Sewing

Quilted Coat – Finished

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I got up this morning determined to finish the coat. I’m heading to San Francisco on the 31st for a week-long sewing retreat with Sandra Betzina and I want to take the coat with me (to show off, of course, but also because it will be a good weight for the San Francisco early April weather).

First: figure out a way to carry the contrast band to the finished edge – I accomplished that by inserting precisely the right width of contrast fabric into the binding, carefully pinning it so it would align with the stripe, then stitching the full binding to the fronts. If you didn’t know that was a problem I had to solve, you’d never notice how I solved it. Second, add collar and contrast binding to right side (can’t see it in the image because it’s behind the folded down collar). No problems with that set of operations. Third, set in second sleeve, bind underarm and side seam, add wide binding to cuff. Done. Fourth: finish binding along the bottom including mitred corners at the fronts. Went fine.

Next: buttonholes. W-e-l-l that took some consideration. Because the collar is way too tall for me I realized (rather than cut it down two inches and rebind the top edge which I could do) I’ll probably wear the coat with the collar open and use a scarf if I need more warmth. So I didn’t want a button in the collar. I marked the location for the top button at the point where the collar folds. Then 6 1/2″ lower I marked the second (in line with the top of the pockets), and 6 1/2″ below that I added a third to keep the front closed. Bound button holes or machine stitched? I decided to stitch button holes (at least for now – I am seriously thinking about binding them – not a issue, the stitching will just stabilize the cut edge while I’m doing the binding). I checked the sewn button holes before cutting them open (I can always take out the stitching and restitch, but once cut that’s it!). All good.

Last, buttons: I had four buttons I picked up in Bali – actually they are “rounds” created by Jon Anderson the Polymer Clay artist we visited. I could visualize them as buttons so I drilled two holes in each when I got home. The colours are perfect for this fabric. I sewed the buttons on the outside at the same time sewing slightly smaller turquoise buttons on the reverse. Now I have a problem – the buttons are VERY difficult to button up – the buttons on both sides are large and there is no movement room. Because of their size I wasn’t able to build shanks for each side (I couldn’t get the needle through just one of the buttons without creating a very long thread shank) so they are relatively closely sewn. I’m thinking of taking them off and permanently sew the buttons on the main fabric to the button holes and putting large snaps underneath – one set of snaps would work for both sides of the coat.

For now, however, the coat is done and my sewing room tidied up.

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Main Side Front

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Main Side Back

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Reverse Side Front

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Reverse Side Back

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Buttons

Quilted Coat

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A year and a half ago I made a reversible quilted jacket. I’d had the fabric quilted on a long-arm quilter, cut out the pieces, sewed up seams, bound them with a complementary fabric. The challenge was to figure out a way of creating a faux pocket on the reverse side to allow access to the real pocket on the outside. I achieved that by improvising with a zipper.

Last spring I bought Sandra Betzina’s coat pattern thinking I could use similar techniques I used for the jacket. I liked the tall collar and the contrasting bands. I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish the look.

So I had more fabric quilted. Last week I cut out the pieces with some modifications: I cut set-in sleeves from the jacket pattern instead of raglan used in Sandra’s coat; I cut the body a half inch wider on both fronts and the back at the side seams. I decided not to make the welt pocket in the pattern but to recreate the patch pockets (with zipper on the inside) used in the jacket.

I started, following the instructions, by joining yoke and body (front and back) with a contrasting strip. (This was my first mistake – I should have ignored the pattern instructions and thought the assembly through on my own – I should have bound the front edge in the dark fabric before sewing in the contrast!) I’m going to have to take the contrasting join apart, bind the front edges, then restore the contrast band. I constructed and attached the pockets to the outside. 

I inset a bound zipper on the second side first, however, to allow access to the patch pocket, covering the zipper with the patch pocket on the outside. (That substantially reduces the bulk of the fronts.)
The contrast in the back works fine. No need to redo that.

