Sewing Sunsets

I’m happy to be back in the sewing room this week, but I’m a little frustrated that I haven’t made more progress.  I guess real life continues to have other plans for me.

Since I am still trying to decide how to sew in the sleeves on this shirt, I decided to move on to the facings, and yesterday, I got the interfacing fused to the facing pieces.  When Sandra Betzina’s (www.sandrabetzina.com)  tv sewing show was still airing, she taught a method of applying fusible interfacing that works very well. 

 When applying fusible interfacing (www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html ), it is important to preshrink the interfacing itself.  Some sewers do this by putting the interfacing in warm water and then hanging it over the shower to dry.  Because I usually use small pieces, I use a different method, and this works for me.  I cut out the interfacing pieces, spray the glue side with water, and then I hold the hot iron over the interfacing, glue side up.  I make sure that the iron is not touching the interfacing, of course, and I hold the iron  and slowly move it over the entire piece of interfacing, which is usually a small front facing or back facing piece.  Sometimes I will give this a shot of steam, but I’ve been known to shrink the interfacing a little too much, so I have to be careful.   At this point, I lay the interfacing aside to let it dry completely. After the interfacing is completely dry, I then apply it to the fabric pieces.  This is the fun part!

I like to iron my fabric facing pieces before I fuse the interfacing to them.  I don’t know if that helps anything or not, but I like to do that.  It is very important to make sure that you have the wrong side of the fabric up, and the interfacing  glue side down. I’ve made the mistake of fusing the interfacing to the right side of the fabric before and it wasn’t pretty.

I have shown the interfacing and the piece it will be placed on in the picture on the left above.  The picture on the right, although hard to see, is the facing piece with the interfacing placed on top of it, glue side down.  When I’m applying fusible interfacing, I put a press cloth over the piece, lightly spray it with water, and then hold the iron (with lots of steam) down firmly for about ten seconds.  Then I lift the iron up and slightly overlap where I just fused the interfacing, and hold the iron down firmly again.  Always use a press and lift motion, instead of sliding the iron along, when applying fusible interfacing.  I do this until I have interfaced the entire piece.  Then I turn the facing piece over to the right side (fabric is right side up) and repeat the entire process.  This ensures that the interfacing has fused with the fabric well.  I usually leave the interfaced piece on the ironing board until it is cool before I move it.

Once the interfacing is applied, I then move on to sewing the facings and finishing the outside edges of the facings.  More about that later.

There are several types of interfacing on the market, but my favorite is a knit or tricot type interfacing. I think there are several brand names for this type of interfacing, but the only one I can think of at the moment is Fusi-Knit, which I’ve used and I really like it.  It was originally designed for use with knit fabrics, I think, but it works very well with cottons.  I like it because it gives body and stability to the fabric without making the fabric feel too stiff or uncomfortable. 

I got a little more done on the facings yesterday, but I’ll save that for another post.  I think I may plan to sew today, and you know that usually means that absolutely no sewing gets done.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I didn’t get to sew yesterday because Wednesday is the day that I spend time with my mom.    That doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about sewing, though!

When I get back to the sewing room, I have some decisions to make about this current project.  I’m working on a girl’s matching top and shorts, and right now I’m sewing the shirt.  This shirt is designed to have set in sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ), but I always seem to have trouble with puckering at the sleeve cap when I sew the sleeves this way.  I’m still thinking that I might need to sew the sleeves in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html ) instead. 

So far, I have sewn the shoulder seams and pressed them open, but I haven’t sewn the side seams yet because I’m still deciding about how to sew in the sleeves. 

I have the front and back facings cut out and pressed.  I have the fusible interfacing (www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html ) applied to the back facing.

The picture on the left is the back facing and the picture on the right show the front facings for this shirt.  (Most back facing pattern pieces are placed on the fold of the fabric.)

After I finish applying the fusible interfacing, I’ll sew the front and back facings together at the shoulders and press those seams open. (www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ) Then, I’ll serge finish the outside edge of the completed facing piece.  This is always a little tricky because of the curved areas of the facings.

