Spring is such a great time to clean and organize … two of my least favorite terms :) One of the biggest clutter issues in a sewing room is thread, I want to share a few ideas for organizing:
Hang numerous thread racks on different walls to organize spools of thread by color and content. Although you can’t tell by this photo, I organize the neutral colors in one area, green and blues in another, red, yellow and orange in another, etc. I also use the top row for topstitching and other specialty threads.
There is a separate section for serger thread. When I run out of pegs on the rack, I hang one cone of a specific color with a sticker that lists the quantity. Then I store the other cones in a cabinet below.
Speaking of serger thread, I leave one serger thread rack on the table with the sergers and coverstitch machines. This is a quick way to hold the spools I am using and prevent them from cluttering the sewing area and rolling off the table!
Here is a fun spool holder! The base rotates so it’s easy to find a thread and the pegs are long enough for serger cones. Another option is coordinating the bobbin and the thread color together, both fit perfectly on one peg.
You have to assemble this rack, which only takes a few minutes, but that offers additional options for organizing.
I find myself only using the bottom half of the rack. With the lower half I can load up on weight with heavy spools and the rack is not tippy. Another idea is to use the thread spools at the bottom and smaller spools or bobbins on the top half.
Speaking of bobbins, I always order an extra 50 for each machine. There are so many colors I use frequently and I don’t enjoy unspooling the bobbin so I can use a new color. Not only is that a waste of thread, that extra thread attaches to my clothes for the day! To organize all the bobbins, I use a plastic container with a lid. These stack neatly and the lid keeps the dust out.
Check out this magnetic bobbin holder. I keep one of these next to my Brother PQ1500 and one next to my commercial machine since those are the only machines I have with metal bobbins.
For the machines that have plastic bobbins, I either use the turning thread holder shown above, the plastic thread container, or a smaller thread rack free-standing on the table.
In case you haven’t seen WAWAK Sewing’s April magazine with the sale of the month, ALL the thread racks are $5 off (and don’t forget shipping is free if you spend over $100 – which is easy to do with all the great items they have :))
Now, back to writing the serging book. I do have a serging technique I think you will like, I hope to share that with you tomorrow. How are you doing on April’s wardrobe challenge Simply Serged?
There are so many sewing products on the market, it can get overwhelming trying to decide which ones to try. Here is one for you … Hug-Snug Seam Binding. Take a look inside some of your nicer pants and skirts, you will often see a rich looking ribbon covering the hem allowance edge. Hug-Snug is probably the ribbon you see. This ribbon is 100% Rayon, has a satin finish and it comes in a TON of colors.
Regardless if you are sewing a garment from scratch or doing alterations, this is a fast, professional looking hem and it’s really easy:
Press up the hem. Working on the right side of the fabric, align the ribbon over the raw edge of the hem allowance.
The edge of the fabric should land in the middle of the ribbon. Stitch along the edge of the ribbon. (I am using contrasting color ribbon and thread so it’s easier to see :))
The above photo shows the single stitch line and how the ribbon covers the fabric raw edge.
Attach the ribbon all the way around the hem. When you get to the end, trim the ribbon leaving 2″ – 3″ extra.
Stitch just past the starting point …
… fold under the end of the ribbon, enclosing the raw edge of the ribbon.
Turn the fabric and stitch the folded edge of the ribbon in place.
The ribbon is attached, covering all raw edges. Hem the garment as usual, using the edge of the ribbon as the hem allowance edge. The ribbon is so much thinner than fabric and really makes a perfect blind hem! Below I am using a blind hem machine:
Notice how the ribbon edge is connected to the garment, finishing the hem. If using the blind hem stitch on a sewing machine or hand-stitching the hem in place, do the same thing; connect the edge of the ribbon to the fabric.
I told you it’s easy! Again, Hug-Snug Seam Binding comes in a ton of colors:
I borrowed this color chart from WAWAK SEWING SUPPLIES. In fact, if you want to give this product a try, WAWAK is offering 10% off until March 31st.
How are the jeans coming along for the wardrobe challenge? Don’t forget to upload your photos to the Flickr group, there are some really cute outfits showing up 🙂
Sewing jeans are really easy once you get the hang of the process, but fitting the pattern can be challenging. The next few posts are going to deal with exactly that, fitting various body shapes. This pattern alteration is needed if you have a fuller stomach, in the old days referred to as an apple shape. Although, I am not sure where the fruit terms originated from, I really don’t like them. I would rather be a glass! Wine glass, red wine glass, martini glass, goblet, water-glass, I think you get the idea. It just sounds a little more glamorous than an apple or pear 🙂 Anyway, if you made up a jean muslin and the pattern fit great in the legs, hips, and tush, but you just can’t get that center front closed … here you go:
Fitting a Jean Pattern for a Round Stomach
1. Tape the front pocket in place. Start by drawing lines on your pattern (don’t cut yet):
Draw a line (green) across the hip and up to the tip of the side seam.