Setting in the sleeve and binding the armhole, underarm and side seams went without a hitch. Tomorrow I’ll inset the second sleeve.

The collar is ready to be attached – I figured out how to apply the appropriate contrast to each side. I can’t add the collar, however, until the fronts are bound because I want to bind that neckline seam with the appropriate contrasts to each side for the second collar contrast used in the coat pattern!

Buttonhole placement will take some thought – I couldn’t easily include them in the contrast seams like Sandra does. I will have to make bound buttonholes like I did with the jacket (covering the construction with a facing using the side two contrast fabric).

I’ll share more after I finish the garment.

Jeans Makeover

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Too bad I didn’t remember to take a before picture – you’d have seen jeans that were very baggy in the bum with upper legs that were WAAAAY too wide!

So here’s how this goes: I go to a local thrift store and buy a pair of jeans that fit nicely in the waist and high hip. That’s my starting point. The jeans cost me $5! There’s no point in buying new expensive jeans retail because they fit no better than those from the thrift store.

Get the jeans home and wash them a couple of times to get rid of the smell (and to shrink them if they haven’t been worn a lot).

I open the inner leg seam from knee, through crotch, to knee. I pin, then straight stitch, front to back through the crotch making sure I am cutting out about 2 1/2″ at the back crotch seam area tapering the alignment along the inner leg till the front and back match at the knee – I don’t cut anything at this point because I want to check fit before cutting. The fabric eventually removed from the back crotch and back inner legs looks like this – sort of triangular.

Once I’m sure of the fit (I may want to remove a bit more from the back crotch and back inner leg – a smigeon from the front as well) I stitch, cut, and serge the inner legs through the crotch, then edge stitch the seam flat.

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The back fits reasonably snugly with enough give for sitting. I shorten the legs – cut the length of the leg at the inner seam 28″ (enough to serge the edge and turn up a 5/8″ hem – my inseam is 27 1/4″).

The front fits smoothly, not baggy.IMG_7252

I make two other alterations – I carefully cut out the front grommet – they cut holes in my sweaters – patch, and reinforce the hole, sew on a button; the second alteration is to extend the depth of the right front pocket to hold my iPhone securely.

This is an earlier pair adjusted to fit the same way. I’ve worn this pair a lot – they’re very comfortable.IMG_7255

Another Useful Idea

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Even though my sewing machines have cutting blades on the left hand side I don’t use them because as a right handed person I want to reach for my scissors, instead. 

I’ve found this simple way to keep a small pair of scissors nearby on each sewing machine (I have 4, but three are on my sewing tables). 

Plastic hooks with removable tape on a clear spot on the side of the machine does the trick – once I got used to not having to hunt for scissors when I’m sewing I no longer have to think about it – they’re always right at hand!

A “Good Thing”

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Living is about improvisation. One of life’s small frustrations is finding the end of a roll of tape. I think I came across this idea on Pinterest – using the little plastic tabs on the end of the plastic bread bags (among other places) to mark the tape end. It’s a “Good Thing” as Martha Steward would say.

I use many different kinds of tape in my sewing room – double sided tape for positioning the machine embroidery hoops, masking tape to mark alignment positions on my sewing machines and to mark front/back of fabric, to identify rows of blocks for quilting, to convert cutting rulers to templates, duct tape when something needs a more secure temporary join.

Life got a whole lot easier when I started using those little pieces of plastic instead of throwing them out!

Velour Housecoats

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I have two cotton velour housecoats that I’ve had for close to 40 years. I haven’t replaced them because nobody has made much in velour for several years and because I couldn’t find a housecoat with a zipper front! Lots of fleece tie robes, but few that are long and with a front zipper. So I kept washing and rotating the two.

Last week I was in Fabricville – I needed some 9″ zippers to whip up some small zippered bags using the fabric from Peru – when I came across some velour! It’s polyester and stretchy but I though it would make a decent housecoat so I bought enough for two – some in a deep teal, some in a pale teal.

