Sewing room redo

Out of need I had to purchase a new desk for my sewing machine (the old table was too small for my new machine, as you can see in the before picture)

After researching different types of sewing table, I thought about building one myself.

I even drew out some plans however time was not on my side so I went the next best route and went to Ikea.

I purchased a set of Alex drawers, an Alex storage unit and a table top.

Here are some before and after pictures.

this is the before

this is my new and improved sewing table

I will do a follow on blog post for anyone interested in seeing my sewing room in more detail.

Plaintain T-shirt

Hi everyone

After looking back through my blog posts and the items I have made, I realised how bad I am at actually blogging about my items (which is the whole point of this blog haha)
I last blogged in Oct 2015 - how bad am I, just as well I am better at sewing than I am blogging.
From now on I am aiming to blog all my handmade items (hopefully within a couple of weeks of making them)

I am going to start with my latest make - the plantain t-shirt by deer and doe.
This is a free to download pattern. The pattern has options for short, long and 3/4 sleeves plus elbow patches.

I had seen a lot of versions made by various people I follow on social media and liked the look of it.
I purchased some cheap jersey to try it out for myself but as I have always had problems with my overlocker it had been pushed to the back of my to make list.
After buying a new overlocker (the Brother 104D - more of which in another post another time)
I decided to take the plunge.

I made the size 44 based on the measurements and was pleasantly surprised to find it fit first time with no adjustments required.
I made the short sleeved version using this jersey from Calico laine - my version used about 1m of fabric.
I used my overlocker to sew all the internal seams, including attaching the neckband. Me and my overlocker had a bit of a power struggle at this point so the neckband is not the same width all the way around.
I used my sewing machine and a twin needle to do the top stitching around the neckband and for the arm bands and hem.
All together the t-shirt took me about 2 hours to make with all the faffing with the overlocker.

Next time I will take more care when applying the neckband.
Making this t-shirt also made me aware how much I need to buy some jersey tools - ballpoint needles, ballpoint pins and spray starch (to control the edges of the jersey curling)

All in all I am please with the finished item and even though it was a trial run I am planning on wearing the finished t-shirt (even if only to bed )
I am also planning on making many more versions - the fabric for the next one has already been put on the cutting table ready.

Here's a couple of photo's of the finished t-shirt. I will try to get some better ones of me wearing it when the light is better.

Me and collars are not friends

I hate collars - well making them anyway!!!!

About 5 weeks ago I made a muslin of K1699 (view b top).

All went well with the muslin sewing and it only needed 2cms adding to the centre back for a perfect fit.
I then adjusted the pattern pieces and cut out the good fabric.
Again all was going well until I got to the collar section and then it started to go down hill hence the reason the top is still not finished.

First off I didn't cut enough pieces - fine an easy problem to rectify.
Then when I went to sew the collar I couldn't understand why it didn't fit the neckline until I realised I had forgotten to add the 2cms to the centre back of the collar pieces.

New pieces re-cut.

Sewing the collar pieces together I realised I had ironed (yes ironed!!) interfacing to the right side (should have been on the wrong side) of one of the collar pieces. As this was the 2nd time I had cut the pieces I thought I would cheat and just take the interfacing off and add a new piece to the correct side. WRONG.

This is the result - 1 lovely soft collar and 1 stiff and unflattering collar.

Today I am attempting to redo the collar.
I think I can get away with unpicking the one stiff interfaced piece, re-cutting this piece and stitching back in without touching the rest of the collar.
Here's hoping, wish me luck.

Once this is done I will post a full review of the pattern.

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Repair not replace

I am really bad at buying new clothes for myself, I prefer to either make new items or if I already own something then to repair or refashion it.
I have this cardigan that I managed to somehow rip a right-angle shape into.

Right angle rip in back

I was trying to work out what to do as I knew just sewing the rip up would be ugly, then I found some nice wide satin ribbon and thought I would give it a try to cover the hole.

I first stitched the hole up, then attached the ribbon around the waist covering where I had stitched.

I used straight stitch around the top and bottom of the ribbon. I then decided it looked a bit plain so added some decorative stitching to the centre of the ribbon, this also helped to anchor the ribbon to the cardigan. 

View of the decorative stitching

I used a walking foot when attaching the ribbon to the cardigan due to the nature of 2 different types of fabric working against each other. With the walking foot attached the ribbon went on smoothly.

Using a walking foot to attach the ribbon.

