Category: Patterns

April Calendar, Easter Bags and ??

thumb_908_72369_LaceundiesVSStyle_3
thumb_614_72369_LaceundiesVSStyle_2
I knew that would get your attention 🙂
You just never know what you’re going to get at Show and Tell. The comment that made our day was, “If I wore those, my husband would have the big one…….I mean like heart attack!!”
This is a free pattern on Craftsy. Download link is here. Our sewist got her stretch lace at SR Harris for $.99 a yard. I think there is some at Joann’s too. She’s made a pair for herself (and loves them) and her niece. Maybe something to put in an Easter basket?

photo 7

It’s our April bag of the month. Quick and easy to whip up and made inside and out from laminated cotton. Have fun making them at Chanhassen Vac Center on Thursday, April 17 or 24th, afternoons or evenings (see calendar below) or at one of our Sewing and Serging times at Hancock. Use your fabric or ours.

And then there’s the calendar:
April Fashion Sewing Club Dates:
Saturday, April 12, 10:30 at Treadle Yard Goods

Classes:

Treadle Yard Goods: 651-698-9690,www.treadleyardgoods.com
Kids After School Sewing Club
Tuesday, April 8, 22, May 6, 20, 4:30-6:00
Basic Sergery and Beyond, April 26, May 3, 10, 1:00-3:00

First Sewing, Bloomington Hancock Fabrics
*Please register with Material Girls website or call us at 952-201-3863
Sewing and Serging with the Material Girls
Monday, April 14,10:00-12:00, 2:00-4:00 and 6:00-8:00
Monday, April 21, 10:00-12:00, 2:00-4:00, 6:00-8:00
After School Sewing
Monday, April 14, 4:30-6
Monday, April 21, 4:30-6
Serger Club, April 17, 10:30-12:30

Chanhassen Vacuum Center: http://www.chanvac.com
*Please register on Material Girls website or call us at 952-201-3863

Sewing and Serging with the Material Girls
Thursday, April 17, 1:30-3:30 or 6-8 pm
Thursday, April 24, 1:00-3:00 or 6-8 pm
Kids After School Sewing
Thursday, April 17, 4:30-6:00
Thursday, April 24, 4:30-6:00

Highlights of February Fashion Sewing Club

Club sheets and garment photos have been posted but I thought I might give a more conversational overview-for more detail, you can go to the original sheets (click on Club Sheets heading above).

Debbie started out with a new KwikSew dress pattern (4026)

KS4026
KS4026
but cowls can be finicky. She didn’t like the look and I remembered a Threads article on making a cowl from a regular neckline-you just make slits from the neck toward center bust and open the slits. I suggested she just sew the “slits” together as pleats-kind of like Katherine Tilton’s new blouse (Butterick 6026).
Butterick 6026
Butterick 6026
Debbie used New Look 0180 as a guide.
New Look 6184/0180
New Look 6184/0180

IMG_0237The dress looks great-as Debbie said, “Lemons to lemonade”. Fabric is from Treadle Yard Goods.

My favorite this month was a combination of MCCalls 6884 and 6513.

McCalls 6884
McCalls 6884
McCalls 6513
McCalls 6513
I started with the wrap dress (6884) IMG_0248and eliminated the vertical hem on the outer skirt by sewing it into the seam. Another essential change is to serge 1/4″ elastic in the the narrow hem on neck edge. This holds the neckline together and feels very secure.
IMG_0247
I wanted a little more “noise” around my face so I compared McCalls 6513 to the dress pattern. The armhole was lower in 6513 and I really liked the fit of 6884 so I just copied the shirred neck and facing (all one piece) from 6513 and added it to 6884. Worked pretty much like a charm. The other great part about this wrap is that nothing shows when you bend forward!

I also had to give Burda 6990 a try.

Burda 6990
Burda 6990
Debbie made the funnel neck last month and I tried the big cowl-View E. It meant finding a 3 yd. piece of fabric in my stash but it was worth it! The fabric is a soft cotton knit and the cowl is big enough to stretch over my shoulders (like I see in the magazines :)) The cowl is sewn to a broad boat neck so no low neckline.
IMG_0234
Check out more info on the Club Sheets or contact us if you have questions.

And thanks to all of you that attended and brought show and tell. Sew inspirational!!

February and March Club Meetings

Garment photos and Fashion Sewing Club sheets have been posted for both February and March. Both months were much fun and we want to thank all of you that attend. Show and Tell is always inspirational and just in case you need a little something to get you going, here are a few highlights-

Marge sports Claire’s original coat design for Hearts for Fashion show

Center for Pattern Design Spiral Top

The cutest undies a grandma could make!
Pattern by that *darn* cat

And, nope, I’m not making toddler underwear-yet 🙂

Happy Easter and happy spring sewing!

