Weights

Pattern weights, that is.  I have always generally pinned patterns to fabric.  Not sure why.  Mom always used weights rather than pins.  Her weights were the silverware from the kitchen.  She especially liked using the knives in the stainless steel collection (not the sharp steak knives).

However, lately, I've been using fewer pins and adding in some form of weights to hold my patterns down.  I need more weights.  I know there are all different kinds out there and many tutorials on making your own.

My sewing buddy has some black ones that I refer to as her "earthworm weights" - long, skinny, wiggly.  I decided to make some - no pattern, not hard, just some scraps and BBs from Walmart.

I've been sewing some community service dresses for the ladies at the State Hospital.  I had some self bias left over from finishing necklines and some nice selvage strips left over.  Both of these were perfect for the "earth worm" weights.   Just sew the strips down the long edge and across one end.  Using a small funnel from the kitchen drawer, after I turned the sewn strip right side out, I filled the strip with BBs until it was "almost" full.  I left enough room at the open end to be able to get it under the pressure foot of the machine.  I turned in the raw edges and simply top stitched closed.  Easy!

Then I sewed some small (2"x 2" finished or 2"x 3" or close to those measurements) squares/rectangles, turned right side out and filled with BBs (again with the help of the funnel), sewed the ends closed and "poof!" I had more pattern weights.

And here they are in action holding down a pattern for a pair of shorts I muslined this afternoon.  Pretty cool and useful!  Now I have my own wiggly earthworm weights!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the responses to my last post regarding fabric/material terminology.  Thanks for taking the time to leave me a note!

Fabric or Material?

I grew up with Mom making most all of my clothes.  I loved it!  I never saw myself coming down the street, never worried about another girl in my class having the same outfit, AND whatever it was, it fit me.  The only thing I didn't look forward to was trying on the outfit while it was being made.  Mom was a firm believer in fit as you go" and my sister and I tried on "in progress" garments again, again and again.  At times, we didn't feel a garment was new by the time it was completed because we had tried it on so many times! :-)

At that time, Mom (and, therefore me) called the cloth "material" as in "I'm going to buy material for your new dress."  It wasn't called "fabric;" it was called "material."

I'm not sure when I switched terminology and began calling it "fabric."  Perhaps it was when "fabric" stores were born.  In my earlier days, material/fabric was purchased at places like J.C. Penny's, the Singer Sewing Store (where Mom bought her new Singer when I was about 6 years old), and other various department stores.  As department stores began to give up their "sewing" sections, I seem to remember stores popping up that were dedicated to selling sewing supplies and fabric.

I still catch myself every now and then calling "fabric" "material."  It's OK; I know what I'm talking about.
What about you?  Do you remember material?  Do you still use that terminology?  Or is it just me?

Fabric - Border/Panel Prints

I was very excited to find these fabrics at Super Textiles in Dallas.  This first one is a panel print; I got 3 panels.  it is a cotton voile and this is the "washed/dryed" version shortly after it came out of the dryer.

This panel print is also a cotton, but heavier that a voile.  I just love this colorway.  I got 4 panels in this cut.

And this is a true border print with borders on each selvage.  In this photo, it is hanging with selvages at the top and bottom.  It is a rayon somewhere between a challis and a crepe.  Hard to describe.

Closeup of the rayon.

I have no idea yet what I will do with these lovelies, but I hope to get a pattern picked and at least one sewn in the next couple of weeks.  Don't want these fabrics to languish in the stash.

I had a couple of hours in the sewing room this afternoon.  I got a Louise Cutting Anything but Ordinary "GO TO" top cut out.  Then I sewed some pillow cases for the Ronald McDonald House.  Our ASG Neighborhood group delivers colorful, fun pillowcases we have made at least once per year.  These are my first 10 that will go into the collection.  Last year we donated 283 total.  It's a worthwhile project, and it helps sew down my stash of those quilting cottons I never got around to using as well as those remnants I pick up along the way just for this annual project.

McCall 6751

Recently sewn tops and skirts for DGD are now packaged and ready to be mailed tomorrow.  This top is really a simple, fun top to sew.  I, on  the other hand, had to make it a bit more time consuming.  This cotton voile from Fashion Fabrics Club washed up lovely.  It is soft and flowy and feels very "summery."  As most voiles are, it was very sheer.  I decided to line it with white cotton batiste I had in the stash.

Here's a close-up of the print - a dainty leaf print in green/yellow.  These happen to be two of DGD favorite colors.

