Learn How to Design & Sew Pajama Pants

Learn How to Design & Sew Pajama Pants

Pajama Pants are so easy to sew for adults and kids.  I have a full video tutorial below walking you through designing the pants and sewing.  I choose pants that have cuffs and a seperate waistband, a little sportier than the fold over waistband. 

Supplies:

  • Fabric
    • Flannel
    • Jersey Knit
    • Scuba Knit
    • Double Knit 
    • Rayon Knit
    • Cotton

      Check out the new fabric that just came in by clicking here.  (I am using my scuba knit)

 

 

 

Thanks so much for sewing along with me!  Be sure to share your pajama pants on social media #angelawolf  cool

Cheers,

Chloe Trench Sew Along

Chloe Trench Sew Along

A trench coat is a great jacket for any season and I thought this would be a great sew along to kick off 2020!  You can find short excerpts of sewing my Chloe Trench Pattern in season 18 of It’s Sew Easy TV and each of the episodes are listed in the Fashion Sewing Club and on my YouTube Channel.  I will also list these on each blog post as we go through the sew along. 

The Chloe Trench Sewalong will last 5 weeks, with each week focusing on a different part of the jacket sewing process.  The free live sessions will be on Facebook, YouTube, and Angela Wolf Patterns Facebook Group.  More in-depth live shows will take place on the Fashion Sewing Club.  All of the dates listed below are subject to change, be sure to sign up for my Newsletter so you don’t miss a thing! Now let’s get sewing!

 

Chloe Trench Supplies

Grab your copy of the Chloe Trench Pattern in either a personally signed Paper Version with includes paper pattern printed in full color along with a spiral bound notebook for the directions or Digital Download.  (Available from size 0 to 36W)

You can find the patterns, interfacing, and pressing supplies here at www.AngelaWolfPatterns.com and get 10% OFF with coupon code: NEWYEAR2020  (all caps)

Fashion Sewing Club Members get 25% OFF all patterns & supplies during the month of January 2020 – visit the club website for your coupon code.   

 

Chloe Trench Sew Along Schedule:

The activities for the Chloe Trench will be combined of blog posts and live shows; some of these shows are free and some are exclusive to Fashion Sewing Club Members.  Click here to learn more about the Fashion Sewing Club

Week 1: Choosing Fabric, Size, Interfacing, and Prep

Week 2: Fitting, Cutting, Interfacing (BONUS for FSC: Lining Options)

 

Week 3: Interfacing, Finishing Seams, & Getting Started Sewing

Week 4: Sleeves & Hemming

  • February 4th 3:00 pm EST Live Chat Fashion Sewing Club
    • Mark your calendar, a link will be posted closer to the date

 

Week 5: Top stitching, Final Touches, Show & Tell

  • February 10th 6:00 pm EST Live Chat Fashion Sewing Club
    • Mark your calendar, a link will be posted closer to the date

 

Please Note: All of these dates are subject to change. Make sure you are signed up for my newsletter to stay up to date. 

To get started check out my video below from It’s Sew Easy TV.  This will show you ideas for fabric and interfacing.  We will discuss this further in the live Q&A and weekly behind the scenes show.  Are you going to join the sew along?  Leave me a comment if you have any question or need help finding fabric.   

 

Can’t wait to see what you sew up!

Cheers,

Embroider Lace on Tulle Fabric Tutorial

Embroider Lace on Tulle Fabric Tutorial

How to Embroider Lace on Tulle

With the launch of my new lace embroidery collection A Touch of Lace, I thought this would be a good time to share a few tutorials showing how to embroider lace.  I am going to start with my all time favorite, embroidering on tulle fabric.  You might have seen my outfits with what I call “removable tattoos”.  These sleeves are designed by embroidering on tulle fabric; then I cut out my sleeves from the embroidered tulle fabric.  Let me show you how easy this is!

 

Supplies:

 

 

Choosing Tulle Fabric

When you start looking for tulle fabric, you might get a little overwhelmed with the options.  The main thing is to check the texture and hand of the fabric.  For example, since I am using the tulle for a garment I want the fabric to be soft to the touch.  I also prefer a drape vs. a stiff fabric.  How can you tell?  If you get a chance to shop for the tulle fabric in person, hold the fabric in your hand.  Does the fabric lay stiff like a sheet of paper, or does the fabric drape softly?  Does the fabric feel soft or scratchy?  If you are shopping online it’s a little harder to tell, but you can always purchase a small swatch.  Although tulle fabric isn’t very expensive, you might as well order whatever you need for your project.  Worse case you can use the tulle in a gift bag!  