Pattern Surfing

I can’t believe it’s only a week and a half until Club again, but I guess that’s what happens when the month only has 28 days (and other calendar events take up the days). So I was websurfing for new patterns and I noticed that Vogue has been featuring pictures of the back of garments that I hadn’t seen before. After some investigating it looks like the newer patterns from BMV (Butterick-Vogue-McCall’s) feature a straight-on photo of the back of the garment. Here are a few that caught my eye-

V8805

V8875

V8875

(Here’s the link to go to BMV site-8875 8805)
See how straight-on the photos are? Older patterns have a back view but the model is usually standing at an angle and you don’t get a true back view.

The colorblock dress photo shows the lower seam a bit stretched out and allows you to see where it cuts the model (of course that may vary with body lengths).

The long green vintage coat (which I love from the front)
isn’t too flattering from the back but as you look at the dress, her backside looks much better. Hmmm…we know it’s the same backside so maybe it’s because the skirt of the dress is straighter OR (and I have told myself that this is the correct reason) the coat waist falls too low on the model and makes her look frumpy. Agree?/Disagree? (Can you tell how badly I want this coat to look good on me?)

Simplicity/New Look/Burda only show the line drawings of the back of the garment. Too bad as it is half of the garment.

Maybe the BMV people listened when we all complained about the gymnastic poses of the Vogue winter pattern models and at least gave us one picture of reality. I’m happy they did-whatever the reason. Choosing the pattern is half the battle. Speaking of battles, I better get back to my scissors-

Here’s a little something to brighten the cloudy day:

Coffee Break Perusing

Guest Post from Kenzie Carlson

Dear Sewists,

Here are a few examples of how I use Pattern Review (patternreview.com).

I’m having a great time experimenting with making knit tee’s in a non-bias fashion using the bias Burda pattern 7509. I wondered if there’s a simple men’s tee pattern…not that I want to switch gears to make something for my husband at this time. So, I looked at Pattern Review during my coffee break from sewing.

I found this posting that has directions on how to make a design on freezer paper, iron it to the shirt, and spray paint. Now, how cool is that!

I noticed that this sewer has 85 reviews, so I took a look to see what other creative things she has:

Then, THIS Amy Butler bag took my eye because MOST Amy Butler bags are made with colorful quilting material. This had wording and looked different! Turns out, it’s made with rice bags, plus there’s an inside insulated pocket for refrigerated items when using for market purchases. (This is a very creative sewer!!)

Weeks ago, killing time looking at Accessories on Pattern Review, I came across this Obi Bag from Sewing Workshop. Turns out the pattern is OOP, but by reading the reviews, I think I can duplicate it. I found material and it’s in the hopper, waiting to be made.

This sewer has 60 reviews and here’s more inspiration to tack onto my “to do” sewing list:


As I’ve mentioned before, daily (usually!), I scan the Review Gallery (under Sewing Reviews on the home page, 1/2 way down the left side) for inspiration. Pattern Review has a variety of garments and you never know what will be posted.

I look at other websites/facebook, too, such as Tilton and Sagers, which are wonderful for ideas especially on different looks for one pattern; how to change things up to get the most out of one pattern. To me, this is extremely important because the pattern work of fitting is the most time consuming. Once something fits (darts in right place, shorten/lengthen lines adjusted, etc), then the fun can begin!

Coffee break done – back to sewing!

The Link to Bapron

Fashion Sewing Club Show and Tell at Treadle was awesome yesterday. While it was fresh in my mind I went looking on pinterest for the instructions for a “bapron” (as in baby + apron). Just a small piece of oilcloth or laminated cotton and some bias seam binding. I was unsuccessful at getting a picture into the blog so you’ll just have to go to the link to see how cute and simple a bapron is.

Or maybe you want to send me a picture, Margo, and I can put it in the blog 🙂

Fun With Colorblocking

Contributed by Carrie Diamont

This idea started after I went through my fabric stash and started categorizing by color. I found a nice gray knit and another knit that was gray with purple stripes (Debbie had given it to me-some of her scraps). The two fabrics just looked great together but both were only about 1/2 a yard or so. I’m not very creative when it comes to color blocking so I wanted to find a pattern that basically offered me the creativity I wanted with out having to think about how to do it myself.

