Tips and Tricks

Frixon Felt Tips (aka genius fabric markers)

03/23/17

Have you heard of Frixon pens? I first heard of them a while back from Karen’s post and promptly bought me some. Essentially they are erasable pens that will mark fabric….then when you apply heatÂ with an iron, the marks disappear! Like magic! (You’ll see from Karen’s post that they also reappear if you put the fabric in a freezer. But since none of my clothes get worn in sub zero temps….no biggie).

The original handwriting pens I bought, while useful, only really made marks on a limited number of fabrics. Really handy for precise work on a calico/muslin toile. But wouldn’t make marks on alot of my dressmaking fabrics.

When I noticed that Frixon had expanded their range to include these erasable felt tips, I thought I’d buy some and give ’em a go….
I’ve shown the marks here on calico, but these do actually mark a whole range of fabrics much better than the handwriting pens. The nibs on those are sharp and not particularly ink laden, and can drag fabric. The nibs on these, being felt tips, are softer and wetter and more readily mark fabric…

And after applying heat with an iron…

As you can see…gone….for the most part. The pink left a slight trace of itself behind. So I’d always swatch test first just to check no marks are visible after the application of heat.

Overall, really impressed with these so thought I’d share 🙂

DIY, Giveaways, how to, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials

Perfect Pinning (+ a giveaway!!)

02/22/17

Pins. It’s just as simple as sticking them through the fabric right? Well, not quite.Â Firstly, there’s the type of pin you use. Right tools for the right job applies to pins as much as it applies to any other sewing tool. Some pins are longer/sharper/finer depending on the type of fabric and project you are undertaking. Some excellent info about pin types and their uses here, here, and here….

Then there is the question of quality. As with many tools, not all pins are created equal. The best pins will slide smoothly through your fabric without snagging and without force; and they will last you many years without becoming blunt or rusting if used and stored correctly. My personal bug bear are cheap pins with plastic heads. Ack! I only ever use glass headed pins. They tend to be of better quality and most importantly, if you’re pressing around them, they don’t melt if you accidentally touch them with the iron! (I learnt that lesson early!)

But what about how to pin? It’s one of those things that, when I first started sewing, I assumed was a no brainer. Â Stick it through the fabric. Job done. Right? Well no. There’re subtleties to pinning, as with any sewing technique. Little things. But things that collectively, can incrementally improve your sewing. So I thought I’d share a few of my “personal pinning protocols” (shameless opportunity for alliteration seized, ha!). Little things that I was taught when I first learnt to sew and stick to still…and the logic behind them…

This is the way I pin the most. Always within the seam allowance. So if my pins do end up leaving holes (some fabrics render this likely) then they are not visible on the outside of the garment. It also means that I can leave my pins in place until the very last second as they pass to the side of the presser foot rather than the middle of it. So shifting of fabric is minimised. I will also always pin with the points facing towards the presser foot. It makes them easy to pull out as you go. (If they were facing the other way…well…cack handed!)

When sewing some seams, you’ll be required to stop at a given point and back stitch and/or switch to a different stitch length. (Think preparing a seam for zip insertion for instance). I always mark this point with a different coloured pin, pinned at right angles to my other pins. It just gives me a visual aid and a precise marker as to where I want that needle to stop.

When pattern matching is important I will pin at right angles to the seam that I am sewing. When sewing stripes for instance, I will pin stripe on top of stripe at regular and small intervals. Â Pinning at right angles “locks” the fabric more effectively than pinning in a linear way. The difference on a plain and/or stable fabric is negligible. But even minimal shifting will be visually really obvious on stripes. I will also employ this method of pinning on more slippery fabrics. There is an argument for always pinning this way all the time. But I tend to employ it when I want to ramp up the accuracy and precision on seams where the slightest shift would be really obvious either visually or where accurate alignment is vital. (easing in collars, sleeves, necklines etc) If I can get away with just using a few pins, pinned vertically and spaced far apart then I will always default to that. Heck, I have been know to dispense with pins altogether. Some projects are more forgiving than others. But sometimes, when it absolutely has to be accurate, this is the method I go for.

