Bias Tape Heaven - A Clean and Polished Neckline Worthy of a Pro!

Many of the tops and dresses today suggest using commercial bias tape or fabric bias strips to finish off the neckline or armholes. There are many different ready-made bias tapes to choose from, though typically beginning sewists go right for the Wrights display in the fabric store. This hands-down favorite is very convenient and comes in a variety of colors, but it doesn't always work for sheer and soft fabrics or some knits.

As we advance in our sewing skills, we look for other alternatives. Cutting your own bias strips sometimes requires purchasing extra fabric and they can be tricky to get uniform.

We found a great sheer stretch "ribbon" by Renaissance Ribbons to try on our Burda Tee 7645, which we are working up in a creamy off-white ponte knit.  (Cutting bias strips of this knit would probably be too bulky when sewed to the neckline of the top.)

 

The ribbon is applied to the very edge of the neckline and sewn in place. Super easy!

Once the ribbon is sewn on the neckline, a quick turn under and 

some top stitching makes this tee-shirt neckline clean and polished.

We used the same ribbon on the armholes.  The results are a finished neckline worthy of a Pro!

What a year it's been for sewists and fabric lovers! I hope you have enjoyed seeing all the garments we are inspired to create here for my blog. Many of the garments are up in the store for you to see.

Please stop by when you can and see what's new in patterns and fabric!

Our classes are up on our website also if you wish to advance your skills or finally get sewing again!

Are you receiving our email newsletter from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics? If you wish to, please sign up on this link to receive them. We send them out every 3 weeks, and they have discount coupons!

Happy Sewing!

Suzan

Future blog: Mytle Dress by Colette and Morris Blazer by Grainline!

Summer Tees....

With warmer weather just around the corner, we're already starting to revamp our closets and drawers to move out the sweaters and jackets to make room for easy breezy summer garments. And nothing says summer like a summer tee shirt. They are a warm weather staple - easy to care for, cool to wear, and best of all, easy to make.

SHAPES	TILLY & THE BUTTONS	GRAINLINE STUDIO	BURDA	NEW LOOK

When we get new designs in from our independent pattern designers, we always try out the tee-shirt patterns. Shapes' Four Good Measure top is a loosely fitting tee that we made out of several knits last year, including a digital print from France.

Tilly and the Buttons' Coco tee is a snap to make.  Laurel made the longer version in a rayon print.

 

Pamela's Patterns has "The Perfect T-Shirt." We have used this pattern several times, using various knits.

And we loved Burda's easy t-shirt pattern, #7645. (We also made the tank!)

This month, Grainline Studio's Scout Tee caught our eye. It's not very often that you find a tee pattern that is designed specifically for woven fabrics, so we thought we'd give it a try.

We chose a soft lightweight cotton lawn.  The pattern has a lower back hemline than the front, short cap sleeves and works up in a jiffy. It's the perfect little tee for the beginning sewist.  In fact, we're even teaching a class specifically on this pattern in August and October!

You could wear it out, tucked in, or belted! 

Summer perfection!!

Laurel made her Scout tee out of one of our lightweight Ikats.
Now that will look cute with jeans or shorts!

She also gave the neckline a little extra detail by just letting some of the bias facing show and then stitching it down in the ditch.

Think about making this pattern up in a pretty silk...wouldn't that be great paired with some jeans for a "casual elegance" look at a Summer music festival? I'd love to see it made up in a soft Rayon challis too.  Even a lightweight linen?

I love this Scout Tee so much, Laurel is making me two more cotton tops for this summer!!!

 

Last but not least, I love my new favorite flowing top, New Look 6268!!!

Sew many choices!

Cheers to a summer full of sewing up essentials that will last season after season!

Happy Sewing,
Suzan

Do-Over for a pretty knit!

Some fabrics are just too pretty to not use again.  I find that when I'm picking out fabrics to buy for the store or have made up, I can usually envision several different garments that would work up beautifully.

I love this stretch silk knit Satsuki dress that we made last year. I kept a length of the fabric on a shelf in my office because I knew that I wanted to use it to make another garment.

Victory - Satsuki Dress

With the warm summer days we've been having, I have loved wearing a more casual look, especially separates, and t-shirts in particular. Since we already had made a tank from another silk knit (below), we decided to reuse this great Burda Easy pattern 7645 with the t-shirt/tunic option and make it up in my red and grey silk knit.

The top is so easy to work up and the fit is DIVINE! The neckline has a bias strip that is attached, turned under and then top stitched. The sleeve are just serged, turned under and also top-stitched.

What else can we make out of this sumptuous fabric, Laurel?

Burda 7645 - with Cap Sleeves - Love it!!!

Speaking of top-stitching, finding the right color of thread to use on a multi-colored fabric is a case of trial and error. The only safe way to get a good match is test out several colors on your fabric and choose the one that blends the best.

  

For our silk knit, Laurel chose the medium gray. However, if we were making a garment that actually incorporated top-stitching as one of the design elements, then color choice, fiber content and thread weight become more important. For this reason Laurel and many of our sewists keep a lot of threads on hand just for times when matching fabrics is critical. The consideration is whether you want to highlight it or hide it!

 

Just for grins, why not make this same top in a soft rayon knit...in black of course. And on this shirt, our top stitching rows are doubled for added interest around the neckline and the hem.  Top stitching just requires good thread, patience and a slow speed on your machine. And practice, practice practice! (Yes, I'm going to wear this top with everything!!!)

Love this rayon and lycra knit!  Love this Burda top!

Burda Top 7645 and Burda Skirt 3152
My new favorite Top and Skirt!

At Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics we have a great selection of threads in all manner of fiber content and color. We have everything from the workhorse Polyesters to fine Rayon and Silk threads. And naturally, we carry a variety of threads for our quilters and crafters as well - those of you that are free-motion quilters know exactly what I'm talking about!

Are you a thread collector?  You have to admit, that having thread stash to compliment your fabrics is like having a box of sumptuous chocolate truffles...you just can't wait to try one!

I want to also wish Laurel, my partner is sewing, inspiration and this very blog - a big Happy Birthday Leo Sister! Please check out her wonderful blog for even more fun and ideas!

Creatively yours,

 Suzan

email me at fabriclady3@gmail.com

These Pants are made for Travel...

Travel is a billion dollar industry - so much attention paid to finding the best hotels for the price, where to dine for the best meals, what airlines offer the best fares, etc. - there are so many websites screaming for your travel dollar, it makes our head spin. We love to obsess about how to pack and what to wear while at the same time we being smart about our itineraries and finances.

Inspiration from Anna Sui, NYC

Whether you're a beginning sewist or a seasoned veteran, you need not cry out "What am I going to pack!" We've got a few ideas on fabric choices and some simple garments for the right styles and fabrics for your travel adventures.  Let's start by focusing on pants, the "no-brainer" travel wardrobe garment.  This must have item can be easy to make and there are tons of great fabric choices - don't over think it!

LINEN (for casual pants, short and long!)

I could plan a whole summer wardrobe in linen - it's a natural fabric like cotton, so it's cool to wear on the warmer days. And here's the bonus - linen is great for travel because it comes in so many colors and it's lightweight. You can get a lot of linen garments in a suitcase and not worry about that irritating 50 pound limit! Even though our mothers obsessed about wrinkles, but we think that soft linen wrinkles are part of it's charm.

Last summer, we made several pair of linen crop pants using the Sewing Workshop's Ikina Jacket & Pant Pattern elastic waist pant. Naturally, I am still loving them.

Now, let's talk about a subject near and dear to my heart: SHOES!

While I was in New York I was inspired by the trends being seen on the street. One style that I noticed in particular were flat shoes. Ballet slippers, sandals and even flat ankle boots looked so chic with the dresses and skirts of all lengths being worn in New York City. This is a style I'm excited to wear for seasons to come for comfort and sophistication.

This summer, I chose a new pattern for a longer length linen pant: New Look's 6273. We'll use buttons as a decorative detail at the bottom of the side seams, three on each side. We continue to use the same pre-treatment ritual any time we're working with linen to make it soft and yummy - Read about Sandra Betzina's pre-washing technique to minimize wrinkles on our July 2013 post.

One of the things that I love about my seamstress Laurel is that she's not afraid to tell us her lessons learned while sewing my garments, even though she has been sewing for years.  She shares our "wins" and "losses" so that you will learn to make better garments yourselves. Laurel laughed that she's been putting together pants forever, but just figured out why some patterns instruct you to sew the inseams together first, then the crotch, then the side seams.

 "Yes, Laurel, if you do it in that order, all the seams are able to be pressed flat!"

Hel-lo!!!

These relaxed pants are designed to ride about an inch below your waist and feature both elastic  AND a drawstring.   The dropped waistband has two buttonholes for the drawstring to come out in the front of the pants.  With linen or any lightweight fabric, it's a good idea to put some interfacing on the back side of the buttonhole to stabilize the fabric. Isn't it wonderful how the new machines and their attachments make such pretty buttonholes?

When making a drawstring, especially a narrow one, ironing the fabric folds before you sew can simplify the process.

Once we added the elastic and threaded the drawstring in the waistband, we're thinking it might be a little overkill since it's a little bulky. We'll decide if we need both at another fitting. That's the beauty of sewing your own garments - you can make adjustments as you gain more experience in what works and what doesn't.

Love my new silk knit top, Burda 7645 from my Work That Stash and Cool Sumer Tank post, to go with these great linen pants!

KNITS (for leggings and soft capris)

Fabrics in the knit family travel especially well. The New Look drawstring pants above would be awesome made up in a soft rayon knit...perfect for a long airplane or car ride.

But what about a pair of leggings to wear under a tunic or short dress - Remember Ladies: Leggings are NOT pants! It can be a scary thing to see leggings stretched over an ample backside worn with a crop top - you better have a dynamite figure or be 4 years old!

We recently got this cool Christine Jonson pattern in at Stonemountain. It's part of her BaseWearOne Collection No.622 and includes a tank top and a yoga bodysuit as well. These simple designs are created especially for Lycra blend fabrics. We're using a cotton and Spandex fabric for the leggings and we chose black...of course!

Cotton and Spandex blend fabric is tightly knit, and like any knit, it has the "knit" side and the "purl" side of the fabric. Traditionally, the knit side of the fabric is the "right side," but when a knit is this fine, it's hard to see the threads. If you can't tell which is which, a closer look through some sort of magnification is in order.

 

When we say easy we mean it...ONE PATTERN PIECE!
Christine's pattern directions are very clear and easy to follow.

All of the seams are serged, if you have one, otherwise just use a stretch stitch. But be sure to test it out on the fabric first. Christine warns, "Don't stretch the fabric as you sew."

Laurel used a zigzag stitch to sew on the elastic as well as hem the legs. She did adjust the presser foot tension on her Viking to ease the movement of the fabric over the feed dogs while sewing.

In a little over 60 minutes flat...DONE!!!

Check out our new class on making Leggings with Terry McClintock for further support!

Try your hand at either of these two simple pant styles in linen or knit - both will be a great addition to your travel wardrobe. Consider solid colors and pair them with a tank or tunic in a splashy print or plaid!

Creatively Yours, 

Suzan

So much to look at and to BUY! Just wait till you all see the shipments coming in over the next few weeks!