Draw 2 lines (purple) perpendicular to the green line,
2. Cut along the green line, cutting up to the side seam put NOT through the edge.
3. Slide the pattern open. Look what happens, you just gave a little more room in the front tummy area in the width and height of the pattern.
4. The upper waist curve is too extreme if left like this. Cut each purple line, down to the green line, but NOT through it. Slide each line open until the waist curve angles down more like the original pattern.
5. Redraw a new waistline and center front crotch curve (red line).
If you are having difficulty redrawing the front crotch curve, slide the pattern back together. Mark the bottom edge of the facing area and trim off the front fly facing. Follow all the steps and then tape the front facing back in place once the new center front is drawn in, lining up the facing with the marking on the pattern. Draw a line extending the facing up to the waistline ( I used this pattern piece, because I knew someone would ask about that).
Here is your new front pattern piece, use this for the front and left, of course one will have a front facing section and the other will not. This is the same alteration for any pant style when you need a little more room in the tummy area.
How are your jeans coming along for March’s wardrobe challenge? The judges are almost finished with February’s winners, hope to announce them this weekend.
Looking to stock up on jean sewing supplies – zippers, jean thread, jean buttons … WAWAK Sewing is offering $10 off the next order of $80 or more! This offer is good until March 31st, use PROMO CODE: WAGW314 when checking out. What a great treat for the jean challenge! Thanks WAWAK! 🙂
That’s all for today 🙂 Sun is shining and snow is melting, thank goodness!!!!
This is my new DVD with Threads Magazine and this was a fun one. I took a basic pattern and teach you how to alter one pattern into 4 different styles. Click here for details and behind the scenes photos with the crew!
I recall a class I taught years ago, one of the students gave me a review “great class, she is a pressing fanatic!” Well, that is true. In reality, pressing is what makes your sewing look professional. I thought I would share how I have my studio set up:
My all time favorite iron is the Hot Steam SGB-600 and I can’t believe how long I went without splurging on such a reasonably priced powerhouse steam iron. This iron plugs into a standard outlet (make sure to check that when researching commercial steam irons) and has a water container that holds almost an entire gallon of distilled water. The water container is attached to a wall and then the hose needs to hang from the ceiling or a high point. I have ceiling tiles in my studio and I am using clips that would typically hold a plant, I think I found them at Ace Hardware.
The iron came with the rubber mat, which is nice! I added the Iron Shoe which allows you press ANYTHING and it won’t leave shiny marks – even on cheap satin and poly! I will share more about that later.
One more thing, this iron has a powerful burst of steam and it DOES NOT leak, yeah! Have you ever ruined fabric from a leaky iron? Um, this brings back a memory … years ago, I was making a custom suit for a client. Just visualize a rich colored brown fabric – silk, wool blend. My iron was having a bad day and a few drips (or I should say a burst of drips) later the suit ended up in the trash. Very expensive fabric, but I couldn’t get the spots out! I have had this iron for quite a while and have never had as much as a drop.
Did I mention, I can’t stand irons that automatically turn off! What a waste of time, it’s never hot when you need it. That being said I do keep around a couple inexpensive Rowenta’s for applying interfacing. They are easy to clean, very hot, and don’t usually leak (I say that with a squint in my eye as every iron seems to have its own personality, although out of about 30 Rowenta’s I only had 2 that dripped and 1 that caught on fire – another eventful day in the studio!).
Tip: keep a tube of Ez-Off Iron cleaner around – perfect for removing interfacing gook!
Do you have a favorite iron or a dripping horror story to share?