I sewed the fashion fabric and the lining as separate garments at the shoulder seams.  Then I sewed the two right sides together along the neckline, understitched and turned right side out, thus, the neckline was finished nicely.  I did top stitch.

Sewed the side seams and serge finished.  The armholes are finished with self bias, wrapped to the inside and top stitched.

Front view

Back view

After serging the batiste and fashion fabric together along the hemline, I then turned up a 5/8" hem (treating the doubled fabric as a single layer).

I think she will enjoy it.  Hopefully, she'll take some selfies so I can check the fit.

I took the vehicle in for service yesterday and while I had the loaner, I hit the "garment district" fabric stores.  I came home with some lovely cotton border and panel prints.  I'll try to get photos up maybe tomorrow.  Of course, I'm not sure what I will make just yet.  The store owner told me the designer's name, but I wasn't immediately familiar with it so, naturally, don't remember now.

Perhaps...........just for mowing

I picked up this linen Zegna men's shirt at one of the thrift stores I stop in every now and then. As soon as I saw it, I loved the light weight linen and the COLORS!  I don't remember what I paid, probably $4.95.  That's generally my limit for men's shirts at that particular store.  As I recall, I also picked up a solid light blue silk shirt the same day, but it's still in the "to be reworked" bin.

The collar on this shirt does not have a separate band and collar.  Can you see?  I don't know that I've seen the cut on band in men's shirts that often. Or, maybe I just don't look at men's shirts that often.

Win a few - lose a few.  I had high hopes for this shirt.  I wanted it to be a fun, loose summer top.  I worked on it a couple of weeks ago.  At that time, I took in the side seams and the upper part of the sleeves to cut down on volume under the arm. Then it sat draped over the dress form waiting for me to decide what to do next.  I knew it needed short sleeves. The 90 degree weather is here (and the 100's aren't far behind) and the humidity has been pretty high already.

I cut off the length and really cut off more of the front than I liked.  No problem, I thought; I'll figure something out.  I took the original curved hemline that I had cut off and pinned a section of the old hemline to the bottom of the shirt, a la Marcy Tilton. I made the back hemline a bit longer at center back like the previous woven T shirt I had made.  I'm not really a "high/low" hemline person, but in these tops, I'm ok with them since the wrong side of the fabric doesn't show in the back as it would on a dress.

The buttons:  my first thought was to replace the buttons with something more colorful, and then I realized the buttons had the "ZZ" mark on them.  I decided to keep the designer buttons at that point.  That saved me from going through the button stash and trying to make the "perfect" button decision.  Oh, and there is a ruffle peeping out of the top of the pocket that I left sewn in place.

In the end, it's OK, just OK.  I think it  just still looks too much like a men's shirt.  Either the magic closet will do it's work OR I will be mowing the pasture wearing it.  As a linen, it will definitely be a cool shirt that will get softer with many washings - something nice and comfortable for riding the mower in the Texas heat.  So.... not a total loss!

The fabric for DGD's top arrived this week.  I had hoped to get it cut, but all I did was get washed and in the dryer.  Perhaps I'll get a chance to work on it this weekend, if the garden doesn't keep me too busy in my spare time.

I Worry that I'm Losing It!

Is it just me, or do you lose things in a matter of minutes in your sewing space?  I can't say that it happens on every project, but it happens all too often.

My scissors--I just had them!  I just cut a section of pattern.  Are they buried under the scraps?  What happened to the pattern envelope?  I really need to see the photograph of the garment I'm working on!  What happened to the collar section of the pattern?? I just had it on the cutting table!  Did it slide off the back of the table?  Sometimes, yes; other times, no.

Have I been to another room in the house?  No, I've been in this sewing room for the last hour.  Did the phone ring?  Did I lay the item down to answer the phone?  No, no calls since this morning.

It must be the ghost.  I can't explain it any other way.  It's that darn sewing ghost toying with me.  Sometimes I find what I've lost; sometimes not.  I seem to be digging through my trash can and my fabric scrap bag that is hanging on the closet door knob fearing I've absentmindedly tossed something in one or the other.

I might think I'm losing my mind, but this phenomenon has been going on for years.  I hate to admit it, but once I found my sewing scissors in the fridge.  Yep.  I can only guess that I went to the kitchen (with scissors still in hand) to get a soft drink, probably had to move some thing on the fridge shelf to get to the drinks, laid down the scissors, got the drink and headed back to the sewing room.  It was only with "back tracking" did I find my scissors, AND had wasted a good 30 minutes looking for them!  Of course, that one can't be blamed on the friendly, but annoying ghost!

Someone please tell me this is not happening only to me.......................please................