Sunday, January 27, 2019

Morris Blazer, Muslin and Finished Piece


Corduroy blazer
My first Morris Blazer from Grainline Studio is complete. This project took a bit longer because I opted to do a muslin to check fit before putting together the final blazer. Muslin out of red fabric I got from City Sewing in St. Louis.
Fabric from City Sewing

Finished seams on muslin
For the armscye seams and to finish the edges of the lining, I used my new-to-me serger.  This one was a gift from a co-worker who was down-sizing. Conveniently, this machine was already threaded with black thread and now I can have both of my sergers (one with white and one with black thread) ready to go at a moments notice.
It needed a bit of cleaning and I needed quite a bit of practice with rethreading, but we worked together nicely in the end

I really like this machine so far, does anyone else have this model?

Muslin front view without sleeves
This jacket muslin finished way too small for me, so I cut out a larger size for the next go-around.  Fabric for the next round came from a scrap bag I picked up off Freecycle. Originally, I intended to use this floral corduroy for jeans, but I have yet to make any sort of pants and I really did want to wear the flowers.

I had to choose which direction to orient the flowers before cutting. I read somewhere that the pile on corduroy should face upwards.

Lainie, part-time pattern weight
When sewing this blazer together, I again used the Bernette 43D serger with black thread to finish the seams. For the neckline, I considered both a black non-corduroy facing and more of the floral fabric.

Front facing: black on left, floral on right

Opted to go with the floral facing




















The pattern does not match across the back seam, but I hadn't made any attempt to have it do so.


Back view
The hem was done on my Bernina 1230.
Inside view of front and hemline
The picture is a bit dark here, but the jacket does fit well and it was comfortable to wear for a full day of work.  For the next version, I may add some length overall and a bit more width across the back of the shoulders.
On my way out the door
On the dress form





Friday, January 18, 2019

Bat Shirt

My students think I'm a bit batty
The pattern is a hack for the Grainline Studio Lark Tee that I read about on the Guthrie&Ghani website. The author, Lauren, had modified the shirt to use for maternity wear, but I thought it would be a great relaxed fit for an everyday shirt.
I don't think the bats jump out at the viewer, you have to focus on one or two before you see them
The fabric was from Joann's sale rack. It was close to Christmas when I picked up this Halloween leftover. It's stretchy cotton though and I like the black and white contrast.
Pleat on top third of shirt, looser fit below that
The pattern change that Lauren wrote about is to add a center back pleat. My pleat extends from the neckline to near the bottom of the shoulder blades and it added 2 inches of fabric to either side of the back center. With the busy bat pattern, it is not very easy to see.
Side view
I used my TNT (tried and true) version of the Lark Tee and the shirt sewed up quickly. Unfortunately, I didn't wash the fabric before I started sewing and after its first wash/wear, my shirt did shrink up a bit. Now I've got 3/4 sleeves and I'll have to wear a tank top underneath to add a bit of length. That's ok, I'll plan ahead and hopefully not shrink the next shirt.
Lights on the grow cart make for a bit of an eerie background
Front of shirt is a bit short
I do like this relaxed fit though and will try it again soon in another shirt.

*The pictures for this post were taken at work and the classroom lighting is not always favorable.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Chevron Quilt


