Frivolous photo: My three-year-old got a hold of my camera the other day. Luckily he didn't cause any damage, but he did take some interesting photos.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Plum Cloak: Piping
The cloak pattern calls for a facing from the fashion fabric that abuts the lining fabric. I have a ready-to-wear coat that has this construction with piping between the facing and the lining. It's a look I like, so I decided to use it.
I picked up some 1/4" cording and white silk charmeuse from my local favorite Colorado Fabrics. I cut 1 3/4" bias strips from the silk, intending on 5/8" seam allowances. I tried to be as precise as I could with my somewhat limited cutting surface and skills. I knew that as long as my strips were roughly 1 3/4" wide and the angle was bias-y, it shouldn't matter too much. Then I stitched one time down the length of the cording with my zipper foot. I didn't start with the needle flush against the cording, but I found that to work much better. Then I basted the piping to the facing, seam allowances roughly matching so that the piping was just past the 5/8" line.
I am incredibly pleased with the result! More pleased than I ought to be probably, since it certainly isn't perfect. But I think it looks very classy. I love the iridescence of the silk and the polish of the trim.
On the downside, I continue to struggle with my lining pieces having stretched out of shape. I actually hung my lining pieces from a trouser hanger after stitching the first seams. I don't have space to leave out my sewing projects in between my hour-or-two sewing sessions, and I was tired of having to iron them over and over again. I hung them up for about 10 minutes before I realized that probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. Boy did they stretch out of shape! I let all of the excess go to the bottom, figuring I'll just hem it out. Hopefully it won't come back to bite me later. I did hold it up to the cloak outer fabric, and the opening for the arms seem to match up still. So maybe it'll all work out. I'm not pulling on the fabric in the below picture, just holding it out for dramatic illustration.
Frivolous photo: My three-year-old got a hold of my camera the other day. Luckily he didn't cause any damage, but he did take some interesting photos.
Frivolous photo: My three-year-old got a hold of my camera the other day. Luckily he didn't cause any damage, but he did take some interesting photos.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Plum Cloak: Interfacing
The instructions call for the facings to be interfaced. I picked up some medium-weight, fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply. I cut the interfacing first to the pattern pieces for the facings. But the pattern instruction looked like maybe the interfacing didn't go into the seam lines.
I did some research and found support for the idea that the interfacing not go into the seam allowances, especially where bulk is a concern. This fabric would definitely be classified as bulky. So I decided to remove the seam allowances from the interfacing before fusing to my facings.
After some further digging on the internet, I found a suggestion to sew a quick stitch at the seam allowance line all around the interfacing and then use that as a cutting line. I sewed a scant 5/8" seam, which somewhat awkwardly pulled the interfacing and gathered it slightly.
Not to worry! Once I cut off the stitching line, it laid flat again.
I then merely eyeballed centering the interfacing on the wrong side of the facing pieces and ironed on, pressing both sides before I was done. I didn't get a picture of the interfaced pieces hanging, but the drape is definitely stiffer. Not tons, but enough to make it feel kind of firm. More stable.
Next up is making my own piping for the seam between the facing and the lining. Then just a few more lining seams and then I get to put the whole thing together. I'll probably finish just in time for the cold weather to be done until October. Or maybe it will be October before I get it done, who knows...
For today's frivolous photo: My boys playing in a cradle that my grandfather made for my dolls when I was a little girl.
After some further digging on the internet, I found a suggestion to sew a quick stitch at the seam allowance line all around the interfacing and then use that as a cutting line. I sewed a scant 5/8" seam, which somewhat awkwardly pulled the interfacing and gathered it slightly.
For today's frivolous photo: My boys playing in a cradle that my grandfather made for my dolls when I was a little girl.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Narrow Rolled Hem
I picked up a narrow rolled hem foot from Amazon a few weeks ago with the intent of hemming the silk organza square that I have been using as a pressing cloth. I gave it a whirl today in full impromptu style, and I was moderately pleased with the results. I knew that I wouldn't get consistent results with an impromptu style, but I wanted to just play with it and wasn't worried about the appearance of the narrow hem on my presser cloth.