I am thrilled to see all of the excitement for my 2014 Wardrobe Challenge! The month of January is so full of new years resolutions, crazy weather and catching up from the holidays, I wanted to make this month’s challenge simple and fun. All you have to do is create a Pinterest board “wardrobe challenge 2014” and pin photos that inspire you. This is not a trick, just post anything that inspires you to design and sew, this can be absolutely anything. Ideas: colors, animals, architecture, food (that is the downfall of pinterest, everyone posts such fabulous looking food, I swear I can smell it through the computer screen!) Pin something from each sponsor – that can be a repin from their pinterest board or pin something from their website and leave a comment here or on my pinterest board with a link to your new board. In case you need the links to the sponsors here they are again: Brother, Threads and Sew Stylish Magazines, WAWAK sewing, It’s Sew Easy, Angela Wolf Patterns, and some of you couldn’t find my pinterest page. Again, if you need an invitation to pinterest email me info@angelawolf.com. For more details on January’s Challenge, there is still a week to enter, then we move on to February’s challenge! Good Luck 🙂
Olfa 60mm Rotary Jumbo Cutter, Replacement Blade, and Cutting Mat from WAWAKsewing.com
Now, onto a quick time-saving tip. When I sit down to sew, there are a few items that I quite often need and I find it faster to prepare these in advance. One example is fusible interfacing: hemming jacket sleeves, plackets, zipper placement, bound button holes, these are just the first few areas I need the interfacing and to get up, unfold the interfacing and cut 1 strip is a total “time sucker”, my new word for the year! For jacket hem’s I typically use 3″ to 4″ wide strips of interfacing and for the zipper placement 1″ to 1-1/2″ strips.
This is light-weight fusible interfacing (HTC fusi-knit) and with two layers you can still see through the interfacing to line up the 1″ grid on the Olfa cutting mat.
Keeping the grainlines and stretch of the interfacing in mind:
cut strips parallel to the selvage 28″ long by 1 1/2″ wide. The most common use for these strips is to support the center back seams on a dress when inserting a hidden zipper (I am hooked on sewing dresses lately!) and it is rare that I would need longer than 28″ for a zipper.
cut strips perpendicular to the selvage 4″ long by the width of the interfacing (in this case 22″ wide). These strips are perfect for re-hemming jackets and sleeve hems. If you do alterations, this is really a bonus to have these cut strips on hand.
Store these strips in a photo box next to your sewing station and you are all set!
A few tips on the rotary blade:
Always clear your cutting area from pins! It always amazes me how one little dent in the blade can ruin the cutting, but it is true. Maybe it’s not quite as noticeable when cutting thick fabric, but try cutting bias strips of silk chiffon. If the blade is damaged, even in the slightest bit, the cutting is fragmented and you end up cutting the strips over with scissors. Pain in the tush 🙂 I used to try to sharpen the blades, but seriously I am trying to save time not cause more work. The blades are not that expensive, especially this month they are 25% off at WAWAK sewing, time to stock up for a few months! The replacement blades come in a nice plastic container. As I am always fearful of throwing a blade in the trash, I use one of the containers to store bad blades. See the blue dot in the photo above, that dot tells me this package is bad blades. When its full, snap the container closed, add a piece of tape for extra security, and toss with no worries.
Lastly, take extra precaution and close the blade cover when not in use. It makes me crazy when anyone in my studio leaves the blade exposed when they are not using it! I have a pretty long cutting table and I am often grabbing bolts of fabric and sliding patterns around, one slip could end up being a bloody mess. Thankfully that hasn’t happened, but I have heard a few horror stories 🙁
My question to you – Have you ever tried sharpening your old blades and did you have any luck or do you prefer stocking up on replacement blades when a great sale hits?
Have fun filling your pinterest board, remember to add #wardrobechallenge when sharing your experience!
When I asked what part of sewing jackets you find the most intimidating to sew, many of you left a comment about the collar and lapel. I must have had a premonition, as this week’s episode of It’s Sew Easy gives you a few tips for success. You are right, the collar and lapel is what really makes your jacket stand out … and the good news … it’s easier to sew than you think. In fact, sewing is only a minute part involved in tailoring a collar. The most time-consuming part involves preparing the center front jacket, upper collar, and under collar pattern pieces with interfacing and twill tape, not to mention pad stitching if you are going the traditional tailoring route. The weight of the interfacing will determine the thickness and stability of your lapel and collar, so be sure to test a sample first. My two favorites for jackets are armo-weft fusible interfacing (shown here) and horse hair canvas (perfect if you plan on pad stitching – which I will show in a later blog post). Fusible interfacing can be added in layers if you need more structure at the end of the lapel, keep that in mind if you interfacing supply is limited.
Despite adding interfacing, extra measures need to be taken to prevent the neckline and center front of the jacket from stretching out. Twill tape is the perfect solution! Look closely and you can see hand stitching attaching the 1/4″ wide cotton twill tape to the front edge of the jacket. As I am hand stitching, I am holding the twill tape tight and allowing the jacket fabric to ease in. Not too much easing though! Make sure the jacket doesn’t change shape or become skewed.
