Sewing Sunsets

Yesterday, I had plenty of time to sew!   The doggy was very cooperative and just rested while I sewed and because the weather was cool and rainy, it made being in the sewing room very pleasant.  I’ll share that project with you soon.

For now, let me finish telling you about the boy’s head wrap that I made recently.  After sewing the band and hand sewing over the seam, it was time to hem the main piece of the head wrap. This proved a little tricky because the “tail” of the head wrap has an unusual shape.  However, I managed to hem without too many mishaps.

Even though this is a small sewing project, it’s not one of my favorites, so I probably won’t be sewing this head wrap again.  I have moved on to other projects–sewing more garments, blankets, and maybe even piecing a quilt top or two again.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Today is a rainy, cool day, and would make a wonderful sewing day, but it seems that household chores are calling my name.  Maybe I’ll just ignore them and go sew.

I think I had just started telling you about the boy’s head wrap that I made recently.  It’s fairly easy, but it’s not my favorite project to sew.  I prefer sewing shirts and dresses, even if they do require understitching (www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html )

The first step in sewing the boy’s head wrap is to sew the sides to the main pattern piece.

After sewing the side pieces to the main body of the head wrap, then it was time to sew the darts on the bottom.  This was fairly easy because of the way the fabric was cut, but I found it quite tricky to get the darts even on both sides.

After sewing the darts, there was a little bit of machine hemming involved on the bottom of the head wrap.  The next step was to sew the band.  There were two long pieces and they were sewn together on the short end and part of the curved area as well.  Then the band was turned right side out and sewn to the main body of the head wrap.  This band was sewn in a similar way to the collar on a boy’s camp shirt.

The bottom picture above shows the band being sewn to the head wrap, with the facing turned back.  When this is sewn, then the facing is hand sewn over the seam created with the band and head wrap were sewn together.

After the hand sewing is complete, there is a little bit of machine hemming to do on the “tail” of the head wrap.  This was pretty tricky, but I managed it after some trial and error sewing.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Before I started my current sewing project, I finished sewing a boy’s head wrap.  The pattern was included with the boy’s shirt and shorts pattern.  After sewing this head wrap, I remembered why I didn’t really like the pattern, but maybe I was also in a hurry to finish it and got frustrated too easily.  I’m glad it’s finished and I’ve moved on to other sewing projects.

You can see the head wrap in the picture of the pattern above. 

The pattern pieces consist of one main (center) piece for the head wrap, the two side pieces and the bands.  The first time I sewed this head wrap, I made the mistake of cutting out two main pieces, but soon realized that I cut only one piece.

I know this looks like it might be almost impossible to sew, but it’s really very easy.  There is quite a bit of hand sewing involved, but that doesn’t happen until the end of the project when all the machine sewing is finished. As I said earlier, I’m glad I have finished this project and have moved on to other sewing projects for now.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I’m sew glad to be off of the road and back home and back to my normal routine.  I don’t like to travel, sew I’m grateful that this was a short trip.  Of course, I would have been much happier if I could have taken my sewing machine.   Right now I’m busy catching up on household chores so sewing time is still limited, but I might sneak in a few minutes here and there to get some much needed sewing therapy.

Before I left to go on my trip, I believe that we were talking about sewing a boy’s shirt.  If I remember correctly, I had finished telling you about the facings, collar, sleeves, and side seams.  At this point, the shirt is finished, except for the shirt hem and the sleeve hems.  Both of these are very easy because this only involves hemming by machine.

I like to use the seam gauge to measure the hems accurately.  It’s been a while since I sewed this shirt, but I believe that the hem for the sleeves and shirt hem were 1-1/4 inches.  Some sewing enthusiasts turn under the lower edge 1/4 inch in order to get a clean finish, but I prefer to serge finish the raw edges before I hem.

The bottom picture above shows the sleeve hem being pressed on a sleeve board.  The sleeve hems are very easy because all you have to do is sew around them slightly overlapping where you started sewing.  I always put my needle all the way to the left and place the sewing machine presser foot at the edge of the finished edge of the hem; this way I get a nice even hem.