I had a hard time keeping the appropriate amount of cloth feeding into the curl of the presser foot. I think next time, I would fold up and press the fabric to aid in guiding.
When the distance was correct, the hem looked great! Too much or too little fabric left things looking pretty messy!
Frivolous photo: Two frivolous photos in one day! My toddler loves tooling around the house on his tricycle.
I had a hard time keeping the appropriate amount of cloth feeding into the curl of the presser foot. I think next time, I would fold up and press the fabric to aid in guiding.
Frivolous photo: Two frivolous photos in one day! My toddler loves tooling around the house on his tricycle.
Plum Cloak: Bound Seam Allowance
I sewed the next lining seam this weekend. I had picked up some seam binding at JoAnn's, and I think that worked much better.
The seams didn't line up very well between the two pieces. When I lined up the seam notches there was a ton of extra fabric towards the shoulder on one piece and extra fabric towards the hem on the other. I decided to skip matching notches and just lined up the two pieces as best I could. I compared the pattern pieces, to ensure that I didn't notch something incorrectly. I'm reasonably sure the cut pieces distorted, which probably contributed to the problem. I was a little dismayed to see that the pieces appeared distorted even where I had stay-stitched.
I used my 1/4" seam foot to sew on the seam binding, and I think it worked very well.
This seam looks way cleaner, and I think it hangs a bit better than the overstitched seam. I'm reluctant to press the seam again now that the binding is in place, because of fears of pressing ridges into the fabric. This method took forever though. Partly because of the confoundation of the mis-matching seams, partly because I had to sew the entire length five times and press ~8.
Frivolous photo: I took the boys for a hike last weekend at about 7,300 feet. There was around 6 inches of snow for most of the hike. We made it a short hike, but it was glorious!
The seams didn't line up very well between the two pieces. When I lined up the seam notches there was a ton of extra fabric towards the shoulder on one piece and extra fabric towards the hem on the other. I decided to skip matching notches and just lined up the two pieces as best I could. I compared the pattern pieces, to ensure that I didn't notch something incorrectly. I'm reasonably sure the cut pieces distorted, which probably contributed to the problem. I was a little dismayed to see that the pieces appeared distorted even where I had stay-stitched.
Frivolous photo: I took the boys for a hike last weekend at about 7,300 feet. There was around 6 inches of snow for most of the hike. We made it a short hike, but it was glorious!
Friday, March 7, 2014
Plum Cloak: More (Slow) Lining Progress
I've had pretty good luck working with the slippery lining fabric. This is my first time working with a slippery for more than a little, crafty project. I cut the fabric in a double layer, sandwiched between two layers of tissue paper. I took a ton of time trying to ensure the two layers of fabric were perfectly squared and flat. In the photos I took, I can see that there are a couple of spots that aren't completely flat. I eventually got a little fatigued on the whole thing and decided to just go for cutting it.
I sewed two pieces of the lining together over the weekend. I stay-stitched the neckline and shoulder area per the instructions. Then I stitched the seam with my walking foot. After careful pressing, I was so pleased with the results! I didn't bother trying to line up the dots, and I'm not at all bothered by that so far.
But then I took the seam back to the sewing machine and sewed an overcast stitch to protect the seam allowances. It really rippled the seam allowances and made the seam look a lot more messy. Bah!
The seam from the right side doesn't look too bad. There's some wobbliness that wasn't there before. There are some water spots visible here (did I already talk about water spots?). They're not at all noticable except when the fabric is laid completely flat in shiny light. I might try to pull them out at some point, or just live with them. I dunno.
Frivolous photo: A quick pic of my oldest being freaking adorable. Which is, of course, his natural state of being.
Frivolous photo: A quick pic of my oldest being freaking adorable. Which is, of course, his natural state of being.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Plum Cloak: Lining Progress
I haven't posted anything in a while, but I have made some progress. I'm down to ~9 grommet holes to sew on my medieval dress. I've also made some progress on my cloak. I'm not exactly sure why I decided to sew on the cloak instead of the dress. Maybe because it's winter and it seemed possible that I would get the cloak done in time to wear it. Maybe because I wouldn't expect to wear the medieval dress until the Renaissance fair this summer at the earliest or Halloween at the latest. At this point it doesn't seem very likely that I will have the cloak done in time to really get any use out of it this winter, but I'm really enjoying working on it.
