the tie

I wrote this post back in October right after we had our family pictures taken. The day I wrote it I intended to go right us stairs, finish the tie, photograph it and publish.
That is obviously not what happened.
When I finished the tie today I remembered the poor forgotten draft so I put the tie on, posed for a picture and here we are.

You might remember I set out to make a tie for the Mr to wear for our family pictures.
Well here it is.

My favorite thing about it is that front and center seam. (which turned out not to be visible in the photo, darn)
I was using the left over corduroy from Zizza's skirt and the remnant wasn't big enough to cut the front tie piece from. I love accidents like these that make your finished product significantly better than you'd imagined.
That seam in the tie seems (no pun intended) to say "Look at me, I make this tie sing! " That seam there allowed me to reverse the wale of the corduroy adding that textural interest that took the tie from simple to simply fabulous.
From this time forth my story is going to be that I intended it from the beginning. When I got it in my head to make a corduroy tie I immediately said to myself,"say, I think I'll put a seam right in the middle such that I can reverse the direction of the wale thus adding textural interest that would be other wise lacking from the project.
Ask me tomorrow, I'll never acknowledge the portion of this post that claims the seam to be a happy accident. I meant it to be that way all along.

truly.

Sunshine

Zizza has a new love. It is yellow. Ever since the orange party she's been talking about the yellow party she will have when her birthday comes. Accordingly, when we went thrifting a few weeks ago, she was on the lookout. She found this sheet and fell in love.

Tuesday when I sat down to work on the sheet to dress transformation she was right there with sketches for me to sew from.

She drew the sleeves at least five times to be sure I understood what she wanted. I guess I got pretty close because she didn't complain when it was done.
She did mention that she hadn't planned on a gathered neck-line but she thought it was a nice addition to her design so she allowed it.

She was not ok with the yo-yo flowers. I think it needs them to tie in the lighter yellow from the ruffle but she'll have none of it.
Lucky for me she was magnanimous enough to wear the flowers long enough to be photographed.

This is not the prettiest dress I've made, but it just might get the most wear.

For Izzy

A dress for a dear little niece who will be blessed on Sunday.

The only things her mother and I talked about were fabric, (this pink dupioni I bought for a wedding but it wasn't quite the right shade so it was shuffled into the stash to await it's day of glory) and ruffles, like the ones on Zizza's winter dress. The rest of the design was up to me.

That really is my favorite way to work. It's so much better to have creative freedom. I sometimes get a bit resentful when sewing the designs of others. I quell it as best I can, but I'm much happier when my own hand rests at the design helm.
I had some trouble with this one though. Initially I designed something completely different. It would be a lovely dress, but it really needed more drape and flow in the fabric to come out right. This is a nice thin dupioni, crisp, almost like paper.

So the ruffles morphed into pleats and the rest of the dress followed until the design reached a place that both suited the fabric and made me happy.

Once the dress was done it was time to consider the bonnet.

I initially planned to use the dupioni for the bonnet but aside from being too matchy matchy, I decided the stiffness would be problematic for the bonnet design I had in mind.
Out came the extra bit of silk chiffon I had tucked away from Azure's Dress and the bonnet came into being.

I spent weeks sifting through ideas for this dress. It took so long to decide what exactly to do that I didn't end up starting in until the day of my deadline.
As I was thinking and grew more comfortable and confident in my design I came to realize that this was becoming very much like the white linen gown that I imagined for my own little Moo.
There's a picture in my head of us on the steps on the Mesa temple, holding hands.
The pleated underskirt hits just above her ankles and her hair hangs just to her shoulders in perfectly chaotic ringlets.
I suppose I'm letting go of that dream a little bit. Enough to let the design slip through for the benefit of someone who will get the chance to wear it.

Lucky.