Here are the two finished housecoats! Just finished the pale one today.

Tricky fabric to work with – hard to keep seams even because of the stretch. The velour is also problematic – can’t press it on the right side! The dark one which I did first had to be recut – I’d got about half way through when I realized the whole garment, but particularly the neck, was too big. I didn’t want to buy more fabric so I actually cut the seams out, downsized the front and back yokes, cut off the zipper and reassembled the pieces.

Inserting side pockets was a challenge — not an easy thing to do using a serger. First I stitched the pocket pieces to fronts and back side seams with a straight stitch, then serged around the pocket, next I serged each side seam (being careful not to catch the front of the pocket in the serged seam.

Hemming the garment was also a challenge – I probably should have used a cover stitch but I didn’t have serger thread anywhere close to the garment colour so I elected to hem using a twin needle. Because the fabric is so stretchy, getting it to feed evenly under the foot took a lot of care (I’d pressed the hem to the desired width before stitching – that helped).

The second housecoat went together much more easily because I knew what I was doing. What I haven’t told you is my “pattern” is a very old Hawaiian muumuu pattern I’ve owned for years.

 I’ve made batiste embroidered nightgowns from it but had never adapted it for a heavy garment like these housecoats. Adapting it meant creating a front opening with an invisible zipper. I had no instruction sheet to direct me – I had to figure out a sewing order on my own. Like the front yokes had to be attached to the front skirts, the back yoke to the back skirt, the shoulders stitched together, the ribbed neck band sewn in place before I could tackle the invisible zipper! That’s because the zipper needed to come about half way up the ribbed neck band. I knew all of that when I started the second housecoat – I didn’t know it when I started sewing the first – lots of trial and error with that one. Good thing I’m a patient sewer – I had to take seams apart repeatedly until I got the garment assembled correctly.

The two old housecoats are now in the laundry. Once they’re clean they’re off to Value Village – they still have some life left in them.

Using The Peruvian Cloth

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I bought three pieces of woven cloth (carry cloths) at the market in Ayacucho – a red, a black, and a maroon. The Peruvian women (particularly those from the countryside) use these woven cloths for carrying small children or bundles of goods and produce from and to home.

These particular cloths are woven in factories and are relatively inexpensive (using synthetic fibres). However they are woven using traditional patterns and it was the patterns that attracted me – so I bought one for a friend and two for myself for making something.
Past Monday evening I realized I didn’t have a Christmas gift for the gal who cuts my hair so I decided to whip up some small zippered bags like those I saw in Peru. A 10″ strip from one side of the red cloth was enough to make 4 bags – this one I’m using instead of wrapping the gift inside with paper! This recipient is actually getting two gifts.

This evening I intend to make several more – thank goodness for my zipper stash! It won’t take long and I’ll have small gifts to use when I need something.

Sweater Makeover

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For years I haven’t been able to buy a wool sweater locally and I love wearing wool pullovers. About eight years ago I came across WoolOvers online – a British company specializing in fine cashmere, cotton and wool knitwear. I’ve been buying from them merino/cashmere pullovers which are fine enough to wear over a cotton turtleneck and under a jacket, yet warm enough to wear with a turtleneck alone. Over the years, I’ve built up a collection in a range of colours (and I’ve knit socks to “match” so I have an “outfit”).

I get regular emails from WoolOvers – I like to see what they’ve got on sale – and a couple of weeks ago they were advertising a soft pink merino/cashmere pullover – I liked the colour so I ordered one (and while I was ordering I picked out a second in “bluebell”). These crewneck sweaters were in “unisex” sizing – now I know that’s larger than the sizing for the women’s classic crewneck sweater that I’ve been buying but since I liked the colours added them to the shopping cart and finished the transaction hoping the size I selected would be in the ballpark.

Three days ago the two sweaters arrived having been intercepted by Canada Customs – to accept the sweaters I had to pay an additional $52.79! It wasn’t until I’d paid the duty, opened the parcel that I discovered just how much bigger these unisex sweaters were!

