(no subject)
Posted to my journal because there's something weird going on in the Sew_hip, with every comment eating my post from the bottom up.
It's just about Hallowe'en, and thanks to the sew_hip people, I have the courage to wing the skirt of my costume without a pattern. It's the second time I'm interpreting an idea directly from my head into fabric. (Incidentally, if anyone remembers whether it was Threads or Sew News magazine, and which issue, please help me; I need to find the article about pleating or gathering sheer fabrics or silks over a yoke skirt, for a hip-hugging fit and a gorgeous full hem. PLEASE tell me month and year! I think it was 2007, and the skirt sounds summery or springy, to me... but I can't find the article in my back issues. My google-fu is failing me today... and my courage still needs crutches. I can wing it, but it'll be easier if I don't have to FUMBLE my way through the process.)
This post is about not using threadbare old sheets for mock-ups and technique-testing.
I give you CUP SKIRTS and ROSES! (Because Fabricland had a sale, and I found this AMAZING rainbow voile which will be part of my finished costume, but I need to figure out how to interpret it best before I cut anything.)
Materials are: white poly-cotton broadcloth (to be used in the skirt); white polyester chiffon from my stash, bought from the remnant bin dating AGES back; black serger thread; black woolly nylon (brand name "Metroflock"); white thread, elastic thread.
The cup skirt on the left comes from shirring with elastic thread in the bobbin. (Wind your bobbin by hand without stretching the thread, and reduce your needle tension slightly.) I wanted to see if I could gather the voile onto the white broadcloth, and make it slightly stretchy at the same time for when I construct my skirt. I didn't use the voile in this attempt, and it didn't gather enough for my liking. So I won't be using this technique to make the skirt. You probably have seen this in stretchy tank-tops and sun dresses. It's fast and easy. I roll-hemmed the top and bottom raw edges of the broadcloth, and sewed it into a tube. It fits a Starbucks Venti cup; it's too long for anything shorter.
The cup skirt on the right was done with the chiffon being massively gathered on three stitching lines sewn parallel to each other down the length of the fabric sample. It gathered just the way I wanted it to, but then I stitched it down to the broadcloth beneath, for support. I don't like the way it looks (I went in opposite directions, too, to see how that would look). I was hoping to avoid the painstaking pinch-pleating... but I think I'll have to pinch. That'll be tomorrow's sample. I sewed this sample into a tube first, and THEN finished off the raw edges with the woolly-nylon rolled hem (doy!). It still looks cute. Also fits a venti (and a medium McYuck's drink), but it's a lot shorter than the "sun dress", so it'll work for smaller cups. I did NOT use fishing line in the rolled hem, by the way. When the gathered part of the skirt is that short, it ruffles on its own.
OK, here's the biggest rose. I had selvage scraps of sparkly organza left over from my Disney Anastasia (gown at the ballet) prom dress commission. It made for a good test run of the fishing line. This one is done with 3 serger threads and a long stitch. You may be able to see the gleam of the fishing line (30lb weight, Red Wolf brand - that's the largest gauge I could find at Canadian Tire; you want THICK, not necessarily STRONG). I needed to be sure the line would hold a curl once it had been sewn into a channel. YES! YAY!
But what to do with the test pieces? The one on the left is the long-stitch and serger thread. You can see the fishing line. The one on the right (and slightly out of focus, sorry!) is done in serger thread, too, but with a really short stitch. You notice that there are still gaps, and the fabric isn't completely hidden. This isn't an issue when you can match the thread to the fabric colour... but my intended fabric is variegated. I have very nice black woolly nylon shot with a gold filament for the upper looper, but since it was $11/500m, and I needed TWO of these spools, I wasn't going to use it for practice. That said, it won't cover as cleanly as plain woolly nylon because of that gold filament! I was hoping to get away with a longer stitch length. It may be that I cannot. We'll have to see when it comes time to hem.
The last rose is totally out of focus, but was roll-hemmed with woolly nylon, with fishing line couched inside. It was a complete success: no fabric visible, no fishing line visible, and a smooth, easy feed through the tape-feeder on my serger's presser foot. I will have no problem inserting the fishing line in the hem of the skirt.
