rostitchery

gifts, stealthy-like

 

well, i ran into a snag in my plan to show you some quick and easy gifts to make:  most of the people for whom i am making gifts read this blog.  :D  

so for now let me tell you about one of the tools i'm using to make some gifts.  it's called wild things!  gifts and like all the other wild ginger software programs it lets you input the measurements of your choice and it creates a custom sewing pattern that you can print out right from your home computer!

the patterns in this program include items for organizing your home and sewing area, items for the bath, covers and carriers to protect all your tech gadgets, and accessories for the men in your life.

of the available designs, i might or might not be making:  a tissue pack, an eye mask, a garment bag, a casserole carrier, and laptop sleeve.  i can't tell you for sure i am making these things, but i can tell you that all i would have to do is, for example, tell the program that i want a garment bag big enough for, say, doll clothes that fit an 18" vintage crissy doll, and it would create a pattern that would exactly fit the hand-sewn wardrobe of such a doll that i might or might not have made clothes for.

DISCLOSURE:  i do indeed work for wild ginger software, inc., the makers of wild things! gifts.  however, i am not in sales, and i do not receive any compensation for any sale of any program.  all i get is the knowledge that yet one more person is enjoying the pleasure of a dependable program that i have loved since i bought my first WG product almost nine years ago.

wild things! gifts comes complete with a help file to aid you in using all of the tools as well as sewing instructions for each and every item.  i wrote most of the sewing instructions for the program--you won't be able to tell it, because i used capital letters.  and if it makes you feel any better, they are much pithier than the stuff i write on the blog.  almost elegant in their directness.  :)  

old times nightgown

ella wanted an "old times nightgown", meaning something like what laura ingalls would have worn (we are on book four of the little house series--yes, i know technically it is book five but we skipped farmer boy until later).  so yesterday i took some time to make a nightgown for her from some stash.  (please forgive the poor quality of this photo--i keep thinking i need to make a little mannequin in her size, and here's proof of that).

i wanted the speed of a peasant dress with the fit of a set-in sleeve, but i didn't want to make the pattern from scratch because i am doing a lot of that lately and i just wanted this to be a fun, quick project.  so i went thru my stash and found the perfect pattern, mccall's 4547, which happens to be what ella calls an "old times outfit".  it includes a pattern for a chemise that fit the bill perfectly.

the pattern instructions are written for use with woven fabrics but i chose to use a soft knit that i found last winter at joanns--sorry internet, i like joanns, most of the time.  but i refuse to put a drawstring in a neckline, especially on night clothes, i don't care how historically accurate that is, so i chose to ignore that and make an closed casing and elastic.  the construction sequence i used was:

1. join shoulders on the serger, then topstitch the shoulder seams flat on the sewing machine (top stitching adds stability to the seam that bears all the weight of the gown).
2. fold down the neckline casing and stitch in place with a narrow, short zig-zag on the sewing machine (this preserves the stretch in a knit fabric--totally not necessary on this neckline since it will already have stretch built in, but i needed this stitch setting for the hems and i didn't want to keep resetting the machine).  leave a place open in the back to insert elastic.
3. set in the sleeves on the serger--don't waste your time pinning--just serge with the sleeve on the bottom and stretch the armscye to fit.  i promise, it will work.
4. serge the side seams closed.
5. serge finish the sleeve hems and skirt hem.
6. hem sleeves and skirt using the narrow short zig-zag stitch from step 2.
7. insert elastic in neckline, zig-zag the casing closed, add a tag so the child can tell front from back.

if you don't have a serger, just do the whole thing on the sewing machine using the narrow zig-zag, and don't bother finishing the edges--the knit won't fray.

this was the fastest thing i've made in a long time--less than an hour from cutting to wearing.  

she loves it!  so much so that i already made another.   behold, the old times nightgown dance:

the long johns underneath are because it got COLD here last night!  yippie!  i pray this is a sign that snow is in our future this winter.  also, she does not wear eyeglasses, she was wearing mine for fun.

i plan to make more of this design, adding embellishments and different sleeve designs so she can wear them as dresses.  tiny versions of this might just become my new go-to baby present.

i highly recommend this pattern, it fits well and sews together accurately.  the only error i found was in the notches on the side seams but that is so minor it isn't worth mentioning except that i don't want some beginning seamstress to think she was the one who messed up.  and i do believe a beginner could manage this whole pattern package--after all, mothers and daughters on the prairie were sewing these things, by hand, without so much as one website to guide them.  i'm pretty sure a modern seamstress with access to the interwebs could do it too.

and now, back to the project!

chloe toes diaper pattern

rating:  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

about a year ago, i got a cute pocket diaper in a swap with my friend catharine.  i had seen her diapers in pictures but this was the first time i had seen one in person and i fell in love with it.  i liked the way it fit, i liked the materials, and i liked the construction which was unique to anything i had seen before.  catharine has now published her chloe toes diaper pattern, and i couldn't wait to come here and tell you all about it.

the pattern package includes the pattern page itself, with patterns for preemies thru XXL (under 7lbs thru 35 pounds and up), and a 14 page instruction booklet.  there are directions for fitted diapers, AIO's, pocket diapers, and swim diapers, plus lots of information on materials, waterproofing methods, and care instructions.

