New Project - Summer Skirt

With the bit of cash my mother gave me, I went to the fabric store and got some remnants. One of the pieces was a mere 110cm wide and all that was left was 1.5m. It was a cotton twill in a black background with bright red, yellow and pink flowers on it - perfect for a summer skirt. I also found some more patterns for waistbandless skirts and decided to try one on this fabric.

The first photo is the pattern. The skirt is photographed on a real model so I know how it will look better than if it was just drawn. The skirt bells out so it is wider around the knees than my usual skirts. You can also glimpse the fabric underneath the pattern envelope.

After I had got the fabric home and washed and dried it, I ironed it because I realized I was going to need every inch of it. Even the selvages had to be flattened so I could lay out the pieces as cleverly as possible. You can see (if you click on the photo and make it bigger) that the pattern pieces are laid out oddly, so that the skirt becomes mostly cut on the bias. Because the fabric is so narrow, I had to cut the pieces out without folding the fabric and so had to cut each piece out one at a time, as shown in the top drawing of the “cutting layout”.

In the next photo, one of the selvages is at the bottom and I am measuring each end of the “straight of grain” arrow to the selvage to make sure it is straight. I have turned the fabric wrong side up to make it a little easier to see it, rather than being distracted by the bold print. There’s a piece of blue chalk on the table because I have marked the corners of the pattern piece so that I can take it off the fabric and lay it down elsewhere. I only have one front and one back piece of the pattern, even though the skirt will have two front and two back pieces, so I have to shuffle them around. I suppose I could make two more identical pattern pieces but to me, that would be too much like work.

In the next photo, I have cut out three of the four skirt quarters. You can see that I have no material to spare, although I did cut the facings out of the odd triangular left-over bits with no problems.

With only four skirt quarters and two pieces for the facings, this is a very simple skirt. Plus it is a real pleasure to be sewing with plain old cotton again. Of course, I am finishing the seams by flat felling them. Since the zipper is going to be located in the fourth seam (on the left side), I sew the other three seams and finish them first. Here I have clipped off one side of the seam allowance in preparation for a real flat fell (not a modified one).

Making seams is mostly about ironing for me. After sewing and trimming one side, I press open the seam on the wrong side. Then I turn it over and press it flat using the clapper on the right side. Then I turn it back and press the untrimmed seam allowance over the trimmed one. Then I turn it back to the right side and press the seam allowance that way from the right side, using the clapper to make it really flat. Finally, I turn it back to the wrong side and press the folded seam allowance over the trimmed seam allowance in preparation for sewing. Nice work when it‘s cold outside, not so great in the summer.

Next, I sew down the flat fell from the wrong side, getting very close to the folded edge with my zipper foot, especially because I can make crisp folds with the cotton fabric.

Unfortunately, I failed to pay close attention on one of the seams and I sewed off the seam allowance. I decided to correct this rather than assume it wouldn’t affect the wearing of the garment later. My seam ripper is shown under one stitch, a little below the mistake.

Because the error was close to one end of the seam, I decided to rip it out all the way to the top. If it had been in the middle, I would have only ripped out the mistake plus a few inches on either side of it. I have picked out the threads and have pulled the ends in to the wrong side so they don’t get sewed over and make a lump on the right side.

In the next photo, I show the right side of the skirt, after I have sewed down the fell again. I am pulling the tail end of the thread I have just sewed with, to show where the mistake was corrected. You can see a little of the double stitching but I am sure no one else will notice once I am wearing it.

These pattern instructions call for me to iron under 1/2 inch of the seam allowance on the back panel and 5/8 inch on the front panel, when I put the zipper in on the side. I zigzag finished the raw edges of the fabric, even though it is cut on the bias and won’t ravel much later. I’m going to flat fell the rest of the seam when I’m done with the zipper.

Here, I have pinned one half of the zipper in place, in the 1/2 inch-under side of the seam allowance. I must say, I am having a much more fun time making this skirt than the last project. The only thing is, it won’t last and I’ll be done by tomorrow!

Finished!

I’m Done! And so excited to be sewing something ELSE that I am going to rush through the end of this project.

I found some pink buttons in my box of cast-off buttons that seemed to work really well with this odd coloured fabric. I always tell my husband that I know the provenance of everything I own and these buttons were no exception. I had a shirt dress in high school with these buttons and when I got rid of it, I saved the buttons. That practically makes them antiques - they are now over 31 years old.

I have sewed the buttonholes on the machine and I have just placed the buttons on the fabric to show them. I decided to make vertical buttonholes because it goes better with the vertical stripe, as well as this shirt thingy is more of an over-shirt or jacket even.