The shirt hem has the front facings that require a bit of extra work, but it’s not hard.  Basically, the facings are turned with right sides of the fabric together and then the facings are sewn at the hem mark, as shown in the second picture below.

The very last picture above shows how easy it is to sew the sleeve hem by using the free arm on the sewing machine. 

This particular pattern didn’t require any understitching (www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html )  Instead, the edges of the shirt and the collar were edge stitched, which creates a nice look.

This shirt is now finished except for the buttons.  Hmmmm….. I think I have sew many projects that need buttons that it may be time to go to the fabric store to shop for buttons.  Then that means that I’ll spend a few hours sewing buttonholes, which can sometimes get tricky.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Even though I somewhat enjoyed our little trip recently, I’m very glad to be back home near my sewing machines.   Even if I can’t find the time to sew, I can go into the sewing room and “pet” the sewing machine.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get back to sewing soon.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

We are back on the road again and most folks who know me well know that I hate traveling.  In fact, I hate traveling with a passion, but I seem to need to travel a lot due to things other people in family are interested in doing.  I would rather sit home and sew, but those pesky little sewing gods seem to have other plans this summer.

Yesterday, I thought I had found hope in at least finding a fabric store near our hotel, but it has either gone out of business or has closed its doors.   Today is a free day for me and I am going to be able to meet an online friend–at least on the phone so that will be fun.   Maybe I can also find a fabric store so I can at least get some fabric therapy to soothe my frazzled nerves.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

This may be the last post for a few days because I’m going to be very busy this next week, and I may not have access to a computer.  I have a feeling that I will really need to spend lots and lots of quality time in the sewing room after next week.

I’m glad that I got to finish the boy’s camp shirt because that was a fun project.  Of course, it’s not completely finished because it still needs buttonholes and buttons, but otherwise, it’s a completed garment.

In my last post, I talked about sewing the facings and collar (www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ) on to the shirt.  The next step is to sew the sleeves on the shirt and these sleeves are easy because they are designed to be sewn in flat, which means that the shoulder seams have been sewn and pressed open, but the side seams are not sewn yet.  The side seam and sleeve seam will be sewn as one long seam.

The pictures above are different views of the sleeve pinned into the armscye of the shirt.  The first picture is just the armscye alone; the second picture shows the sleeve pinned on to the shirt (wrong side of the fabric showing); and the last picture is the view of how it looks on the right side.  The next step is really easy because the side seam and sleeve seam are pinned and sewn as one seam. 

When I sew this seam, I always start sewing at the bottom of the shirt.  After this seam is sewn, I press the seam open.  The only thing left to sew at this point is the hem on both the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt.  This is easy because this is all done by machine. 

More details and pictures about sewing sleeves in flat: www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

This summer has flown by for me this year!  I always thought that when my kids were grown and on their own, that I would have plenty of time for myself and my sewing, but that isn’t proving to be the case.  These days, I’m just grateful if I have a few minutes to sew.  I have one more major event coming up next week and then I really hope life slows down a little bit so that I might have more sewing time. ……   Well……I can dream, can’t I?!

When I did last have time to sew, I was working on a boy’s camp shirt and I believe I told you about sewing the collar to the shirt.  The next step after basting the collar to the neckline is to sew the front facings on to the shirt.  The facings and one collar piece need interfacing so I apply fusible interfacing (www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html ) to these pieces before I start sewing. This pattern suggests pressing the tope of the facing under 5/8 inches so that the top can be hand sewn to the seam allowance on the shirt after the facings and the collar have been permanently sewn on to the shirt.

These front facings are a little different because there is no back facing, which in some ways, makes these facings easier to sew.  The tricky part is when it comes to sewing around the neckline and sewing the collar because you have to make sure to only sew one layer of the collar.

The top picture above shows the front facings and the two collar pieces; the bottom picture is just the front facings that will be sewn to the shirt.

These facings are easy to sew to the front of the shirt and in this particular case, there is no understitching (www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html ) because the outer edge of the shirt and collar are edge stitched when the garment is finished.