This project was started on winter break in December 2018 and finished in February 2019. Originally, I challenged myself to use fabric colors and styles that I didn't have in my collection, a pattern I hadn't worked with before, and a sewing machine I hadn't used in awhile. I met two of those three goals, but the third one ended up being a bit of a stretch. I was planning to set up one of my rarely used Berninas, but there ended up being a movie on television that I had on in the background. I knew that I could sit at the cabinet housing my Pfaff 131, set up my ironing close by, and still be able to glance up at the tv from time to time so I didn't pull out any other machines. The 131 really is a joy to sew on, so I happily modified my plans.
Easy blocks to cut out and sew
Final rearranging of rows before they get stitched together
Finished piecing
Basting was done on my floor. I have two large green cutting mats that I can put down under the quilt so that I don't scratch my wood floors with pins.
Someone is watching me
How to quilt this?
My Bernina 830 was set up on the dining room table so that I had plenty of work space. The overhead lighting is pretty good in that room, but I did supplement with my small LED clip light for the needle area. The walking foot is the one I bought in Paducah, KY.
The final decision was to quilt concentric circles working from the center out. I traced a jar lid for the center circle and then spaced the others one inch apart.
Progress was pretty steady with this pattern
There was a fair amount of fabric and batting wrangling involved in the quilting. When sewing the inner circles, all of the fabric in the corners and on the outside had to be rolled under the arm of the machine. More harp space would have been nice, but this was definitely doable for a small quilt.
Sometimes I was forced to take a break
From the back, the circles look fairly equable and they really pop on the white fabric.
Add caption
For the binding I used one of the fabrics from the quilt. I chose the black and white circles to complement the quilting pattern. The binding was stitched down by hand.
Finishing the binding
Here is the completed quilt, but before it gets washed. Looking forward to seeing how the texture changes post laundering.
Front view
Back view
Here it is hanging in the dining room. I have not added the sleeve yet, so it's attached to the picture rail with the all-purpose Clover clips. These aren't colors that I have anywhere else in my house, but I really do enjoy looking at new combination of colors and patterns.










Great Grandmother's Gift, Guest Post from Linda





My mother knit as long as she could see and hold needles, but near the end of her life, she no longer had the skill. One of her unfinished projects was the "Hillswick Lumber" Fair Isle style cardigan, from Ann Feitelson's book The Art of Fair Isle Knitting. It was knit in the round, with a steek where the front opening would be. Mother made it a few rows past the armscye openings, and then set it aside. 
Sweater body before steek is cut
Mother died in September of 2018 at the age of 97. I don't keep many mementos, but this piece of knitting was special to me. I removed the needles and gently fulled the wool in warm water and Unicorn Fiber Wash. Butterick pattern 3782 has a very simple jacket that I've used before, and the simple lines seemed perfect for this knit. 
E's jacket is Butterick 3782 and made from her dad's worn out cotton knit sweater, embellished with simple hand embroidery.
I cut the fabric tube open at the front steek to evaluate yardage, and decided on a size medium. I could use the ribbing on the bottom of the sweater, but it seemed to overpower the sleeves. (Didn't have quite enough fabric anyway.)
Fabric laid out flat

Pattern pieces laid on fabric

Trimming off the front facing
I ended up cutting off the front facings. I needed to reduce bulk wherever possible, so I decided to make the front and neck facings out of wool knit ponte that I had in my stash. That gave me an extra seam, so I'm not positive it was the right choice, but the edges finished nicely inside. Iron-on knit interfacing stabilized the front openings and the shoulder seams. 
Fronts with facings ready to be attached
These two photos of the sweater insides will illustrate the difference between a sweater knit to fit and a sweater cut from a piece of fabric--seams and facings. The seams won't show when the sweater is being worn, and I don't think they will be irritating since the sweater is an outer garment. It wouldn't be my first choice if I were starting to knit a sweater, however. Far better to knit the pieces to fit and have no seam allowances and no raw edges to finish. 
This sweater has no inner seams
Seams visible in Fair Isle sweater
Not all of the pattern rows are perfect, because the patterns are tiny and Mother couldn't see well enough to always distinguish the colors. The discrepancies make the fabric all the more dear to me.
Closeup of pattern bands
Pattern bands across the front
Mother would be pleased to know all of her stitches on this project will go to warm one of her great grandchildren. It's just colored wool, but precious to this family.







Saturday, January 12, 2019

Winter Break Piecing


Over winter break this year, I did quite a bit of quilt piecing. I was trying to make a dent in my fabric stash and to make room for new fabric and projects. Variety in the patterns, fabrics, colors, and finished sizes made each one of these project interesting.  Here are 4 of the 5 tops I pieced.  Next up, a marathon session of basting so that these can get quilted some day.