Sewing Tips > amy a la mode

Sweet Harmony Handbag

Posted by Amy on June 6th, 2011

I told you I was going to get back to sewing!!

This is actually a sample for Bobbin’s Nest, but I sewed it, so it definitely counts as sewing. We have a little something special planned for this bag in the coming months, so I wanted to go ahead and get it made.

I made the handbag version (not the larger tote). This really wasn’t too bad to make, especially after having done two of those weekender bags! This one has just enough piping to look nice, but it’s in the easiest to apply spot on the bag, so you won’t be tearing your hair out about it.

The bag has big exterior pockets on both sides, with piping at the top. That’s the extent of the piping on the bag. Easy peasy.

One side has a little cell phone pocket just inside the exterior pocket.

The other exterior side just has the one big pocket. But, hey, you’ll have enough fabric to put a cell phone pocket on both sides if you really want to!

There are two interior pockets and instructions for making either the zippered versions or the non-zippered versions. It takes the same fabric pieces either way. Since this is for the shop, I made one zippered.

And one non-zippered!

My only issue with this bag was the zippered pocket. It’s really an easy installation (though for some reason she has you buy a 22″ zipper when a 12-14″ zipper will do for the handbag). However, the placement line was WAY off. Double check this before you sew so you don’t have to rip it out!

You could also probably pretty easily make the handle longer if you’d like, just make sure you have enough fabric and interfacing. This one is a bit short to easily get on my shoulder one-handed the way I like to do.

All told, I think this took me about 5-6 hours of sewing. This figure does not include cutting everything out, fusing all the interfacing, and making the piping.

And in this cute fabric, it makes me wish that we would hurry up and get some warm weather around here!

More Slow Sewing with Simplicity 4243

Posted by Amy on May 25th, 2011

So, I have other friends who are having a boy. That Simplicity pattern includes a romper pattern as well. And I still had the other piece of Kokka fabric from Britex. How could I resist?

The pockets on this one are from an old pair of jeans of my husband’s. Not that I can imagine any reason why a baby would need a pocket!

Same irresistible urge to hand finish most of this little romper. Especially after the other one turned out so nicely.

Hand finished bindings at the neckline and armholes.

Hand finished zipper. Hand finished hem. The side seams are French seams, but the center front and back seams had a curve at the crotch that kinda ruled out French seams, so I did an old school finish. I trimmed the seam allowances to about 3/8″ and then folded them over and did a staight stitch. Worked out fine. I just didn’t want any raw edges rubbing up against baby skin.

Somehow, the zipper is really far down from the top, though I’d swear I followed the instructions. Again, I don’t want to do a hook and eye because I find those uncomfortable. Can’t imagine being a little baby and having one digging in the back of my neck all day. Maybe I can do some kind of little embroidery thread loop and a button? Or is it too late? I think it will be okay if I just leave it.

And I’ve never done snap tape before. Pretty easy!

Slow Sewing for Annabelle

Posted by Amy on May 23rd, 2011

Some of you may fear that I have forsaken my sewing machine forever. Fear not!

Actually, I’ve had this made for a while but didn’t want to spoil the surprise for the recipient. But I promise that I have gotten my machine back out and it still works!

I finally found a project worthy of the Kokka fabrics I bought at Britex ages ago. I found out my friend was having a little girl!

This is Simplicity 4243 and I think it’s a really great pattern if you have adorable fabric you want to show off, because the design is pretty simple and let’s the fabric be the star. And who wouldn’t love these little lions and tigers and giraffes? It’s a simple little dress/top with a zipper in the back. Oh, and matching bloomers, of course!

Bonus: a scant half yard of fabric was enough to make the 6-month size dress (view D), even though it said I needed 5/8 yd.

I have to tell you that I was having so much fun making this that I just couldn’t stop myself making it a little extra special. The pleated neckline and armholes are finished with bias binding. I love this treatment because it makes such a lovely finished edge and reminds me of all the clothes my grandmother made for my sister and I when we were little. Lots of contrasting binding.

But I realized that the tiny little armholes weren’t going to fit over the free arm on my machine, and I doubted my ability to get a nice topstitched finish without being able to do that. So, I settled on hand sewing the binding for the armholes. And it all just snowballed from there!

