Tips on hemming knits, a Chardon Skirt and a Plantain top.

These were sewn a few weeks ago now, I feel I am playing a little catch up with clothes and blogging.   After enjoying the warmth of my brushed cotton Chardon maxi, I found some lovely fine needle cord at this Etsy shop, paired it with a little Liberty lawn and made another along with a Plantain variation top.  I have covered the skirt process a few times so I will mention a few knit tips for the top.

I saw this variation on Flickr and found instructions and a PDF on her blog followed her PDF to adapt the neck of the top.  I used a 30cm rectangle for my neck piece.  I cut a size 36 and sewed ⅜" seams.  The result is pretty relaxed and slouchy.  I am not totally smitten; it's a little the wrong side of the Cagney and Lacey look, but it is soft and comfortable- the fabric is a cotton jersey knit.   Next time I make a Plantain I will make a straight size 36 with ⅝" seams and raise the scoop neck. For the hemming and the shoulders I used this great product- knit stay tape.   It is lightweight and has a fusible adhesive on one side. I use a strip in the hem of the back shoulders to stop the shoulders stretching out over time, and use it all round the edge of the sleeves and the top hem as it makes it stable and provides and easy way to fold the turn up when the hem is stitched.  It is not essential for creating a good hem and you could cut and use strips of knit interfacing- this is interfacing with a little stretch built in rather than fixed woven interfacing.  The knit tape is pressed all round the hem edge with a hot iron.  It is about ½" wide so provides a great guide for folding the hem.

I have made a few knit jersey tops now and each time my technique improves and I learn a little more.  These are my current tips and machine settings:

1.  Woolly nylon hand wound on the bobbin to provide elasticity to the back of the stitch.  I have one reel of this in light silver grey and use it for all my knit hems and neck lines.

2.  Size 75 4.0mm twin stretch needle

3.  Reduced the sewing foot pressure to 2

4.  Set my tension to 9 on my Janome Horizon to get a true zig zag on the reverse.

5.  Sew slowly, the twin needle places a little strain on the machine and the threads are more likely to snap.  Besides, you need to sew slow as you are guiding the hem and feeling the fold so that you can sew as close to the raw edge of the hem as possible.

6.  Leave long tails of thread at the beginning and end- you need to hand sew the ends in to secure.  Sewing forwards and backwards on the machine is not enough, the wooly nylon always works its way loose.  It is a faff but it is worth it as these edges get a lot of strain and stretching so need to be secure.

7.  Press the hem at the end.  Jersey knit benefits from pressing just like any other dressmaking.

It started to rain on our little garden photo shoot but you get the idea of the top and skirt!

And this does give a good view of the neck.  Not totally enamoured but worth trying out.

The skirt is squeezed out of 2 yards of fabric.  It is quite snug, the pile of the needle cord just adds a little bulk to the waist making it sit higher than I would like so I may change the waist inner facing for something a little finer.  

Pockets and hem are in Liberty tana lawn.

I grade my seams in al the bulky areas, one of my favourite dress making techniques.  

The patterns can be found here.  Plantain is a free download.  Deer and Doe have just released a new skirt pattern, Anemone.  It is a more formal style so I am still at the thinking stage on whether it will work for me- my life is rather informal, meanwhile I have more clothing on the go.

Thankyou

Thankyou for so many kind and thoughtful emails about Eddie.  I was truly touched.  Initially, I removed the comment facility when I pressed publish on the blog post because I didn't think I could cope with reading anything about the loss of pets, and then I went back and changed it and I am so glad that I did. 

A very special Ed xxx

Sad news.  My close friend's dog Eddie died yesterday.  He was our dog Lottie's litter mate and only 6 years old.  This is my personal space, my animals are a big part of our lives and Eddie was included.  I just wanted to note his life in a small way here and how much he meant to us all.

Eddie was the sweetest boy.  He turned up randomly tapping at our front door just a few weeks ago early evening, having escaped from his front garden only 5 minutes away and run to our house. We will all miss him so much.  I've just been going through my photos to see what I could find, and this was one below of him (left) and Lottie (right) a few years back made me smile.  Kathy and I had bought dolls houses from the car boot sale and had decided to mock up a model village for the dogs to play in.  They tumbled and goofed around and were generally hilarious.  Eddie and Lottie brought our families closer together, a valued friendship 

Exmouth beach was a special place for us all.  Full of dogs and their walkers today.  We talked about you there today Ed, special memories and love to you always Eddie xxx

March at Seamstar: Competition and Craft Box

For my monthly visit to Seamstar, I am reviewing their latest Craft Club box which has Mother's day firmly in mind and a Spring competition with a prize of £50 of vouchers to spend at Seamstar.

The March box includes materials to make a floral corsage, plus a bonus of a trim pack of felt, ribbon buttons for the competition.  There are only a dozen or so boxes available for new members to the Seamstar craft club.  Everything arrives in a letter box sized package complete with instructions and a generous tube of glue plus nozzles.

The corsage materials are mainly at the bottom of the picture- there was also white pom pom trim and a sparkly button holding under the ribbon.  The ribbons and other buttons plus the light coloured felts are the trim pack.  All the details are explained on the colour instruction card with photographs to help.

 The corsage is an easy make, the felt is great quality-I used it for Christmas decorations and loved sewing it.  I used Fiskars Soft Touch Micro Scissors to cut through the layers of felt: easy peasy as they are super sharp and precise.

The glue is strong and works well with the variety of materials involved.   I found it easiest to squirt some on to card and use cocktail sticks to apply it but there are nozzles in the pack too if you prefer to use those.  I found the felt easy to roll and glue to make the flowers.  The pom poms were harder but as you need to leave the glue for a few minutes to get tacky, this helps to control the messiest part of the process.