Once the ribbon was attached the rip is hardly visible from the outside of the cardigan.

Repaired cardigan 

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Girls denim dress

As part of my sewing I have always enjoyed upcycling garments to create something completely new. All my friends and relatives now ask if I would like their old items before they discard them, most of the time I just take off any fastenings (zips, buttons, etc) but other times I keep the whole garment, the only problem is that I now have a stash of old garments - especially jeans.

I have decided to start using them up or getting rid of them and started with this little girls dress.

To start I took a top that fit my niece to make a pattern.
I folded the top in half. Note - I didn't fold it on the side seams but at the centre. I then traced round the edges to create the pattern - don't forget to add seam allowance to your pattern.
I then led the jeans out flat. I left all the seams intact as I wanted to use the side seams as centre front and back decorative seams on the dress.
I pinned the pattern onto the legs of the jeans so the side seams became the fold, then cut around the other edges of the pattern. I then repeated this for the back piece.
Once I had cut the pieces out I stitched them together at the side seams. I bound the seams so that they wouldn't rub.
At this stage I done a quick fit check on my niece.
To finish the dress I used some pink & white polka dot bias binding. I applied this in one continuous strip by starting at one underarm and ending back where I had begun.
Buttonholes and large pink floral buttons finished the top opening to make for easy dressing.

This was a fairly quick and easy dress to make - the longest part was applying the bias binding.

W-I-P Colette Sorbetto

I am currently working on the amazing Colette sorbetto top. I had some light weight linen in my stash from a previous project. I didn't have much left so it has been sitting there waiting for the right project to come along, as the Colette pattern uses so little fabric this was the perfect match.

I haven't finished the top yet as I am adding sleeves as per inspiration from the sew weekly blog plus I need to wait to buy some bias binding as I didn't have enough fabric left to make my own.

Here is a sneak peak of my progress so far

Colette Sorbetto in progress

I will do a full blog post once I have finished the top.

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Hemming web

Normally I make sure that I have plenty of time to do any alterations but sometimes things pop up at the last minute. My Grandad had a function to attend last Friday night but left it to the last minute to get himself some trousers (last minute as in Thursday night). He could only get a 32inch leg which meant he then needed to have them taken up. I got home from my day job at about 7pm on Thursday night and my granddad had just got home from buying the trousers. As it was late and I was hungry I decided to use some hemming web as a quick fix just to get him through Friday night, then take them up when I had a bit more time and wouldn't be so rushed.
I will never use hemming web again if I have any choice. I couldn't get the stuff to stick properly in most places round the hem and burnt my hand with the steam.
The good news is that the trouser hems held up for my granddad to wear for the night.

Has anyone else ever used hemming web?
What did you think?
Would you use it again?

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Cape

I was asked by a work colleague if I could make his partner a cape. She wanted it in the style of a Jedi Cape from star wars. They supplied me this pattern

She wanted to be able to wear it all year round when she went out for dinner, to a party etc. Even though it would only be for special occasions it would still need to be warm enough to wear in winter but cool enough for summer. To accomplish this rather than lining the cape as the pattern says I made 2 separate capes. One was made from black polycotton. The other was made from black fleece.
This is the outer layer made from polycotton.

With hood up

With hood down

This is the inner layer made from black fleece. This section has no hood.

Inner section of cape

I then added poppers around the neckline seam on both sections of the cape so that they could be joined together, this way just the outer can be worn in summer but both in winter.

Poppers to hold both layers together.

This is the final cape - I didn't have my mannequin handy to take photos so had to hang it over the edge of the kitchen door.

Both layers together.

 Close up of the hood.

This was an easy pattern to make and I enjoyed doing something different to what I had done before. I learnt some new techniques working on different fabrics. I am thinking of making one in satin but just lining it not adding a detachable layer.

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Learn your tools

One of the lessons I have learnt whilst setting up my business is to ensure you have the correct tools and learn how to use them correctly. When I used to sew just for myself I used to get by with whatever I had to hand. That was fine then but now I have learnt to use the best and use it properly.