When I sew the facings, I start at the bottom of the garment, sew to the neckline, and leaving the needle down in the fabric, raise the presser foot and pivot to start sewing around the curved neckline of the garment.  In the last picture above, you can see that part of the collar must be left free when sewing.  This takes a little practice, but it can be done.  The part of the collar that isn’t sewn by machine will be hand sewn, using a slip stitch (www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html ) over the neckline seam to give a clean finish. 

After sewing the facings and collar to the shirt, the next step is to sew the sleeves and these are easy because they are designed to be sewn in flat (www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , and www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html   More about that in a future post.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

This summer has just flown by!  It seems to me that June got here; I blinked and now it’s August! Although I really enjoy fall, I do not like the winter that follows so I hope that the weather stays warm far into November.  Of course, around here, it could snow in October.   I was sew hoping to be moved to another, warmer area of the country by now, but I guess that’s not in the cards…..yet.  One good thing about fall is that it is great sewing weather.

In my last post, I talked about sewing a collar on a boy’s camp shirt and applying fusible interfacing (www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html  and www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html )  Sewing collars are all have very similar sewing techniques, but the technique for sewing the collar to the bodice, or main body of the shirt, is a little bit different on a boy’s camp shirt.  The shoulder seams are sewn and pressed open and the neckline is staystitched.  Staystitching prevents the neckline from stretching as the garment is being worn, but it also stablizes the neckline so that the collar can fit.  I usually clip the neckline to the stitching line because this helps the shirt neckline “stretch” a bit to accomodate the collar.  This particular pattern has notches that must be matched, so that makes it easier.

This collar is a bit different because it is pinned all through all layers at each end, with notches matching, but at the dot (that is marked during the cutting process), the interfaced collar piece should be clipped about 5/8 inches.  At this point, the facing is the only part of the collar that is basted to the neckline of the shirt.  The following picture shows the collar pinned in the correct position. 

I usually don’t baste when I sew a garment, but in this case, basting is very helpful.  After the collar has been basted to the neckline of the shirt, then the front facings are sewn to the shirt.  The collar is sewn on permanently when the facings are sewn to the shirt.   Once the facings and collar are sewn to the shirt, there is a little bit of hand sewing to complete the collar. 

I really enjoy sewing these boy’s camp shirts because they’re quick and easy.  I might make a pair of pants or shorts to go with this shirt if I can find a solid blue fabric that I like.  Any excuse to sew.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Hmmm…..today I’m going to talk about sewing the collar on a boy’s camp shirt and it made me think how much I’d like to “collar” the doctors who haven’t been listening to me.

I really do enjoy sewing a boy’s camp shirt because it’s a fairly quick project.  The collar on a boy’s shirt is a bit different than the collars on girls’ garments.   The first step is to sew the collar itself.  There are two pieces to be sewn together to create the collar.  One piece will be the main collar; the other is the collar facing. 

Fusible interfacing is applied to the main collar piece.  I place the interfacing, glue side down, on the wrong side of the fabric, place the press cloth on top, and lightly spray with water.  Fusible interfacing should always be pre-shrunk before applying it to the fabric.  Some seamstresses put the entire yardage of interfacing in warm water and hang it to dry, but since I’m usually working with small pieces, I just place the interfacing on the ironing board, glue side up, hold the iron above it, making sure not to touch the iron to the interfacing, and steam it.  I then lay the interfacing aside to dry before fusing it to the fabric.

Place the iron down firmly and hold for about 10 seconds.  Using a press and lift motion, slightly overlapping where the interfacing has just been fused,  repeat the process until the entire piece has been fused.  Turn the fabric over to the right side and repeat the above process.  This ensures that the interfacing fuses to the fabric well.  I like to let the interfaced piece cool for a little while before removing it from the ironing board.

After the fusible interfacing has been applied to the collar piece,  it is a simple matter to sew the collar together around the un-notched edges.

One important thing to remember after the collar pieces have been sewn together is that the corners need to be clipped at an angle, as shown in the picture above.

The collar has been created and needs to be sewn to the shirt.  I’ll save that for a future post because it’s a bit different than sewing a collar on a girl’s garment.

Detailed information about how to apply fusible interfacing: www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html

Detailed information about sewing collars (in general): www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com