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DIY, grainline, how to, quilting, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials

FO: Linden Sweatshirt (with biker’esque quilting hack)

02/02/16

I am VERY late on the Linden bandwagon I know. But up until I swapped out my serger for a more powerful one at Christmas (Santa did good!) my old serger couldn’t cope with thicker fabric and I really didn’t fancy sewing this on my standard machine. So this was one of the first things I made on my new serger. (A Brother 4234D in case you were wondering!) It’s taken a while to get this post up because I’ve really struggled to get decent pics. It’s black for a start. It’s winter for seconds and the details of the quilting hack are quite subtle from a distance. So these are the best of the bunch, but hopefully you can get the gist from these pics. I mean you all know what a Linden looks like by now, lol! So it’s the deets of the hack I’m focusing on here…

I opted for Â View B, lengthened by 1″ with the sleeves from View A. Fabric is a black cotton jersey sweatshirting from Girl Charlee with a supersoft fleece backing. Super easy to sew and lovely and soft. Â This Licorice colourway is a teeny bit of a fluff magnet which for day to day wear I can live with, but involved alot of masking tape to get it ship shape for photographing, lol 🙂 But there’s loads more colours if that’s likely to bug you. Doesn’t bother meÂ too much.

But the crux of this post is the quilting detail I applied in bands to the cuffs and hem. I mean. A black sweatshirt. That’s a bit minimal even for me! I wanted to elevate it in some way and give it a bit of personality and edge and I think this works beautifully in that respect; and also in the sense that it’s extra warm in those areas due to the double thickness of fabric I used for the quilting element. I’m so pleased with the overall effect. The bands are reminiscent of theÂ detailing on biker jackets and inspired by the proliferation of quilted detailing emerging all over the interwebs…

For the neckline I opted for my favourite deconstructed “finish”. It has been through the wash several times at the point this pic was taken (I wear it alot!) and the raw edge of the neckband has “roughed up” just the way I like it. The raw edge of this fabric does fray ever so slightly if left unfinished. Which is worth bearing in mind if you like a clean finish inside your garments, then it’s definitely a candidate for the serger.

I also raised/narrowed the neckline on the pattern. The necklines on this and the Hemlock pattern are marginally too wide for me as I’m not a fan of things hanging off my shoulders or revealing my bra straps. It’s an easy fix if you have the same issue. (See previous post).

So. Onto the quilting part! The fabric is was not quite thick enough for quilting lines to be as prominent as I had in mind. So I created super wide facings for the cuffs and hem band to add body and “puff” for the quilting element. First step, before any construction begins, is to quilt the cuffs. I first measured how deep I wanted my quilted section to be then transferred this to my paper pattern….

Marked out the entire section on my pattern…

Then traced that off as a separate pattern piece…. For the cuffs I had to apply the facing and quilt the cuffs BEFORE construction (ie while they were still flat) as the cuff circumference was too narrow once constructed, to fit around the free arm on my sewing machine.

For the hem band I aligned the front and back pattern pieces at the side seams, overlapping the seam allowances; and did exactly the same thing. Note: Â THIS piece though, (once marked out and traced off) will need seam allowance added at one side then be cut on the fold. Once the cuffs are quilted I constructed everything as normal until I had just the hem left to do…

For the hem facing band, once cut from the fabric, join the two ends to create a loop and then apply to the hem as a facing, turning to the inside. You can see here I’ve rolled the seam along the edge slightly to the inside…then simply quilt in paralell lines (or crazy random ones if you like!).

Here’s a better angle to show the quilting on the cuffs (and some masking tape in the background for defluffing, lol Â 😉

I’m definitely feeling the Linden love and can absolutely see why it’s SUCH a popular pattern. Â Quick, easy, comfy. Â I can see me making a few of these! I’ve also come to realise that I’m not necessarily “pattern averse”. I’m just not a lover of print. I like pattern and texture and interest on my clothes and am really feeling inspired to explore fabric manipulation, texture and embellishment further this year; as a means of adding this interest to my makes in a really subtle way. I usually opt for plain fabrics, but even I can find those a bit dull at times. So quilting is obviously one goodÂ way of adding a little subtle interest. I think this year, I’m going to look at ways of adding interest to my favoured simple silouhettes and plain fabrics, with construction, design and textural details; and see where that leads. What about you? Are you plain? Pattern? Or like me….a little somewhere in between?

DIY, finished garments, grainline, hemlock tee, how to, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials, Uncategorized

FO: Double Hemmed Hemlock Tee Hack

07/30/15

Time for some deets on another hemlock tee hack! Man I just can’t leave that pattern alone can I?!! I’d say I’m getting my money’s worth out of this pattern except I can’t say that because it’s free to download here! I bought another pattern from Jen’s collection so my feelings of guilt over getting so much for nothing, feel assuaged for now! You’ll have seen this top in my post about these refashioned trousers. But here’s the lowdown on what I did…

The neckline, cuffs and hemline are all finished using the deconstructed finish I described in this post. But I played with the overall silhouette and proportions of the design as well…

The hem features a wide double hem band with the edges left raw to curl. The idea came about when I realised this jersey lacked weight and was a little too see through in the muffin top area if you know Â what I mean! So a double thickness of fabric added weight and solved the see through part as well.