It's just about Hallowe'en, and thanks to the sew_hip people, I have the courage to wing the skirt of my costume without a pattern. It's the second time I'm interpreting an idea directly from my head into fabric. (Incidentally, if anyone remembers whether it was Threads or Sew News magazine, and which issue, please help me; I need to find the article about pleating or gathering sheer fabrics or silks over a yoke skirt, for a hip-hugging fit and a gorgeous full hem. PLEASE tell me month and year! I think it was 2007, and the skirt sounds summery or springy, to me... but I can't find the article in my back issues. My google-fu is failing me today... and my courage still needs crutches. I can wing it, but it'll be easier if I don't have to FUMBLE my way through the process.)
This post is about not using threadbare old sheets for mock-ups and technique-testing.
I give you CUP SKIRTS and ROSES! (Because Fabricland had a sale, and I found this AMAZING rainbow voile which will be part of my finished costume, but I need to figure out how to interpret it best before I cut anything.)
Materials are: white poly-cotton broadcloth (to be used in the skirt); white polyester chiffon from my stash, bought from the remnant bin dating AGES back; black serger thread; black woolly nylon (brand name "Metroflock"); white thread, elastic thread.
The cup skirt on the left comes from shirring with elastic thread in the bobbin. (Wind your bobbin by hand without stretching the thread, and reduce your needle tension slightly.) I wanted to see if I could gather the voile onto the white broadcloth, and make it slightly stretchy at the same time for when I construct my skirt. I didn't use the voile in this attempt, and it didn't gather enough for my liking. So I won't be using this technique to make the skirt. You probably have seen this in stretchy tank-tops and sun dresses. It's fast and easy. I roll-hemmed the top and bottom raw edges of the broadcloth, and sewed it into a tube. It fits a Starbucks Venti cup; it's too long for anything shorter.
The cup skirt on the right was done with the chiffon being massively gathered on three stitching lines sewn parallel to each other down the length of the fabric sample. It gathered just the way I wanted it to, but then I stitched it down to the broadcloth beneath, for support. I don't like the way it looks (I went in opposite directions, too, to see how that would look). I was hoping to avoid the painstaking pinch-pleating... but I think I'll have to pinch. That'll be tomorrow's sample. I sewed this sample into a tube first, and THEN finished off the raw edges with the woolly-nylon rolled hem (doy!). It still looks cute. Also fits a venti (and a medium McYuck's drink), but it's a lot shorter than the "sun dress", so it'll work for smaller cups. I did NOT use fishing line in the rolled hem, by the way. When the gathered part of the skirt is that short, it ruffles on its own.
OK, here's the biggest rose. I had selvage scraps of sparkly organza left over from my Disney Anastasia (gown at the ballet) prom dress commission. It made for a good test run of the fishing line. This one is done with 3 serger threads and a long stitch. You may be able to see the gleam of the fishing line (30lb weight, Red Wolf brand - that's the largest gauge I could find at Canadian Tire; you want THICK, not necessarily STRONG). I needed to be sure the line would hold a curl once it had been sewn into a channel. YES! YAY!
But what to do with the test pieces? The one on the left is the long-stitch and serger thread. You can see the fishing line. The one on the right (and slightly out of focus, sorry!) is done in serger thread, too, but with a really short stitch. You notice that there are still gaps, and the fabric isn't completely hidden. This isn't an issue when you can match the thread to the fabric colour... but my intended fabric is variegated. I have very nice black woolly nylon shot with a gold filament for the upper looper, but since it was $11/500m, and I needed TWO of these spools, I wasn't going to use it for practice. That said, it won't cover as cleanly as plain woolly nylon because of that gold filament! I was hoping to get away with a longer stitch length. It may be that I cannot. We'll have to see when it comes time to hem.
The last rose is totally out of focus, but was roll-hemmed with woolly nylon, with fishing line couched inside. It was a complete success: no fabric visible, no fishing line visible, and a smooth, easy feed through the tape-feeder on my serger's presser foot. I will have no problem inserting the fishing line in the hem of the skirt.