Plum Cloak: Progress to Date

In 2008, after moving half way across the country to Colorado with nothing but my husband and two cats, I was feeling empowered and had a bit of free time on my hands. I had always wanted to learn how to sew but had let myself be a victim of circumstance. In the summer of 2008, I suddenly decided it was time to teach myself to sew. I had two projects in mind: a quilt and a cloak. The quilt has been pieced, although I still haven't quilted it, and now, 5 years later, I'm finally getting some traction on the cloak.

A couple of years ago, I hit up a sale at my local fabulous fabric store, Denver Fabrics, and purchased a gorgeous plum-colored wool coating. I had to buy 7 1/2 yards! I was incredibly intimidated by how to handle that much fabric. I found The Great Coat Sewalong blog, which strongly recommended having wool fabric professionally steamed to pre-treat it. I sat on that wool for over a year, immobilized by my own feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty. Then one day I just decided to lay it out and start cutting.

On again off again cutting, and months and months later I finally had all of the wool pieces cut out! The pattern recommended stay stitching around the neck and the non-shoulder curved seams. I used fusible stay tape instead. I managed to sew all of the seams of the outer layer, including the hood. The hood has two darts on each side. I had never sewn darts before, but I was really pleased with how they came out. I used a tutorial from Sew4Home that was very helpful.

All through the sewing process, I was following Ann from GorgeousFabrics' Pressinatrix recommendations. However, when I got to the shoulder seams and the darts, I realized that I couldn't appropriately press these extremely curved seams on my flat ironing board. I had always thought that tools like pressing hams were for extreme sewists, but I now find myself in need of one! I'm not sure if that's a measure of how far I have come with sewing or a re-education of my naive preconceptions. Regardless, I can't move forward on the cloak shell until my newly-ordered ham arrives.

With pressing still incomplete, the shoulder seams stand out pretty far from my shoulders. Not sure if that's just the shape of the pattern or if it has anything to do with those seams not being pressed completely flat. At this point, I want to try ironing them with the ham and see if pressing them well settles them down a bit. If that doesn't do the trick, I intend to take in the seams a bit. We'll see if I can get my husband to help me with the pinning/marking.

For lining, I have a rayon/silk blend that I got from Mood. I'm a bit intimidated by the slipperiness of the fabric. Cutting precisely is definitely the area where I feel I make the most significant mistakes. I don't have a cutting mat large enough for the length of this cloak, so a rotary cutter is out. Lately I stumbled on Gertie's recommendation (from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing) of sandwiching slippery fabrics between two layers of tissue paper. A massive, last-me-the-rest-of-my-life roll of tissue paper is on its way!

While I wait for various sewing tools, I have a chance to catch up on my blog (or is that to pretend that I have a blog) and I'm also looking into hemming ideas. I really like the suggestion from Did You Make That? of using lace to bridge between the heavy wool fabric to the blind/catch stitch of the hem.

Forest Lovey: Completed!

This is going back quite a ways, but I thought I should post about the fact that I did manage to finish up the forest lovey. I really enjoyed slip stitching the silk binding to the back. I completely messed up the mitering of the corners, but my little one doesn't care.

I've actually managed to carve out some time for sewing lately. I'm working on a cloak. More to come on that soon.

Forest Lovey: Quilted!

I got the borders all mitered up, but really struggled to get a decent picture for some reason. I have a fancy flash that is supposed to make a big difference with indoor photos, but I think it isn't up for fabric in all cases. Below is the only decent photo I got, and it's of the worst of the four corners. My biggest problem was with getting the inside corner in the exact right spot. The best one was the last corner of border that got sewed on, where I could sew all the way up to the other border piece. Still, they look passable, and I'm really proud that they are mitered at all.

I quilted everything in the ditch with a walking foot and clear Sulky thread. It was a dream. It went so fast and I got really great results!

