A little clarification & a quick and easy "wrap skirt."

Pictures of neck band process. Sorry I don't have one while I'm stitching the binding to the neck band as that takes two hands.

First step. Fusible bias on neck edge to stabilize.

Fusible bias along the cut neck edge of garment

Second step. Sew binding to neck edge, right sides together, slightly pulling the binding only until it just starts to cup towards you, being careful to keep edge even. This may take some practice. Don't stretch the neck edge or you'll wind up with an awful looking garment. If the fabric is 100% cotton knit, you may be able to steam it back in place, but it's generally not pretty. 

Third step. Press seam allowances up with the binding above the neck edge.

Fourth step. Take upper cut edge of binding, and fold it to meet the stitched upper edge of the neck edge with the fusible bias. Press as you go around.

Left side is the fused neck edge. Right side is the folded over bias neck binding

Fifth step. Carefully bring the folded edge of the neck binding over the neck edge of the garment, with the top edge of the bias and sewn neck edge reinforcing the top of your finished neck edge. It's kind of like having interfacing inside a piece, but with it being bias, it gives a bit of stretch. When you're doing this, use a seam gauge to be sure the outside of the binding is even, giving a professional looking neck edge.

Outside of tee with bias binding pinned in place prior to stitching in the ditch

Inside of bias binding with folded edge pinned prior to stitching in the ditch

Carefully stitch in the ditch. Press. This will give you a very professional high end neck binding with no raw edges showing. 

As I said a few posts back, I have a wedding to attend in mid June and I'm trying to figure out an outfit for grandmother of the bride. It's going to be outdoors and at least mostly casual. I have been thinking I'd make the Bootstraps #45699, which is a combination of a sleeveless shirt dress and a wrap dress. I love the look of it, but since I've never worn a wrap dress wasn't quite positive how it would work. To that end, I started with a "muslin" of the skirt portion thinking I could wear it as a swimsuit cover-up. 

I traced off the skirt pattern, added my waistband from my Burda shorts pattern, and used a "remnant" I found in the quilt shop. It's two yards, but the fabric is very wide. I think it was 106" wide! I like the skirt, although I am reminded that I don't like skirts much because of my large inner thighs that rub together. Here's a quick picture, then back to the grindstone.

I am also going to audition a sheath dress, and have the tutorial on fitting from Threads magazine January of 2014, Issue 170. I want to see which one will look the best. I also have two jacket patterns to audition. The sheath dress and one of the jackets are from Butterick #5719. I think this looks quite nice and may fit the bill. 

The jacket I'm thinking about to go with the Bootstraps pattern is one I saw in a winter white wool on someone's Artisan's Square Sewing Guild SWAP page. Don't remember whose, but it was lovely. It's Simplicity #2229, View C, only without the ties at the waist. I'll have to check the neck edge versus my dress neck edge and see if I can get them to work nicely together. 

So excited today! I just got my "new" sewing machine. For almost 20 years, I'd used a Pfaff 1475 CD, which was an amazing machine. I got talked into buying a new one, but got a middle of the line, instead of top of the line machine due to cost. I've rued the day I did that, and finally when the middle machine touch screen went out and I found out it would cost $300 plus to fix and had to be shipped to Ohio for repairs, taking a couple of weeks at least, I decided to look for another machine. 

On a retirement income, top of the line Pfaff machines are prohibitive in price, BUT I found a completely reconditioned and guaranteed 1475 CD on E-Bay for what I consider a reasonable price. It arrived yesterday evening and I'm excited to get back in and start sewing again. 

I have my next garment cut out and ready to go. It's a pair of grey cotton twill shorts using my now TNT Burda pattern. Can't wait to get them in rotation with my new tees. 

More later!

Another item for the gray grouping

My second tee for the gray grouping is also a stripe, and this time I put it together differently to add a bit of interest and flattery for a bodacious figure.

