Mah new sweater, a photo story
So I sorta did a half-assed on of these when I made the yellow dress, but I forgot to take pictures most of the steps of that one, so I set my iPhone next to me this afternoon and snapped away. This is probably incredibly boring to most of you, so you have been warned. This is what we're up to today:
Annika wanted view C and I found some great fabric at Joann's on Saturday. How it looks on me depends on whether she actually gets this one or another one I will make at a later date :D
First things first - sizing the pattern. Now it's a well-known point of nonsense for anyone who has ever picked up a sewing pattern and chosen the size garment they will make from the chart on the envelope, that those numbers have about as much relation to reality as Sarah Palin to Russia. The sizes themselves, for what it's worth, mostly match up with British women's clothing in my experience, but the inches the chart says that corresponds to are completely off the wall. Ignore them, k? For actual sizing there is really only one way to be certain:
On the pattern itself there will be "finished measurements" printed for relevant parts - in this case for the bust, which is how a sweater is sized. For skirts and pants you'll have waist and hip measurements printed on there, dresses will have all three, and so on. On this pattern I have chosen the 41.5 inch bust, because the next size down would be an exact fit to my skin, and I'd like to be able to raise my arms sometimes.
Now because this is a nice generic kind of pattern, I am going to trace the pieces in my size, so I can use it again for other people or styles if I want to.
Luckily it's only 4 pieces - front, back, sleeve and collar - so it doesn't take long at all. I keep these in 8x10 envelopes in a file drawer for future use. Thrifty!
Laying the pattern on the fabric is next. Most patterns come with instructions on how to fit the pattern pieces on your fabric for least wastage and to match grain and stretch directions, depending on how wide your chosen fabric is. The one I have is almost 60" (usual widths are 45ish or 60ish, it'll say so on the end of the bolt, where you'll also find other interesting care info and the like) so I laid it out and folded the selvages (finished edges) to meet in the middle - I have two pieces which need to be cut on the fold (ensuring perfect symmetry), and just folding in half and working down the length would use about twice as much fabric by length as I need, so this way is better. The stretch goes cross-ways (not much need for a sweater that stretches up and down , right?) and the grain goes vertically down my pieces, so we are ready to cut. I did snip a swatch off one end before I started, to make sure this fabric didn't just unravel like a bitch the second I cut into it, and thankfully no special treatment was required. It got bitty but with light handling it would survive.
Patterns have various kinds of markings to help you match them up again later. Notches and large and small dots are common, and more complicated pieces will also include some squares and triangles and the like. They don't actually mean anything different as far as I can tell, they are varied just so you don't get confused about which dot they are referring to - some pattern pieces will have half a dozen points of interest. Normally I'd happily cut the notches into the cut pieces, but for a couple of reasons that wasn't going to work here. For one, this fabric is basically knitted - it's stockinette stitch like regular knitting, and I didn't want to encourage any big ladders to start at the edges. Secondly, this pattern only had a built in 1/4" for seams (the "seam allowance" standard is a little bigger at 5/8") which I can only assume is because it is a sweater pattern, they assume you will use a serger which works with a 1/4" seam by nature. ANYWAY. I pin marked where the notches should have been instead of cutting them, like so:
Cutting the sleeves and collar pieces:
Lining up the first seam, right sides together as (almost) always - see my fake notches lined up:
Raglan sleeved tops are always fun and quick to sew - no setting in of a regular sleeve which is ghastly to do, to be honest, sort of a necessary evil. This style is four straight shoulder seams and you're really almost done:
The side and under arm seams get sewn in one single line each. How simple and nummy is that?
The collar is a large rectangle joined into a loop then folded over for a nice soft edge, the raw edges being sewn into the open neckline we have waiting:
Last serging step is to simply overlock the cuffs and hemline, just run them through the serger on their own to seal the edges. Almost done! Here's why you can't chuck your poor old neglected basic machine just because you have a serger. A serger can't handle things like zippers and buttonholes, or straight or zig-zag stitches, the latter of which we will need in just a minute. The pattern calls for turning up the overlocked edges 1" for hemming. I have this little tool which is used for poking out corners of items that are sewn with linings and such, and with a sharpie it becomes really handy for measuring on the go...
So I get me a ballpoint needle which handles knits and stretches better:
Choose me a nice fat zig-zag and a medium-long stitch length so as not to smush the seam and to keep a little stretch in there. Dig how basic my Huskystar is :D - 7 stitches and a buttonhole:
Detach the little cubby so I can get the sleeve smoothly under the presser foot (I wouldn't do it this way if the cuff was any smaller, you do not want it to be stretched at this point):
And zig-zag those cuffs and hem down.
