Pattern Re-tinkered...

Believe it or not, I'm actually home in New Hampshire at the moment. At least until Saturday! So I just wasn't happy with the pattern I turned out last week. I liked the overall concept, but I wanted to tinker with the gathering and the back bodice. I'm happy to report that while I was in Detroit over the weekend, I pulled it out and worked on a fix!



The result in blue! I changed the fabric from the heavier home dec weight to a light cotton from Kaffe Fassett, one of my favorite designers. I tried to use this fabric before for my daughter, but made the dress way too small. This time she declared, "it fits perfectly!", and it does. Best thing for her is the twirly factor of course.



The changes I made are subtle, but made a big difference. I added gathering on the front skirt, took out some fullness in the back bodice, and added piping all the way around the seam between the bodice and the skirt. I briefly considered putting rickrack on the lower band, but decided against it. There is so much pattern in the fabric that it didn't really need anything else!



My daughter has been happily wearing her new dress all day, so looks like it's a keeper! Nothing looks crisper in the summer than classic blue and white. I guess I'll have to make another one for my upcoming show in a little over one week! Yipes! Off to get dirty making cement tent weights. Argh...

Pattern in Progress...

In order to stay productive while I'm on the road, I try to do things that take lots of time, but that don't require scissors!! Alas, TSA isn't real keen on 8" dressmakers. So, my solution is to bring tracing paper, a small ruler, and a few basic patterns that I use to create new ones. Last week I decided to take the tea party dress and change things up.



So, here I am in Orlando, and am mulling over some changes I want to make this week to the pattern I created last week. I've been toying with the idea of crossover straps in the back of a sundress for awhile. I wanted something easy to wear and comfortable. To that end I decided to elasticize the back. I took the front of the tea party bodice, and made it all one piece and then added two straps that button in the back. The back is just a simple rectangle with some extra width to make it easy to pull on and off.



I'm thinking that I added too much "ease" in the back so I'll be making the back width about 2" smaller in this next incarnation. I'm also thinking that the dress is a little schizofrenic in that the front skirt doesn't have any extra fullness, but the back does. So back to the drawing board, except I can't decide whether I want to make a gathered front, or a flat back!! Decisions, decisions. My daughter may have the final say though because she was rather upset that her dress wasn't "twirly"! Ah, the whims of 4 year old girls...



You can see that the bodice has a small curve on the front. This is a perfect place to put a little piping (ah, you know I can't resist). In this case I chose a deep aqua whipstitch piping, and in the next phase I'm going to put this all the way around the back too. I also might add a little bit of rickrack to the bottom of the skirt where it meets the band...or maybe some ribbon...you can never have too many details. Well, you can, but you know what I mean.





In this last picture you can see what I mean by schizo. I love the overall shape of this dress, but I think it needs to either be gathered all the way around, or flat all the way around. Now that I think about it, I'm going to do both. I think that with the heavier home dec fabric that I used here from Anna Maria Horner's drawing room collection, it should probably be flat all the way around. When I make a gathered style, I'll use a lighter weight cotton so that the fullness isn't as heavy.



Either way, I'll be making this a little shorter. I have a tendency to err on the side of longer length because they grow so fast! But sometimes I think it's easier for girls to wear dresses if they don't get in the way of playtime. Because really that's what it's all about anyway...

Fabric Inspiration

I wish I had had enough time to put together the combinations I have planned in my mind with these fabrics. But let's just say it's been a heck of a week.



I got home from my trip at 2am Tuesday. My daughter decided it was a good idea to wake up at 6:45am, something she never does. I tried to shake out the cobwebs all morning, but neglected to remember that I had brought my sewing machine down to be tuned up the previous Thursday. I didn't even venture into my studio for fear of screwing something up. So we decided to spend the day outside, doing a little physical labor stacking wood. I was ready for a day of sewing on Wednesday.

I went to my studio first thing in the morning to discover that indeed my sewing machine didn't sprout wings and it was a good 40 minute drive to go pick it up. It was still early and I decided I could still salvage a bit of sewing time if I scooted down and back. Yes, you guessed it, it wasn't meant to be. A flat rear tire greeted me at my car! After changing the tire, going to the mechanic, receiving the bad news that it couldn't be saved and I would need 4 new tires (!), I decided to stay at home until I had to pick up my child at pre-school and cut, cut, cut. At least I have 5 dresses cut out and waiting for me when I get home again.