I thought I would share my top ten tools:

1. The best sewing machine you can afford. As this is something you will be using for the majority of the time then you need to buy the best that you can afford but also the best for the job. There is no point in spending money on an embroidery machine if you are never going to embroider. If possible visit a showroom where you can try out a variety of machines to find the best one for you. once you have purchased your machine read the manual. I also ensure the manual is close at hand so whenever I am sewing so if I get a problem then I can look it up. Practice and get used to your machine before embarking on any major projects.
2. A decent iron. You need to constantly have your iron on as pressing seams is an important part of construction. I also found that the heavier the iron the better but you don't need to have an all singing all dancing iron as long as it can produce steam. Learn the difference between how the iron acts with different fabrics, on different temperatures, with and without steam, with and without moisture (water). Also invest in a decent press cloth (or make one) as these are the best thing when pressing sewing projects.
3. Great scissors. I have a variety of scissors, a pair for different thicknesses of fabric - one for delicate (satin, chiffon, etc), one for tougher (denim, cotton, etc), one for cutting paper patterns, pinking shears, thread snips. It isn't really necessary to have all these but make sure you have separate pairs for cutting fabric and paper - never use the same pair for both as the paper blunts the blades and they can then end up tearing the fabric. Also make sure that the fabric scissors are kept as sharp as possible and above all never let anyone else near them!!!
4. A good cutting area. When you are cutting you need to be able to spread the fabric and pattern out. If you have to keep moving the fabric around chances are the pattern will slip and you will end up with inaccurately cut pieces which will make fitting difficult (if not impossible). Learn what surface is best for the majority of fabrics you will cut. If you cut mainly lightweight fabrics then you may require a non slip surface, if cutting heavyweight fabrics you will require a surface that can support the bulk of the fabric. If you have too small an area to cut and have to hang fabric off the cutting surface this can distort the grain of the fabric and this in turn will affect the cut and finish of the garment.
5. Good quality thread. When sewing you need to use the best thread that is available. You might think that buying cheaply in bulk is greater value for your business but in the long run this isn't true as the thread will break, seams will start to undo. The thread will also not be able to hold up to the wear and tear a garment goes through especially on areas where there is a lot of stress, like on closures or any seam where there is a lot of movement (crouch seams on trousers, etc) However when deciding on your thread you need to learn what thread suits what fabric. There are plenty of websites to help with this - just google sewing thread types.
6. Marking tools. When it come to sewing you need to mark all types of things on fabric - seam lines, dart, etc but also fitting lines if you need to make adjustments. When marking darts I normally use tailors tacks but sometimes a semi permanent mark is required. I use many marking tools - pencil, vanishing fabric pen, dressmakers chalk. However be very careful what you use and where you use it. Always check on a scrap piece of you fabric 1st to ensure the mark will disappear as there is nothing worse than spending ages making something to find at the end that the marks are visible. Assemble a variety of marking tools and test them on different types of fabric, keep this in a scrapbook or something similar so you will always have future reference.
7. Needles. Both hand needles and machine needles need to be sharp and smooth. Sometimes a needle can get a little nick and then this will catch on the fabric causing snags. The same applies to blunt needles, they will not pierce the fabric freely and this will cause unsightly holes and marks. Also make sure you are using the correct needle for the fabric and project. It is no good trying to use a tapestry needle to embroider satin. Again just google sewing needle guides for charts explaining the different types and there uses.
8. Pins. When pinning fabrics together think of the type of pins required. Use glass headed pins on delicate fabrics, anything with a large head that will show on thick fabrics (tweed.etc) bright coloured pins on dark fabrics and vice versa on coloured fabrics ( never use the same colour as the fabric unless you want to become a colander) When you have finished sewing always double check your garment is pin free, you can double check this by running a magnet over your garment, any pins left will pull the garment section towards the magnet.
9. Seam ripper. I have found this to be one of my best friends while sewing. Not only used as a seam ripper but also for cutting buttonholes. A seam ripper has many uses just be careful as they are sharp.
10. Tape measure. I have several of these and also a metre stick. I use them for measuring everything related to my sewing but you need to make sure you stick to the same unit for each garment. Do Not start measuring in inches but then half way through a sewing project change to Cm's as this will just through everything out of proportion. The same applies to you metre stick - don't try to use this to measure curves or corners.

Listed below are a few more tools I have in my kit.
Lint brush/cloth. I use this for ensure my work area is clean and for giving the sewing machine needle/plate are a dusting down to get rid of any loose fibres.
Screw driver set - used for changing needles, light bulbs, etc.
Tailors ham, sleeve roll- not strictly necessart but come in reallt useful and give professional finishes.

Above all have fun with sewing learning what is right and what is wrong. However what is right or wrong for one person is not for another.

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