Now I am right handed. And my pin dish sits to the right hand side of my machine. So actually the way that I have pinned in the previous photo is actually a bit illogical. Â Because I end up pulling the pins out with my left hand, passing them across to my right hand (or worse, holding them in my mouth as I go!) so I can put them in the pin dish to the right hand side of me. It’s actually a tad cack handed for me. And I have no explanation for that. Used to bug my sewing teacher no end, lol! When pinning at right angles it would make more sense to have the heads facing to the right like this. Just saying. But the cack handed way in which I do it is now so ingrained in my muscle memory, it’s unlikely to change now!

How you pin isn’t just about the direction of pinning of course. It also has to do with how you hold the fabric when you pin. This is how I would automatically put my pins in when I first started sewing. I’d pick the fabric up and stick the pins in like so…

That is until my sewing teacher walked up and slapped my hand! (Old school she was!) I will preface this next bit of advice by saying that, as with most rules, there are exceptions. There are times that you can get away with doing this and times you when it will affect the accuracy of your pinning. Depending on the fabric, as you pick it up like this, the layers can shift. On trickier, more slippery fabrics, the more you move them, the more they shift….

As a rule, if you can keep your fabric flat like so…

And pin on the flat, then there will be less chance of layers shifting and therefore, more accuracy across your project.

Talking of keeping things flat…

Pins are not always theÂ final step when you absolutely must have a completely flat and secure fabric sandwich before you pass it through the machine…zips are the most obvious example of a situation where it’s vital that everything lies flat and secure before you put a permanent line of stitching in there…

If you’ve ever questioned why you ought to baste a zip rather than just pin it…just look at the photo above and the effect that pinning can have on your seamline, compared to how flat the fabric edge is on the basted section! Now I’m not saying baste everything. Life (and sewing time) is too short for that! But when it absolutely has to be accurate, you’ll be pleased you added in the extra step. Promise!

So, if all of that has you wanting to up your pin game, then here’s a treat for you. The pins featured in this post (above and below) are Hiroshima pins. Japanese pins of superior quality. They come in the most gorgeous packaging (I’m such a sucker for packaging)…

And they are like miniature works of art in their own right. In order below are tulip hiroshima glass headed patchwork pins, Akari pins and ShizukuÂ pins…

Aren’t they STUNNING! They are part of the newly expanded range of hiroshima pins now available at Beyond Measure. Grace has the most exquisite taste. And she is very generously offering one reader the chance to win 4 packs of luxury Hiroshima pins of their choice.

To be in with a chance of winning simply subscribe to Grace’s newsletter here. Additional entries for facebook and instagram follows. Then leave a comment here to let me know how many entries (ie what you’ve followed/subscribed to). Giveaway is open internationally and closes at midnight GMT on Sunday 26th February.

Good luck and happy pinning!!

DIY, how to, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials, Uncategorized

How to shorten metal open ended zipper….

01/30/17

Very specific and what you could call “niche” post today. But I cannot be the only one to hit this obstacle so I’m sharing. Â On a recent project Â I hit a bit of a snag with this metal open ended zipper. (Who am I kidding. I hit a snag on EVERY project. Occupational hazard for a refashioner!) It was about an inch longer than I needed it to be. I’ve marked with chalk where I wanted the stoppers to be…

Shortening a standard closed and plastic zipper is pretty straightforward. Â With this zip though, I couldn’t shorten from the bottom. (Damn). That’s where the fittings are that make this an open ended zipper. It’s chunky and the design I had in mind called for the the zip stops (at the top of the zip) toÂ still be visible on the finished garment. Â So simply sewing thread stoppers wasn’t going to cut it. Â (double damn).

In some cases theÂ fabric that encloses the end of the zipper at the top is sufficient to act as a stopper in itself. But in this instance that was not the case either….I couldn’t order another zip as the length I needed was not standard; and in any case, I much prefer to use what I have if I can. (Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn). So, in short (pun intended), I needed to shorten the zip from the top instead…

So if you ever find yourself in a similar position, here’s how to shorten an open ended metal zipper…

I needed to move this little sucker (above) down to where that chalk mark is. And this is one chunky metal zipper, so there was some serious brute force involved in this.

Before doing anything, Â unzip the zip about halfway down and create some makeshift stoppers with pins. If you’re anything like me you may inadvertently pull the zip pull straight off the top after you’ve removed the stoppers. Yes I have done that. After the zip was sewn into a garment. (Face palm).