What about that perfect roll on the lapel? Again, twill tape is hand stitched to the roll line (the roll line should be printed on your jacket pattern)
When hand stitching the twill tape to the roll line, keep the twill tape tight (tighter than when we added twill tape to the center front and neckline). Again, easing in the fashion fabric. I use a pin to hold one end of the twill tape and start stitching from the other end. You can see below how much I am easing!
Here I started hand stitching the twill tape in place, the main part of the stitch is on the twill tape and I am just picking a short fiber in the fashion fabric, then back through the twill tape. You can barely see the stitching from the right side of the fabric. When you are finished steam press the lapel roll using a seam roll. Again, for more details see this weeks episode of It’s Sew Easy, scroll to the bottom of their page and click on the video.
Another Giveaway, this one is for my online class: Sewing a Designer Unlined Jacket on PatternReveiw.com. Does your favorite jacket style close in the center front or asymmetrically? Just tell us your preference to enter the jacket class giveaway. (A random winner will be drawn next Monday) Congratulations to last weeks winner JRP53 who will be joining me in the Beginner’s Guide to Sewing Jackets on PatternReview! Good luck on your jackets!
When I asked what part of sewing jackets you find the most intimidating to sew, many of you left a comment about the collar and lapel. I must have had a premonition, as this week’s episode of It’s Sew Easy gives you a few tips for success. You are right, the collar and lapel is what really makes your jacket stand out … and the good news … it’s easier to sew than you think. In fact, sewing is only a minute part involved in tailoring a collar. The most time-consuming part involves preparing the center front jacket, upper collar, and under collar pattern pieces with interfacing and twill tape, not to mention pad stitching if you are going the traditional tailoring route. The weight of the interfacing will determine the thickness and stability of your lapel and collar, so be sure to test a sample first. My two favorites for jackets are armo-weft fusible interfacing (shown here) and horse hair canvas (perfect if you plan on pad stitching – which I will show in a later blog post). Fusible interfacing can be added in layers if you need more structure at the end of the lapel, keep that in mind if you interfacing supply is limited.
Despite adding interfacing, extra measures need to be taken to prevent the neckline and center front of the jacket from stretching out. Twill tape is the perfect solution! Look closely and you can see hand stitching attaching the 1/4″ wide cotton twill tape to the front edge of the jacket. As I am hand stitching, I am holding the twill tape tight and allowing the jacket fabric to ease in. Not too much easing though! Make sure the jacket doesn’t change shape or become skewed.
What about that perfect roll on the lapel? Again, twill tape is hand stitched to the roll line (the roll line should be printed on your jacket pattern)
When hand stitching the twill tape to the roll line, keep the twill tape tight (tighter than when we added twill tape to the center front and neckline). Again, easing in the fashion fabric. I use a pin to hold one end of the twill tape and start stitching from the other end. You can see below how much I am easing!
Here I started hand stitching the twill tape in place, the main part of the stitch is on the twill tape and I am just picking a short fiber in the fashion fabric, then back through the twill tape. You can barely see the stitching from the right side of the fabric. When you are finished steam press the lapel roll using a seam roll. Again, for more details see this weeks episode of It’s Sew Easy, scroll to the bottom of their page and click on the video.
Another Giveaway, this one is for my online class: Sewing a Designer Unlined Jacket on PatternReveiw.com. Does your favorite jacket style close in the center front or asymmetrically? Just tell us your preference to enter the jacket class giveaway. (A random winner will be drawn next Monday) Congratulations to last weeks winner JRP53 who will be joining me in the Beginner’s Guide to Sewing Jackets on PatternReview! Good luck on your jackets!
Getting back to sewing jackets … by any chance did you happen to catch last weeks episode on It’s Sew Easy TV where I demonstrated adding a curved welt pocket. Welt pockets can be a little intimidating because once you cut into the garment, you can’t change your mind! In case you missed the episode, here is a quick recap:
1. Interface the entire jacket front and side front pattern pieces (not only does that prevent the fabric from fraying, it supports the pocket). Similar to a standard welt pocket, take two bias strips of fashion fabric, add fusible interfacing, and press in half. Draw the curve line of the pocket onto the right side of the fashion fabric. Turn the welts with the fold side away from the chalked in line (or make sure the raw edges are touching) and stitch along the center of the welt flap. Notice how I have also chalk marked the ends of the pocket opening.