I found Kwik Sew 3842 awhile ago and loved the lines in this pattern -I think this pattern can be used for a great slimming affect. I decided my two gray knits would be a great muslin opportunity to try out this pattern. I admit I have a phobia of wearing anything with horizontal stripes – even very thin stripes! So to counteract any girth that could be added by the horizontal stripes, I kept the solid gray on the outside to create a column effect. The pattern went together quickly-very simple- the triangles were not difficult to sew on my serger at all. I made no adjustments to the pattern. I’m very pleased with the result and I hope to play around with some other color block combinations in the future. The pattern also comes with an attractive v-neck, long sleeve option.

From Princess Wrap to Princess Dress

Recently in an active wear catalog I found a dress with a center panel and ruching at the midrift area along both sides of the center panel. I thought – now that’s a clever way to hide a stomach pouch! I already had the Christine Jonson Princess Wrap Top which has a center front with ruching on one side.

First I made the top to try out the fit. The fit was fine – but the v-neck was a bit deep for me. To make the dress I added an inch to the neckline to give me more coverage. I also added a back center seam which gave me the ability to add shaping to the back. In order to create ruching on both sides, initially I tried to follow the model of the pattern which – because it is gathered on only one side- the pattern bows out along the gathered side to create a nice drape on the opposite side. Well, trying to create this on both sides of my center panel piece just wasn’t a good idea. A much simpler path would have been to keep both edges of the center front straight and then extend the length of the panel to account for the gathering. (The reason my initial idea didn’t work is because it created a ‘drape’ of extra material in the front area. You don’t want drape across your stomach – that added to the pouch.)

To determine the appropriate width and line of the skirt I followed the skirt pattern from Christine Jonson’s Wrap Dress. I found the key to ensure the gathering around the midriff is flattering is to keep the ruching under the bust and not too far down into the stomach region. Also – keep the gathering even on both sides and fairly tight across the front – if it looks to loose, it looks sloppy and like extra weight. Sorry the pictures with the pattern fabric I used make it a bit difficult to see the ruching.

It’s all about the fabric

I bought this beautiful fabric at Treadle before leaving MN.  It was so beautiful- and I didn’t really know what I wanted to make with it – but I knew I had to have the fabric.  I bought 2+ yards of it and I’m so glad I did.  I’m learning that if I really love a fabric – buy 2-3 yards because it will give you the flexibility to make one bigger item (like a jacket or dress) or a couple of smaller items. It’s similar to the theory that if you like a pattern and get it to fit you well – make two or three more!

First, I made Vogue 8597 with this fabric.  I did check out Pattern Review first – and there were a few complaints, pretty minor, most people had good things to say.  One person wanted more drape in the neckline so included instructions of how to create more drape.  However, I’m very happy with the drape of the neckline and I think it really has to do with the choice of fabric.  Isn’t that the best part of sewing – when you hit the right combination of fabric and pattern choice? I’m so glad even some of the experts recognize that this can be a difficult thing to do! This fabric works perfectly for this style.  (One note on the fabric – I did find that it seemed to catch on the metal plate of my Elna Lock, so I had to keep a close eye on feeding the fabric through my serger.) I’ve been finding that when making knit items using Vogue patterns, if I use my regular pattern size -the finished garment ends up too big. So, for this top I compared the finished bust measurement to other patterns I’ve made and either liked or didn’t like the fit. Based on the finished bust measurement of this pattern I decided to size down and it fit exactly how I wanted the first time around. Overall the top came together quickly, nice and easy!

Next on deck for this fabric is a t-shirt using Vogue 8536. I’m always looking for a great T-shirt pattern! I know other ladies at club have made this pattern and it is a great basic fit. They’ve dressed up the basic T by adding a bit of gathering on the side at the bustline and an easy-to-hem side vent. I like that this pattern includes several options- vneck, cross over, sleeveless…great to have in your pattern stash.

One more note on the fabric, I first saw this at Treadle over a year ago, I have since seen variations at Mood in NYC, Christine Jonson online, and even a local independent fabric store – so if you like it you should be able to find it some where!

JAY -lee, Jolly, how do you say Jalie?

The first Jalie pattern I made was the woman’s Twist Top, and although I liked the fit of the top I wasn’t a fan of the format of their instructions. Instructions are printed together with all construction pictures grouped together – not integrated into the text – and I won’t mention the small the type face… But in the end, the top was fairly easy to put together, the style is feminine and flattering. I’ve made two so far.

Last month I made the Scarf-Collar Top. I was able to put this top together in a couple of hours – and I quickly had a comfortable, fashionable top to wear to work. Jalie has an interesting method for sewing the scarf onto the neck line so that there are no exposed seams. Jalie hit the mark again – another fashionable, feminine, well fitting, easy top! (P.S. please excuse the wrinkles in my picture – my photo assistant wasn’t doing his job ; ) )

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Posted by Carrie Diamont