Sewing Sunsets

Today I’m wondering if I should even step into my sewing room because spilled a whole glass of tea on to the floor and the poor doggy also got an unexpected bath of tea!  If I go into the sewing room today, I’ll make sure to leave my glass of tea in another room.

Considering that I’ve already been a bit of a “butterfingers” this morning, I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve already finished the boy’s camp shirt.

The next step after sewing the collar and facings to the shirt is to sew the sleeves.  Sewing the sleeves on to this particular shirt is easy because they are sewn in flat, meaning that the shoulder seams of the shirt have been sewn, but the side seams are left open.  After sewing the sleeve to the shirt, the side seam and sleeve seam are sewn as one seam, which is easy and quick.

The picture above shows the armscye (armhole) where the sleeve is sewn on to the shirt.  In this case, the notches are very important because a single notch always indicates the front of the sleeve and a double notch indicates the back of the sleeve.  Most patterns that have sleeves that are designed to be sewn this way do not instruct you to ease the sleeve cap, but I have found that I usually have to sew a bit of an ease line in order to make sure that the sleeve fits properly.  With this particular pattern, I like to set my stitch length at 5 and only sew one line of stitching between the notches of the sleeve cap in order to ease the sleeve cap.  Then I pin the sleeve on to the shirt and sew.  After the sleeve has been sewn, I also like to serge finish the raw edges of the seam.

As you can see from the pictures above, it’s very easy to sew sleeves to the shirt and after serge finishing the raw edges of the seam and pressing the seam toward the sleeve, it gives a nice finish.  I like to press this seam over a tailor’s ham.  The next step is to sew the side seam, and that is very, very easy.  When you get to that step, the shirt is almost finished.

 Complete directions (with pictures)  for sewing a collar and facings: www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html

Complete directions (with pictures) for sewing sleeves in flat: www.sewseamless.com/Page28.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page29.html , and www.sewseamless.com/Page30.html

Complete directions (with pictures) for sewing conventional set-in sleeves: www.sewseamless.com/Page8.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page17.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday, I told you about sewing the collar for the boy’s camp shirt.  There is a bit of a difference between sewing the collar to a boy’s shirt and sewing a collar to a girl’s garment.  When sewing a collar to a girl’s dress or blouse, there is usually a back facing that is sewn to the front facings.  However, when sewing a collar to a boy’s casual shirt, the collar is first basted to the neckline of the shirt and then the front facings are sewn on to the shirt.  One side of the collar serves as a facing.  On the pattern that I’m using, there are dots that are marked on the pattern piece and the collar facing is clipped about 5/8 inches at these dots. 

The picture above shows the collar pinned to the shirt before the collar facing is clipped.

As you can see in the picture above, the collar facing has been clipped.  This facing will be pulled back and only one side of the collar will be sewn to the neckline of the shirt.

The collar is basted on first and as you can see above, the facing should be pulled out of the way when sewing because only one side of the collar is basted on.  This part can be a little tricky to master. ( It helps to staystitch the neckline of the shirt at about a 1/2 inch and then clip the neckline to allow it and the collar to fit properly.)  When basting, I like to set the stitch length at about 5.

After the collar has been basted to the neckline of the shirt, then it’s time to sew the front facings on to the neckline of the shirt.  My pattern indicates that the facing should be pressed down at 5/8 inches before sewing to the neckline of the shirt.

The facings are then pinned and sewn to the shirt.  When sewing around the collar, you still have to pull the facing out of the way and only sew one side of the collar to the shirt neckline.

When the collar and facings have been sewn to the shirt, the collar facing is then folded under and hand sewn over the exposed neckline seam.  You usually have to clip the neckline seam to the stitching in order to allow the neckline seam to be turned up toward the collar.  I like to use the slip stitch to hand sew the collar facing over the neckline seam.  The facings are hand sewn down to the shoulder seams.

I think that sewing the collar and the facings are the hardest part of sewing this boy’s camp shirt, but it’s still fun. The next step is to sew the sleeves on to the shirt and in this case, the sleeves are sewn in before the side seams are sewn, so this is really easy.  And you’ll be happy to know that there is no understitching involved when sewing this pattern.

Directions and pictures for sewing a collar and facings: www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html

Directions and pictures for understitching: www.sewseamless.com/Page7.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html

Directions and pictures for hand sewing a slip stitch: www.sewseamless.com/Page20.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Sewing for boys can be sew much fun sometimes! I really enjoy making boy’s camp shirts.  The only slighly tricky part is the collar because it is different than sewing a collar on a girl’s dress. 