You’ll need some jewellery pliers and side cutters for this…

Using the side cutters, and starting with the zipper tooth in front of your chalk mark, snip the end of the zip tooth off… then cut away as much of the rest of it as you can…

Then use the pliers to wiggle and remove what’s left…

Remove 5 or 6 teeth in this way, on both sides of the zip….

Cut away the excess zipper tape…

You’re left with these zipper stops on the parts you cut away. Now you CAN buy zipper repair kits like these. And there will be replacement zipper stops included in those. If those meet your needs you can skip the next couple of steps. But Â I didn’t have time to order and wait for a kit to arrive (I was on a deadline and everything is right down to the wire right now). Plus, you know, that “working with what I have” thing in me!

This was by far the trickiest step. It’s on there pretty firmly so this is where the brute force part comes in. Use the pliers (A second pair comes in handy if you have them) to wiggle/lever/coax the zipper stop off the zipper tape. Not shown in this pic, but I found cutting away the zipper tape as close to the stopper as possible, and then fraying it, aided the process of loosening it’s grip a little. As did swearing.

Eventually you’ll get the little sucker off. Open it up slightly (2 sets of pliers again)…

Slide it onto the zipper tape in the position of the first tooth you removed and use the pliers to clamp it firmly in place. (Repeat for both sides of the zip)

Ta dah!

So yeah! Random I know. But someone, someday, is going to find this useful. You’re welcome 😉

DIY, how to, overlocker, overlockers, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials

Overlocker Tips: Sewing a Knit Neckline

11/23/16

OK, so another overlocker quickie today. If you’re not new to overlockers, then look away now, because you’ll already know this. But if you are sewing your first steps on an overlocker, after sewing side seams, this is the next thing you are going to want to know. Adding a neckline band…

(Actually this technique can be applied at the cuffs and hem too, as an alternative to straightforward hemming. Only difference there, is that the edges are straight and not curved and the band you are applying doesn’t necessarily need to be that much shorter than the edge you are applying it to. But that’s another post! )

And before anyone asks, because yes, this fabric is awesome, it’s from here 😉

Back to necklines. A neckline band is simply a long strip of fabric, sewn together (at the short ends with RS together) to form a loop, then folded in half (WS together with raw edges aligned)….

The total circumference of the neckband should generally be 2-3″ shorter than the circumference of the neckline you are applying it to. (This can be dependant on the amount of stretch in your fabric, but in most cases 2-3″ gets you there. I have an in depth post on that coming soonish). The band is cut shorter,then the stretch inherent in the knit fabric is used to ease it onto the neckline. Once attached, it will ping back to it’s original size and in the process it will pull the neckline inwards slightly; and this action is what allows the neckband to sit flat against the body. Make sense?

With the neckband sewn in a loop and folded over, mark the CB (the seam on your band), CF, and sides with pins. (Essentially 4 equally spaced pins dividing your neckband into quarters). On your neckline mark the CB and CF with pins…

With your garment right side out, we are pinning the band to the neckline with raw edges aligned. We are pinning at 4 points initially. Pin the CB and CF of your band to the CB and CF of your neckline. Then pin the sides of your band, to the shoulder seams points of your neckline…

Between those four points you have pinned, Â the neckline will be longer than the band as pictured below. Obviously, because we cut the neckband shorter…

By stretching the neckband we can get it to “temporarily” be the same length as the neckline…

Work your way around each quarter section of the neckband, (the gaps between each of the original four pins) stretching it to fit the neckline and pinning in place as you go. Pin perpendicular to the raw edge (vertically) as pictured.

There it is all pinned in place. Don’t worry that the neckline looks longer and wavy still. We sort that out at the machine…

When you serge around this seam, you will need to stretch the neck band again. So you are holding the whole thing at tension, (so the neckband and neckline sit flat and flush against eachother) as it passes under the presser foot. (Remove the pins as you go! )

It helps to orientate the garment so that when you sew, the neckline (which is slightly longer) is facing the feed dogs, and the neckband is on top. In the same way as a sewing machine will feed the bottom layer of fabric ever so slightly quicker, so does a serger. Not massively. But it helps. ( You can also engage the differential feed on your serger to aid this process. But that’s another post. Â Stretching the neckband manually like this works just fine!)

When serging “in the round” like this, just before your needles reach the point where you started, manouver the edge of your seam to the inside of the blade. So you continue sewing but are no longer cutting. (You don’t want to cut the overlock stitches you have already sewn). Continue sewing about 1″ past your starting point, so you have a double section of overlock stitch. (It’s a bit like the equivalent of a backstitch on a standard machine without the going backwards part! You’re securing the first part of your stitching by going over it again). At this point, stop sewing, lift your presser foot, then serge off a chain long enough to tie off. Â (See previous post on finishing off your thread tails).

Et voila. A neckline to be proud of!

Thing with an overlocker is, it’s more noisy than it is actual scary. Just like your standard machine, it will only go as fast as you stamp on the foot pedal. Don’t stamp on the foot pedal is what I meant to say! Go gently, and you’ll be fine. And in no time at all you’ll be wondering what all the fuss (and fear) was about and you’ll be whizzing through necklines lighting fast. (Oh and at this stage above, you would press the seam to the inside and topstitch down using your standard machine. I’ve pressed but not topstitched here because my Janome HATES knits. So I’m on the hunt for an alternative to replace her. Any suggestions welcomed. If your standard machine sews knits like a dream, I wanna know!)

DIY, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Top Tip: An easy way to store your sewing machine needles!

05/27/16

So having dealt with the issue of storing my hand sewing needles with my origami needle wrap (free pdf pattern here) my attention turned to my machine needles. Up until now I’ve had them stored in one of theÂ drawers of my Ikea Moppe mini drawer unit. I think every craft space must have one of those right?

In any case, that storage method was certainly adequate. But for some reason it bugged me that I had to rummage around to find the needle pack I needed and couldn’t see at a glance when I was running low. So I’d occasionally go in search of a particular type of needle only to find I’d run out of that size/type. Not a massive issue as other needles will always do the job at a push. But I find my machine produces a better stitch when it has the right needle for the right job…

I had just restocked all my machine needles. So it seemed a good time to sort out an improved storage solution for them. As it happened, I’d been on a bit of a purge/sort out mission all week. Among the things I’d Â donated Â to the charity shop wasÂ an old organiser/ring binder; (like a cheap filofax thing) but I’d kept back the plastic inserts above. They had multiple sections for business/credit cards and it occurred to me they were the perfect size Â for machine needle packs!

So I simply cut them into separate pieces…

Hole punched each corner…

Then whacked in a split ring with a lobster clasp connected.

SoÂ every needle pack now has it’s own little see through pouch. So I can find the one I need quickly and easily and see at a glance if I’m running low etc…

And the whole thing hangs right next to where I sit at the sewing machine for easy access and makes the little organisational addict in me smile inside, lol!

There!! Much better than having them bundled in a drawer or strewn across my worktop!

How do you store yours? Any other nifty storage tricks you use in your sewing space?

DIY, how to, Pattern Drafting, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials, Uncategorized

The Copycat Crepe Top – (Part 2) – Making a pattern from an existing garment

02/23/16

Following on from Friday’s post (don’t forget to enter the giveaway on that one btw!) today I’m going to show you what I did to create a sewing pattern from this here rtw top…

The method I used involves completely deconstructing the original top. If this is something you absolutely don’t want to do then you could try the “rub off” technique. Not a method I’ve tried yet.Â But the rub off technique has the benefit of leaving your original garment intact. This method though, enables you to seperate the original pattern pieces and have everything lay flat. Thus enabling easier/more accurate tracing and measuring. Â In this instance the top I started with cost me Â£2 from a charity shop (So I’m not gonna be out of pocket financially here) It was 1-2 sizes too big (label had been removed so not entirely sure but I couldn’t have worn it the way it was). I didn’t like the colour on me (judging by the feel of the fabric there was a high level of synthetic content so dyeingÂ wasn’t really an option) and there was a stain right in the front. So all in I was happy to slice this one up and make a pattern from it from which I could make multiples of the same design.

