ASG Sewing Blog – Page 76

March 1, 2019

Could You, Would You, Make a Vest for Dr. Seuss Day?

March 1 is Dr. Seuss Day. Every year when it comes around, I am reminded of this experience.

I am fortunate to have a son who is always willing to help me out. When I needed to have my large embroidery machine serviced, he carried it in without a hint of annoyance. He never complained while I chatted with the shop owner. He carted my bolts of fabric to the cutting table and waited patiently. So when an extra bolt appeared on the pile, I really couldn’t complain. I knew it had to be his. But when I looked at the orange fabric—it was furry, no fringy, no stringy, no… very different.

“Without a doubt, I knew this was going to be my next sewing project — payback.”

Cautiously I asked, “And what did you have in mind?” He replied, “I thought it looked like the Lorax. I figured you could make me a Lorax vest for Dr. Seuss Day.”

OK, ordinarily a vest is easy—but it had to be shapeless like the Lorax. Then it had to close in the front, but buttonholes just wouldn’t work with this . . . fringy, stringy, furry fabric. Hmmm… I found an open front hippy style vest pattern in my stash. Feeling quite smug, I figured I could whip out this vest in under 2 hours. I laid out the pattern and began cutting. That’s when my luck changed.

The fabric backing was a stretch knit that rolled terribly! If cutting furry fabric wasn’t difficult enough, cutting one that stretched and rolled was nearly impossible. After just a few snips of the scissors, fur was flying everywhere. Then the knit backing started to run like a nylon stocking. OMG! I had to darn the fabric before I could even stitch the vest together. Grrrrr, sewing was supposed to relieve stress, not create more. Was this worth all the effort? Wouldn’t it be easier to just buy one? But where could I buy a Lorax vest to fit a grown man, and how could I get it in just 2 days? So I persevered all the while chanting my favorite mantra, “Finished is better than perfect, finished is better than perfect, FINISHED IS BETTER THAN PERFECT.”

Two days later I emerged from the sewing cave looking like a mutant with orange hair everywhere but carrying a completed vest in hairy hand. Ignoring my orange hairy body, he put on his vest and said he would wear it to work the next day, Dr. Seuss Day. And he did, with LORAX written on his name tag.

The vest is not an example of sewing perfection. But it is perfect for him. How do I know? From the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face when someone said, “Nice vest,” and he replied, “Yeah, I’m the Lorax, and my mom made it for me.”

Was it worth all the stress? YES, every hairy minute! And that’s why I sew.

~ Post by Rosemary Fajgier

February 23, 2019

The French Jacket Experience

The allure of the classic French jacket – its mystique has captivated for years.

Long before rediscovering garment sewing several years ago, I admired this garment for its timeless elegance on the outside, never understanding that the magic on the inside is the real story. Quilting lofty bouclé to silk lining with rows of stitches that are all but invisible from the outside produces a sumptuous quality double-layer that hugs the body almost like a sweater and feels like heaven to wear.

While creating this garment is a lengthy process with a great deal of hand sewing, (many have estimated it to take anywhere from 70 to over 100 hours), none of the steps are particularly difficult. Many find the slow and steady pace to be relaxing and contemplative, thoroughly enjoying the rhythmic repetition, the time-honored techniques and the effort of perfecting one stitch after another.

If one were ever to splurge on materials and trims, this is the time!

Given the amount of labor invested, only the best will do. Quality bouclé can be sourced at many online retailers – some of the more popular are:

Linton Direct UK
Elliott Berman
Mendel Goldberg
B&J
Emma One Sock

You’ll still be thousands of dollars ahead in the end. Did you know that the price of an off-the-rack Chanel original averages around $5,000 and the made-to-measure haute couture version begins at upwards of $15,000 to $20,000?

For anyone interested in trying these techniques for the first time, Blueprint’s class (formerly Craftsy) “The Iconic Tweed Jacket” by Lorna Knight offers great value and an approachable starting point. I was thrilled with the success achieved on my first jacket and came away with the confidence to move to the next level.