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Pale Pink Unisex Crewneck

Both a lot wider and longer! Not exactly a sweater for a SHORT woman!

I’m now heavily invested in these two crewneck pullovers – so I decide to remake them (before wearing either for the first time) – first by shortening the body and the sleeves, then taking in both body and sleeves so these two pullovers will fit more or less like my others.

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Women’s Classic Crewneck

I measure the body length of my classic crewneck, the length of the unisex crewneck pullover, and carefully pin and baste the bottom of the pink pullover so I end up with a seam adjacent the ribbing at the bottom (taking 9 cm out of the length). Same with the sleeves .

Now, I take a VERY DEEP BREATH. I set up my serger, and carefully stitch a seam along the bottom of the sweater, in the process cutting away the excess from body. Next I tackle the sleeves. I gently steam press the serged seam allowance away from the ribbing. So, yes there’s a seam joining ribbing to body, but when it’s on it’s not too obvious. Then I mark the excess in the width of body and lower sleeve and serge new side seams and sleeve seams.

And voilà – a sweater that fits!

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Next I did the blue one:

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That looks good, too. Nobody is going to notice the seams joining ribbing to sweater!

So, if like me, you love wearing wool sweaters, check out WoolOvers – but be sure you check their size guides – there’s a very big difference between the sizing of the women’s sweaters and the Unisex ones. (The sweaters are machine washable with a gentle detergent and cold water; I dry mine laid flat on the carpet in the spare room.)

Today’s Project

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I was very happy with the crazy quilt bag I made to take to Peru. It worked very well – didn’t weigh much, held what I wanted to carry with me (including a small pack of tissues, hand cleanser, small wallet with credit cards, my Swiss army card, cloth for cleaning my glasses…).

So yesterday, after I finished the quilt top and back, I got out the two leather skins I bought in New York in the spring of 2012, cut pieces for the back and front, cut lining pieces, picked up some longish zippers (I like using a zipper longer than I need and trimming it to fit – rather than working around the slide) and so after I finished pinning back, batting, and top of the quilt together this morning I made up the leather bag. It’s just shy of an inch wider than the original (9 1/2″; a bit under 9″ tall – a useful small size), with pockets on each side of the lining of the main compartment.

Used it this afternoon – comfortable and holds the small amount if stuff I carry with me. And wearable in the rain and snow unlike the fabric one.

Crazy Quilt Shoulder Bag

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I started with some raw silk scraps, then gathered bits and pieces of batik from my scrap boxes.

Now there are a couple of ways of setting up a crazy quilt piecing – the easiest is to cut a muslin block in the projected size, cover it with fabric pieces using a stitch,  flip and press technique, then trimming away the excess fabric when the block has been completely covered.

I didn’t make my fabric pieces that way. I began by sewing (and pressing) strips and largish triangles together until I had an assembled fabric 12″ x 10″ more or less. Then I created a second piece approximately the same size. Squared both pieces and trimmed them to 10″ x 10″.

Next I backed the crazy quilt fabric with a layer of quilt batting, top stitched each seam with rayon embroidery thread using a different decorative stitch for each seam.

I wanted a couple of compartments in my bag, so I cut one of the finished pieces in three, inserted zippers, and added the lining at each zipper location. Then the top zipper – the shoulder strap was attached at this point.

I added pockets to each side of the main compartment lining before attaching it at the top zipper. I finished the bag by placing right sides together and sewing the side seams starting with the lining; then the seam across the bottom of the bag (it’s a good idea to remember to unzip the top zipper before stitching the bottom seam so you can turn the bag right side out).

I turned the bag right side out by pulling it through the lining. Finally, I stitched the bottom of the lining and push it inside the bag.

The final step is to zipper the top of the bag and steam press it so it’s flat!

Generally, I prefer not to carry a purse, building pockets into my jackets and pants instead. But every now and again I need a small bag – this one will do nicely.