I stitched together the lining portion of the hood, including the darts and sewed them into the hood. Nothing terribly interesting there. After my not-great experience with the lining rolling forward on the medieval dress, I decided to understitch the lining on the hood. I had just read a suggestion from Peter of Male Pattern Boldness to use a zipper foot to do edge stitching. So I figured I'd try it out. It was a little awkward with all of the bulk of the hood crammed into the arm space of the sewing machine. I guess I could have turned it around. It didn't even occur to me, I'm so used to lining up fabric off the right side of the foot.
I did two samples before I stitched directly onto the hood. I still got a little too far towards the plum wool in one tiny section, but I think it looks pretty darn good. I'm really impressed with how much it helps keep the lining turned under.
I also used a tack (French tack?) to attach the lining to the outer hood fabric at the apex of the hood. This keeps the lining from pulling out of the hood. It worked really well. I didn't take any pictures during the process, but I used my overstitch foot (which zigzags the thread over some wires to keep it spread apart) to start stitching on the seam allowance, stitching over nothing for a while, and then stitched into the seam allowance of the lining. Since there's a center back seam, it was an ideal spot for a tack.
Frivolous Photo: I made a perfect strawberry rhubarb pie for a Valentine's Day treat. Every time I see rhubarb in the grocery store, I snap it up and make pie! There was something so fabulous about eating pink pie on Valentine's Day.
I stitched together the lining portion of the hood, including the darts and sewed them into the hood. Nothing terribly interesting there. After my not-great experience with the lining rolling forward on the medieval dress, I decided to understitch the lining on the hood. I had just read a suggestion from Peter of Male Pattern Boldness to use a zipper foot to do edge stitching. So I figured I'd try it out. It was a little awkward with all of the bulk of the hood crammed into the arm space of the sewing machine. I guess I could have turned it around. It didn't even occur to me, I'm so used to lining up fabric off the right side of the foot.
I did two samples before I stitched directly onto the hood. I still got a little too far towards the plum wool in one tiny section, but I think it looks pretty darn good. I'm really impressed with how much it helps keep the lining turned under.
I also used a tack (French tack?) to attach the lining to the outer hood fabric at the apex of the hood. This keeps the lining from pulling out of the hood. It worked really well. I didn't take any pictures during the process, but I used my overstitch foot (which zigzags the thread over some wires to keep it spread apart) to start stitching on the seam allowance, stitching over nothing for a while, and then stitched into the seam allowance of the lining. Since there's a center back seam, it was an ideal spot for a tack.
Frivolous Photo: I made a perfect strawberry rhubarb pie for a Valentine's Day treat. Every time I see rhubarb in the grocery store, I snap it up and make pie! There was something so fabulous about eating pink pie on Valentine's Day.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Plum Medieval Dress: Hem Progress
The pattern for my Plum Medieval Dress, Simplicity 2573, includes a tiny train. I didn't realize this until after I cut out the back pieces, then decided I would decide what to do about it later. I thought about trying to get the skirt hemmed today, so I lay out the skirt and trimmed the back layer to be roughly even to the front layer. I wasn't worried about being too precise since I'll be measuring the hem against the floor for the final length.
This turned into this:
I think there is a little bit of sun damage there at the bottom of the skirt. I had stored my fabrics folded up in direct sunlight for a couple of months. Silly newbie mistake! I'm not too worried about it though, because it's not at all noticeable on the dress form. Also, It's possible that it will end up in the hem. I'll see once I have the hem turned up. I'm not against the idea of turning the hem up higher if needed or maybe just going with it since a long dress in a medieval environment certainly wouldn't have been pristine along the bottom.
I was all ready to pin the hem up and get to work on setting it up for a hand-stitched blind hem (slip-stitch?), when I realized that the lacing might affect the way the hem hangs. I have 15 eyelet holes left to go! Slow but steady progress.