In terms of proportions I’m weirdly being drawn to a more cropped and fitted silhouette up top. So the hem and the sleeves got chopped on this incarnation…

To create the hem band I made the hemlock up as normal, then cut straight across the hem at hip level (yes that is masking tape as a cutting guide)…

I used the piece I cut off to create the hem band by folding it in half WS together…

Then serged it around the hem of the shirt. RS together and folded edge of the band aligned with the raw edge of the hem…

This results in a double layer of fabric with raw edges that will curl with wear and laundering. An effect I personally love. But you could always reverse the process and end up with a clean, folded edge at the bottom if the deconstructed/raw edge look isn’t your bag…

Sleeve wise, I wanted to echo the cropped proportions of the body so cut them to elbow length…

I cut strips from my fabric remnants using, you guessed it, masking tape as my guide. (See this post on why masking tape is so useful in the sewing room!)

(I find a bit of spray starch along the edges of jersey keeps it from curling so much during the cutting/construction process. 😉 )

Then used those strips to finish the neckline and cuffs with the same raw edge finish. Full Â step by step on that can be found here . This is a less trimmed down version of the neckline in that post…

There are 2 more hemlocks that I haven’t blogged, and I think I now have 6 in total ha! The Hemlock by Grainline StudioÂ and the Maya by Marilla Walker are fast becoming….scratch that…they ARE my two TNT top patterns. Not because they have show stopping qualities. But because they are well drafted simple wardrobe basics that are ripe for little customisations like this. And Amen toÂ more patterns like that!

DIY, Dressmaking, fabric, finished garments, free pattern download, Freebies, grainline, hemlock tee, how to, knits, minerva, overlocker, serger, Sewing, sewing patterns, Tips and Tricks, tops, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Hemlock Tee: How to Sew a Deconstructed Jersey Neckline Finish

07/24/15

Not really a secret that I love the Hemlock Tee pattern from Grainline Studio. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen a few of these pop up recently that haven’t yet been blogged. One you will have seen in my previous post. This one is just a simple grey jersey…

This would not be particularly noteworthy apart from the fact I wanted to let you know this jerseyÂ from Minerva Crafts is frikkin gorgeous! So soft. So drapey. Not too flimsy. Need more in my life!

I also wanted to share my favourite jersey neckline finish of the moment! I’m not a massive fan of conventional ribbed neck bands . I like my tees to look a little more deconstructed and I really like the raw edge of jersey fabric. The way it curls Â when you stretch it! But obviously Â a neckline still needs some stability. So recently I’ve been opting for this neckline finish…

It’s applied in exactly the same way as the pattern describes, with one exception. Instead of the folded edge of the neck band edging your neckline…you flip the band the other way round before applying it, Â and have the raw edge exposed instead!

Here’s a quick step by step. If you’ve never applied a jersey neckband before you may also find this useful as it covers the whole process…at least this is how I do it!

Take your neckband pattern piece and press it with some spray starch (helps stop the edges curling too much as you work); sew together the ends to form a loop then fold in half.

Taking the join as your centre back marker, mark your centre front point using a pin. Do this by folding the band in half with the join smack band in the middle. Mark the CF point with a pin on the opposite side.

Mark the sides with of the neckband with a pin too..

Have your tee right side out…

Pin the CF of your neckband to the CF of your neckline. I’m going for that raw edge finish on mine remember. So I’m lining up the foldedÂ edge of my neckband with the raw edge of my neckline. If you want the clean/folded edge finish to your neckline, then line up the raw edges of your neck band with the raw edge of your neckline. Savvy?

Pin the sides of your neck band to your shoulder seams and the CB of your neck band to the Â CB of your neckline. So your neckband is now pinned at both shoulders seams, the BB, and the CF of the right side of your neckline.

Serge to join. I work in 1/4 sections at a time. ie from pin to pin. Hold the layers of fabric under just enough tension for the neckband to match the length of the neckline. It will be drafted ever so slightly smaller than the neckline circumference which enables it to naturally want to turn to the insideÂ . Â So pull on it juuuust enough as it runs through the serger, but be careful not to stretch it out.

Press! Seam allowance/serged edge downwards…

Top/Edge stitch around the neckline to secure the seam allowance. So you now have a finished neckline with a raw edge detail (or if you attached the band the other way, a finished neckline with a clean folded edge!).Â If you want it a bit narrower you can start with a narrower band in the first place OR trim it down at this stage….