How to- narrowest rolled hem

I used to dream of tiny delicate rolled hems and despair over my inability to make a rolled hem foot work on anything but straight edged pieces of sturdy cotton. I was somewhat consoled when, while at work for an opera company, I learned of the "rolled hem" capability of some sergers. Still, I didn't have one of those so the despair continued...
Until
I moved to Arizona and got a job in a bridal shop working for the best seamstress I've ever laid eyes on. (and I've seen a few) I started as a basic dress wrangler, Suzi doesn't let just anybody take needle to her gowns. After a few months though, I wasn't just anybody anymore and in the heat of bridal season even the best need extra hands. Hands that can execute a killer hem.
And that is how this dream came true for me.
Now, I'll share it with you.
Start by folding the edge of your fabric, just once, about a quarter of an inch. Don't bother pressing that fold, it will slow you down and make things harder. Just fold as you go along.
Put it on your machine and stitch as close to the fold as you can get without running off the edge. That will be about one sixteenth of an inch.

When you've made it all the way back to your starting point, pat yourself on the back and admire your work. Here's what the inside should look like.

If you have any bits like this, don't sweat it.

Just trim them off. Also, if you notice any places where that raw edge is notably wider than the rest, trim that down.

Now get back on that machine!
Fold your hem in one more time. Your previous seam should be just to the inside of the fold. Keep-a-goin' till you get back to the starting point,

And Ta Da! Rolled hem perfection!
Wrong side

Right side

Doh! This is what it looks like if you missed trimming a trouble spot before you stitched down the second fold. It's really not a big deal, just trim it now and you'll never know the difference.

Now you're going to want to press the whole thing to smooth out any ripples that might have occurred as a result of the hemming process.
The fabric I was working with here was stretch chameuse cut in a circle. You can bet there were ripples going on when I finished sewing. They didn't stick around though.

See?

Happy hemming!

Paterning a Back Pack

I set out to make this back pack for two reasons.
One, I had this adorable elephant canvas that I bought for Zizza. She would ask every day when I was going to make her something with it and what the something would be.
Two, She was starting preschool and the back pack I made for her last year isn't large enough to hold her preschool folder.
I started my pattern with the folder. What ever I did, this standard sized school folder would have to fit inside.

I allowed for an inch of wiggle room on each side of the folder and quarter inch seams. Then I gave it three extra inches at the top, and rounded all the corners. This process gave me the template for the front and back pieces.

Moving on, I considered straps. I made my strap pieces six inches wide, they were a little wider than necessary but better safe than sorry. I wanted the finished straps to be about 2" wide. I planned on tri-folding the fabric around something poufy, (and I did that) so I needed 2" for the front of the straps, 2" for the back, 1/2" seam allowance and an unknown amount of allowance for the poufy ness. The six inch width worked fine, but there is an extra inch of seam allowance inside my straps.
To decide the length of the strap pieces I measured diagonally from the top center of the front/back piece to the bottom side. That measurement was so close to the width of the paper I was working with, I just cut a 6" strip of the full width and called it good. The straps were a little longer than needed, I trimmed about 2" off the top before I sewed them on.
Here's what my strap piece looks like in comparison to my front/back piece.

For the long strip that would make up the sides and bottom, you'll need to measure around the edge of your front/back piece. Subtract the length of your zipper, and add seam allowance. I like to ere on the side of too long so I planned for an inch of seam allowance at each end of this piece.

I made this piece 4 1/2" wide. After taking 1/4 " seams on both sides, the depth of my back pack is 4".

You'll also need a piece equal to the length of your Zipper (mine was 18") Make it the same width as the piece for the sides and bottom, then cut it in half. So you'll have 2 pieces half the width of the side/bottom piece and as long as your zipper.

Time for the pocket. To decide the width of my pocket, I measured in 2" from each side of my front/back piece.

I made the about 1/3 the height of the back pack, and curved it's corners.

For the sides of my pocket, I measured it's circumference, added a generous seam allowance and cut a 2" wide strip of that length.

I finished up with this little fella, and my pattern was ready!

Now, here are some more photos of the finished product.

If you'd like to make a back pack of your own and have questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
If you've never made your own pattern before, this is a great place to start. Don't be scared, you can do it! This project is all rectangles and you don't have to worry about a person fitting inside. Go for it!

Making a Back Pack
part 1
part 2
part 3

Making a Back Pack Part 3; Let's get this done!

