Sandra Betzina's Doubled sleeves tip

I'm using her tip from Power Sewing on M6503.

This is my second muslin of the chambray version. The first one (made out of muslin) fit well out without any adjustments as a size 14.  I'm using up some of the original fabric purchased when I started sewing from the local 'Everything' store that was going for $1/yard.  I'm hoping it will turn out to be a usable muslin.

I was intrigued by Betzina's tip to double the sleeves which will prevent limp sleeve hems, which I can definitely see happening with my fabric.  I also found out that the fabric actually has a lengthwise stretch only after I cut out most of the shapes.  I hope it doesn't cause too much problems.

I'm trying to remember to take things slow. I want to rush through it, but then when I make mistakes.

Used the plotter paper to do a complete pattern piece (those that were cut-on-fold) - I cut all the pieces out and block-fused those that needed it.

Used the butter knife again to score the fabric (like the Hera marker). This time I didn't use the waxed tracing paper but just the heat disappearing ink to mark.

S-dart on muslin - it works!

It took much longer than expected as I was sewing the darts by trial and error, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I will have to take some pictures of the muslin with the darts and the final tunic without to be able to show the difference, but I think it will definitely be worth it to put in the s-darts. Having the new dart shapes transferred also was finicky work.

Happily even taking in an extra inch each side did not result in me having to put in a zipper/fastener.  It's definitely snug getting the tunic on or off, but once in it, the fit is very good. I also have to remember that I need to taper the s-dart under the bust since volume needed does start shrinking right UNDER the bust point.

I am washing the tunic muslin; although I ironed and steamed the new darts, I'm not terribly happy with the wrinkles, so will see how it works out in the washer/dryer.

It shouldn't have surprised me but once I removed my underwire, the wrinkles went away since without the support the volume is lower. However, I don't expect to wear the tunic without support!

I should redo the pattern; there's so many crossed out old lines that it's starting to become difficult to see the correct ones.

Tunic in Fashion Fabric - Lessons learned for next time

I've nearly finished the tunic with the fashion fabric. I did the mitered hems for both the lining and fashion fabric and hemmed the sleeves. Nothing terribly different, although I realized that my mitered hems are a little rough because I tend to be generous with my seams in case I need to stretch. But it plays havoc with the mitered corners because they're not even any more.  There was a really good tutorial at Sew4home.com.

Other lessons learned:

• I didn't cut out the collar 'overlay' because I was thinking of just sewing the fashion fabric and lining together with the shape of the collar, but then I realized I really didn't know where CF was so had to wing it. 
• Next time I will trace on the fabric the collar shape as well if I'm doing the same thing. 
• In terms of shape/fitting, I realized that I need to make the French/bust darts convex or even S-shaped to take in more fabric right under the bust. 
• Need to add the S-shape/convex shape to the pattern 3-4 inches from the dart end (wide-end).
• For additional shaping the Front waist dart can be shaped so that the end towards the bust will be an arc rather than straight. I would also have to extend the dart another inch up. 
• Note that I'll probably have to figure out some fastening because once I make these shaping changes I won't be able to shimmy in and out of it like I do now. 
• The pattern waist could also benefit from raising another half-inch.
• I did not stitch the lining armholes to the fashion fabric armholes. I think that was the right decision since I wanted the fashion shell to float on top of the lining. After experimenting with samples, interlining the loosely woven shell with the cotton muslin would have changed the hand of the fashion fabric.
• I had reduced the sleeve head before, but I realized it needs to be reduce by another 1/4 to 1/2 inch. 

What next: 

1. I'm going to top stitch the collar area next. 
2. I'll need to try some elastic smocking  under the bust on the muslin I last made to see if it will still let me get into the muslin while reducing the fabric. If that works I'll try it on the real thing. 

Husband's boxers and an Alice in Wonderland from scraps

I had remnants from when I made the shirt for my friend's son. It was enough for a pair boxers and I asked my husband if he wanted a pair. When I started sewing, a pair of boxers was my first garment made specifically because I wanted to have my own; my husband was tired of me borrowing his commercially purchased boxers so this was a tried and true pattern for me. It originates from Diana Rupp's Sew Everything Workshop.

Putting the boxers together was easy, but he wanted a change to the waistband - sewn down elastic rather than just elastic in the casing.  I wasn't sure how to do it so I've been experimenting and I've found that the easiest way is to sew the casing as normal, thread through the elastic and then stretch the elastic out to fit the fabric and sew three separate lines.

Today I tried it by just creating a casing and then stretched and stitched the elastic which had been threaded through; looks pretty good although I might experiment a bit more with a longer stitch length. Also I've found that I have to be careful to stretch all sections of the elastic the same, otherwise the elastic per stitch can vary significantly.

Eric mentioned today that he would like the boxers to be more streamlined - even his commercially purchased ones - so I'll see about cutting down the amount of fabric the next time I make one for him.

I tend to want to use up all the fabric, so with the remnants of the remnants above I pieced out the usual little girl's bodice. I'm also adding a Peter Pan collar in white muslin. It looks like a good start to an Alice in Wonderland costume, so I'm enjoying putting that together. The collar has been drafted, fabric cut, interfaced and stitched on the outer edge and turned. It's ready to be sandwiched between the fashion and lining layer when I put that together.  I used the pinking shears to trim the outside edges once the collar was sewn to reduce bulk; it's a fairly smooth curve.

It was a good day to sew; the weather here was completely indoor-weather - it was raining cats and dogs and windy to boot. So spent the morning cutting out the dress bodice and making the collar and experimenting with the elastic.

Organizer for Sewing Feet

Recently I went to my local sewing machine store to pick up some good serger thread; after my lessons learned with using poor quality thread for the needles messed up my tension; while I was there I picked up a Reliable Velocity 200 iron, 2 cones of white and 2 cones of black serger thread and a Juki invisible zipper foot.

When I came back, unpacked my purchases, I realized that I had just bought a duplicate. I already have an invisible zipper foot, but it had gotten lumped in with my Janome feet and I had forgotten.  No worries, I'll return it the next time. But I realized I would do a much better job if there was a way to keep my feet organized so that I wouldn't lose them or spend lots of time looking for the right foot (which I really don't like).

So, to the fabric store I go. Picked up some medium thickness vinyl, a fat quarter and 3 zippers. Also a double-fold bias strip.

Recently a friend has been nice enough to invite me to her monthly crafty session and I brought all this over to her and just started assembling the organizer there.

Quality-wise it was a shoddy job, really. I didn't square the vinyl and just started sewing the zippers to it.  But what's useful now is to capture my lessons learned so that the next time I make something like this, it'll be easier, faster and of a higher quality.

• Don't assume that the vinyl is squared!
• For sewing feet a 3.5 inch pocket height works great.
• Use a longer stitch length since sewing through vinyl punctures it. 
• Double-sided tape helps to hold the zipper to the vinyl to make it easy to sew it down.
• Using double-fold bias tape is easy! I used the instructions on this site. The only thing I had a hard time figuring out was what she meant by overlapping the ends since the picture was a little difficult to make out. 
• Marking the stitch lines to make the pockets is a good idea to sew neatly. I winged it and it was okay, but not as nice as it would be if I actually used removal tape as a guide on the vinyl.  

But overall I'm happy with it. I am glad I have a easy, neat and quick way to find my sewing feet. 

Overlock mystery; you get what you pay for?

Sunday January 25, 2014

I finally went back to trying to figure out why my needle tension was having issues.  Three-thread overlock - both wide and narrow - stitches.

Experimenting with the stitch I tried increasing the needle tension for both the left and right hand needles, checking the needle class - Schmetz 80/12s, even going so far as to re-thread the machine a couple of times.

I found that only by holding on to the needle thread could I more or less ensure the tension of the needle thread was sufficient to not pull apart.  Even looping the thread once more around the overhead thread guide did not work.

I got close when I upped the thread tension for the needles to at least 7. In some cases even up to 8 or 8.5.

Finally, I felt like I had experimented enough to feel that I had exhausted my options and called the place I purchased the serger from to set up a time to drop off my machine. The owner, a wonderful sole proprietress asked about the thread brand.  When I mentioned it was Maxi-Lock, she remarked that she knew that lots of people had issues with that brand and also Sure-Lock because the quality of the thread was such that the tension would shift.

She did not recommend those brands for the needle thread because of the inconsistent quality; in a single spool she felt that the thread tension would change as I sewed!

She reminded me that when I purchased from her in 2012 she provided some good thread - Mettler Serger thread. She suggested that I re-thread and return the tension to normal (Upper, Lower and Needle all at 4) and try it again.

If that did not work it could be that the poor quality thread had messed up the tensioning discs and that they would have to be cleaned out.

I told her I would try her recommendation.

It had been a while since I threaded with the Mettler and I noticed immediately how much cleaner the thread looked. It looks much more like a single filament rather than the 'woolier' Sure-Lock or Maxi-Lock threads.

I tried the 3-thread narrow overlock with all tension discs set at 4. Perfect the first time out. Clean stitch, looper threads met at the edge and the needle thread was tight.

I tried with the wide stitch. Not so tight.  I called it a day and moved over to mending a skirt where stitches had come loose.