i chose to make the pocket diaper, and i love it!  i used PUL outer that i bought from sherrie at the sewingsupplycoop at yahoo, powedry inner that i bought from wazoodle, diaper FOE that i also bought from sewingsupplycoop, and size 20 poly resin snaps that i bought from wendy at the snap store.  (for soakers i use microfiber shop towels that i get in packages from the local sam's club, but you have to read the package carefully--you want the kind that say they absorb LIQUID, not the kind that say they grab dust.) 

now that i have tested the pattern and i know the size i chose is right, i will cut it out of tag board so all i have to do is trace around it directly on the fabric--that way i don't have to worry about accidentally shaving the edge of the pattern with my rotary cutter and i think i will be able to fit many diapers on a yard by puzzling them tightly together. but i won't get to complete any more diapers until my refill of snaps comes in.  (in this photo you can barely see the two marks at the center front of the diaper, where i ran out of sockets.)

what i liked about this pattern:

• sewing instructions are thorough.  she explains each step in detail, in simple language that even a beginning seamstress can understand.
• photos accompany almost every step, they are clear and show exactly what you are to do.
• the size i made was spot on, and the other sizes seem comparable to the sizes ella wore at those weight ranges.
• the list of materials needed was realistic and complete, including information on how to make up for the stud-to-socket imbalance.
• the pocket diaper is listed as a 30 minute project and this was accurate for me, including setting the snaps.

what i had trouble with:

• the lines for each size on the pattern are very similar, so it was a little confusing in some places.  i ended up drawing over the size i needed with a colored pencil so i could see it more clearly.
• the instructions for the pocket diaper referred to dot markings on edges, but the pattern has notches on the edges.  possibly the assumption is that the seamstress will use dots to mark the notch placement?
• the marks at the back of the diaper are unclear--there are two sets:  one is notches, the other is hashes.  the sets are side by side, less than 1/4" apart so neither seemed more critical.  i couldn't find reference to either specifically so i just chose the notches for consistency.
• sewing the FOE is simple, but the markings for the stretch areas got lost under the FOE as i approached them, so i ended up marking further away from the edge using chalk.

i made two variations on this diaper, one with the snaps covered on the inside (so they don't touch the baby's skin), and one with velcro.  these are also very satisfactory but my favorite is still the first one.  the snap placement means that the soaker can't go all the way to the front edge of the diaper but realistically, i change my child often enough that the front of the soaker never gets wet anyway.  if your child is a heavy wetter, you might want a longer soaker area, in which case you would benefit from the hidden snap variation.

i highly recommend this pattern.  if you don't have the time or inclination to make them for yourself, catharine also have some fitteds, AIO's, and pocket diapers for sale at chloe toes boutique.  and she makes hers in cute fabrics, unlike the boring but useful white that i always use.  :)

the funniest film i have EVER seen

Link: Program Details for Pattern for Smartness.

ok, maybe not THE funniest film i've ever seen--that would be "blazing saddles"--but definitely the funniest film about sewing that i've ever seen, and how often do you get to say that?

while doing some research for the opera i'm currently costuming, i've been looking thru some footage stored at the internet archives. i stumbled upon this short from 1948, touting the virtues of home sewing and how simplicity patterns can make it "an embarrassingly simple thing".

this film is 18 minutes long, i watched it in streaming video rather than download it, but i laughed so hard and so long that it would have been worth the wait to have it on my computer.

highlights include:

1--two embarrassingly bad adult actors bravely trying to portray clean-cut, average american teenagers, betty and johnny, but who only manage to make us hope they didn't quit their day jobs to make this film.
2--a giant 8-foot simplicity pattern that slides into view, from behind which emerge the characters on the pattern envelope, who then proceed to walk us thru the embarrassingly simple process of sewing a dress.
3--an embarrassingly awkward sequence in which is described the process for making a pattern, eloquently expressed in rhyming couplet.

and then, wonder of wonders, what follows is an excellent demonstration of the sewing process as i learned it: pin fitting the pattern, basting and trying on, adjusting for fit, lots of hand work. it is probably why seamstresses in the past had more success with their sewing than seamstresses today. the kicker is the narrator's comment that you can't just whip out a dress like that, but you can do it in a weekend. :) a man after my own heart.

don't miss the bottom of the program details page, where you can see the search words that this film is filed under: SEXISM GENDER ROLES WOMAN WOMEN SEWING

if you watch this film and don't laugh out loud at least once, i'll give you your money back. :)

review: "a change of heart" quilt exhibit

the sarratt student center at vanderbilt university has a terrific quilt exhibit that ends this week: a change of heart is a showing of nine quilts by pattiy torno. the quilts incorporate a variety of cotton fabrics from japan, switzerland, and england, and are primarily composed in a large-scale version of watercolor quilting.

the exhibit area is spacious and allows the viewer to step back far enough to see the patterns emerge. this is especially important for the exhibit's title work, which is a tryptich of quilts whose designs continue from one quilt to the next. all the quilts are machine pieced but hand quilted, with a small stitch that is not closely spaced but consistent in size, and the quilt patterns add a complimentary texture to the overall design of the tops. unfortunately, several of the quilts do not lie flat--i think this is mostly due to the way they are hung, although one of them is quilted in a way that i believe warps the quilt (irregular amounts of quilting over the surface, with some areas heavily quilted and other areas with large, unquilted fields).

i appreciated the hall providing gloves so that viewers could inspect the backs of the quilts.

overall, i enjoyed this exhibit, and i wish i had heard about it sooner so that i would have a chance to go back and see the quilts again.