After picking it up Wednesday afternoon, I sat down to get busy early Thursday morning. And IT DIDN'T WORK! It's a conspiracy. So, back down to the repairman. Share your sewing machine tales of woe, it will make me feel a lot better...





So these are the fabrics I picked up last week at G Street. The silk chiffon is going to become a skirt for me! And the green bird fabric from Etsuko Furuya is a total favorite. I picked it up in Portland on the same trip. You should have seen me schlepping about 10 yards of fabric around for 3 days! It wasn't pretty. The orange nubby cotton is very sheer and will be used for accents. The pink herringbone is heavier, and will most likely become a yoke, and the purple cotton/poly blend will be the basis for some fun skirts.

That's right, I'm already thinking about fabrics for fall! It's really hard when the warm weather is just around the corner, but if I don't plan now, I'll be scrambling in July. When I decide on combos, I'll give you all a sneak peek.

The other thing I've been thinking about lately is the CPSIA labeling requirements that will become effective in August. So, more about that soon. Happy Sewing!!

Fabric Store Blues...

Well, only sort of. I actually scored some beautiful fabrics (pictures will be forthcoming, I promise) today at G Street Fabrics just outside of Washington, D.C.. But it has really changed from the last time I was there which, in all honesty, is about 10 years ago.

That being said, I found some amazing textured fabrics, one in pink herringbone, which I can't wait to use, some cotton jersey in apple green and pink, and the most wonderful nubby orange lightweight cotton that I'll use as an accent here and there. I was also on the lookout for a coordinate to a couple of Japanese fabrics I recently ordered. I'll sneak peek it for you as soon as I get the bolts, but they take a little time...

I spent 3 hours at the fabric store today. Unencumbered by my child and knowing that I had all afternoon there, I spent the first 30 minutes scoping the place out. Next thing was to hone in on some beautiful textured cottons. Finally, I wound up talking to an incredibly helpful employee of the store, Lucia. She was the buyer for at least 15 years, and largely responsible for the amazing selection and quality. And here's where the blues come in. She told me that many, many suppliers in Europe have closed. Beautiful European laces, batistes, piques, etc. are all gone. While the selection of fabrics for seamstresses is still the best outside of New York, I missed touching all those wonderful bolts that I remembered. Oh, I know it's easier and cheaper to buy ready-to-wear, but being the tactile person that I am, I really miss having great quality fabric stores in every town. Sigh...

Anyway, if you go to G Street, ask for Lucia, and be prepared to walk out with way more fabric than you intended to purchase! She talked me into buying a couple yards of a gorgeous silk chiffon print that I have absolutely no idea what to do with!! But I'm sure I'll think of something...

How to Insert Piping in a Collar

Sometime ago I thought it would be helpful to some of you to see my method of inserting piping into my creations. I LOVE piping, as if you couldn't tell. I have no stamina for ruffles or tiers, but for a bit of piping, I'll do whatever I can to put it here and there. So again, I'm not a sewing expert, but this is how I put piping on just about everything.



First things first. If you have decided to use piping more often, or if you find cutting the seam allowance a real drag, this ruler is a must. It is the DARR Piping Magic Ruler and it has made my life SO much easier. It is a little clear ruler with grooves on the underside. If you need a 5/8" allowance, you just put your piping in that groove, and with a rotary blade, go right down the edge, and it'll give you a perfect seam allowance.

My seam allowance happens to be 1/4", so I put my finished piping in that groove, and took off the excess edge. Perfect. On to my next trick of the trade.



Some of you may know WonderTape from other applications like zippers. I swear by the stuff for piping. WonderTape is a wash-away double sided sticky tape that doesn't gum up your needle. I apply it to one side of my piping seam allowance and voila, no more pinning. Not only that, but it keeps your piping right where you want it when you stitch it down. With pins, the piping still wants to wiggle around a bit. With the tape, that problem is solved.



Apply it to one side of your piping. It's best to avoid the stitching, so try to get it right onto the seam allowance only. Make sure to leave the paper on for now, and run your fingers along the length of piping and tape, just to make sure you have it on well enough. You'll be pulling the paper backing off next.



So now you have your collar and the collar lining. Set aside the lining for now. Start pulling off a little of the paper backing. You have now revealed the other side of the tape.



Start on the outside edge of the collar (not the neck edge), and apply a bit of piping. If your collar is rounded like mine, you'll want to clip a little (just to the stitching near the cord, not through it) to ease the piping around the corner. You can clip right through the seam allowance and tape together. Press the piping down onto the edge of the collar, with seam allowances matching.