There is minimal sewing involved.  Just outlining the leaves and sticking a double layer for stems, plus some hand stitches for the brooch pin.  I didn't need the second rose in my corsage, I thought I already had enough going on.

For the competition, use the trim pack contents and your imagination to come up with a Spring make- Courtney has a Pinterest board with ideas on here to help get you started.  You can add other elements as long as the main materials are the trim pack.  The competition is open until 26th May so if you miss the March Craft Club you can still buy the trim pack.

Exeter Spring Sewing Directory Meet Up

The Sewing Directory Exeter Meet Ups always come when I need a lift and sure enough Saturday 1st March was a day of sewing, sharing, chatting with sunlight streaming in.

This is the third, a year from the first one so now there are familiar faces and new people too.  Established attendees bring new friends or people dare to come solo- it doesn't matter, the event is so relaxed that it seems to work for everyone.  Each time Fiona has a little rethink so that the format evolves.  People brought their own projects, many brought machines, and there were 'experts' available to ask for help, trouble shooting, whatever was needed.  There were many firsts- a first skirt, a skirt made from an improvised rub off (where you take the pattern form an existing garment), an economy block and mini quilt from a first time quilter.  Other things left mid construction- a flirty apron, dresdens, an altered ready-to-wear blouse.  And there was ongoing sewing: crazy patchwork, lots of english paper piecing, cord buttons,  quilt blocks assembled-Trash's colour phase economy blocks looked ablaze in the sunny hall.

We had around 27 people I guess.  Its a good number, although I struggle to speak to everyone even though we were there 10-4.30.  We had really generous quality raffle prizes and extra goodies for everyone from Rebecca at Timber Press (part of Storey publishing, home of many crafty books, Will from Abakhan Fabrics(who returned to keep building on his sewing skills), Exeter Sewing Machine Company- Jenna gave machine advice too and more.   More meet ups are planned, the aim is for a quarterly meet up so if you are anywhere near the Southwest or prepared to travel, keep an eye out for more news.

Annie Hall: Deer and Doe Chataigne meet Style 4167, I just know you'll get on

Unusual for me, but I made a pair of trousers.  I am not a trouser wearer outside of work but I had a notion of these from the moment I saw the Deer and Doe Chataigne pattern.

I spent a lot of time humming and hahhing over whether to make these at all.  They took up almost 3 metres of cotton flannel fabric and I didn't want to waste that on something I would rarely wear.  However last week, I wore these three times so I think their future is safe.  

I found the Style 4167 pattern thrifting at the car boot sale (left in photo below).  Sometimes, I can look at a pattern and have a pretty good idea that it will fit me straight off.  I could see that despite the high waist, they were going to work.  I did make a test pair in old sheeting and whilst they confirmed that although such a high waist (and no pockets!) was not for me, they were a nice fit.  I overlaid the Chataigne lower leg pattern pieces over the style trouser and traced off a new front  leg and back leg. Otherwise, all the Deer and Doe pieces were from the shorts pattern- yoke, waistband etc.  Don't get me wrong, there was a lengthy fitting process which I will cover in a separate blog post, mainly reducing the width of the leg, but it was straightforward.

The Style pattern came without instructions but all the pattern pieces were complete, including that rather rocking fitted shirt which is on my never ending list of clothes to make.

I had made the Chataigne shorts before I made the trousers, I think it was over Christmas.  They were a test piece really, made with some light pink twill I bought cheaply on ebay.  I never wear shorts, I am not a fan of tights and I would never bare so much skin in cold weather (or even hot weather) but I love the style, especially the front V yoke section and they were interesting to make.  The cotton flannel fabric gave a great wool trouser look without the itchiness and is soft and warm to wear- it does however attract ever single hair and stray thread and I have a lot of both.

Details:

Resources:

Deer and Doe Chataigne pattern.  Size 38 with ⅛" shaved off all side edges

Vintage Style 4167 size 12

Fabric: Robert Kaufman Shetland flannel

Liberty Lawn, 'Peter Woodward' print

Black concealed zip

The best complement of all was my ta dah! moment in front Lula when she said they reminded her of an old film trailer she had watched on youtube, " I think it was called Annie Hall?".  Love her x  

And proof that vintage sensibilities are inherited.

Beaches and blocks

Almost the end of half term week which started with this last Sunday at Exmouth.  There is nothing like the cobalt blue of the sky there.

Amidst many dogs and their walkers was our little dog Lottie, wearing her fleece- bright but chilly out there.

A week of seeing family, catching up with friends, time at home with daughter and husband and of course sewing.  I rekindled my voile Swoon from a two years ago.  It was exactly the same time of year when I started the idea of a Swoon quilt.  It must be the vivid saturated colours that I crave at this time of year.  I enjoyed making this again, and the next block will be a little sooner.

I started a new quilt that I need to get made a little quicker: a Scrappy Trips Around the World for my nephew.  He's a boy that appreciates a little handmade love and was keen on the idea of a quilt for his birthday.  I didn't make one of these when the quilt a long first hit the quilty world, I now I started this I totally understand the popularity. So instant, so easy- everything fits together and needs minimal planning, plus what a way to get all your favourites in one quilt.  There is a little planning going on here with a rough colour palette and an idea of how many dark, how many light, how many mid tone.  I am planning the diagonals somewhat but this is relatively free and easy for me.

More beach, this time Budleigh Salterton, pebbles and a sea swirly with orange clay and cliff erosion from the recent storms.

With my honeys.

There are some ups and downs for me at the moment, c'est la vie.   I go through this from Dec/January every year but it is more marked this year.  The sea at Budleigh was loud, especially when pulling the pebbles back so strongly, the air was bracing and the cobalt blue was back again.