Speaking of dress forms. I have a dress form! I picked it up a few months back and am just now putting it to its first use. I managed to get it to match my measurements at the hip, waist, bust, and upper bust. I changed the form to match on everything but the bust, then added an old bra and stuffing. I don't have sewing friends, and there's only so much helping that my husband was going to be a good sport for, so dress form it is!
These pics were taking in a room that my husband and I are currently renovating. It will be an office. But for now, it's empty. Too bad it won't stay that way. White wainscoting will cover the white section of the wall.
On an unrelated note, I noticed today that one of my favorite sweaters has a hole starting. I had darned a hole in this sweater 4-5 years ago and it has held up immaculately ever since. I'm reasonably sure, however, that I didn't keep the yarn that was left over after that fix. I don't think there was very much left. You can see the irregularity of the darn just to the left of the hole in the below picture. I love this sweater, so I'm thinking about attempting a fix.
I like the idea of working some embroidery directly onto the sweater, but I'm completely perplexed about how I would draw on the sweater. So maybe I will embroider on a different piece of fabric and applique it to the sweater.
OK, one more diversion. One of my favorite bloggers when I started into the world of sewing blogs was Sommerset at Pins and Needles. She hasn't been blogging for a few years now. I miss her voice in the blogosphere. I hope she still finds time to sew just not to blog about it. The projects that she shared on her blog were true works of art and I always appreciated the details she would share about construction, decisions, etc. Well, Summerset used to have a "Parting Shot" on pretty much every blog post. It was a non-sewing related photo that gave a peek into the rest of her life.
I have a goal this year of using my downtime more consistently to progress on my sewing projects. In my mind, part of that goal also means posting more regularly here. I think the two will go well together. I hope that I will feel motivated to sew because I am being held accountable to show some progress on my blog and that I will feel motivated to blog because I have made progress with sewing. We'll see though, since I'm back to work tomorrow after 2+ weeks off for the holidays.
As part of a more consistent blogger presence, I thought it might be nice to borrow Sommerset's idea. Instead, I think I will call it a Frivolous Photo.
For today's Frivolous Photo: playing trains with my boys. My 3 and soon-to-be-2 year olds are obsessed with trains at the moment. They got several track additions for Christmas, and now this is all that they want to play. It's good times for everyone!
Speaking of dress forms. I have a dress form! I picked it up a few months back and am just now putting it to its first use. I managed to get it to match my measurements at the hip, waist, bust, and upper bust. I changed the form to match on everything but the bust, then added an old bra and stuffing. I don't have sewing friends, and there's only so much helping that my husband was going to be a good sport for, so dress form it is!
On an unrelated note, I noticed today that one of my favorite sweaters has a hole starting. I had darned a hole in this sweater 4-5 years ago and it has held up immaculately ever since. I'm reasonably sure, however, that I didn't keep the yarn that was left over after that fix. I don't think there was very much left. You can see the irregularity of the darn just to the left of the hole in the below picture. I love this sweater, so I'm thinking about attempting a fix.
OK, one more diversion. One of my favorite bloggers when I started into the world of sewing blogs was Sommerset at Pins and Needles. She hasn't been blogging for a few years now. I miss her voice in the blogosphere. I hope she still finds time to sew just not to blog about it. The projects that she shared on her blog were true works of art and I always appreciated the details she would share about construction, decisions, etc. Well, Summerset used to have a "Parting Shot" on pretty much every blog post. It was a non-sewing related photo that gave a peek into the rest of her life.
I have a goal this year of using my downtime more consistently to progress on my sewing projects. In my mind, part of that goal also means posting more regularly here. I think the two will go well together. I hope that I will feel motivated to sew because I am being held accountable to show some progress on my blog and that I will feel motivated to blog because I have made progress with sewing. We'll see though, since I'm back to work tomorrow after 2+ weeks off for the holidays.
As part of a more consistent blogger presence, I thought it might be nice to borrow Sommerset's idea. Instead, I think I will call it a Frivolous Photo.
For today's Frivolous Photo: playing trains with my boys. My 3 and soon-to-be-2 year olds are obsessed with trains at the moment. They got several track additions for Christmas, and now this is all that they want to play. It's good times for everyone!
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