I had checked out Guide to Machine Quilting by Diane Gaudynski from the library, where I got a lot of confidence and the invaluable suggestion of turning one's top thread vertical. When I had the spool horizontal as per my normal sewing arrangements, the thread just spiraled off of the spool and didn't spin the spool at all, creating a twisted mess. Turning the spool veritcal on the bobbin winder was effortless and solved the problem instantly!

My only issue was where the stitching line strayed onto the upper fabric. After I did it once or twice, I got a lot better about making sure it didn't happen again.

With the gridding quilted in, it was time to tackle the free-motion designs from Quilting Designs from Nature by Lone Minkkinen. This was my first time ever doing free-motion quilting, and it was nerve wracking! I copied the designs onto Stich 'n Wash Disolving Foundation Sheets from June Taylor, Inc. that I had picked up at Joann's. I pinned the sheets directly to the quilt and stitched away.

I was sweating bullets by the time I was done with the two squares, but I was so pleased with the results. I definitely found that I got better results when I relaxed a little and got into a bit of a flow. However, as I got towards the end of the second design (the hawk/eagle), my arms were getting really tired and I got a little sloppy.

The view of the stitched designs from the back.

Unfortunately, the paper did not completely dissolve despite thorough soaking and vigorous agitation with a very soft toothbrush. *sigh* As you can see in the picture below, there are lots of little white bits when you look close enough.

From even a little bit of distance, however, it's almost not noticeable. And, I don't think my 16-month-old will mind. I'm thinking I might just chalk it up to experience and let it be.

All I have left to do on the lovey (once it dries!) is sew on the border. It should be done in time to give it to my son for Christmas!!

One of the driving forces behind creating this mini-quilt was to test out ideas for a bed-size quilt without creating something that I knew I was going to toss (and thus stealing my motivation to work on it). Some lessons learned for the big quilt:
1) The corduroy is way to thick to expect it to fold back unless absolutely necessary. I went into this project with the idea that the corduroy should get folded back whenever possible so that the dark fabric would not be under the lighter fabric. However, the corduroy didn't hold a 1/4" crease no matter how much I pressed it, and I was reluctant to press it too much and smash it's lovely velvety feel. These unruley seam allowances caused all of my problems with stitching in the ditch as well. On the bed quilt, the seam allowances will be pressed away from the corduroy as much as possible.
2) Obviously I need to do something different with the free-motion quilting. I might try a different transfer paper. Or I might try tracing it directly onto the fabric with a dissolving pen. I'm a little reluctant to do that because I am exceedingly slow at making progress and am a little concerned that I would get too far ahead of myself on the tracing, leading to permanent marking. I've also considered quilting from the back, since I would care much less about the paper bits on the back of the quilt. However, I wouldn't be able to use the clear thread in the bobbin, I'm almost sure of that. The fabric on the back of this quilt is the same as the cream squares on the front, and I love the way the back looks. So I could always use that cotton thread in the bobbin and stitch from the back.
3) The quilted designs on the cream blocks are perhaps a bit too subtle. I love how the designs came out so much that I am very reluctant for them to be so minimalist. I'm considering using a contrasting thread for quilting those designs on the bed quilt. That will be a tough call to make. A green would be one option. Or I could go with a slightly darker cream/tan color for something not too dramatic.

Border On, Mitering to Go

I cut out of work a little early and actually found some time to sew today during the daytime! I finally got around to re-cutting the border strips for the mitered border. They went on really well, I think, and now they are ready to be mitered. I was surprised by how quickly I went from cutting to assembled.

I sewed each border piece to 1/4" from the edge. I dug up several tips for mitering borders from Quiltmaking Tips and Techniques. The one I decided to use involves folding the miter with the fabric right-side-up, ironing the crease in well, then folding the whole thing on the diagonal and sewing from the back with the right sides together. I'm hopeful that it will work well!

Up close, I'm a little concerned that the border fabric and the focal fabric are too similar. When I look at it in pictures, I don't mind it nearly as much. Still, for the bed quilt I might figure out a different kind of fabric for the border, either a different color completely or something in a value in between the focal fabric and the background fabric. I have to find a different fabric, regardless, since I don't have nearly enough of this fabric for a bed quilt.