Make a notch/snip to the depth you want…

And trim!

I went evenÂ narrower on this one and part of me wishes I’d Â restrained myself a little, lol! After laundering, the edges will soften, and depending on how long you’ve left them, (ahem) curl a little too.

You might ask what the point is in lining up the folded edge of the band with the raw edge of the neckline in the first place. You could just attach the band as normal, trim, and you still end up with a raw edge. I just prefer to do it this way because I find it easier to line up aÂ folded edge with one raw edge, than it is to align 3 raw edges; and I find the inside finish cleaner this way too. Either way would work and it’s one of those cases of personal preference.

I’ve done a variation withÂ a twist Â of this on the hemlock in my previous post. The one I’ve yet to blog about! Then there’s one more that I’ve made; (and two more that I’m about to make). Plus my first stab at Suzy Pants and 3 completed Maya variations that are also unblogged!

I literally have too many blog posts to squeeze in before the launch of The Refashioners 2015.

Oh yeah, and I ought to refashion a shirt too, gasp!!

finished garments, grainline, hemlock tee, knits, overlockers, refashioning

FO: Sheer Knit Hemlock Tee Variation…

02/22/14

I recently whipped up this variation on Grainline’s Hemlock Tee. It’s made using a sheer knit fabric (hence I also had to whip up the vest top underneath!) that I bought from Minerva crafts at Â£4.99/m available here. I bought the ivory, which as you can see is much more white in reality. I used the exact same process on this make as I used for this pashmina refashion if you want more step by step deets….;)

Thinking I might whip up a few vest tops in different colours to layer underneath. (In fact if Minerva had this type of fabric in a range of colours I’d probably make more of these too) I kinda hashed this vest top a bit. It hardly qualifies as self drafted as I literally laid a vest top I already had straight onto the jersey fabric, cut around it, and then whizzed it through the overlocker. Not my finest hour, lol! Can any of you recommend a simple vest pattern??

Oh,and I had a couple of emails asking to see what my recently refashioned coat actually looked like on…and being the obedient gal that I am…

My best friend, who is extremely honest (which I love about her 😉 said that when she had seen my recent post about this coat, she thought it looked a bit “granny’ish” on the mannequin; but that actually it looked better on. I’m still not sure whether that meant that she approved overall. But I’m happy to settle for “granny chic”….

Dressmaking, finished garments, grainline, hemlock tee, knits, Sewing, tops

FO: Hemlock Tee (& a haircut!)

09/09/13

So, the mission for some new tops for Autumn has begun in earnest. I’ve made 4 so far in the past week. First up is this version of Grainline’s Hemlock Tee. This is a heavyweight jersey. Not quite a sweatshirt. I guess you could say somewhere between a jersey and a ponte. So it’s toasty warm 🙂 I picked this length of fabric up from a charity shop for a mere Â£1 so it’s a super cheap and super quick make too.

Oh, yeah, and I had all my hair lopped off too. Bit of a spur of the moment thing. I spent the night before my appointment pinning hairstyles on Pinterest. Heck I just felt like a change and blow drying that bob everyday was becoming a faff. (Especially now my mornings involve a proper school run). Still getting used to it and can’t stop fiddling with it for the moment. It’s only been 2 days. You’ll probably notice the stark contrast in colour too. I haven’t coloured my hair for a few months over the summer (just no point!). So all the colour has been sun bleached Â out and this is the nearest I’ve been to my natural colour for some years (ahem, grey included! You can’t see it in these pics, but it’s there!)….

Anway, back to the Hemlock Tee. Seriously, what’s not to love about this pattern?! It’s quick, easy, FREE, and it chimes perfectly with my hankering for some slouchy, comfy tops for Autumn. In fact, if you saw my previous post you may have noticed it is almost identical to one of the inspiration pics I posted there…

I made some slight changes. I omitted the neckline band the pattern calls for and simply rolled the neckline under and narrow hemmed it. (Same with the hem and cuffs) I cut the ubiquitous high low hem, and added a patch pocket. I don’t have an overlocker so the whole thing was sewn on my standard sewing machine. As this fabric doesn’t fray there was no need for me to finish the raw edges. (I was going for quick rather than thorough 😉 Similarly, this is quite a stable knit; so neither did I have to employ any special stitches. I used a standard straight stitch on all seams and hems; and simply held the fabric under a small amount of tension (in other words I stretched it slightly) as it fed through my machine, and that seems to have done the job beautifully!

I spent so long avoiding knits. Â (Probably because my first attempt to sew jersey on my machine involved a cheap low quality jersey and a hungry feed dog….)
I thought they were preserve of sergers, but apparently not! Yes a serger provides a better finish, but I think as long as you choose a relatively stable, good quality jersey, they’re not the “be all and end all” of sewing with knits by any means…