The process of deconstructing a garment is such a useful one in terms of learning about construction order and construction techniques. Since rtw garment manufacture will often use more time efficient methods than home sewing patterns, it’s a great opportunity to have a delve and learn a few things that you may be able to apply to future makes. I seam ripped this top in a couple of hours one evening while I was watching Netflix. As I went I noted the order in which I deconstructed the top. (Essentially working backwards from the original construction). When I finished, I simply reversed my deconstruction list to give me my construction order for remaking the top! Make sense? The way the inside seams lay on top of eachother will tell you the order in which they were sewn. It was during this process that I noticed that the underarm and side seams had been sewn after the sleeves had been inserted flat. Prompting me to try this on my first toile andÂ leading to much happy clapping and squealing in shedquarters when I finally achieved the perfect sleeve head! Even if this top hadn’t worked out, that would have been enough of a pay off from this process, for me!

Deconstructing left me with these 4 pieces. (Front, back and 2 sleeves). I removed/seam ripped all Â of the stitching, taking care not to disrupt any of the raw edges or stretch the fabric around the curves as this would disrupt the shape of the pieces and I want to trace them as closely as possible to what they would have been originally. I also marked the back and front of one of the sleeves. Once they’re laid flat it’s easy to lose track of which side is which and this is of course, an important piece of info in achieving smooth sleeve insertion on the final top! You’ll also notice the folds along the edges where the original seam line was. Â Again…important info to have going forward as the amount of seam allowance the top is to be sewn with will impact on the final fit…

Before tracing, press all the pieces flat. (You’ll only need to press one of the sleeves obvs). Being careful not to stretch the fabric as you press. The key thing here is we’re pressing (lift, press, lift, press)….not ironing (moving the iron across the fabric in one continuous motion whilst applying pressure)…

The next step is toÂ splitÂ the front and back of the top in half to give the familiar 1/4 pattern piece. Â (Below is my front piece). To do this I folded the piece in half lengthwise and Â meticulously lined up the neckline, shoulder, armscye and side seams right on top of eachother; and pinned in place…

This essentially gives me a long straight edge that will become my CF seam. I pressed a sharp crease along that edge then opened it all out again….

It gave me a super clear and straight cutting line so that I could accurately split the piece in half…

Retain one of those to use as a template. Discard the other. Repeat for the back piece. (nb: my back piece was a little tricky as it had a zip installed so I pinned it as I did the front and pressed the CB as far as I could. But ommitted this “cutting up the center” step and skipped straight to tracing around the folded pattern piece).

Weight each piece down, smooth and flat, on top of tracing/pattern/wrapping/brown paper. (I’m working on my sleeve piece here) I didn’t use pins as they can disrupt the line around the edge of the fabric. Carefully trace around the perimeter of the pattern piece…

I used a dotted line snugged right up against the edge of the fabric, taking care to draw in any corner points as accurately as possible…

I was left with a dotted line, which I then carefully smoothed out using a French curve or ruler…

Checking things like seam junctions and corners were square and adjusting my pencil lines as needed…

Cut out. Add in those all important front/back sleeve head notches and centre notch….

The next measurement I needed was the amount of seam and hem allowances the top had been constructed with. Measuring from the edge with a seam gauge I established those measurements (they’ll vary acrossÂ the pattern)…

And marked them on my pattern piece along with the grainline and pattern details. Â NB: The seam allowance on a deconstructed garment will be small as the “trim excess seam allowance” step has already been carried out during the manufacturing process. So further down the line you may want to increase the seam allowance on your pattern.

Repeat for the front and back pattern pieces…

Once all the pattern pieces are cut out line up any seams that will meet, Shoulder seams, side seams, sleeve seams etc) overlapping seam allowances, and smooth out the edges…you can see that neckline curve below isn’t sitting flush and smooth…

Again, any seams that will be sewn together, line up the pattern pieces and snip little notches to give you alignment marks for the construction stage…

And that’s it. I marked all my pattern details onto each pattern piece including the words “First Draft” so if I ever needed to work back to a certain point Â I’d know which pattern was which. Then I toiled it…and, well it worked! To the point that the size and the way it hung when worn was Â identical to the way the original top fit me. So a win then!

As I mentioned, the original top was too big and consequently, so was my copy top! So later this week I’ll share the process I followed to grade it down which incidentally, is the same process for sizing a pattern up, bar one detail.Â I’ll be back later in the week with that post.

But in the meantime, hop over to part one if you haven’t seen it already, for the finished top, and a chance to enter a fab giveaway from The Splendid Stitch

Tips and Tricks

Top Tip: Washing your Swatches

02/15/16

We all know that pre washing our fabric meterage is a good idea if not pretty much essential. It takes care of any shrinkage that may occur before we make our garments because, lets face it, the last thing we want is to go to all the trouble of crafting the perfect garment; only to find that the first time we wash it it shrinks! Gah! Been there! BUT, do you pre wash your swatches people? Like, before you even decide to buy that fabric?

The reason I ask is that Â I have taken to doing just that. Â I don’t know if I am alone in this, so chime in because I’d love to know! But here is my reasoning. When a fabric is produced there will sometimes be a “finish” or “coating” applied to the fabric at the production stage. This coating Â is often temporary and designed to protect the fabric whilst it is on the bolt, and during transit etc. Upon washing, the coating dissolves and this can subtly, and sometimes dramatically, change the way the fabric feels and behaves.

Well, I want to know that before IÂ decide if a fabric is right for a project. I also want to know how much a fabric creases, how much the colour runs and how much it picks up fluff during the washing process. Because depending on the answer to those questions, I am either going to wear my finished garment. Or I’m not.Â I have a set of rules for a garment to make into regular rotation in my wardrobe. I have to be able to machine wash it and hang it to dry and have the majority of creases drop out without having to iron it. If a fabric does crease excessively then I think twice about buying it. If I like it enough, I might elect to make a simpler garment where ironing won’t be too much of an issue. But I have to really like it. I’m firmly in the “life’s too short” camp when it comes to day to day ironing. Â Fluff magnetism (yeah I gave it a name) is also a deal breaker. I have a pair of black jersey harem pants that I love but never wear outside the house because the fabricÂ attracts dust and fluff like a demon and it looks like my legs have dandruff! Not cool! Life is also too short to defluff a garment every time you want to wear it. So it follows quite simply,Â thatÂ I’m not going to choose to make my garmentÂ from a fabric that doesn’t meet those criteria.

So, here is what I have taken to doing in an effort to find these things out before I get to the meterage, or worse, the finished garment stage! When the swatches arrive, I cut off the section containing the fabric details and set them aside. The remainder….goes in the wash with my laundry! Any little surprises about how a fabric responds to my “laundry lifestyle” are then out in the openÂ and I can decide if that fabric is really right for my garment AND my lifestyle!

(and just in case you ask, because yes, those fabrics are gorgeous, they are these and these 😉 )

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, how to, pattern adjustments, Pattern Drafting, Sewing, Tips and Tricks, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Top Tip: How to raise a “too wide” Raglan Neckline

01/28/16

… Read The Post

DIY, how to, refashion, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, Thrifting, Tips and Tricks, trousers, Tutorials

Top Tips: For “Skinnifying” Jeans & Trousers

01/11/16

When looking for jeans or trousers I have the relativelyÂ common problem (especially when you’ve had kids!) of trousers that fit me in the waist/tum/bum area being waaaaay to big in the legs for my liking. Luckily I sew 🙂 So for years I’ve been addressing this minor annoyance by buying (usually thrifting) jeans than are super comfy in the waist/tum/bum area and simply reshaping the legs to fit my style. “Skinnifying” them if you like. I’ve been asked a few times if I am going to do a tutorial on the subject. Well, yes and no. This is a tutorial of sorts. But I hold your intelligence in high enough esteem to know that you probably get the gist that narrowing trousers means pinning the legs. Sewing a new seam and cutting away the excess. So while this post touches on that obvs, I wanted to focus on some of the other considerations you might want to take into account….

Fabric & Stretch: The “jeans” predominantly featured here are not jeans in the truest sense. They are not constructed in quite the same way as “traditional” jeans. (I’ll touch on that a bit further down) But they are made from a stretch denim. In my experience, denim with stretch is by far the most forgiving and easiest to work with when refitting the legs on jeans. And lets’s face it, the most comfortable to wear too! It’s also not a heavy denim. Another consideration when you’re using a home sewing machine which simply won’t have the power of the industrial machines that would have been used for heavy denim when they were originally produced…

Seam Construction: Both the inner and outer leg seams of this particular pair of jeans were constructed using standard straight seams. These are your friends when it comes to reshaping the legs on jeans or trousers; because it means you can easily narrow the leg evenly on both sides. Traditional construction uses a flat fell seam, usually on the inside leg, which is tougher and harder wearing. If you can avoid those….do. Â I’ll touch on that a bit further down…

Prep: To prepare the legs for reshaping it’s easier to completely unpick the hems then press the hems and the sides seams completely smooth and flat. Put on inside out, then pin to your desired fit. Take them off and even out the row of pins. Watch out here that you don’t narrow soooo much that you can’t get your foot through the ankle. Yep….done that. 😉

At the ankle, where you are going to hem, the pins should be at right angles to the original hem fold for the whole hem section. That section needs to be the same width above and below the hem fold in order to allow for proper hemming….