The first thing that has to be done is to construct/sew the collar together.  There are two collar pattern pieces and the pattern instructions indicate that only one collar piece is to be interfaced.  I use fusible interfacing; my favorite type of interfacing to use is the knit or tricot type of interfacing because it gives some stability while still allowing the fabric to be somewhat flexible.

After applying fusible interfacing to one collar piece, the collar is pinned and sewn together on the un-notched edges.

After the collar has been sewn, the corners should be clipped diagonally and then the collar is turned right side out and pressed.  I decided to do something this different this time and I pressed points of the collar and the short seam over a point presser (my point presser and tailor’s clapper is one unit), and this created quite a nice finish.

As you can see, I pressed the collar from both the wrong and right side of the fabric.  When the collar was turned right side out, this created a nice finish.  The next step was to sew the collar to the neckline of the shirt and this is a little tricky. 

General directions (and pictures) for sewing collars: www.sewseamless.com/Page6.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page16.html

Directions (and pictures) for applying fusible interfacing: www.sewseamless.com/Page4.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page15.html

In some ways, sewing this collar on to a boy’s shirt is easier than sewing the collar for a girl’s garment and in other ways, it’s a bit trickier, but it’s not hard.  I’ll talk about that in my next post.  In the meantime….

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday was a very nice day because the weather was warmer than usual, which I like.  But that isn’t the most important thing about yesterday by any means.  My hubby took me to a new fabric store in the area for some much needed fabric therapy.   And when we got home, I even got to engage in some much needed sewing therapy as well.

Because I got to sew yesterday, I made some progress on the boy’s camp shirt I am working on now.  Sewing this camp shirt has been sew much fun!

Sew far, we have sewn the patch pocket (www.sewseamless.com/Page26.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page27.html ) and now it’s time to sew the pocket to the front of the shirt.  This is where I always have to try to think backwards–yep, you read that right, you almost have to think backwards when you sew. The pocket is placed on the left side of the shirt, but this is the left side when the shirt is actually on the wearer.  Whe placing the pocket in order to sew it on to the shirt, the pocket will be placed on the fabric pattern pieces that is to your right  as you are looking at it (the fabric will be on the right side).  This is kind of confusing, even when trying to explain it, so what I do is to hold the pattern piece up to my own body, as if I were going to be the one wearing the shirt and that way, I ensure that I place the pocket on the correct side. Whew!  That’s the trickiest part of the whole process!

Before sewing the pocket to the shirt, you have to figure out the correct pocket placement.  This is marked on the tissue pattern piece and this is what I use to mark the placement on the fabric.  I place the pattern on the fabric pattern piece place pins at the upper part of the pocket and mark with some type of marker.  I like to use the disappearing type markers with light fabrics and tailor’s chalk with darker fabrics.

When I sew patch pockets on to shirts or  skirts, I like to use the edge stitch presser foot because that allows me to sew very close to the edge of the pocket and creates a nice finish.

A bar tack is usually sewn at the top corners of the pocket, although some seamstresses will sew a triangle along the top two corners.  I usually just sew diagonally across the corners because I’m not very good at sewing those bar tacks–yet anyway.

As always, make sure to press both during sewing construction and after the pocket has been sewn to the front of the shirt.

Now it is on to sewing the collar and sleeves.  Both of those are also lots of fun and really quite easy to sew.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Today has been another one of those days–you know– one of those days. The phone rang early this morning, but it seemed to be a wrong number.  Then the phone rang and rang and rang.  One of the phone calls was from my youngest daughter so I was very happy to take that one.  At any rate, due to the late start this morning, I haven’t had time to engage in any sewing therapy or fabric therapy today….but there’s always tomorrow.

I guess it’s a good thing that I finished sewing that patch pocket a few days ago, huh?!

Patch pockets are sew much fun to sew and they are also really quite easy to sew as well.  After the pocket hem has been measured and sewn (directions can be found in the previous post), then it’s time to press the sides and bottom and miter the bottom corners of the pocket.  The sides and bottom of the pocket are pressed up at 5/8 inch. (I measure these with a seam gauge.)

When both the sides and the bottom of the pocket have been pressed, I then fold in the corner to create a miter. 

As you can see, it’s really very easy to miter the corner of a patch pocket.  Simply press up the sides and bottom at 5/8 inches; open out the bottom and fold in the corner; then fold the seam allowances up so that one seam allowance slightly overlaps the other, creating a nice mitered corner.  I always press the patch pocket well during construction, and after the patch pocket is completed, I also like to press from the front of the pocket as well.