Continue pressing and clipping until you have made it all the way around the outside edge. You can leave a little bit of the piping out at the edge.

Now it's time to stitch the piping to your lining. You might ask why this is necessary as it is already pressed down to the fabric. The reason you still have to stitch it is because the stitch line will provide you a guide for where to stitch when you put it together with the collar lining. Your piping won't be as neat if you skip this step.



You want to first stitch the piping right on top of the stitching of the actual piping itself. In my gingham piping, I'll be stitching directly on top of the white thread.



So, now that the piping has been sewn down, go ahead and pin your lining fabric with right sides together. In my case, I used the same fabric, but you could use a solid, or coordinating fabric, etc.





Here comes the tricky part. And it's not really that tricky, you just have to stitch carefully. You are going to be doing something called "squeezing the piping." You want to sew a straight stitch just to the left of your original stitch line. This will ensure that none of the thread from the actual piping will show through on the right side of the collar.



Hopefully you can see from the picture what this looks like.
If you sew too close to the original row of stitching, you will see the thread. If you sew too far away, you will have squeezed too much, and not enough of the piping will show from the right side. If this happens, just get out your seam ripper, and try, try, again!





In this picture, my finger is pointing to an area where I didn't sew far enough away from my original stitch line, and I'll have to go back and stitch a little closer to the cord in the piping. The key to making piping look neat is to make sure that none of those stitches show.



I then go back and make one more pass into the seam allowance in lieu of clipping the whole thing. Clipping the seam allowance allows for the curves to lay flat, but I've found it somewhat easier to just run another line of stitching and cut all the excess seam allowance away.



Then, just turn your collar, and carefully press.




You're done! See, that wasn't so hard...





Now, on the dress I am making, I wanted some piping on the seam between the bodice and skirt too. On this particular seam, there is a 1/2" seam allowance. So, I put the piping 1/2" up, using the wondertape method.




I want to reduce the bulk of the seam by cutting away a little of the cord. Gently open up the piping, grasp the cord, and pull a little out. Clip the cord back to where you think the seam will be, and straighten the piping back out.



This will make a nicer seam where the two side seams meet. If at all possible, sew the side seams first, then add the piping. It's easier, and looks nicer too.



Happy sewing..., oh and I thought you might want to see the finished product!

Sneak Peek

love. That's all I'm gonna say...

Concord Arts Market!

Well, for the past month, I've been gearing up for the opening day of the Concord Arts Market in downtown Concord, NH! Opening day is May 30th, so if you are in the area, come on down and check us out. If it is anything like last year, there will be some amazing handmade crafts, and definitely something for everyone. There is usually some live music, and this year it's rain or shine. The farmer's market is right next door, so get some delicious locally grown food, see some wonderful artisans, and grab one of my favorite sandwiches in the world (the tomato, mozzarella, basil) from Madeleine's on Main Street. Oh, and their raspberry palmier are my favorite in the whole wide world, and I can really say that!



I'm starting to get that nervous feeling already, as I know I don't have nearly enough finished. I especially want to focus on my collection, but when there are so many great new things to try out, it's hard to go back and make more sizes of the same. Anyone else have this problem? Even now I'm planning on a few new knit styles for summer. Ugh, so many great designs, so little time.

I'm in Minneapolis right now, but next week it's off to Washington, D.C. where one of my favorite fabric stores awaits. I first found G Street Fabrics when I was a student. I haven't been able to get back there for at least 10 years, and I am chomping at the bit to go. We arrive in D.C. around 11:30am, so I'll be there by 1pm at the latest. Wahoo! The thing is, there are plenty of quilting cottons to be had in the bold and colorful prints I love. But there just aren't that many fabric stores that cater to clothes-making any more.

When I was a little girl, my Mother and I had terrible battles over clothes shopping. I was extremely picky about fit, color, and conformity. See, I just wanted to blend in to the crowd because I was so shy. So, if we couldn't find anything ready-to-wear, it was off to the fabric store to get all different colors of gabardine for slacks, and cotton prints for tops. No skirts for me. Thank goodness I didn't pass the picky gene on to my own daughter! Back then, there were fabric stores everywhere. Now you are pretty much relegated to JoAnn's, which for me isn't ideal. So, thank goodness there are still some fabric stores that have fabric for actual clothes and not just quiltmaking. I'm particularly on the lookout for eyelet, anything with texture, and jersey knit. I'll keep you posted...