After the mitering is complete, all I have to do is sew on 2" strips of the background fabric, which will end up under the binding, so no need to worry about mitering. Then it's time to put it together and get it quilted!!

Going Backwards?

I hate it when I grab a few free moments during a nap or after bed to work on a sewing project only to find myself worse off than when I started.

I resumed work on G's lovey quilt today after a bit of a hiatus to finish his Halloween costume and then a family trip. I had cut out the strips for the border of the lovey a while back. I went into the weekend knowing all I needed to do was sew on those strips (including the dreaded miter), and the top would be essentially done. First free nap of the weekend, I got right to work sewing on the first border strip. Only to find that I cut it to the exact length of the pieces being bordered. One does need a little extra fabric to miter a corner. So now I have to cut the pieces anew, which feels like going backwards. I know I'm no worse off than I was before I realized they were cut wrong, but at least I didn't know they were wrong. To make matters worse, there is no way that I will have enough of this fabric for the actual quilt's border now (not entirely sure that I would have before), and I can't find more of it anywhere.

On a positive note, I stumbled on some perfect green silk twill at my favorite local fabric store, Denver Fabrics. As long as I budgeted my length correctly this will be the binding on the lovey.

I still have pathetically little to do on this project before I get to put it together. There's just nothing more demotivating to me than trying to make progress only to find myself worse off than (I thought I was) when I started.

Pirate Costume: Complete!

The pirate costume is done! I don't have along-the-way pictures on this one, because I was so focused on making as much progress as possible in those few moments where I had free time and wasn't exhausted.

Simplicity 2561: Toddler Pirate Costume

Pattern Description: Pirate costumes for toddler girls and boys. Includes hat, coat, skirts, pants, and shirt/vest combo. I made The pants from the right (B) and the shirt/vest from the left (D).

Pattern Sizing: Toddler sizes. I made size "2".

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Absolutely!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes and no. When I got out of my head and looked at the pictures a lot, it flowed very easily. However, this was my first time making any kind of a collar and the directions really confused me. It took me a long time (and a wasted set of collar and interfacing pieces) to figure out that "facing" in the instructions didn't necessarily mean the pattern pieces that were labelled as facing. Still, this was probably a beginner mistake. Everything else was simple!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I was amazed by how perfectly and effortlessly everything fit as it was coming together. Marks lined up without any stress. It came together so well! Part of this could be my beginner-level skills, but I was amazed by how well it all came together. I've worked with other patterns (maybe my error on the precision of my work) that didn't come together well at all.

That being said, there were a few places I thought the directions lacked. The bottom of the vest is unhemmed. The directions call for using a seam glue stuff to seal the bottom edge, but it doesn't tell you to do that until the very end of the project. If your fabric frays at all, you'll have a right mess by then. Since my vest fabric was a poly faux suede, I burned it instead.

I also struggled with the vertical slash that makes up the v-neck. There is nothing on the pattern that suggests you might want to keep track of the vertical line at that point, but when you are making that slash, the directions expect you to line it up to that vertical (now invisible) line. Also, when you are working on that portion of the top (sewing the line that becomes the fold for the V), you are expected to work to the markings on the facing piece. However, you are working on the back of the interfacing at that point. Since I marked with thread, I took the threads out before I interfaced. Again, maybe that was a rookie mistake, but trying to mark the back of the interfacing on the facing piece when it was already sewn in (and assuming I got the vertical alignment right) was tricky and probably not very precise. I'm not exactly sure how to improve on that. Maybe mark the back of the interfacing from the get-go? I don't think keeping the threads in while the interfacing was applied would have been a good idea. I'm reasonably sure they wouldn't have come out cleanly. Pencil marking the fashion fabric wouldn't have helped either, since it almost certainly wouldn't have shown through the interfacing.

What techniques did you use, learn, or want to use next time: This is probably to be expected, but there was nothing at all in the instructions about finishing the seams. I completely forgot about the need to do this until I was about halfway through construction of the shirt. I managed to go back and finish all of the seams, mostly with an overcast stitch, although on the sleeves I did a pseudo french seam by turning in the seam allowances (is that the right word?) and stitching them together.