The other big decision I need to make today is whether or not to actually plan to sew.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I did spend some time in the sewing room yesterday.  It was rainy, cold, and gloomy outside, but it was spring in my sewing room!   The fabric I’ve chosen for this sewing project is very spring-like, and I’m enjoying working with it.

Of course, we all know what happens when I actually plan to sew!   Yesterday was no exception—the phone rang constantly.  In spite of that, I managed to make a little progress on my sewing project.

One thing that I see I’m going to have to be careful in working with this project is in making sure that I have the right sides of the fabric together when sewing seams.  There is a difference, but if I’m not paying attention, I might have to do some un-sewing!

Also, I need to decide whether or not to sew the sleeves as set in sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ), which is how this pattern is designed, or whether I want to sew the sleeves in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html ), which is what I’ve written on my pattern instruction sheet. 

I got the shoulder seams sewn and pressed open. (www.sewseamless.com/Page5.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html )  I pressed the seams flat, as they were stitched, first, and then I pressed the seams open over a seam roll.

This is as far as I got in the sewing process.  The phone continued to ring, so I finally left the sewing room.  Hmmmm…..I don’t think I’ll plan to do any more sewing this week.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

After completely the boy’s flannel bathrobe, I decided to sew something more spring like during our still long winter days here.  Perhaps by sewing a spring fabric, it will encourage the real thing to come along soon.

I’ve used this pattern before and the one area where I seem to have a bit of trouble is in sewing the set in sleeves on the shirt.  I have sewn them in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html ) and I have sewn them in as set in sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ) which is the way the pattern instructions are written.  For some reason, when I’m sewing the set in sleeves, I always tend to get some puckering at the sleeve cap.  I am beginning to wonder if there is a little too much ease in the sleeve cap, but I’ll make a final decision about how to sew the sleeves in when I get to that point in the sewing process.

Here is the pattern that I’m using for this sewing project:

I want to sew the view that has the ruffles around the sleeves, the bottom of the shirt, and the shorts.  It’s been quite a while since I sewed ruffles so this could be a challenge. Since I’m also sewing the shorts in order to make this a matching set, I had to decide whether or not I wanted to sew the in seam pockets (www.sewseamless.com/Page9.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page18.html ) for the shorts, and I decided that I do want to sew the in seam pockets. Sometimes I like quick, easy sewing projects, and at other times, I prefer a bit of a challenge.  I guess I’m in the mood for a more challenging project now.

Here is the fabric that I’ve chosen for this project:

This is a very unusual color for me to work with because I don’t like green very much, but this print looked so bright and spring-like that I couldn’t resist.  And if I remember correctly, it was on sale when I bought it!

Today is another one of those cold, damp, rainy, gloomy days, so I’m glad that my fabric reminds me of spring.  I suspect that I’ll figure out a way to spend a lot of time in my sewing room today.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

The red flannel boy’s bathrobe is finished!  I was hoping to have enough fabric left over to make a pair of matching pajama pants, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, so I decided to make something else instead. 

Last night, I made a pillowcase (www.sewseamless.com/Page41.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page42.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page43.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page44.html ) out of the left over sports themed flannel.  It was nice to have a quick and easy sewing project.

Even though the picture below just looks like some fabric draped over the ironing board, it is actually a picture of the completed pillowcase.

I also had some other flannel that was left over from the girl’s pajama set that I made recently, so I decided to see if I had enough to make a girl’s dress, another set of pj pants, or a robe, but there wasn’t quite enough to sew any of the patterns I have on hand.  

Because I didn’t have enough of that fabric to sew something, I decided to sew a spring/summer shorts set instead.  I’m tired of the long winter days and maybe sewing something springlike will lift my spirits. 

Here is a picture of the completed boy’s bathrobe:

Even though it’s very hard to see in this picture, the belt is pulled through the belt loops at the side seams and is tied in the front.  It’s also very hard to see the patch pockets on the front of this robe. ( Choosing a busy print like this is especially great for beginning seamstresses because this type of print hides a lot of sewing mistakes. )

After I finish the girl’s shorts set (top and shorts) that I will be making next, I’m going to sew some girls’ spring dresses.  Although the dresses aren’t fancy, I think they could make nice Easter dresses.  Right now, I’m just happy to be back in the sewing room again.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday, I told you that I would share the adventure of sewing the sleeves on to the boy’s flannel robe that I’ve been making.  It was quite an adventure!  I should have listened to my instinct and ignored the pattern instructions on this one.  All too often, many beginning sewers think that they are doing something wrong, when it’s actually unclear or silly pattern instructions.