2. Turn the jacket over and on the wrong side of the garment you will see the stitch lines (I obviously used a yellow thread so you can see this :)). Starting about 1″ in from one end of the stitching, cut into the fashion fabric. Cut right in the middle of the stitch lines and end the cut about 1″ before the other stitch end. Going back to the 1″ that we left alone, snip each corner from the cut line to the edge of the stitch line. Do this for all four corners – as shown above.
3. (See below) What is left is a slit with each welt on each side. Pull the welts through the open slit, toward the wrong side of the fabric.
4. Align the welts and press. Run a basting stitch through the fold of each welt. Now the pocket opening won’t slide around while finishing the pocket.
5. Topstitch 1/8″ from the edge of the welt pocket. The pocket shown above is a straight welt style, yet the topstitching you see would be the same on the curved welt. Add the pocket lining. That’s it!
This weeks It’s Sew Easy episode demonstrates preparing the jacket collar and lapel. Have you been following along and sewing your own jacket? On that note, I better giveaway another one of my online jacket classes: Beginner’s Guide to Sewing Jackets on PatternReview. Entering to win is easy, leave a comment below about what you find the most intimidating about sewing jackets. (A random winner will be drawn on Friday).
Don’t forget ALL my PatternReview online classes are on sale for the rest of the week. Why? Just a special thanks to all of you that support my teaching. Speaking of support, thanks to your votes in the Craftsy 2013 Blogger Awards, we won Runner-Up for Sewing Best Instructor’s Blog! You all are awesome!!!! Thanks 🙂
There is only one reason I have not moved South in order to enjoy beautiful sunny weather all year round … jackets and boots! This is the time of year I rearrange my wardrobe, bringing out all the cute jackets I finished last March and never had a chance to wear (remember in the fashion industry we are always designing a season ahead). Of course while I am pulling out the fall wardrobe, out come the fabulous boots. I LOVE shoes! I sew all my own clothes, I have to find something to shop for besides fabric 🙂
Speaking of sewing all my own clothes, about 15 years ago I set a goal of only wearing clothes I had sewn myself. It was a great idea, but hardly possible. I spent all my time sewing custom garments for clients and I could never find time to sew for myself. You know, like the shoemaker that wears worn-out shoes. Those of you that are in the sewing business know exactly what I am talking about.
Once I started designing a ready-to-wear line and a pattern collection for the home sewer, I found a perfect reason to sew for myself. Someone has to test the fit, right 🙂 Over the last few years I have been adding my label to the closet with jeans, tops, jackets, dresses, skirts, slacks, … In fact last night after admiring my organized closet (now is the time to admire, it never seems to stay that way very long), I realized I finally accomplished my goal! Every garment carried the Angela Wolf label. I could hardly believe it! In fact, once you get going on sewing for yourself, the outfits flow in much faster than you think. Have you ever had the desire to sew all your own clothes? I challenge you to try. I am going to celebrate this accomplishment and try to focus on doing the same for the spring wardrobe swap. I feel a 2014 wardrobe sew along coming on … what do you think?
In the last post, I mentioned how thankful I am to all of you readers and a special thanks to those that voted my blog into the finals for the category sewing – best instructor blog for the 2013 Craftsy Blogging Awards. Voting in the final round is still going on, so make sure to vote for your favorites again (hint, hint). I couldn’t think of a better way to thank you than give away a few online classes, which I will do over the next few weeks.
Not everyone can win, so I asked my friend Deepika – founder of PatternReview.com – to place all my online classes on sale for the rest of the month. In case you haven’t visited the site, PatternReview.com is a great website for learning and connecting with other garment sewer’s. I offer quite a few classes there, including sewing jackets. No, my jacket patterns are not ready to launch yet, so this is the next best thing. The next few giveaways will be for my online classes. The first one is Create a Jacket Muslin on PatternReview. Creating a perfect fitting muslin is the most important part of sewing a jacket. If you would like a chance to join my class on sewing a muslin where I offer fitting tips, solutions, and you can even upload photos of your muslin for personal fitting advice, simply share a comment about your experience in fitting jackets. Never sewn a jacket, even better reason to start with the muslin class (a random winner will be chosen and announced next Friday). Speaking of jackets, have you been watching season 5 on It’s Sew Easy and following along as I sew a jacket? If your PBS doesn’t carry It’s Sew Easy, you can catch a new episode every week on their website.
Speaking of serger thread, I leave one serger thread rack on the table with the sergers and coverstitch machines. This is a quick way to hold the spools I am using and prevent them from cluttering the sewing area and rolling off the table!
2. Cut along the green line, cutting up to the side seam put NOT through the edge.
