~Tuesday Tutorial ~ Up-cycled t-shirts

So what do you do on a cold rainy day?

Pull out the bag of way too big old t-shirts and start up-cycling!

I used a Men's Medium t-shirt and made it into a short sleeve shrug/jacket thing.

Here is the basic layout on how I cut the t-shirt out.

The strips that I cut off of the bottom I sewed together and they became the ruffled edging all around. 

Then on the sleeves I did a double tulip sleeve. 

I should have taken more picture probably in the process, but I find I just get so busy and have so much fun with the projects that I forget to take pictures... 

But it was all very simple and basic. I started by cutting the t-shirt down. Then I sewed up the side seams. Then I sewed all the strips together and ran them through a rolled hem stitch which gave it the ruffled edge.

Then I sewed the edging onto the body of the garment all the way around.

Then for the sleeves I cut open the t-shirt sleeves and cut out double tulips. Ran them through the rolled hem ass well, then put them together and sewed them into the armholes. It all went together super quickly and easily!!!

My tulip sleeve tutorial can be found here.

I love it and will be doing this again.

As always, feel free to ask any questions!

Toodles 

~Tuesday Tutorial~ Ruffler Foot!

So the other day I got out my ruffler foot and decided that it was time I learned how to use it. This was the results.

Lots of ruffles.

I figured it would be fun to share with you the magics of a ruffler. 

Here it is, the ruffler foot.

Looks like rather a scary contraption at first doesn't it?

First step is putting it onto the machine. Since my machine is a Bernina it is slightly different from most machines in that you have to change the whole shank. You want to make sure that the hook/horse shoe type thing is around the needle clamp.

This lever thing adjusts the amount of ruffling you want done. You can ruffle every stitch, every six stitches, every 12 stitches or no ruffling at all.

You can also adjust the size of your ruffle with the stitch length. It also has the ability to sew a ruffle onto a flat piece of fabric.

Here it is in motion without any fabric in it.

You then feed the fabric in underneath the black grabber thingamagig. (You will have to excuse my utter lack of technical terms. I really don't know what they are called.)

Here is a shot from the side. As you can see you are putting the fabric in between the black thingamagig and the silver

Or here is my poor attempt at explaining it further with a picture. I admit.... I am not a technical term geek.

Basically you are not placing the fabric to be ruffled next to the feed dogs. When you want to sew a piece of flat fabric along with a ruffle at the same time the flat fabric goes next to the feed dogs.

Here is a close up on how it works. Hope it makes sense. Like I said I am not very good at explaining thing. I  can do things, but not necessarily teach them. 

This it what the final product is going to look like.

All nice and ruffled. You can sort of see the variation in stitch length and how that effects the size of the ruffles. You can ruffle really tight or you can make the ruffles more spread out. My ruffler foot actually has a piece broken off of it so that I can only make a ruffle at every stitch or never. I need to get one that does the variations.

On of the perks of a ruffler is no more sitting an pulling threads by hand until the break or leave you with sore fingers. And then it is all predistributed and you don't have to go crazy trying to even it out.

Well, that is all for now. I really need to work on my description skills.

Toodles

Past Creations: Pink Formal

Last year I made a formal. It was sort of for my graduations and sort of not. I wore it to one of the summer dances. 

I designed it myself and drafted my own pattern.

I wanted something that was modest and relatively simple. 

I wanted it to have a vintage appeal and to combine several different aspects from different time periods.

Here are the pictures of my mock-up that I made for fitting and design purposes.

Yes, that is a duct tape dress form of me.

I initially was not going to bustle the skirt, but then after playing with it for a while decided that I liked the look and was going to lengthen the outer skirt to allow for bustling.

I have decided since then that simply bustling a skirt can really change the look and make it look much more complicated then it really is.

It was to have two different pink satins (I used satin simple because that is what I had on hand and I didn't want to drive the four hours to get to a Joann's. The satin was not originally meant for this design. It worked, but I think it would be fun to make it with some different textures.)

I also got pink beads and did hand beading on the front and sleeves.

Since I lengthened the outer skirt that meant that I had a train when it was not bustled.

I hand hemmed the entire outer skirt and underskirt. I took a considerable amount of time. I also hand beaded the bodice and the back of the tulip-sleeves.

When bustled the outer skirt was the same length as the underskirt and made it suitable for dancing.

I just realized that this picture make it look like my bustling is uneven. That is not true, it really is even.

Yeah, outside shots! I think these pictures were about as close as I even got to senior pictures.

I suppose that is a little bit better on the bustling. It just looked better in real life. I bustled the skirt using little tiny clear buttons and thread loops I crocheted and then sewed into place.

I made these flowers to go into my hair.

I enjoyed making it. It is fully lined and there is not a single visible seam in the inside or outside of the garment.  There was a significant amount of hand sewing done on this dress. I also put in my second invisible zipper while making this dress. (I have put in countless ones since.)

Well, that's all for now.

Toodles.

Tulip Sleeve Tutorial

As promised here is my tulip sleeve tutorial.

Tulip sleeves are an overlapped sleeve that can be fitted or puffed. It allows for a greater range of motion than the normal cap sleeves and adds some variety. You can trim the edge of the sleeve with pleats, ruffles, braided or beaded trim or lace. I have used all of the above at different times. This is one of my favorite sleeve options when it comes to designing a dress.