For a full-on couture experience, Susan Khalje’s class, in-person or on-line, is thought by many to be the gold standard. True haute couture methods are employed throughout and her three-piece sleeve with vent allows for prominent placement of featured trim and fancy buttons, both authentic hallmarks of Chanel.

It starts with a muslin

A perfectly fitted muslin (or toile) is your best friend when beginning this project. Vogue 7975 is the pattern many use since its shoulder princess seams permit the best opportunity for bust adjustments.

Time for Adjustments

Once necessary adjustments have been made and the muslin fit perfected, it is cut apart on the seam lines and used as the jacket’s actual pattern. For optimum accuracy, each piece is thread traced along the seam lines on a single layer of fabric. Measured seam allowances are not used in couture sewing; large rough borders are cut around each piece and the thread traced lines are matched throughout construction.

Machine Quilting the Sections

Each bouclé section is then machine quilted to silk charmeuse lining and the bouclé layer is sewn by machine while keeping the lining edges free to be hand fell-stitched together on the inside. Next, each lining seam is carefully pinned and hand fell stitched closed.

The control one has by hand stitching is truly unmatched. Before falling in love with couture sewing, I would have avoided hand stitching at all costs but I now find myself including some on nearly everything I sew. Collars, cuffs, facings and basting of any sort; they all benefit greatly from the accuracy of hand stitching.

On to the Sleeves

Once the “vest” has been completed, the sleeves are similarly assembled then attached to the jacket entirely by hand. Front hook and eye closures are added and the jacket’s trim is hand applied before fell-stitching the outer edges of the lining closed.

Pockets

The desired number of pockets and their placement is determined and they are constructed and trimmed in the same manner as the jacket. Each is backed with hand stitched silk lining and matching trim is applied.

Buttons

Finally, decorative buttons are added to the sleeve vents and pockets and the iconic chain is stitched along the inner hemline. The chain is said to counterbalance the weight of heavy buttons and prevent the jacket from slipping forward on the shoulders but, primarily, it adds that special touch of luxury on the inside!

Not just for Suits

While I’ve made a matching skirt for all but one of my six French jackets, they are most often worn with jeans, proving there is a place in every wardrobe for this classic you will be proud to say you’ve created yourself. No one will believe you’ve made it!

~ Post by Julie Starr – Julie is the co-author of the Tunic Bible with Sarah Gunn. Both will be teaching at the 2019 ASG Conference in Boston.

February 15, 2019

Community Service Around the Country

It’s a forgone conclusion that if you are a member of the American Sewing Guild, you obviously love to sew. Why else would you be a member? But in addition to a general love of sewing, one of the hallmarks of ASG has always been a love of sewing for the benefit of others. Over the past several months, as I have read chapter newsletters from the east coast to the west coast, I have seen such a variety of community service projects and the creativity in ASG and the diversity of ideas never ceases to amaze me!

You have sewn for soldiers, for domestic abuse shelters, for the homeless, for medical facilities and more.
You have combined sewing challenges with community service with ideas like making sweatshirts for a competition then donating all of them to a needy organization.
You have shared pictures of your chapter laughing and smiling, clearly enjoying the experience of working together for a common good. Your pictures confirm what I have known to be true, it truly is better to give than to receive.

If your chapter hasn’t yet joined in the fun of sewing for the community together, you may be wondering how to get started. How do you select a project and organization to donate your time and efforts to? Here are a few tips you might consider:

If you are looking for some new ideas, peruse the pictures in this article.
Check out Giving Back in the Resources section for ideas.
Don’t miss the link on that page to an additional LONG list of project ideas to choose from.
Gather up some of your chapter members and brainstorm with them. Someone just might have an organization that is near and dear to their heart. Reach out to that organization and design your own creative community service project.

Whatever organization and project you chose, I hope you will experience the great joy of giving. And I also hope you will inspire us by sharing your pictures and stories. As Albert Einstein once said, “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on!”

~ Sheryl Belson, Plano Chapter

February 1, 2019

Celebrate National Embroidery Month with ASG

High Top Sneaker Bags

When American Sewing Guild member Donna Fleming brought her “high top sneaker” bags to an ASG Princeton Chapter meeting, she certainly caused quite a stir among those who were there. Everyone wanted to check out these adorable bags she created for her granddaughters.

