Ench By Sew-39: Plaid tidings’ to you and all of your kin! Part 2 of Tartans and Plaids (Winter Holidays Mini-Cast)

Newly togged out Katie Rose is an Engel-Puppen doll

Click on this link in iTunes  to download the 39th episode of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast,  recorded in December of 2015. Or listen directly on the web by clicking on this link.

Plaid tidings’ to you and all of your kin! During the winter holidays, plaids and tartans look so festive. Dolls are the perfect plaid-sewing partners, because sewing for a doll, gives me the motivation to engage in some sample sewing. And at this time of year they remind me of  dollies, and doll clothes that were sewn for me, at this special time of year – like the mini wardrobe of Barbie clothes my aunt gracie sewed and sent me one winter holiday, as well as the red courderoy jumpers and dotted slip dresses, Mama made for our Chatty Kathy dolls, as well as for me and my sister Trisha in the winter I was 4 (with matching girl jumpers).

K.R's green plaid jumper is based on an
 American Girl free doll clothes pattern in "Mollie's Pretty Clothes"

The doll featured in this sewing project is Katie Rose. K.Rose is an Engel-Puppen doll. (Engel-Puppen doll link - has history of these dolls)

Sample sewing may not sound very exciting, but sewing an 18” (think American Girl sized) plaid doll’s dress gave me a chance to – in a very limited amount of time - practice my pattern cutting out skills for plaid fabric, as well as experiment with a new-to-me technique for improved  plaid matching

This  show is all about technicos/techniques.

My goals with this doll’s dress were to work on:
Primero/First)Careful layout of multiple princess-seamed bodice pieces - definitely less nerve racking for a doll, and gives me confidence to work on the red plaid princess-seamed shirt I’m muslin’ing - as well as the plaid nightshirt I’ll plan to be making soon for my husband.
Entonces/Then)I tried Fusible Thread to decrease slippage during sewing (a new-to-me technique for enhanced/ improved  plaid matching).  Also useful /good idea for sewing on patch pockets  

I used crafster to look for help regarding my challenges with fusible thread.
Response from ~T Read more: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=442125.0#ixzz3ufLODkuJ
https://www.byannie.com/shop/product/fusible-thread/

“She calls for low heat, so I am guessing you just had the iron too hot.

She also describes another technique for using it with aluminum foil as your pressing cloth..letting that cool and peeling it off, to create a design on fabric. Like a dimensional paint overlay technique?

You Craftsters always inspire me to hunt for new ideas   

I Goggled 'Fusible Thread Instruction' for this one. There are more on there as well.

~T”

I love using succulents all over the house during the festive season.
This simple arrangement provides the perfect place for Katie Rose to hang out.

American Girl Doll Clothes Patterns - Free http://www.agplaythings.com/AG%20Patterns/DollDressPatterns.html

More Plaid Web Resources

http://moviestarmakeover.com/category/classically-ladylike/

http://moviestarmakeover.com/category/myrna-loy/

http://www.pendleton-usa.com/thumbnail/Home/FABRIC/PLAIDS/1721/c/1828/pc/1816.uts

Border Terrier Hand Embroidery - How Shalll I use it?

My Border Terrier - one of my practice mini-projects on my trip

What do you think I should use this little embroidery motif for? I haven't decided yet. A pocket maybe? It could go on the outside of a tote bag or be added to an existing shirt. I could even stitch it, as a patch, onto a pair of jeans - like we used to back in the 60's and 70's. Do you have any other ideas?

In my June Enchanted by Sewing podcast, I mentioned that while on vacation in the United Kingdom for two and a half weeks,  I kept my sewing hand in by practicing hand embroidery stitches, using the smallest hoop I could find. It didn't take much room in my luggage and I took a great guide book -Embroidered & Embellished: 85 Stitches Using Thread, Floss, Ribbon, Beads & More • Step-by-Step Visual Guide -  along as a Kindle iBook on my iPad.

(You can also buy  Embroidered & Embellished: 85 Stitches Using Thread, Floss, Ribbon, Beads & More Step-by-Step Visual Guide in regular book format)

In my June Enchanted by Sewing podcast  I mentioned that dogs are a big travel theme for me. I pet every dog I get the chance to visit with. Not only do both pooch and I get a lot of pleasure from the interaction, it's a great way to chat casually with people around me. No tourist pressure - people can either talk or not. I had several quite long talks with dog owners on the trip.

I took along this piece of recycled linen (it used to be a pair of pants I got a lot of wear out of) for practicing my stitches. Here I was practicing a split stitch. What better design could I choose than a dog?  I bought a soft lead pencil for less than a pound in a stationary store, then drew the design by looking at a photo on my iPhone. I tested my drawing out on a piece of scratch paper a couple of times to build my confidence, then started trying it on the linen. I did a little redrawing around the nose, but it wasn't really that all hard to look at the lines in the photo and get what I wanted. The pencil washed out fine after I got home. I just ran it under a little cold water in the sink and rubbed in some hand soap.

The photo was of a  darling Border Terrier I encountered in one of many parks we visited. I saw a number of Border Terriers in the Lake District, where we walked. You may know that the Lake District is close to the border between the Lake District and Scotland, so it's the origin of this darling breed. I'm not really a breed person - frankly I'm happy with whatever mixture of pooch comes to live with me, but it's fun learning about where different breeds come from. Like me, many pups have ancestors that come from different places.

Practicing hand embroidery, something I hadn't done in years - since I got a machine capable of emboridery - is just the kind of travel activity that keeps me . . .

Enchanted By Sewing!

~ ~ ~

 Resources
                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Enchanted By Sewing Audio Podcast: Back In Town- A combination of a field trip report and sewing reflections http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2015/06/ench-by-sew-33back-in-town.html

                                                 

Romancing the Dress - Periwinkle Blue Anjelica Cotton Knit Cutie

Laurel in Anjelica at San Francisco Legion of Honor

Did You Make That? 

Yep!

I 'm pretty pleased with this new periwinkle blue cotton knit dress I sewed, using one of the many  patterns included in my recently purchased  Famous Frocks: The Little Black Dress: Patterns for 20 Garments Inspired by Fashion Icons. I'm pretty cautious about buying books with included patterns (what if I only like one?) , but I find the entire book very inspirational, and I'm envisioning sewing several of the other dresses.

This romantically styled frock is the "Anjelica Jolie" dress. I used the darts and no-sleeve styling from the top variation, and the straight of grain and cotton knit from the dress version. I tried wearing a narrow belt at the true waist, but it looked awful on me - it just didn't suit my H-shaped figure. Also I think, maybe, it's too blousy at the top to suit a woman with more bust if it's belted too low. Emphasizing the bosom with a wide belt worn just below the bust line looks better. Sometimes I just have to try every belt and waistline in my wardrobe to get it right. This is the belt I created for my peaches and cream shirtwaist dress. It's 3 inch wide black elastic with a simple slider no-tongue belt buckle.

I felt very Cinderlla-ish wearing this dress to the San Francisco Legion of Honor museum this last week, especially since I was going to see a fashion exhibit, High Style, The Broklyn Museum Costume Collection. I got a nice compliment from the young woman who rented the audio head set. She liked it that I had dressed up for the exhibit. I enjoyed that being dressed up feeling, and I was really comfortable too. I'm thinking this light frock will be nice for travel, what do you think?

Yes, this book is inspiring me to make more. I've already begun making a muslin for the princess-seamed Princess Diana sheath dress and I have my eyes on the Grace Kelly dress, based on one she wore, and I loved, in the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rear Window. Do you remember the scene towards the end, where Lisa (Grace) hides her Vogue magazine inside a very studious looking hardback book to fake Jimmy Stewart into thinking she's getting serious about important issues?

If I sew each of these, that's three patterns. I interested in trying the variations on them as well - some of which aren't typical of what you'd find in a pattern envelope. I'm going to try the top variation for this Anjelica pattern (in a woven) as well. I'm attracted to a couple of the other patterns, particularly the Coco Channel jersey dress, in the sleeveless variation. My guess is that I'll be sewing at least half the patterns in the book, if not more.

One thing I found great about using patterns from this book,versus buying an individual pattern, is that there  is an extensive part of the book that covers sewing techniques. These are different than just following directions from a pattern instruction sheet, because they help me to better develop my overall sewing skills, and I'm not blindly following steps that I might not understand. Once I've used two or three of these patterns, the cost of the book compares favorably with the purchase of the same number of pattern (even with pattern discounts), and the educational sewing skill-building advantage makes it worth more to me, than buying those individual patterns.

                               

Experimenting: Singleton Button Making - Learning Precision

Most of my recreation time right now is going into my Moulage/French Pattern Drafting class. I don't have a lot to blog about in that regards this week, because there's a lot of repetition in my homework. I'm working on creating a sloper this week, but it looks an awful lot like the moulage!

~ ~ ~

For a little fun between muslin sewing and pattern drafting, I've been playing around, learning to create Singleton Buttons.

These are my attempts at Singleton Buttons to date.

Since I'm not yet there when it comes to getting a clean, precise edge, I'm not yet concerning myself with creating the thread shanks with which I would fasten them to a garment.

Clockwise from top left
The button with more yellow flowers has a piece of thin fused quilt batting, cut the same size as the full pattern
The pink flower has no interfacing
The purple flower has a piece of paper, cut about the same dimensions as the metal ring

I've mentioned many times that I'm working on learning to be more precise.Playing with creating my own Singleton Buttons, looks like a good way to get some practice in. There's something about the way I need to learn to hold things and work with the needle when it comes to getting that precise edge I'm after.

My favorite so far, is the top left button. I used a thin piece of quilt batting in that one.

Next, I'll experiment with rings of a slightly larger diameter. I think that might make those tight, precise, edges more achievable.

~ Basic Techniques~

- I made a pattern circle, 2 and a half times the diameter of the metal ring.  I scored some welded metal rings at my local hardware store. I'm sure you could buy something at a fabric store that's actually intended for this purpose.

I've tried different kinds of inside bits.
In this attempt, I simply used a piece of paper.
That wouldn't actually wash well ,but I wanted to see how the edge worked.

 - Then I ran a basting stitch about 1/8 inch away from the edge of my circle, tightened it up, and stitched back and forth to cover the edges.

- The 'X' on the front of this button was basting stitches, to hold that piece of interfacing paper in place

- After I stitched the back closed, I stitched around the inside edge of the metal ring.

- At this point, in the future,  I'll stitch up a thread shank -  I'll be doing that once I'm happier with the way the buttons are starting to look.

Ench By Sew-025: Restyling

Hey! 

The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Listening Option I) You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link

http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/FINALCastOct2014RestylingEnchantedBySewing.mp3

~ OR ~

Listening Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes 
( https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enchanted-by-sewing/id566370325)

This month’s show  is  Restylin’.
It all came about when I started shaking the dreams from my hair. Restylin' is about my transition in sewing and wardrobe style . It involves looking at patterns in a new-to-me way, and working my brain around ways I want clothes to fit me.

The Enchanted by Sewing Podcast is, an extension of my regular sewing blog - Me Encanta Coser, which,  roughly translated means, Enchanted By Sewing 

My blog is written in English. The name celebrates the historical and modern use of the beautiful Spanish Language in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where I live. 

This month I’m working on creating two tee shirts M6078 and V8323. The details are in these blog postings from MeEncantaCoser.blogspot.com
V8323 - Princess Seamed - Katherine Tilton Tee http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/10/princess-seamed-tee-shirt-pattern-work.html

M6078 - Retro Style Polka Dot Cowl Neck Knit top - Reminiscent of I Love Lucy http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/10/reworking-retro-style-polka-dot-tee.html

1) Pensamientos Primeros
– (Sewing) For my wardrobe’s sake (How about those red accents!)
2) Technicos  
Reworking my sewing style/methods. Pattern alteration experiences.
3) Pensamientos Finales
Transitions - Restyling  

David Crosby sang, 
“I almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day . . .”

4) Epiologue 
Redefining what I want to create

Vogue - Sofía Vergara http://www.vogue.com/865250/sofia-vergara-dangerous-curves/

* * *
Restyling has me  shaking the dreams from my hair.   That’s just one more thing that keeps me . . . 
Enchanted by Sewing.

Technicos: Sewing and Showing My Bias (Cutting and Sewing Bias Strips) (Seam Finish and More)

How I make bias strips

1) After straightening the fabric. I fold it (so I get more strips). Then I lay it square along my cutting grid and draw a straight line that runs carefully through the 45 degree angle line. 

2) Then I lay a gridded ruler carefully and precisely along that line. I move the ruler up however many inches I want the width of my bias strip to be.

3) The farthest edges come out with a little triangular bulge. If it's important to have the print in the same direction, then I'll snip the two ends off after I seam these two together.

4) But if I don't care how the print comes out. I can match up the two ends, by flipping one strip the other way. After I sew that seam, I'll snip the ends off to the right of the seam line.

Confusing the Censors. Google on a White Horse?

Articles in this news this week, in regards to new encryption techniques, paint Google in a very chivalrous role. I was tempted to illustrate this post with an Arthurian knight on a milk-white steed. However, the real hero here may well be the patient end-user who works around censorship on a day-to-day basis.

How might  this weeks move by Google to encrypt searches, impact regular folks here and in China?

For me... nothing much. If I want to search for information about Mao Hengfeng, a woman human rights activist in China, I can do so here in the San Francisco Bay Area. But very likely I won't get any results with the same search in mainland China.

Google's new implementation of search encryption could mean that my search will no longer be waylaid by government censors. Whether at home or abroad, I should now be able to bring up her wikipedia, and other, web pages.

But there's another way to carry out this search in China, and it uses techniques (Do we notice the connection to technology?)  that have been in use since power struggling between people first began. Anybody whose ever read Sherlock Holmes or a WWII spy-thriller knows how this works. The method involves someone in or outside of the community setting up coded words and phrases. If I want to search on Mao Hengfeng in Peking, very likely I know, or I ask around, until I find out her alternate name. And once the censors figure out the code and ban it by digital censorship, than the word gets out in the underground about a new name or phrase that brings up the same information.

Chinese censors are probably already at work figuring out a way around Google's encrypted searches, but regular people, using technology as old as the hills, are one step ahead of Google's white horse.

~ ~ ~ 

Web Resources

NPR Avoiding the Great Firewall Internet Censors: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=220106496

Mao Hengfeng: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Hengfeng

Great Firewall's Next Hurdle http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/12/google-is-encrypting-search-worldwide-thats-bad-for-the-nsa-and-china/

Silicon Valley Tech News http://www.siliconvalley.com

Technicos: Show it Off and Be Proud!

Sometimes I'm really tempted to note in this journal all the stuff I'm not happy with in my sewing projects like.....
- The quality or composition of the photo (or both)
- How I stood or where I was, when wearing it for the photo!
- The fit of the garment - It's never perfect!
- My sewing technique
- The color just isn't me
- The fabric is cheesy, or not right for the style
- The style is not flattering for me, or maybe for anyone
- the list could go on and on

But I don't! The art of presentation is just one more technique I've picked up from sewing class.

In class we always have a presentation day at the end and/or middle of the semester. On that great day, we stand up in front of everybody and show off our creations. And of course, quite often, half or more of the class tells you everything that's wrong with their work ...
This makes me look fat! I should have increased the seam allowance by 1/4 inch.
Usually these $30 Vogue pattern ensembles are perfect for me, but I wish I'd chosen another pattern. 
This expensive, silk charmeuse fabric was really hard to sew with, and so I made a lot of mistakes. I mean look at this hem! Look at these seams! 
I spent so long on the pattern and it fit fine in the muslin, but when I cut it out in my fabric, it looks awful. And I didn't have time to do anything else but make this thing I'm never going to wear.

Then it's my turn to stand up. I think to myself .. Gee their fabric is much more luxurious than the budget stuff I used. They finished every seam on the inside and pick-stitched their zipper. Their figure is model-perfect and they can wear styles that fits like a glove! If they think that about their garment, they're just going to laugh at mine.

Then I remember what I practiced saying to myself, stand up straight and tall. No matter what I think of the garment at this point - and I'm often pretty sick of it (!) - I say something like this...

I bet we've all sewn the
Bee-Bop dress at one
time or another!

Wow, I just love this Bee-Bop dress. I thought the pattern looked great when I saw it on the freebie counter, and  knew it would be perfect for this yellow and virulent green polyester caterpillar print I've had in my fabric inventory since somebody gave it to me back in 1972! It's got such a vintage look and I'm really looking forward to wearing it to my next college reunion. 

And the funny thing is, that suddenly the Bee-Bop dress starts to look kind of cute and people are complimenting me on it.

Sometimes, it's putting on the right attitude that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing 

Technicos:Let's Snap To It

Things I learned about sewing on snaps today.

1) If your needle and snap will handle it, you might want to use 4 threads, that's two lengths of thread through the needle, hanging down on either side. Why not add a little extra security, eh?

2) Work just on the right side (RS). Trim the knotted end and position the snap above the knot to hide it, and keep the back side neat

3) When I finish sewing on the snap, I now run the (threaded) needle through the threads beneath the snap piece (the half of the snap I'm currently sewing to the garment). After I knot the end several times, I snip close to the knot right on top and bury it underneath the snap piece.