With these pants, I decided to make a two inch hand sewed hem, rather than my usual narrow machine-sewed hem. I figured they would hang better that way. I pinned up the hem very roughly on the outside and saw that there was at least three inches of it, so I cut off an inch with my pinking shears.

Once I cut an inch off the pant legs, I pinned them up again properly on the inside and tried them on with shoes. I must say, for all that they are ugly, they sure are comfortable. Last evening while watching tv, I sewed up the hem by hand and sewed on the buttons. I ironed the pieces and hung them away. Now I can sew something cute!

Hem, Topstitching, Facings

Yesterday, I hemmed the shirt. I had attached the facings to the front. Next, I sewed across the bottom of the front facing, right sides together, to make the front finished edges. Once the corners had been clipped, the seam allowances trimmed and the whole thing turned right side out, I ironed it and ironed up the rest of the hem as well, sewing it in place.

I decided in addition to a line of topstitching close to the edge of the shirt front and collar, I would also add a line of topstitching down the front, about an inch and a half from the edge. The placement of this line was dictated by the loose edge of the facing on the inside. I’ve put pins in perpendicular the the front edge, to hold the facing in place, as I am sewing from the right side. I also put a few pins in on the line of stitching so I would know which stripe to follow. The main benefit of this line of stitching is that it will hold the facings in place up at the neck edge, where they tend to unfold themselves and show up when not wanted.

Next, I added the facings to the top of the pants. After sewing, I pressed the seam allowances open and then I pressed them toward the facing. Then I understitched the facing to the trimmed seam allowances.

The next photo shows the pants, ready to wear except for hemming and pressing.

Pant zipper, Arm seams

I install the zipper in the pants. This pattern calls for a slightly off-set zipper on the side, where the front overlaps the back just a little bit. First, I lay the pants on the ironing board to have a look at them and remember which will be the left side when I have them on. I have also zigzag stitched the raw edges of the seam allowances where the zipper will go, as I cannot flat fell them at this point and want the raveling to be kept to a minimum.

I have ironed the seam allowances into the folds as instructed by the pattern and then I have pinned the zipper to the 1/2 inch fold first. At this point, I also notice that because I place my zippers right up with the top stops at the seam line for the facing, I have left too much space at the bottom and will correct that when I sew the zipper in.

After I sew down the one side, I pin the second side according to the instructions. Then I check to make sure I have caught the whole seam allowance in the stitching line. I have flipped the pants inside out and am looking at where the raw edge of the seam allowance is in relation to where I will be sewing the second side.

Back on the right side, I check the pin placement again and then proceed to sew down that line of pins on the front side of the pants (taking the pins out as I go). I make a 90 degree turn just below the metal stop at the bottom of the zipper and sew over to the seam line, thus fixing the small error that I made by putting in the zipper higher than the pattern called for.

Back on the inside again, I check to make sure the zipper is properly in place. I have turned the right hand edge of the zipper up to show the zigzagged edge of the fabric and how I have sewed inside the raw edge so it remains inside the pant and won’t work its way out. At this point, I also finish that side seam of the pant in the modified flat fell. I wanted to have the zipper in place before I finished this seam so that I could tuck in the upper edges of the seam allowance instead of guessing where they might be before I put in the zipper.

The next photo shows the shirt inside out, just as an exposition. I have not flat fell finished the underarm seams yet.

In this photo, I have sewed from the bottom edge of the shirt and down the arm seam to the wrist. Once I get to the wrist, I turn the piece 180 degrees and sew back out of the tunnel, sewing down the second side of the flat fell.

Collar, Sleeves, Pant seams

Okay, I’m into the home stretch (get it? Lycra?) with these things. I went to FabricLand yesterday and bought three remnants! What the heck am I thinking? Well, Mum gave me a few bucks (sort of like a chambermaid tip) when she left last weekend and I determined that I would spend it on fabric. And so I have. I like what I got a lot better than what I’m currently sewing and so I want to finish these and start something new.

So we were putting on the collar and front facings last time. After I sewed on the facings, I pressed the seam open first and then closed again, to get the sharper, flatter edge. The next photo shows what the collar looks like from the outside, after I have pressed that part of it too.

On the inside, I have started to pin the collar facing to the neck edge. I have already trimmed the seam and ironed it up toward the collar. Now I am tucking the seam allowance under and pinning the facing to the shirt. I have a few pins in the middle and then I work my way to the shoulder seams.

The next photo shows what happens at the shoulder seam. The front facings were sewed onto the shirt up the front, across the collar and up to the shoulder seam. Therefore, the collar facing only needs to be sewed down to the neck edge in between the shoulder seams. AT the shoulder, I tuck the raw edge of the front facing under and pin it down to the shoulder seam allowance on the inside. I put the zipper foot on the machine and carefully sew the facing down, turning 90 degrees at the shoulder and sewing down the front facing end there too. As for the pins, I can sew over the pins that are in at right angles to the line of stitching but I will remove the pin that is holding the front facing down because it runs along the line of stitching.

Next, the sleeves. As I’ve mentioned before, this is weird, slide-y fabric and when you put the right sides together, it moves around. As I was pinning the shoulder seam (I am doing this first and then I will sew the underarm-sleeve seam) I realized that I had to be even more picky about pinning.

In the next photo, you can see I have put an anchor pin in on the right. It is stuck in at right angles to the other pins and goes into the ironing board cover and pad. It holds the shoulder seam so that I can work with both my hands putting in pins. I am also putting in pins about every 1/8 inch, gradually stretching the shirt body (the piece underneath) and working in the excess sleeve fabric so that I don’t end up with tucks when I sew. I am using my left thumb to slide the excess fabric over and put in a pin at that point.

Once I had the sleeves pinned on, I sewed them to the shirt and then I ironed the seam allowances toward the shirt. Turning the shirt to the inside, I trimmed off the seam allowance belonging to the shirt and left the seam allowance belonging to the sleeve. I started to tuck the sleeve seam allowance under itself and over the shirt seam allowance, making a flat fell finish. This was tricky business because of the fabric. In the next photo, you can see I’ve successfully tucked the seam allowance under at the shoulder seam and halfway down the armhole but I have stuck pins in the ironing board to anchor the other slippery bits as I try to tuck them under.

In the next photo, I have got all the bits tucked under, and with no folds either. It has been a struggle and I am not worrying about how uneven it looks, especially because this is on the inside.

When sewing down the flat fell, I have used my right hand to take the photo but I am using both hands actively but gently to pull the fabric flat and away from the line of stitching as I go. I am also sewing very slowly and I have lots of time to guide the needle around the sharp end of the pins and pull the pins out as I get close to where they actually go through the fabric.

In the next photo, things are looking awfully bunched up and lumpy but it is surprising how the fabric straightens out as you get up to it. As I get to folds in the fabric, I put the needle down into the fabric (to anchor things) and raise the presser foot. With the presser foot raised, the fabric un-bunches and smoothes out. When I put it down again and continue sewing, I don’t end up with tucks.

Finally, I turn the shirt over and you can see from the right side that it all ends up looking acceptable. A little wobbly perhaps, but I am betting nobody will really notice.

Getting back to the pants, I have already sewed the inside leg seams and done a modified flat fell on them. Next I am sewing the crotch seam. Here it is pinned together.

Having sewed the seam, I press it open and then press down the seam allowances in a modified flat fell. This is easy on the flat part of the front and back. In the curved crotch area, I pin the seam allowance down and remove the pins as I sew up to them.

Thread colour and Collar

Rockwell seems bored with sewing.

When I had all the colours of thread out, it seemed to me that the dark browns worked. Even when I sewed down the raw edge on the facing, it seemed to be okay. However, when I sewed down the front darts on the shirt, the thread looked too dark. I have now fished some lighter brown - almost beige - thread out of my collection and now I have to decide whether to redo this dart stitching.

When putting on the spread collar, I sort of follow the instructions but I do my own thing too. First of all, I made the collar by sewing the two pieces right sides together and turning them right side out and pressing them. I had already had the problem of thread colour with the front darts so I didn’t topstitch the collar at this point. I pinned the raw edges of the collar together so it would stay flat as I worked with it.

Next, I pinned the collar on to the shirt all the way across, even though in the centre, in between the two facing pieces, it doesn’t get sewed through all layers to the shirt.

At this point, the instructions say to sew the collar onto the shirt. Instead, I pin the front facings on because I know they’re going to get sewed on to the shirt with the collar and I prefer to do it all at once. What I didn’t know with this fabric is that it moves. It slithers slightly so the edges end up uneven. You’ll see this in one of the subsequent photos.

With all the layers pinned heavily together (the facing, two layers of collar and the shirt), I sew them together at the machine. I use so many pins because there is stretching of fabric and bunching of fabric and I don’t want to get any tucks that I will have to pick out later. I took the next picture with my left hand, showing how I work my right hand partly under the fabric as I feed it slowly under the needle. My left hand will be gently pulling the fabric away from the needle as I sew, to make sure it doesn’t bunch up underneath it.

In the next photo, I pulled up the shirt to look underneath it (leaving the needle DOWN in the fabric so it wouldn’t move!), to show how it might bunch up between the pins which is why I’m using both hands to smooth the fabric as I go. You can see the several layers of fabric and what I didn’t notice at this point, which is that the layers are slipping and the edges are no longer even.

I sewed the facings to the collar and the shirt. I didn’t sew the collar to the shirt in between the facings because only the bottom layer (the underside) of the collar gets sewed by itself to the body of the shirt. The right side (up side) of the collar will get turned under and laid over the stitching line and will be sewed down at the end of this process. Before sewing the middle of the collar to the shirt body, I separate the two layers of the collar and pin only the bottom layer to the shirt.

Here, I’ve sewed up to the end of the middle collar part that doesn’t have the facing on it and backstitched a few stitches.

Here is a better view of the line of stitching that doesn’t include the facing. It is the end I started at and I didn’t backstitch so the stitches have started to unravel because I clipped the threads right at the fabric. This won’t matter because of the way I am going to sew down the top layer of the collar.

New project- pants and shirt

Pants! And a shirt!

Okay, I’ve been thinking I have to refine my dress pants pattern. I keep hearing on “What not to Wear” that dress pants that go straight down are the most flattering cut. I really like the casual jeans pattern I have and it fits but the legs are tapered AND it doesn’t look dressy. I have several pants patterns (included in patterns with whole outfits of jackets, skirts and stuff) that have no waistband. Some have a side zipper or a back zipper or even a front fly but the key is that they don’t have the waistband AND they go straight down. Not only can you tell from the pattern piece, but you can tell because the width at the bottom of the leg is wider than on the jeans. My pants are 13 inches wide at the bottom of the leg on tapered pants and jeans, but they are 18 inches wide on the dress pant.

I have made the pants in McCalls pattern 4154 once before and they fit nicely. I rarely wear them because I used some material that was very flowing and bright blue with flowers on it. But they did fit well. So I am making them again.

Speaking of being challenged about fabric, I was going to use some plain grey stuff I didn’t even remember buying but instead, went with this really odd stuff I do remember buying because it was on sale - probably $2/meter. It has Lycra in it too - a bonus! But it really is odd. The wrong side is plain white and looks like a knit. At last I will be making something where you can tell the right from the wrong side. The right side is a subtle stripe with a sort of herringbone look to it. The main colours are brown and off white and there is a red thread running through it too. Overall, it has a pinkish look to it. It also has a nap. The finish is more than peached - it is brushed and so I had to cut all the pieces facing the same way “up”.

When I laid out the fabric with the pants pattern pieces on it, I realized I had enough extra to make something else so I decided on a shirt. This shirt pattern has facings on the front and a spread collar so I am thinking I could wear a t-shirt or turtleneck under it, so it works more like a jacket than a shirt. I think it would be entirely TOO much of the fabric to ever wear both the pants and the shirt at the same time, however. I have made this shirt before on several occasions and I usually leave out the darts in the back so it fits more loosely. I am also making the 3/4 length sleeves.

Next, I had to decide on the thread colour. With white on the back and brown and red on the right side, it was difficult. I laid out six spools of brown thread I already had to see what looked best. I refuse to buy new thread while I am sewing with “ugly” fabric that I am merely trying to use up. I eliminated the three spools on the right and plan to use up the three on the left. I am also going to use white thread in the top or the bobbin, depending on what piece I am sewing.

I ironed on the interfacing where required and started assembling the pieces for sewing. I was going to sew all the darts at once, so I decided on brown thread for the bobbin and white for the top thread. The brown would show up on the inside which wouldn’t matter for the pants but might show on the top. But I decided not to worry about it.

The next photo shows two darts made in one side of the pants back. The first one has the brown bobbin thread showing and the one I have just finished shows the white top thread.

When I used the same thread combo on the split dart on the shirt front, I opened up the “seam” and took a picture of what the threads will look like once the seams have been pressed open. You can see two colours of thread but you really have to look closely.

Finally, I finished the raw edge on the facings for the front of the shirt. I already pinked the edge to prevent fraying but I also ironed over the raw edge and sewed it down. In the last photo here, you can see what brown thread looks like as topstitching. I changed the top thread to brown and sewed the facing edge with brown on both threads. Although I didn’t make a big effort to sew totally straight, it doesn’t look too bad.