Sewing – Page 57

April 5, 2019

How have you used your ASG fabric?

Calling all members!

What have you been making from our ASG fabric? We are currently looking for original designs that our members created from our very own unique fabric—the one with the dress forms and the ASG logo.

We were thrilled when we received nearly 1,300 submissions for our 2018 contest. Despite the great response, many members told us they wanted to participate, but they just couldn’t think of how to use the fabric. So if you designed, or are willing to design, something made with our own ASG fabric, we would love to share it with our ASG family and inspire others to show off their ASG pride with a unique item just for us.

Your creation must feature the ASG winning fabric from MyFabricDesigns.com (no longer in business) — the fabric with the dress forms and the ASG logo.

You may use any of the colors featured and can modify the size of the print right on the site. You have a choice of over 20 fabrics, from cotton to silk to French terry and many more.

While the ASG winning fabric must be used, your design can also feature other fabrics as well. These may be the coordinated prints from the site or something of your own choosing.

The fabric is printed to order and takes about 10-14 days to be printed and shipped.

My Fabric Flash Drive Holder

To kick off this new undertaking, I am including a simple pattern for the Fabric Flash Drive Holder I created for protecting my flash drive, and we are debuting it for National Flash Drive Day. The little pouch was created to hold a simple flash drive, or even the larger specialty one that I use for my embroidery designs. Of course, you can use yours for all kinds of small objects. I’ve used a technique I saw recently that allows the pouch to be created easily with no exposed seams on the inside. Check it out and see what you think.

If you have a design you would like to share:

Please use the format I have used to create my design. A sample Word template can be downloaded here to use.
Write up the instructions and be sure to take pictures in jpg format.
Submit your project instructions and images using this form in the Member’s Only area.

We can’t wait to be inspired!

~Contributed by Rosemary Fajgier

March 29, 2019

Take Your Garment from Ordinary to Edgy

There are lots of ways you can exercise your creativity to transform your everyday garment sewing to fabulous and unique.

Consider these ideas, whether sewing a garment from scratch or upcycling a ready-to-wear piece that’s a bit on the uninteresting side.

Use more than one fabric when you are making a new garment. Using different and maybe “focus” fabric in a panel, yoke or collar, cuffs and button placket and turn it from ho-hum to really interesting and personal.
Replace the plain plastic buttons on a ready-to-wear shirt with a collection of mismatched buttons to make a garment unique.
Add a striped or gingham finding, cut on the bias, to all the edges of a blouse (for example -collar, cuffs, pocket, front edge, hem). Consider adding flashier buttons as a fun addition.
Change the color of the fabric you are using by dyeing it – or over dye a ready-to-wear garment if the garment doesn’t suit you.
Change the opening on a garment you’re making from a straight edge to a curvy or zigzagged one. The fit will not be affected with this change.
Piece or applique the fabric you are using to make some parts of the garment and it will become an individual expression of your taste and style.

There are no images in this gallery.

Whatever you do, start with a simple shape, make sure you fit the pattern and then unleash your inner Yves St. Laurent!

~Lorraine Torrence

March 22, 2019

Button, Button, I’ve Got the Buttons

This is my week! It’s National Button Week and I love buttons. I REALLY love buttons. In honor of this auspicious week, I want to tell you a story about the buttons I have loved. Then I get to reveal an exciting new members-only discount. No peeking! You’ll have to wait until the end of the article!

My fascination with buttons began when I was a child. My mother’s button box served as one of my favorite toys, second only to my Barbie doll. I remember sitting for hours sorting and exploring the beautiful buttons the large tin contained.

Button Bling

One of my favorites was a blue and green button that sparkled in the sunlight on a wool jacket she had made. Her philosophy was that the buttons made the garment, and today would be called the “bling” that made it special. I remember the “Life Saver” buttons that were the focus of my brown calico dress. No one noticed the dress, or the beautiful white Peter Pan collar. Instead everyone commented on the buttons, proving her point.

Playing with those buttons is one of my favorite childhood memories, so I was devastated when I returned home from college and found that the entire collection was gone. She had downsized. How could she just throw away all those beautiful buttons? What had become of them? These questions plagued me until I decided to do what any practical person who wanted to preserve her sanity would do. I started my own collection!

Having little money in those early days, I started out cutting buttons off old garments. Then gradually, I added to the collection by buying them. First it was just the ones on sale. Then it was any that attracted my attention.

Specialty Buttons

Now I have quite a collection. I have large buttons, and teeny, tiny buttons. I have completely round buttons, and flat buttons. I have some that say, “I love grandma” and others that say “Mood.” I have buttons that are pumpkins, skulls, snowmen, snowflakes, Christmas bulbs, cats, dogs, rabbits, cars, dice, gingerbread boys, fish, etc. I even have buttons that look like Olympic medals and police badges.

Benno's Buttons

You may ask yourself, “Does she ever use these buttons?” The answer is yes—sometimes. I put the seashell buttons on a jacket. Some of the snowflakes reside on a sweatshirt along with snowmen that form a tic tac toe pattern with trims. And the pumpkins can be seen on one of my fall purses. And if you look closely, the next time we meet, you may just get a glimpse into part of my collection.

Special Offer for ASG Members

Now about that discount… We are excited to announce that Benno’s Buttons will offer all ASG members a 15% discount. You can find the discount code in the Member’s Only Special Offers section of our website. Benno’s Buttons has been a respected nationwide supplier of quality products and services to apparel designers and other industry professionals for many years. They offer so much more than just buttons! Check out their pin on buttons, lace, appliques, trim and more. You definitely want to check out the Benno’s Buttons website. And if you are shopping in the Dallas area, be sure to stop in to say hello and thank them for their generosity and support of American Sewing Guild.

~ Rosemary Fajgier; Individual button images from Benno’s Buttons

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.