If I were going to hand finish the armholes, it seemed odd to have visible topstitching for the neckline, so I hand finished that as well. And if there weren’t going to be any other topstitching showing, it seemed a shame to have visible stitching on the zipper so I hand finished it as well. It was my first time doing this and it really looks nice this way!

And, well, I was having so much fun that I couldn’t stop. I had used French seams for the shoulders and side seams, partly because this linen weave ravels REALLY easily, and I wanted it to look nice. So, I opted to use binding to finish the only other seam at the zipper as well. (Though I did put this on by machine.)

And when it came to the ric-rac and I noticed the instructions said that the “standard” way to apply it was to machine stitch it down but that the “nicer” way was to hand tack all the points. Do you think I could resist the “nicer” way? Not a chance!

And when it came time to hem, I was actually concerned about how bulky a double-fold hem would be with this heavier linen. And seeing as how I had plenty of bias tape still, I did a bias tape finish on the hem as well, attaching one end to the fold edge and then hand stitching the other end to the dress with an invisible stitch.

Totally worth it, even if she never wears it. I had SO much fun making this and doing all the little bits by hand. Just because you can do it by machine, doesn’t mean you should (see my previous posts on slow sewing)!!

Skirt Fitting Tip From Simplicity

Posted by Amy on April 28th, 2011

Market Update: Digital portfolios have been e-mailed out to fabric companies on my short list! AND I have my first appointment at Market! Woot!

I found this old book a while back. It came from my grandmother (the dressmaker) and is from 1935.

I decided to read it and see if it had any good tips in it that have long been forgotten — by me or anyone else I know who sews. I found this little gem!

In case you can’t read that it says, “In the third and final fitting, check the hang of the skirt. Each year there is a fashion-right length. Adjust your skirt to the length nearest to the fashion length that is most becoming to you. Some one can measure up from the floor with a yard stick and place a row of pins, or you can hang your own skirt by standing close to a table; as you turn, place pins around your skirt, even with the table edge (cut 6). Take your dress off and measure down from this row of pins to the “correct” length (cut 7).”

Brilliant!

A Little Vintage Sewing

Posted by Amy on February 25th, 2011

** If you haven’t filled out my quick little online survey about Amy a la mode quilt patterns, you can still do so until Monday night to have a chance to win the Denyse Schmidt fabrics!**

Do you remember way back when, when I showed you this awesome vintage pattern than I’d gotten?

Well, I finally managed to squeeze in a little time here and there to do a muslin of this! The last muslin I did in the dark brown was really hard to work with, so I did this muslin in a lighter color.

It was a single-size pattern, but it looked like it might work for me out of the package, so I gave it a go.

I was too lazy to make the belt for the muslin, and for the first version I also didn’t bother with the pockets. Don’t mind my wet hair or the hem that isn’t staying pinned up correctly.

I was hesitant from the beginning about the round neckline. I NEVER buy anything with a neckline like this. The reason is that, well, it looks like this. And feels like I’m choking.

But I took a class a while back on making a sloper, and I learned that my front length is kind of short compared to the pattern norm. Which means that things fit funny at my neck, just like this. They come up too high.

So, I adjusted the pattern. I marked on the dress where the top of my collarbone is in the center front (you know, that little notch). It was 1″ below the top of the dress. You can actually see the mark in the photo above.

I redrew the front yoke and front facing pieces so that they came 1″ lower in the front and then curved back to meet the shoulder seam at the original spot. I didn’t want to alter the back of the dress because it might start interfering with the darts on the back shoulders or the zipper. Besides, the back fit fine.

And here’s the revised version. I’m no longer all choked up! (The sunglasses are my attempt to look a bit more like the pattern envelope.)

I also tacked on the pockets to check their placement and finally checked the waist — which I need to shorten as usual (1 1/2″ this time). That’ll bring the pockets and the hem up that amount too, which I think will be just about right, and more like the picture on the pattern.

This pattern is a keeper, but I unfortunately don’t have any fabric on hand to make it out of. I’d love to find a funky geometric like the one shown on the pattern envelope, but we’ll see!

Happy sewing, everyone!