There are a few more things we need to do to get our main ingredients ready so we can bust this thing out.
One of them is the main zipper. You'll need 2 strips a bit longer tha your zipper of choice (Mine was 18") Once the zipper is in this bit will need to be the same width as the piece your using for the bottom and sides. I started with a strip of that same width and just cut it in half.
Press in 1/4 inch on each piece.

Top stitch as close as you can get to the zipper. Employ the same method for getting around the pull as we did for the pocket's zipper.

Note, I am not using a zipper foot. I love my zipper foot, I used it for the piping, but when I'm doing a top stitched zipper like this, I like a normal foot. It helps hold everything in place, and it's nice not to bother with changing.
Top stitch the other side too.

I ran another line of stitching 1/4 inch from the first. This was done in the name of banishing raw edges. That edge I pressed under to start out with is now safely secured under the edge of my zipper.

A few more things to get the front and back pieces ready. Put the piping around the front piece.

Then, position the pocket so it makes you happy, (I bound the lose edge of the pocket while you weren't looking. I used single fold bias for that since there was only one layer of fabric that needed binding here)

and trace around it with a marking device that you're sure will wash out. This is your stitching line.

Fold the edge of your pocket under and top stitch, following your stitching line.

When It's done it will look like this.

Now the front piece is ready.

To get the back ready, we need to position our straps and sew them down

After I decided on placement for my straps I cut off the excess. I also opened the top of the strap and trimmed out the padding above the stitch line. There's enough thickness to sew through around the edge without padding in the seam.

After your straps (top and bottom pieces) are sewn in place, put on the piping.
Oh, tack that handle on beside the zipper too. Make sure it's centered.

Here's my stack of pieces finally ready to be assembled.

Find what's left of your piping. Take out a few stitches at the end.

Fold the bias back,

and snip off the exposed cord.

If we were going to join this with another piece, we'd fold under that edge, but this time we're just getting rid of the extra bulk because this is going inside the seams that hold our pack together.
Take the strip that makes up the sides and bottom and stitch that piping on. (You'll want to have snipped out the cord from both edges)

Then place your zippered piece on top, right sides together, and your lining piece on top of that. To review, the side piece is on bottom with the zippered piece facing it and the lining on top making a nice little sandwich. Stitch across the top of that (1/4" seam to accommodate your piping) and it should look something like this.

We're getting down to business now. Match up the center of your zipper with the top center of your front piece.

Work your way around, matching the two pieces as you go until you reach the end of your zipper.

Start sewing the sides to the front about an inch from the end of the zippered piece.

Continue sewing until you nearly reach the beginning. If your side piece is longer than need be, as mine was, trim it off leaving only the necessary seam allowance for joining the beginning and end of the piece.

Prepare another piece of piping and stitch it in place. Leave the lining hanging free for now.

Sew the two ends together, still ignoring the lining.

Now, bring the lining up to meet that seam, fold the allowance under and top stitch just below the piping.

Let's pause for a minute to note that one end of the zipper has a line of top stitching below the piping,

While the other does not. If this bothers you, go ahead and top stitch the other side. I wasn't in the kind of mood that cares today so I left mine as it was.

Now we've got a situation that looks like this. Go ahead and close up that hole. Just turn those right sides together again and stitch up the gap.

Almost there!

We just need to attach the back and we're home free.
Tuck all the straps inside, match up the bottom corners and start stitching around.

Once you complete that circuit, Bind up those edges and that's it! I recommend using a wider double fold than I did. This is really thick where the straps join. Hiding on the opposite side out of the photo is a portion where this tape just wasn't wide enough to do the job. I had to bind that bit with an unsightly patch of wider tape.

By the way, when you tack the handle on, make sure you put it on the right side. It's down right discouraging to unzip and turn your back right side out thinking you're all done and then discover that you have to pick off the handle loop and sew it back on the right way. Just trust me on this.

Now, Finally, here it is!

I'm going to write one more post where I'll go back and cover the process of patterning this monster, but I may not be able to get to it until next week sometime. In the mean time we'll returned to our regularly scheduled random blogging.
Fare thee well.