Now that the pocket is complete, it’s time to sew it on to the shirt and this is also lots of fun. 

Directions for sewing patch pockets (and pictures):  www.sewseamless.com/Page26.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page27.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

Yesterday would have been such a good day to sew, but due to lack of sleep, I just couldn’t get much accomplished.  I guess it’s a good thing that I did some sewing a few days ago, huh?!

I am currently working on sewing a boy’s camp shirt and I’m pleased to say that I am using left over fabric.   I don’t remember how yardage I bought of this particular print, but I have gotten two boys’ camp shirts (two different sizes) out of this fabric and will have enough left over to make some small tissue holders or perhaps use this fabric in a quilt block. 

This particular pattern is really very easy to sew and I always enjoy sewing these shirts because they are a fairly quick project.  Most of the time, I do not put the patch pocket on the front of the shirt, but this time I decided to add the patch pocket.

Patch pockets are very easy to sew and the only slightly tricky part is mitering the corners on the pocket, but even that isn’t as hard as it sounds. The first thing to do after cutting out the patch pocket pattern is to measure the hem using a seam gauge.  I think that the hem on this pocket is 1-1/4 inches.

After measuring the hem, the short sides of the pocket hem are sewn, using a 5/8 inch seam allowance.

When both short sides of the patch pocket hem have been sewn, the corners should be clipped diagonally to create sharp corners; the hem is turned right side out, pressed and then sewn along the finished edge.  Although the pattern instructions don’t say that the raw edges of the pocket should be finished, I usually serge finish them to prevent the fabric from fraying.  (The raw edge of the pocket hem must be finished by either serge finishing or by turning under 1/4 inch.)

When sewing the hem of the pocket, it is easier to place the needle all the way to the left and place the presser foot along the finished edge of the pocket hem.

Sewing a hem on a patch pocket is fun and it’s really easy.  There is just a little bit more to do to finish this patch pocket before it is sewn to the front of the boy’s camp shirt, so stay tuned.

Directions and pictures for sewing patch pockets: www.sewseamless.com/Page26.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page27.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

This morning I find that I have a lot to say about life in general and it doesn’t really have anything to do with sewing.  However, I don’t even know how to start at this point.  Lately, life has been so full of frustrations and stress that I just want to run away from home and make a fresh start someplace else.  Of course, in reality, I’ll stay here and weather the stress and life’s storms and I will survive.  Of course, sewing helps a lot.

And talking about sewing also helps me deal with stress, so let’s review another easy sewing project.  As you know, I recently sent some easy to sew items to Odyssey Healthcare in Mississippi.  Some of those items were neck pillows that were sewn out of left over fabric from other sewing projects.  I don’t remember exactly, but I think it takes approximately 1/2 yard of fabric for this project.  Although I could have chosen to place the pattern on the fold, I chose to place the pattern on the fabric and cut two full neck pattern pieces because this was easier and faster.

It is very easy to sew around the neck pillows, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, but make sure to leave a space for turning the pillow right side out.  Curved seams also have to be clipped.  Inward curves simply need to be clipped to but not through the stitching, but outward curved seams should be notched, and my way of doing that is to trim the seam with pinking shears and then clip to the stitching line.

After I turn the neck pillows to the right side, I always press well before filling it with fiberfill and hand sewing the opening closed.

These neck pillows are fun and quick and easy to sew and not only do they make great gifts, but they are also good beginner sewing projects as well.

Completely instructions (and pictures) for sewing neck pillows can be found at :  www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page55.html ,and www.sewseamless.com/Page56.html

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I still wish that someone would explain to me why it is that when I actually plan to sew and try to set aside time for that purpose, it seems that life always has other plans for me.  That will be the day that the dog needs to go outside more than usual and because we don’t have a fenced in yard, that means I must stop what I’m doing and take her out, which can take quite a bit of time; or it will be the day that the phone rings off of the hook, usually with sales calls or political pitches; or some other unusual thing will happen and by the time I have time to go into the sewing room, it is time to start cooking supper and the day is over.  I really should learn my lesson and never plan to sew.

In spite of all that, I actually do get to sew once in a while and as you have seen, I manged to sew several things recently, including the tissue holders that I told you about yesterday.

These tissue holders are easy to sew and lots of fun as well.  You can use up lots of fabric scraps or if you wish to purchase fabric for this project, you could get fabrics with different “themes” such as holiday fabric, sports prints, or seasonal prints. School type prints might be cute for a teacher’s gift; the list of ideas just goes on and on. 