Blending: In order to make the new and old seams blend seamlessly (so you don’t get an obvious dimple or tuck on the outside once you’re done) pin then startÂ sewing within the original seam allowance and gradually cross over the original seamline to your new line of stitching…

Back & Front Leg Ratio: The back leg of a pair of jeans/trousers in general, will be wider than the front to allow for the calf muscle. You’ll want to retain this ratio in order to keep the side seams completely vertical when wearing. So when you press and pin make sure that this excess fabric remains distributed at the back leg…

Ensuring Even alteration: You’ll want to ensure that you take away the fabric evenly on both legs. To do this I pin one leg to my desired fit. Then I line up both legs along all seams and use those pins to pin through both legs at the same time…

So essentially you have both legs pinned together with the pins on top marking an identical line on the other leg underneath. Make sense? Â You can also see in this pic the additional fabric of the back leg all bunched up in the middle…

Marking: Obviously I can’t sew it like that! So I mark on top and between the pins on both sides to mark my new seam line…I have a set of pastel pencils that make an awesom alternative to tailor’s chalk btw!

Sewing: Then simply remove the pins, sew on top of my chalk line, zig zag close to that line, then trim off the excess and hem…

Considerations for “traditional” Jeans: So I mentioned flat fell seams. Â Traditional jeans will generally have a standard seam on the outside (your friend) and a flat fell seam on the inside leg (not your friend!).Â You can see below the amount of stitching involved in a flat fell seam. This makes it super sturdy which is fantastic for the longevity of your jeans but not so great if you want to take it in at that seam. It is not possible to smoothly narrow Â and blend that seam without unpicking all that stitching first. Even then you have that point wher the crotch and inside leg seams intersect to contend with. I haveÂ tried in the past and I will never bother again! So to my mind, and in my humblest of all humble opinions, it just isn’t worth it. I prefer to accept the limitations of traditionally constructed jeans and only narrow the leg on one side…

This does of course limit the amount you can narrow the legs by before it starts looking uneven; and that is just a matter of trial and error and personal taste. When narrowing just one side of a pair of jeans I will always use a long stitch to baste my new seam line and test the fit first before committing to cutting away the excess fabric.

If you are altering traditional denim then another consideration is the thickness of the fabric; especially at the hem. To retain the original hem you’ll likely be sewing through 3 layers of denim (see the pic below) plus an additional 3-4 layers when you sew across the intersection of the flat fell seam!Â

My machine is not powerful enough to do that on sturdier denim. So I reduce the strain by removing that bottom section of hem…

And opting instead for a single fold hem with the raw edge zig zagged or overlocked…

Another area where it can get pretty bulky is up in the hip pocket area. If you are beginning your blended seam as high up at that then there will be studs, pocket bags and top stitching to navigate. Which is why when I select jeans to refashion…I opt for those that don’t need taking in at the hips (these were the other half’s jeans)…

Tools/Equipment: I thoroughly recommend using the right tools for the job. In my opinion and for my machine, denim needles make a difference in the ease of sewing and the quality of the resulting stitch. For an authentic looking hem, then top stitching thread matched to the original colour willÂ give a professional finish. For sewing over the bulkiest part of the hem, placing a shim at the back of the presser foot will keep your presser foot horizontal and help avoid the skipped stitches that occur when sewing over bulky seams and the presser foot has to “climb” at an angle over the bulkiness of it all. You can buy shims. But a folded piece of card does the job for me. Also, machine needle cases are almost the perfect thickness to do the job; and if you’re lucky your presser foot may have a little button on the side that locks it into the horizontal position.

So that’s that. My top tips for skinnifying jeans and trousers. Anything you want to add?? Please feel free to share!!!

Happy refashioning!

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