It was popular in a lot of vintage patterns.

It goes especially well with the princess neckline.

I just love the added lines it gives to a dress. And I like to use it when I am making a dress for someone and don't have their upper arm measurement. This way it looks like a fitted sleeve but I don't have to worry about it being restrictive.

The overlap can be placed in the back or in the front. It is up to you on what you want to overall look to be.

I even found this picture of a four part tulip sleeve. I want to try this some time on a light filmy material for a formal. 

It was also the sleeve pattern on the teal dress that Amy Adam's wore in The Muppets. 

Btw, I blogged about all of the costumes that she wore back when the movie first came out. http://sewmanyseams.blogspot.com/2011/12/muppets-amy-adams-costumes.html

So here we go with the tutorial for making a fitted tulip sleeve.

You can either start with a basic sleeve pattern block and cut it down to short or you can use a cap sleeve pattern that you like. I will show you how to do either. 

 If you are using a long sleeve patterns block you will first determine the length of the sleeve at the under arm and mark that. You will then draw a line connecting the marks. The illustration shows 1" down from underarm. 

To establish curve for lower edge - measure up from new line at center and draw curve as shown. Illustration shows 1"

Cut apart on curved line. 

If you are not cutting down a long sleeve pattern and just using a cap sleeve pattern that you already have then you will start your alterations here.

Divide sleeve into four equal parts.

Slash from bottom of sleeve to cap.

Lap each slash at bottom 1/2" for fit.

Smooth curve at lower edge.

(Note. The slashing and overlapping is not completely necessary. It just depends on how much you want it to fit or flare out. Play with it and have fun.)

Next you will be drawing the curved lines that form the sleeve into the tulip. You can decide how much of a curve you want. Just make sure you make both curves even.

Trace around the entire front sleeve using the curved design line, making sure to mark the center top and the notches.

Trace around the entire back sleeve using curved design lines, making sure to mark the center top and the notches. 

Label grain lines and make sure the seam allowances are what you want them to be to complete the patterns.

Now on to making a puffed tulip sleeve.

Again you can use a basic sleeve block or a cap sleeve pattern.

It is all the same steps so far as making a fitted tulip sleeve.

You are going to divide it into the four parts.

Do the optional overlapping.

Now you are going to divide the sleeve into 8 vertical parts. 

Slassh the sleeve from top of cap to bottom of sleeve.

Spread for desired fullness.

Raise sleeve cap to allow sleeve to to "puff", adjust seam line as shown.

(Note: you can also just use a puffed sleeve pattern and draw the curve lines directly on to it. Just keep in mind if it is a puffed sleeve pattern were the fullness is. You will want all the fullness in the top of the sleeve and minimal fullness at the bottom.)

Draw curved design lines as shown. You can play around with it on exactly how you want the curve to look. Just make sure both lines are matching.

Trace both the entire sleeve front and back using the curved design lines, making sure to mark the top and notches.

And there you go, you have two different types of tulip sleeves.

As far as sewing them goes....

The first step in assembling the sleeves is to sew the underarm seams together. 

You will then want to finish the edge of the sleeve.

 You can either finish it with a rolled hem. 

Or you can also finish it with a ruffle or a piping or whatever fits your design. Or you can line the sleeve as well. 

Then you will match the sleeve centers and baste the sleeve together so that is looks like a normal sleeve. Make sure when putting them together you have the sleeves so that they will be the opposite of each other. 

That is all for now. Hope that makes sense. I will try to run around and take pictures of some of the different tulip sleeves I have done in my time. I will also try to get a few more pictures explaining how to put the sleeves together.

Oh, and I realized that this is my first post of the year. Happy New Year!!!

Toodles.

Easter Monday

Happy Easter Monday!

Once again we celebrate Christ's triumph over death and the grave!

I hope that all had a lovely Easter Sunday and is enjoying spring.

We went to our church for Easter morning service and stayed for the Easter breakfast that followed.

We then had a family dinner late afternoon.

It was a pleasant enough day, despite the pouring rain.

A part of what makes Easter so special for many people is the new (or rarely worn) outfit that they get to wear. I made myself a new outfit this year.

As I mentioned before it is a 1950's inspired sun dress. I designed the pattern myself using a basic block pattern that I had purchased from McCalls.

It has a fitted bodice with a sweetheart neckline and four darts in front. The back is composed of four pieces and has a v neck.

The waistline is at my natural waist and the skirt flares out from there. It is a gored skirt with box pleats at the seams.

I also made a fitted jacket and belt.

I had wanted to go outside and take a bunch of cute pictures with the flowers and lovely foliage. However, it rained all day and we have rain in the forecast for the next week. Sigh... I suppose I shall have to be satisfied with these pictures.

Without the jacket.

I also made matching kanzashi flowers for my hair.

I made the jacket reversible to give it a more finished look and to increase its durability.

I enjoyed working on this and shall try and post latter more details into the shaping that went into the bodice of the dress. Overall the bodice had 16 pieces that made it.

Thats all for now. Have a great Easter Season and enjoy whatever weather you are having.

(Yes, there can be joys to lots of rain. It means no going outside. Thus lots of sewing.)