I did a horrible job matching up the pants' stripes. For some reason, when I was cutting out the pants pieces, I decided that matching didn't matter since the pants were one piece per leg. Really, what it came down to, is what I have researched for matching patterns didn't apply in this circumstance. I still could have matched the fronts/backs and the seam on the legs better. Something to try to do better next time!

Something that went well: I used tailor's tacks to mark the various circles and marks on the patterns. I was really pleased with that method and think it was definitely a part of how well the pieces fit and came together. In the past, I have always used pencil marks, which I feel are less precise.

Fabric Used: Several, actually. The white shirt bits are a cotton gauze. This fabric was a gorgeous for the huge puffy sleeves. However, the marking and cutting out phases were difficult. The fabric had a lot of give, and tended to move under pins instead of being pierced by them. I figured it out as I went, and definitely thought it was worth the trouble. I was concerned that it would be too flowy and/or soft for the collar, but standard JoAnn's Pellon lightweight interfacing did the trick!

The black vest part is polyester faux suede from JoAnn's. I can be a bit of a fabric snob and tend to shy away from polyester, but this fabric was a dream to work with. It iron well, it cut well, it sewed well. I will definitely use it again when I want a suede look, especially for costume pieces.

The pants are a heavy cotton stripe I found from FashionFabricsClub. Definitely a bottom-weight fabric. Very easy to work with.

The sash is silk dupioni from my local Denver Fabrics. I didn't wash the silk before I worked with it, and loved working with the stiff dupioni. Also, my thread all but disappeared into the fabric. I cheated a little and top-stitched closed the opening for turning the sash.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: None. This was my first time making a shirt, and I wanted to follow the directions precisely.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I probably won't sew it again, just because how much need does one have for more than one toddler pirate costume? But I would highly recommend it. I can't speak to the coat or hat, but the parts I made were easy and look fantastic! My one gripe would be that the shirt is very open in the back, which is fine for a costume, but if you live anywhere that it gets cold at all in the fall, your toddler will probably need an undershirt, which will almost certainly show through the v in the front.

Conclusion: Love this pattern! Most especially, I love the confidence that it has instilled in me to try more complicated projects! I am very, very pleased!

Stashing!

Instead of spending my son's morning nap being productive, I went on a (tiny) fabric shopping spree! I needed to pick up batting and silk for the border of the forest quilt and lovey. The batting was easy. I used Hobbs' wool batting to interline the curtains in my son's room, and really liked it. I haven't quilted with it, other than a few crafty projects, but I knew that was what I wanted.

The concept for the quilt/lovey included silk as the binding/border. One of the things I am trying to do with this project is include lots of textures. And who wouldn't want to cuddle up to some luscious silk charmeuse when going to bed at night? I've had my eye out for a dark green silk charmeuse for a while, with very little in the way of options. Several places don't offer much in the way of samples, prices are around $22-25/yd, and minimum cuts are 1 yard. I came across a "forest green" charmeuse at Fashion Fabrics Club for $12.50 a yard, and I could get just a half a yard of it, which should be plenty for the lovey. Of course, I'm taking a risk with the color, but I figured it was worth it. Worst case, I add a half a yard of green silk to my stash. It beats spending a couple of dollars plus shipping just to get an unusable sample. If the fabric is totally fabulous, I can go back and get another yard+ for the quilt. Or I might end up binding the quilt differently.

While I was poking around, I came across two other fabrics that got me salivating. Hancock's of Paducah had this gorgeous starry batik fabric that I thought would certainly find a use in a quilt at some point. Fashion Fabrics Club had a sale going on wool. I snagged several yards of a purple wool/rayon suiting. I have no idea what I will use it for, but it was too alluring to pass up at $4 a yard!

Stashing fabrics is pretty new territory for me. I have very rarely ever purchased fabric that I didn't have a plan for before, and always from remnant/sale bins. I like the idea of having a stash of fabrics. So.. Yay!