Most sleeves for bathrobes have a flat cap and are designed to be sewn in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html ), but in this case, the pattern instructions were to sew the sleeves in as set in sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ).  This would have been ok, but these weren’t conventional set in sleeves and I thought that the pattern instructions were ridiculous.  The side seam was sewn up to a dot that had been marked.  Then the sleeve seam was sewn, but you also only sewed that to a small dot , which left about a 1/2 opening at the top of the sleeve.  The pattern instructions said to pin the sleeves into the armhole of the robe, begin sewing at the dot and sew around to the other dot.  What a pain!  First of all, it was very difficult to get the side seams and underarm sleeves seams matched correctly.  I finally got the sleeve sewn in, but I’m not completely happy with the results.   This robe is destined to be donated to charity and I wanted it to look nice when I finished it.  Of course, I realize that a child who might receive this robe won’t care about the sewing job, but it is the principal that matters to me.

At any rate, I have written notes to make sure and sew the sleeves in flat on the pattern instruction sheet and on the front of the pattern envelope. 

In spite of struggling with sewing in the sleeves, I have finished the robe.  I sewed the belt and hand hemmed the sleeves, using the blind hem stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html ). 

The tie belt on this robe had a center seam, which is seen in the picture above on the left.  Once this seam is sewn and pressed open, I then folded the belt in half, right sides together (picture on the right above).  I sewed the short ends of the belt, as well as the long side of the belt, making sure to leave a space for turning.  Then I spent some time turning the belt right side out.  After I had hand sewn the opening in the belt closed, I edge stitched the belt and pressed it well again.

(Due to lack of time yesterday, I don’t have a picture of the finished robe yet.  That will be included in another post.)

 Thankfully, this robe project is behind me!   I have some flannel left over so I might make a pair of matching pj pants, and I’ll make sure to follow my own instincts when I sew the pj pants.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yes, that band is still playing.  Of course, I’m not talking about a musical band, but the band that I’m sewing to the boy’s flannel robe. 

 In my last post, I believe that I had gotten to the point where the bottom of the band needed to be finished.  The bottom of the band hangs below the hemmed robe, and while it’s slightly tricky to sew this, it’s not really that hard.

In the picture on the left above, I am folding the bottom of the band, and on the right, the band is pinned together, ready to be sewn.

I sewed the bottom of the band (shown in the picture on the left above) by sewing straight across the band just below the hem of the robe.  Sometimes this requires sewing a deeper seam so that everything fits correctly when turned to the right side.   Cut the corner diagonally, then turn the band to the right side.  I almost made a mistake and tried to turn the band all the way in at the seam, forgetting that this is a band and is about and inch or inch and a half in width.

The picture on the right above shows the band turned over the seam and pinned, ready to be hand sewn to the main body of the robe.  I used the slip stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html).

It’s a little hard to see in the picture above, but it is the right side of the band, that has already been sewn to the robe and finished by hand sewing over the seam on the inside of the robe.  I left a pin at the bottom to help see the seam where the band has been sewn to the robe.

After I completed this, it was time to sew in the sleeves and I can tell you that this is one time when I wished I had ignored pattern instructions and sewn the sleeves in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html ) which would have made much more sense and would have been easier.  After wrestling with the sleeves yesterday, I finally got them sewed in, but I’m not 100% happy with the outcome.  I wrote a note to myself on the pattern, reminding myself not to follow pattern instructions regarding the sleeves. I’ll tell you more about this adventure in my next post.

Today is another gray cold day here, so it’s another pefect day for sewing.  I’m sew happy to say that I completed the flannel robe yesterday and I’m now ready to move on to another project.  Hmmmm……I may start working on more spring type projects to cheer me up during these long, gloomy winter days.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

It’s not the type of band that you’re probably thinking about because this band doesn’t play any music.  It would be nice to have a live band playing music while I sewed, but I don’t really think there is room in the sewing room–or my house for that matter.  The type of band that I’m talking about is the band that is sewn to the boy’s flannel robe that I’m currently working on.  This pattern has a band instead of a collar (www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ), although most robe patterns have shawl collars instead of collars like the ones on a dress, blouse or shirt. 

