I finished the grey print blouse on Saturday morning before work. All it needed was the buttons sewn on. I chose black because of the background. One of the women at work thought I should use silver. I can see why but that's not me. I prefer to keep the buttons understated so that whatever jewelry I wear stands out.
See how the princess seam looks pulled in this image. It doesn't in "real" life. They say the camera can't lie but sometimes I think it invents wrinkles. That said, I've been having a lot of trouble with my sewing machine lately - with the stitch tension and length. It needs to go in for a tune-up as soon as I figure out when I could bear to be parted from it for that long.
spottedroo wrote - I think my biggest sewing frustration is that I don't feel my garments are well constructed. They stretch or fray or a seam gives out. I feel I have a lot more to learn about how to work with different types of fabric.
Well constructed is a matter of practice. We learn to do by doing and through the process of making mistakes and/or defining what we'd do differently next time. You are miles ahead of many of us in that you're beginning to sew in the era of the Internet. That's a huge advantage. There's so much information available and best of all the input of others.
One of the main things in my opinion is not to rush, to do your very best at each stage and take care so that your best becomes better time and time again. Slow down to speed up. It works quite well especially if you fix mistakes. There are times for fudging things but mostly there are times for taking them out and doing them better.
Another important aspect is quality tools. Some ladies came into work the other day with pins and fabric and instructions they couldn't understand. When I showed them how to pin the facing, their pins felt like logs jamming into the fabric. They were thick and difficult to work with. The pins that I use are slim, silk pins from Clover that glide into the fabric. Yes, they bend easy. Yes. they're expensive. They are worth every penny. Pinning is easy, firm, and doesn't distort the seam line. I'm not one for a lot of gadgets but the ones that I have are quality and work exceptionally well. Many of them are Clover brand. They're an excellent company. Sharp scissors, a solid sewing machine, a quality iron, pressing and marking tools, pins - many gadgets aren't worth your time but these are all important.
Sandra Betzina's books Fabric Savvy and More Fabric Savvy are worth the investment in learning about how to sew with different fabrics. They list what needle, stitch length, and type of thread to use and the types of seam finishes that would be appropriate as well as give a description of the fabric. I only bought these a few years ago after sewing for over thirty five years and I've learned a tremendous amount.
And sampling... that's part of slow down to speed up. Take the time to make sample seam finishes to learn how they're done. Take the time to test sew and test press a scrap of your project fabric to see what happens. It's worth it - just like making a muslin can save you a lot of headaches with fitting.
Spottedroo also wrote - Another thing I'd like to work on is making coordinating and interchangeable garments. I always buy my fabrics in groups and I think the colors work well together but the shapes and styles don't always go as well as I'd planned. Have you read Cennetta's recent article on wardrobe planning? I think there is a link off her blog. Have you thought about trying to design a wardrobe or collection rather than 1 single garment?
I'd appreciate the link to the article if you could send it and I'll add it here for everyone else. Thanks.
After joining several SWAP and 6 Pack sew-a-longs and not finishing, I'm not too sure about formally grouping garments. I seem to lose enthusiasm for this somewhat enforced method of sewing. Instead of enjoying each garment, the pile feels like "should". That said, this is exactly what I've been thinking about lately, about the need to co-ordinate and that said, I know for a fact I wrote a posting a while ago about sewing outfits not orphans so apparently I've been thinking about it for a while - LOL.
I mostly sew outfits. I tend to sew a blouse with a skirt or a pair of pants or I'll sew several blouses and then several lower garments. As much as possible, I try to make my entire wardrobe interchangeable. Prints have a huge impact on that goal. They are not as interchangeable as solids plus accent jewelry. I've been sewing more prints lately and am having more struggles than usual putting outfits together, That's an area I'll now pay attention to and ensure I don't over do the prints.
The pile above is of fabric I acquired last week. The purple on the left is a linen drapery end. It's wide and was REALLY inexpensive for such quality fabric. The plaid is cotton. It's a strong, bold print that I'll need to keep away from my face or perhaps mix with black at the collar. The small scrap on the right is of black linen that I'm using to make my next project blouse for work. The white with black print is for a skirt to go with. It's cotton. The tweed looking piece is a medium weight pant material. If I remember correctly, it's a rayon blend. While these don't necessarily go with each other, many go with other garments in my wardrobe.
Learning how to put the shapes and styles together is a life long journey as you can see by what I've been working on lately. As we age and mature, we change physically and emotionally and that shows in what we wear and how we sew BUT... this is also an area in which we learn to do by doing and by paying attention to how things look in the mirror and in photographs. Even though they lie about those wrinkles, photographs are a fabulous way to see how something really looks on you... as is snoop shopping. Mainly, just have fun. As I said Friday, it's only fabric.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - hot sun shine
Your blouse turned out very nice Myrna. I prefer the black buttons as well. And you are correct with your comments about taking your time with the projects. I like to break them down into manageable (time) components to avoid mistakes or less than satisfactory results. We have had extremely hot weather here, glad you are having a warm up.
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