Here's a nice posting from Ashley's "Make it and Love it" blog, with lots of useful information about using and sewing snaps. Thanks Ashley!

The Lady Wears Trousers: Mystery of the Double Needle

 I knew what twin needles did and I loved the look of the belt loops on  commercial jeans (as well as their use to embellish other bits of jean'ery).  But for some reason, it never occurred to me that I would learn how to sew with a twin needle. That skill was for a sewist who really knew how to sew well, somebody who had taken sewing classes.

Do you ever find yourself creating mental blocks like that without realizing it? Apparently I was able to pass Calculus (and that as a teenager), hold down professional work at a young age, and bear and raise a child but a twin needle was beyond me.

Well no more.

I was inspired by the desire for classy belt loops. During my pants construction class, I was told a few secrets concerning the wiley twin needle. They aren't that all secret.

While using the double needle
I sat this thread holder behind my machine

1. Though my machine doesn't have a spot for the  two spools of thread needed to run through the two different needles, there are a variety of ways to mount them. One is an external thread holder. I'm sorry I don't know what they are called. I bought mine for less than $20.00 at a Viking dealer.  It looks like this.

When I watched Lynda Maynard, who taught my Pants Construction Class, use her double needle, I learned that you simply run the thread from both spools of thread along the same standard thread channels. They don't get tangled or unhappy running together. I was pleased to realize that I wasn't the only student who found the whole deal unfamiliar. Even the lady who has never bought a commercial pattern, because she just whips up her own, was surprised by the thread dancing merrily together.

2. Another cool thing about the twin needle, that I learned from Lynda, is that the back side of double needling makes a zig zag stitch. So, I can count on that stitch to cover up any rough edges on the back side of what I'm sewing.

3. With the magic of the twin needle, I can simple put wrong sides together on a strip of fabric to make my belt loops, zig zag the long edge, then press the resulting tube with this external seam running down the middle. Entonces, I run a line of twin needling down the non-seamed side and ¡Qué bien!  a strip ready to be cut into belt loops.

Belt Loop Strip, Ready to Go!

Here's the front side of the twin needle's work
I sewed this sample on a piece of crinole, which is a
slightly sheer material. So the back stitches show a little bit

Here's the back side of the double needle's work
Notice the zig zag

The Lady Wears Trousers: Inseam Pocket Checklist

Inseam Pockets

Elastic Waist Pants Under Construction
The long strip is the Stay for the garment front
The pocket and stay are cut from "Drill"
The Leash running from the top of the Drill pocket
up into the waistband is cut from Silk Organza - sturdy yet light

* 1. Notes 

* 2. Checklist

1. Notes

1.   Pocket bags can be cut any shape that works for person wearing. Make sure they are cut deep enough!

2.   Remember to add extension to pant front and back when CUTTING OUT pattern

3.   Adding extension to front and back of pants (skirt) helps match up where pocket bag fits in better (for me) than notches

4.   Use continuous stitching wherever possible

5.   Remember to mark F and B and Right Sides (RS) of all four pieces

6.   Cut pocket leash from Silk Organza for front of pocket only. This will tie into the waistband, will not add bulk and keep pocket in place

7.   This is also an excellent time to stay the fork of the crotch (fronts only)

2. Inseam pocket checklist

1.  Cut stays from selvage edge or folded muslin strip at least an extra inch above and below

1.           Make sure opening fits hand At least six inches wide

2.  Reinforce front and backs along pocket opening an inch or two above and below hand opening

1.           Sew Stay openings to fronts and backs

3.  Press stays

4.  Pin all four pocket bags carefully

1.           Eyeball check both fronts to backs, make sure it all seems to be laying correctly for the garment

2.           Sew all four pocket bags to fronts and backs. Use a 3/8” Seam Allowances (SA)

5.  Press SA

1.           Towards pockets

2.           With Pockets facing out

3.           Press each SA open

6.  Grade front SAs only

7.  FiNISH seam edges

8.  Hand baste front pocket bags to back along across opening

9.  Sew side seams above and below

10.      Reinforce stressnpoints

11.      Press step three

12.      Sew pocket bags

13.      Deal with extended leash here. BASTE to waistline marking

14.      Catch front seam in stitching

15.      Seam finish edges

16.      Clip bottom, back SA to but not through

17.      Press open below clip

18.      Press pocket towards garment

19.      Catchup pocket leash with basting in waist area

* I take sewing classes in the Cañada College Fashion Department, Redwood City, California