Yesterday, I managed to spend some quality time in my sewing room, which was really  nice.  I had hand hemmed the robe the night before, using the blind hem stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html).  The next thing that needed to be done was to sew the band together, which was quite easy since it is just a very short seam.

After sewing the band together, I pressed the center seam open, and then pinned it to the robe.

After the band was pinned to the robe, I took it to the sewing machine and began sewing the band to the robe, which is what is shown in the picture on the right above.  It’s a little tricky because the band is designed to hang below the hem of the robe.  Once this band was sewn to the robe, I trimmed the seams a little, and since there are some curved areas of the seam, I also clipped parts of the seam, and pressed the seam allowances toward the band.

At that point, I was at the tricky part of the entire process. The bottom of the band is not finished and hangs below the hemmed robe, so this has to be sewn, which is slightly tricky.  The pattern says that the band is only 5/8 inches longer than the hemmed robe, but my experience is that it’s actually a little longer than that, so I usually have to sew a slightly deeper seam.

As you can see in the pictures above, the band is longer than the hemmed portion of the robe, which means that I had to finish that band before I could go on to more hand sewing.  This post is getting quite long, so I think I’ll finish telling you about having my own band in another post.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday was a full day for me, starting early in the morning.  I had a doctor’s appointment, and this doctor seems much nicer than ole Dr. Doom and Gloom.  In fact, this doctor actually listened–imagine that!  Plus, he has well over thirty years experience, which is what I wanted.  Of course, now I have to make numerous phone calls in order to get records sent.  One local doc’s office here has gotten bad about not doing things like that, unfortunately.  I called last week and asked them to fax the records to this new doctor, but those records weren’t in the office when I went to my appointment yesterday.  I really like the doctor, but her office staff needs to be a little more on the ball.  Here I go again—making numerous phone calls…..and then I’m sure I’ll have to make follow up phone calls as well.

Didn’t I mention that I really need some sewing therapy these days?  After making all those phone calls, the sewing room will really be calling my name.

Speaking of sewing, I made a little bit of progress on the boy’s flannel bathrobe yesterday.  There is a lot of hand sewing on this particular robe and yesterday, I discovered that the patterns instructions were to hand hem this robe first, before sewing in the sleeves (www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html ).  First, I serge finished the raw edges of the hem, then using the seam gauge, I pressed up the hem 1-1/4 inches and pinned it.  Last night, while watching tv, I hemmed the robe, using the blind hem stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html ).  Today, I will sew the band to the front of the robe and that means more hand sewing, which is probably a good thing since I’m still nursing this silly broken toe.  It’s better, but I still know it’s there, and I’m ready to start ignoring this little toe again.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday, I did spend a little time in the sewing room.  And I made progress–doing quite a bit of un-sewing!   I have decided to follow the pattern directions, although I may already be regretting that choice.  At any rate, I got the side seams sewed, only to realize that the belt loops were in the wrong position, so I did some un-stitching and corrected the problem.

Before sewing up the side seams, I sewed the patch pockets (www.sewseamless.com/Page26.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page27.html )to the robe front.  When I sew patch pockets on to garments, I like to use my edge stitch foot because it sews close to the edge of the pocket and creates a professional finish.

The picture on the right shows the finished pocket, but because the pocket is the same fabric as the robe, it’s hard to see, which is why my hand is in the picture!

Today I have a doctor’s appointment with a new doctor.  You may remember that I recently had a bad experience with a Dr. Doom and Gloom.  I hope this doctor is much nicer!  Not only am I nervous about going to this new doctor, but they’re predicting snow and I don’t drive in snow!   Yikes!   So, we’ll see…….

I’ve been saying that I could use lots of fabric and sewing therapy and I think my toe is almost healed enough to allow me to do more sewing.  Once my doctor’s visit is over and done with, I want to come home and sew and sew and sew and sew………

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com