The bags feature great detail, yet are very simple to make using the downloadable in the hoop (ITH) embroidery designs from Disorderly Threads. Donna promised that the instructions were easy to follow, and those who later went to the site and purchased patterns from them confirmed that the instructions were exactly as Donna described. Each design comes with its own set of clearly written procedures featuring pictures every step along the way to guide even the novice machine embroiderer to success through embroidery and applique aspects of the designs.

More than Sneakers

As soon as Donna mentioned the site where she purchased the sneaker pattern, phones immediately appeared so their owners could check it out. And what designs there were—391 of them, featuring a wide variety of interests. There are cats, dogs, chickens, bears, dolphins, squirrels, bunnies, foxes, and more for the animal lovers. Not interested in animals? There are corsets, campers, slot machines, motorcycles, police cars, school buses, lips, spiders, fire hydrants, shoes, unicorns, sewing machines, sugar skulls, hamburgers, wine glasses, and even a British police call box that is sure to delight any Dr. Who fan. The bags come in several sizes beginning small for the 4 x 4 hoop, then the 5 x 7, and even a 6 x 8.5.

While most of those going to the site initially wanted to get the sneaker pattern, the vast array of designs lead everyone to purchase a different favorite. In all cases, the designs stitched out well with no problems with alignment. The completed bags are fully lined with no exposed seams. Once the project is popped out of the hoop and turned, it is ready for use. One word of caution, however; the designs are multi-stepped, so don’t expect to finish in 10 minutes. Everyone agreed that the completed bag was well worth the time spent to create it.

Even if you are not a machine embroiderer, check out these whimsical designs at www.etsy.com/shop/DisorderlyThreads. Just scanning through the listings is sure to bring a smile to your day. Now celebrate February, National Embroidery Month, and get started on your own embroidery project.

January 25, 2019

The Dior Exhibition

Dior On a beautiful, sunny day in January, the Colorado Springs ASG garment group toured the Dior exhibition held at the Denver Art Museum. I had heard glowing reviews from other friends who had attended, but I was not prepared for the scope of the offering. A selection of more than 200 couture dresses was on display, along with many drawings, mood boards and accessories. The exhibition was even more fantastic because of the way the garments were presented, having been designed by the internationally renowned architect Shohei Shigematsu.

The first room of the exhibition had the viewers walking through a dimly-lit passage filled with toiles made up in a flat black fabric (even the mannequins were black). Something about stripping the designs of all color allowed the viewer to see the beautiful structure of the garments.

We were able to see design boards and garments by Christian Dior, who was head of the house for a short time before his death. The exhibition then showed garments and their inspiration from all the lead designers who have followed, including Yves St. Laurent. Each of these designers has contributed his or her own design esthetic to the Dior line.

Another striking room was filled with traditional toiles in white. The room was probably 25 feet tall and the toiles were hung on the wall at least four garments high. We were told that Dior drew his sketches without a lot of thought as to how they were going to be constructed. He expected his workers to be able to translate his designs to finished garments, the toile being the first step.

One room of about 20 ball gowns featured a video display above with images of celebrities in some of the same gowns. While we definitely couldn’t touch the garments, we were able to get quite close to some of them.

Part of Dior’s genius was to design and create accessories, even perfume, so that a woman could be clothed head to toe in Dior. One display had colorful columns that held hats, headpieces, jewelry, shoes, bags and what looked like doll clothes. It was a bold presentation that captured the breadth of the line.

In many cases, the designers of the House of Dior were influenced by what was happening in the greater art world. This influence showed up in fabric creation and garment silhouettes. In many rooms the Denver Art Museum showcased actual art that served as inspiration.

The final room of the exhibition was an extensive display of Dior around the world. The room was enormous with the garments standing on tiered discs. With almost 50 garments, the visual punch was intense.

We all agreed that once through this exhibition was not enough to take it all in. Perhaps we’ll be able to go again before it leaves Denver and makes its way to Dallas – the only two cities in the US to house the exhibition.

~Thank you to Cecelia Harris from the Colorado Springs chapter for this post.