Next you better cover up those machines unless you want to be taking a trip to the repair shop after your cats have had fun with them overnight, and while you're at it stash the pincushion and scissors too, or you might also be seeing your vet soon.
Sit back and enjoy:
Annika wanted view C and I found some great fabric at Joann's on Saturday. How it looks on me depends on whether she actually gets this one or another one I will make at a later date :D
First things first - sizing the pattern. Now it's a well-known point of nonsense for anyone who has ever picked up a sewing pattern and chosen the size garment they will make from the chart on the envelope, that those numbers have about as much relation to reality as Sarah Palin to Russia. The sizes themselves, for what it's worth, mostly match up with British women's clothing in my experience, but the inches the chart says that corresponds to are completely off the wall. Ignore them, k? For actual sizing there is really only one way to be certain:
On the pattern itself there will be "finished measurements" printed for relevant parts - in this case for the bust, which is how a sweater is sized. For skirts and pants you'll have waist and hip measurements printed on there, dresses will have all three, and so on. On this pattern I have chosen the 41.5 inch bust, because the next size down would be an exact fit to my skin, and I'd like to be able to raise my arms sometimes.
Now because this is a nice generic kind of pattern, I am going to trace the pieces in my size, so I can use it again for other people or styles if I want to.
Luckily it's only 4 pieces - front, back, sleeve and collar - so it doesn't take long at all. I keep these in 8x10 envelopes in a file drawer for future use. Thrifty!
Laying the pattern on the fabric is next. Most patterns come with instructions on how to fit the pattern pieces on your fabric for least wastage and to match grain and stretch directions, depending on how wide your chosen fabric is. The one I have is almost 60" (usual widths are 45ish or 60ish, it'll say so on the end of the bolt, where you'll also find other interesting care info and the like) so I laid it out and folded the selvages (finished edges) to meet in the middle - I have two pieces which need to be cut on the fold (ensuring perfect symmetry), and just folding in half and working down the length would use about twice as much fabric by length as I need, so this way is better. The stretch goes cross-ways (not much need for a sweater that stretches up and down , right?) and the grain goes vertically down my pieces, so we are ready to cut. I did snip a swatch off one end before I started, to make sure this fabric didn't just unravel like a bitch the second I cut into it, and thankfully no special treatment was required. It got bitty but with light handling it would survive.
Patterns have various kinds of markings to help you match them up again later. Notches and large and small dots are common, and more complicated pieces will also include some squares and triangles and the like. They don't actually mean anything different as far as I can tell, they are varied just so you don't get confused about which dot they are referring to - some pattern pieces will have half a dozen points of interest. Normally I'd happily cut the notches into the cut pieces, but for a couple of reasons that wasn't going to work here. For one, this fabric is basically knitted - it's stockinette stitch like regular knitting, and I didn't want to encourage any big ladders to start at the edges. Secondly, this pattern only had a built in 1/4" for seams (the "seam allowance" standard is a little bigger at 5/8") which I can only assume is because it is a sweater pattern, they assume you will use a serger which works with a 1/4" seam by nature. ANYWAY. I pin marked where the notches should have been instead of cutting them, like so:
Cutting the sleeves and collar pieces:
Lining up the first seam, right sides together as (almost) always - see my fake notches lined up:
Raglan sleeved tops are always fun and quick to sew - no setting in of a regular sleeve which is ghastly to do, to be honest, sort of a necessary evil. This style is four straight shoulder seams and you're really almost done:
The side and under arm seams get sewn in one single line each. How simple and nummy is that?
The collar is a large rectangle joined into a loop then folded over for a nice soft edge, the raw edges being sewn into the open neckline we have waiting:
Last serging step is to simply overlock the cuffs and hemline, just run them through the serger on their own to seal the edges. Almost done! Here's why you can't chuck your poor old neglected basic machine just because you have a serger. A serger can't handle things like zippers and buttonholes, or straight or zig-zag stitches, the latter of which we will need in just a minute. The pattern calls for turning up the overlocked edges 1" for hemming. I have this little tool which is used for poking out corners of items that are sewn with linings and such, and with a sharpie it becomes really handy for measuring on the go...
So I get me a ballpoint needle which handles knits and stretches better:
Choose me a nice fat zig-zag and a medium-long stitch length so as not to smush the seam and to keep a little stretch in there. Dig how basic my Huskystar is :D - 7 stitches and a buttonhole:
Detach the little cubby so I can get the sleeve smoothly under the presser foot (I wouldn't do it this way if the cuff was any smaller, you do not want it to be stretched at this point):
And zig-zag those cuffs and hem down.
Next you better cover up those machines unless you want to be taking a trip to the repair shop after your cats have had fun with them overnight, and while you're at it stash the pincushion and scissors too, or you might also be seeing your vet soon.
Sit back and enjoy: