shorts, never actual pants. Like the jeans, I folded out a little of the flare to make the legs more straight. 2.5cm each side seam, so a total of 10cm of flare is removed from each leg. The pattern uses a stretch woven pattern. I did add some length to the back crotch length as per usual (based on my pants block) but obviously the block doesn't translate as well. I will continue to make these pants as they are uber comfortable, maybe just trying different alterations each time. I just need to find some more bengaline. This stuff is so lovely.

I used a charcoal grey cotton/nylon/lycra bengaline, purchased from The Fabric Store in January of last year. There is a slight woven stripe running down the length of the pants. Like the Jalie jeans I just finished, I used a curved waistband borrowed from a Burda pants pattern. Before topstitching around the waistband, I quickly basted the inner band so that it is very neat on the inside.

 

Saturday was not a great sewing day. I was going great guns when I realised I had made a boo boo and had traced a pattern 2 sizes two big (bad memory - I thought my last My Image pattern was one size larger than my burda pattern, turns out it is actually one size less). The underbust seam is close to my waist and it is huge. And there is not way of fixing it at the moment. 

Two simple knit tops

I have used Kwik Sew 3242 before to make the skirt pattern but this was the first time making the top. Not much to write about, I just wanted something simple that wasn't my usual Jalie tee. The fabric is Stella knit from Crafy Mamas Fabrics. For some reason, I had a lot of trouble using my coverstich on the binndings. It did not like sewing them and kept missing stitches. Perhaps it was the new green thread I was using, I had already inserted new needles.

 

The cowl top is from the Winter 2011/12 edition of the My Image magazine. I just left the sleeves off and turned the sleeve allowance in (seeing as I had had a lot of trouble with the bindings on my last knit project). I bought the material from The Fabric Store in Brisbane when they were having their 40% off sale. It is a delightful rayon knit which ended up just being one of those painful fabrics. First, it stretched out when I had washed it. I purchased 1m and ended up with close to 1.7m. And it was off grain. Decided at that point I needed to treat it more carefully and wet the fabric and let it dry flat.

After letting it dry the second time, it was more on-grain so I cut out the top and sewed it up. The coversitch machine hated it, so I did the arms on the sewing machine and only hemmed it on the CS. After one wash, it has stretched out of shape  (my fault,must have cut it off grain after all); shredded at the hem, made a hole where I have topstitched. And it wrinkles like crazy.

I do like the colour though.

An oldie but a goodie

I spend a portion of my day at work sitting on the floor. Generally it is when we are playing literacy games that require a flat surface (most desks are at different heights making it near impossible to play memory). I need to sit on the floor to preserve my back - I simmply cannot sit on a chair when kids are on the floor. Most days this term I have worn shorts to work, but I have also started wearing my Tiramisu dress because it's full skirt keeps my modestly when I am on the floor. And it is comfortable and fun.

 

I wanted to make some more knit dresses suitable for work. I have made another unblogged Tiramisu but I wanted something for Winter. I bought this plaid ponte and immediately thought of the perfect pattern to make it in - Burda magazine 9/07 #121, a knit pinafore dress. However, my old university lecturer popped into my head at that moment and I wondered if the dress was practical enough for work with the pegged hemline. He told us to our work attire should be professional, practical and comfortable and I have always stuck by these rules because that is what I do(I used to take it to the extreme and wear joggers in my first year out).

Too bad Dennis. I will be wearing the dress to work whether it fits your rules or not. It is so comfortable and will be great for wearing in with 3/4 and full sleeved tees in all sorts of colours and of course stockings.

 



 

 I made the dress entirely on the sewing machine, as I though the overlocker would add to much bulk at the seams. I also wanted to baste the seams first and try on because I was afraid the dress wouldn't fit properly. I shouldn't have worried because the fit is spot on and I am sold on working with ponte. Actually, I lie. I did go back and overlock the seam joining the bodice to the waistband for added stability.

 

Jalie jeans - finally something to show

It has been awhile since I sewed some jeans. Not counting some shorts made with the same pattern, I haven't made jeans since June 2011. It has also been a long time since I used my fabulous blue HG Palmer Princess sewing machine, aquired for the sole purpose of sewing through the thick layers of denim. So long that I had forgotten how to thread the thing and spent a good hour trying to get it to sew nice. Turned out I was threading it fine, but had put the needle in the wrong way.

 

This time around, I made a few changes. First, I straighted the leg. I just folded out the flare from the knees down. The other change was using a curved waistband and a contrast fabric for the inner waistband to reduce bulk. I used a waistband from a Burda pattern - I measured the flat pattern at the stitch line and only had to reduce 1cm from the centre back to fit correctly.

I have a heap of back pockets saved on my computer and this one looked the easiest. I made a template on some paper first and used a plate to make the curved lines. Then I just drew the lines on the pockets with chalk. I did forgot to edgestitch the top of the pocket before I sewed it onto the jeans.

When I make myself another pair, I plan to make the seam allowances wider. The only time I had trouble with the princess was when sewing through just 1 layer of denim (when topstitching the second row, it was just outside of the seam allowance and thus 1 layer only). The thread would break over and over. Yet it never broke at any other stage. This machine lives for sewing through layers. The most layers it achieved was when sewing on the belt loops. The loops are 3 layers, but then they are folded over so that is 6. Add the 4 layers of the waistband with the seam. that is 10 laters of fabric. The jeans only just fit under the presser foot too.

 

Work has been a lot more stressful than I could have imagined. Weekends have been usy and I have spent too much time surfing the net, looking at everyone's wonderful projects and feeling inadequate with my creative output. I did not feel like blogging about my simple knit fabric projects which were staggeringly easy but all I could manage.

 

After spending the first couple of days of my break feeling down in the dumps, I decided to do what I love, even if it not the latest pattern or fabric. I love sewing, I dress for comfort and this is my chance to get out of the rut I am in. I finished these jeans and another dress and have taken photos and I am now feeling very enthused, relaxed and refreshed.

Teaching my children to sew plus a side of comfy

I started teaching my kids to sew last weekend. I had promised my daughter I would teach her over the summer holidays and I do like to keep my promises (although I did procrastinate because I knew it would require a lot of patience on my behalf.)

 

I cut out pieces of fabric for bags from scraps so the bags are just randomly sized. Scott sat on my lap and presssed the pedal while I helped him steer, but Jalisa was able to do it herself following my instructions. I was rather surprised how quickly she picked it up. The photo was taken on the first day back at school (also Scott's first day of school ever). I thought I would be super excited to see him off at school, but I actually cried when I saw him in his uniform for the first time and was anxious the whole day waiting to see how he went. He loves school.

 

 

I don't think I have posted pictures of my undies before and these aren't all that exciting anyway, but I think I have found THE perfect unides pattern for me. Kwik Sew 3301. Previously I have used an Ottobre pattern and they have been okay, but these are super comfy. I was a little hesitant to have a seam centre front and back but I can't tell it is there at all.



More of the same

 

This is getting embarrassing. I have made yet another pair of shorts. From the same pattern. Not a current or trendy pattern mind you. Just an old Burda magazine one. In life, when I find something I like, I stick with it and sewing is not much different.

The fabric is a wool plaid which I picked up at The Fabric Store last Wednesday. Sewn up yesterday in time to wear back to work.

I tend not to go for plaid since it can be a nightmare to match up. I cut the pattern peices individually so that I could best match up the lines. Instead of consulting my sewing reference I just dove in and thought I would cut the waistband on the bias grain.

 

Once again I finished the facing with voile cut on the bias. I did mean to change the bobbin thread to white to blend with the fabric, but as you can see I forgot too.

 

My next project is not going to be shorts, but I am not finished with this pattern forever. I really want to make a yellow pair but I need to find the right fabric first.



Sewing nemesis: curved waistbands

 

Do other people have a sewing nemesis? I am sure I have a few but the one on my mind is a curved waistband. It doesn't matter how many times I have sewn one, I am always left thinking I could have done a better job. Generally it is lumpy bits where the seams intersect or the waistband facing seems to grow in some places.

 

 

 

 I have sewn up yet another hybrid Jalie 2805/2806 tee in a Crafty Mamas printed cotton lycra (purple colourway) and Burda #120 10/05 altered with my pants block and shortened to above knee length. This time in a gorgeous charcoal linen fabric that I bought at a nearby fabric sale.

 

 This is the best backview I have had. The only wrinkles of from the linen itself.

 For the waistband, I actually followed most of the directions from Tany's excellent blog.  This involved reading the instructions rather than just scanning the pictures. Of course, my waistband is slightly different, but it is mainly the seam technique. I actually trimmed the seam allowance before applying a some bias binding (voile fabric instead of bias organza). Now normally my edge is either flush with the seam but lumpy at the side seams (as I fold the seam allowances of the facing under) or it is a little wonky as some parts of the facing hang a little longer (for reasons unknown to me). Using a thinner fabric to bind the edge has reduced the lumps somewhat (next time I also need to remember to clip the corners more before overlocking) and since I pinned the facing to the seam edge, the facing is even for once.

 Pictures always look better when my daughter is with me.