I decided to do this one with the stripes running diagonally from shoulder to opposite hem. I really like the way this one worked out.
I am finding that the prospect of teaching someone else to sew has me thinking about process and procedures much more than typically and I'm harking back to my sewing classes, teachers, "couture" sewing quests and remembering some of the ways to do things more professionally.
Again, I started with Pamela's Perfect Tee, which has been modified so many times for my body "of the moment." I love this tee as it is flattering to most women and the darts help so you don't have those folds and pleats running around on your body.
The Fabric was purchased from Marcy Tilton in mid January of 2013, so it's aged a bit in the stash. It's a rayon/lycra knit and is so soft and beautiful it almost feels like silk.
The sewing was pretty straight forward, but I adapted my neck binding technique slightly. I use the instructions from an old Stretch and Sew pattern, 326 "City Tees."
After stitching the binding to the neck edge, the instructions have you take the binding and turn it to the inside, stitch in the ditch, and then cut close to the stitching, leaving a raw edge along the stitching line.
I don't really like having that raw edge on the interior, and in my opinion, the tees don't stand up as well as they do when the raw edge is turned in and stitched inside the binding.
As you can see below, I have been having "machine issues" and in lieu of trying to stay stitch a light weight knit, I pulled out some Japanese bias cut fusible tape that I've had about forever. I fused it to the neck edge, front and back before doing anything else so my neck wouldn't stretch out of shape.
I have modified the instructions by cutting the neck edge on the bias about 1/4" wider than the instructions. I stitch the binding to the neck edge, stretching only the binding slightly until it starts to cup slightly. Once stitched, it is pressed flat, and then pressed up away from the neck edge. Then I press the raw edge of the binding even with the top of the seam allowances.

Once that is done, I fold the pressed edge to the inside to cover and slightly exceed the seam allowances, measuring the outside to be sure my binding is presenting an even neck edge. Then it it pinned in place, with my pins along the stitching line where I will stitch in the ditch.

Interior Pinned

Outside pinned

Then a stitch in the ditch, trying hard to stay in the "ditch" and you've got a great looking neckband on both the interior and the exterior.

Even though it's not official, we have reached summer around here. Temps today were in the high 90's and close to 100 degrees F. We will cool down to the high 80's over the next few days, but that still is warm! My next garment will be a pair of grey twill shorts to go with these two grey stripped tees. Fabric is out and ready to be pressed, cut and sewn.

As always, more later!

A new collection started in grey

I'm teaching a friend to sew. She had asked if I would help her to make a few tees. No problem, right?

Imagine my surprise to find a late 50 something woman who has never made a single garment, not even the ubiquitous pillow case or apron! Instead of the hour or so I thought this would take, we're now doing "lessons." As well all know, something in a woven cotton is the best way to learn to sew.

But she still wants tees and I had helped her draft her own version of Pamela's Perfect Tee as I find it the best tee I've ever made, bar none. So I wrote out some basic instructions, (still not knowing she'd never sewn anything before) and left her with the pattern, instructions, and three pieces of fabric she purchased at Hobby Lobby. I have to say the light bulb should have gone off when she didn't know the difference between woven fabrics and knits, but I knew she'd taken a basic quilt class, so just figured she hadn't run into it before.

She had the first tee sewn together, but couldn't figure out how to do the neck or hems. That's when I got my first inkling and asked the questions. Shock and awe were my reactions. She did pretty good putting the tee together all on her own, but since she was using an old machine that was pretty messed up, I told her to take it in for servicing, and I'd finish the tee. Instead of servicing, she traded it in on another machine.

As I was finding out all of the above, I realized I needed to have her come to my house for "lessons" as I have, ahem, all of the supplies we'd both need. I did have her get some jersey needles, good quality thread, a seam gauge and some ball point pins. The rest we'll do here. BUT, she wanted to have me make a tee concurrently with her making hers so she could watch anything and everything I do. She's definitely a visual learner as she's had dyslexia quite badly her whole life and has a very difficult time reading instructions.

I agreed to make a tee with her, and we were going to get together last Sunday for our lessons. Something came up and she couldn't make it, but since I'd already cut mine out, I went ahead and put it together this week. I really like it a lot.

I love stripes, but as a voluptuous woman, horizontal stripes don't really flatter me much. As I thought about what I wanted to do, I realized I could take my Pamela's Perfect Tee as a base and combine it with my Bootstraps #42721, turn the center piece to vertical and have some nice interesting lines that would also flatter. Since the fabric is tissue thin, I also used some Japanese fusible bias along the neck edge to keep it from curling, and then cut my neck binding on the bias to alleviate the curling on it. I really like the looks of this one! 

The fabric is a fairly recent, for me, purchase coming from Mood in February of 2016. It's a heathered cotton jersey, and as I said above, light weight, which will be perfect for Southern New Mexico summers along with a pair of linen shorts. 

Now my friend will be here tomorrow, so I'm working on cutting out another striped fabric for a tee to make with her. This one is grey and white striped, a bit narrower than the stripes on this one. I'm thinking a diagonal stripe from one neck edge to the opposite hem might be very interesting. Here's a photo of the fabric, and I'll update as I get it put together.

Wishing you happy sewing this Spring!