In yesterday’s post, I think that the last picture I showed you was the top and bottom pinned together.  I sew these tissue holders with a 3/8 inch seam allowance.

After sewing the tissue holder together, I press well and then clip the corners diagonally as shown in the bottom picture above.  I also like to slightly trim the seams with pinking shears so that it prevents raveling.  Once this is done, I turn the tissue holders right side out and use a point turner to get nice sharp corners.  At this point, I press well, both on the top and bottom of the tissue holders, and I also like to use a tailor’s clapper to get these tissue holders nice and flat.

I had lots of fun sewing these tissue holders recently.  These tissue holders are very easy and quick to sew and would make good beginner sewing projects.  They also make nice gifts for folks of any age.

I have finished sewing crafts and I’m now concentrating on sewing some more children’s garments from some large fabric scraps that I have left over from other sewing projects.

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I took a bit of a break from blogging last week, although that wasn’t my original intention.  I was just extremely busy around here for some reason!  During my “blogging break” I did manage to get quite a bit of sewing done and spending time in my sewing room in the midst of fabric and my sewing machine and serger always makes me happy.

I am challenging myself a bit to use up some left over scraps and so far I’m making some nice progress.  I cut out another boy’s camp shirt yesterday out of some left over fabric and there are enough scraps left from that to make some more tissue holders or perhaps a quilt block or two.

In my last post, I told you about some small craft items that I sent to the Mississippi hospice and some of those items were sewn out of fabric scraps left over from other sewing projects.  Some of my favorite craft type items to sew are the small tissue holders because they use up some of the smaller scraps and are very easy to sew.  I found a commercial sewing pattern for these a few years ago, but it would be quite easy to make your own pattern by tracing the purse sized package of tissues and adding whatever seam allowance that you would like to use. My particular pattern indicated that I was to use a 3/8 inch seam allowance.

When I first sewed these tissue holders, I did all the basting as the pattern instructions directed, but I soon learned that wasn’t really necessary.  If you’re a beginning seamstress, it might be easier to  baste. 

The bottom of the tissue holders are two pieces of fabric, wrong sides together and the top is comprised of two pieces of fabric folded in the middle and pressed.

The above pictures show the bottom of one tissue holder.  I like to press these and make sure that the fabric edges are lined up before I sew the tops.

The above picture shows the tissue holder tops before they are folded and pressed.

The tissue holder tops are folded as shown above, and also pressed well before placing them on the bottoms of the tissue holder.  One thing I always have to remember is to place the raw edges together and that the folded edge is placed toward the middle.

After pinning the tops on the bottom of the tissue holders, it’s time to sew them, using a 3/8 inch seam allowance.  My next post will include the rest of the instructions for sewing these small tissue holders.  They are lots of fun to sew, use up fabric scraps, and make nice small gifts as well. 

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com

I am happy to report that I finished my sewing last week and there are gift bags, neck pillows (www.sewseamless.com/Page52.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page53.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page54.html , www.sewseamless.com/Page55.html and www.sewseamless.com/Page56.html ), and some tissue holders on their way to Odyssey Healthcare (www.odsyhealth.com ) in Gulfport, Mississippi. I didn’t take pictures of everything, but just took pictures of some of the gift bags because there were so many that it was hard to get a good picture. 

This last picture is a close up of the machine embroidery on one of the gift bags.  I had sew much fun sewing these items!

As you know, I always encourage folks to use their talents to help others in need.  Sewing a few small gift items to help brighten someone’s day is a very simple thing to do.  Sometimes, however, there are far greater needs, and today I need to mention one of those needs.  My friend, Lisa, of The Domestic Diva (www.thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com ) has a daughter who needs a kidney transplant.  This young lady is a beautiful, articulate 15 year old who has had to endure far too many medical issues in  her young life.  She is currently in the hospital in Philadelphia because she continues to have problems with uncontrolled high blood pressure.  Family members have been tested to try to find a match for a kidney, but so far no match has been found.  If you can  help in any way, please contact Joann Palmer of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at 215-590-2449.

I continue to encourage you to use your sewing, quilting, knitting, or crocheting talents to help others  by donating items that might brighten their day just a little bit.  If you would like to consider creating some hand crafted items for Odyssey Healthcare, here is the contact information:

Tiffany Clark, Manager of Volunteer Services

TClark@odsyhealth.com

9414 Three Rivers Road, Suite 3

Gulfport, MS 39503

Office Phone: 228-864-0065

Cell Phone: 228-297-5976

Happy Sewing!

www.sewseamless.com