Fabric Color

Tulle fabric comes in numerous colors, which makes this fabric fabulous for garment projects.  Black, white, brown, and cream are my go to colors for nude or see through sleeves.  Hold the fabric up to your skin; you might be surprised at how see thru this fabric really is.  Another option is to choose a color to coordinate with a specific project.  Below is a sample using navy tulle with navy thread and black tulle with black thread.   I will talk more about the color of the fabric in the next few tutorials.  

Navy Tulle Sample

Black Tulle Sample

How to Hoop Tulle

1. Open the embroidery hoop and place the lower section of the hoop on a flat surface.  Center the Sew’N Wash Embroidery Stabilizer  over the hoop, making sure the stabilizer covers the entire hoop.

TIP: Sew’N Wash embroidery stabilizer comes in different widths. I usually keep 12″ and  20″ wide on hand; the 20″ wide is ideal for the larger hoops.

2. Layer the tulle fabric, leaving at least 2″ excess around the hoop.

3. Place the top of the embroidery hoop onto the layers.  Gently push the hoop together, leaving the tension loose.

4. Gently pull the Sew’N Wash embroidery stabilizer tight at each corner of the embroidery hoop.  Check to make sure there are no wrinkles in the stabilizer.

5. Do the same for the tulle fabric, but be very gentle when pulling the fabric as the tulle fabric can tear very easily! 

6. Tighten the hoop a little.  Slide your hand across the center of the hoop checking for wrinkles or puckers.

7.  When you are satisified with the hooping, tighten the hoop and you are ready to start embroidering.

Thread & Bobbin

I use different embroidery threads including rayon and polyester, each offers a different look to your project.  I would suggest experimenting with a few different weights and textures to determine your favorite.  Keep the samples in a notebook so you can refer back.   I typically use the same color thread in the bobbin as I use for the top embroidery.  This takes more time when embroiderying a design with multiple colors, but if you are going to see the backside of the embroidery it is worth the extra task. 

Choosing an Embroidery Design

Depending on the area of the garment this embroidered tulle will be used for, choosing a design is very important.  In my embroidery collection A Touch of Lace, I have included low density versions of each design.  A low density designs has less stitches which will offer a softer, less stiff fabric when the embroidery if finished.  If you opt for a dense design, make sure the lace will be used on a fitted area of the garment, for example the bicep area on a fitted sleeve.  The tightness of the sleeve will prevent the thicker embroidery design from curling.  

You are ready to embroider!  Hopefully this tutorial will get you started to embroider on tulle.  The next tutorials will give you some ideas for using the newly embroidered fabric.  Can’t wait to see what you embroider with my new lace collection.  Be sure to share photos of what you are embroidering using hashtag #angelawolf 

Cheers,

DIY: Refashion Jeans with Trim

DIY: Refashion Jeans with Trim

Refashion Jeans with Trim 

You might have noticed some of the fashions of the late 60’s and 70’s making a comeback on the store shelves, from floral fabrics to embellished jeans. How about adding crocheted ribbon trim along the outside leg!  This is so easy!!!

Supplies:

  • Jeans
  • Measuring tape
  • Pins
  • Ribbon or trim (check that the trim is washable)

PREPPING

  1. Measure the outside of the jean leg from the bottom edge of the waistband to the hem.

2. Add 6 inches to the outside leg measurement and cut 2 pieces of trim that exact length.

3. Starting at the edge of the waistband, center the trim with the outside leg seam. Fold under the raw edge of the trim about ½” and pin.

4. Continue to pin the trim along the outside leg seam. Be sure to look for metal rivets or other hardware! Here I have a rive and I will make sure to mark this spot as to not break the sewing machine needle.

5. Pin the ribbon/ trim all the way to the hemline. If you plan on folding up the jeans, measure 4 inches below the hemline and cut the trim.  If you are not going to fold up the jean hem, measure 2 inches and cut off any excess ribbon.

6. Turn the jeans inside out. Center the ribbon on the seam allowance, fold under the raw edge ½” and pin in place.

7. Follow these steps on both outside leg seams.

 

SEWING

Depending on the style and size of the jeans, it can be challenging sewing all the way down to the narrow hemline.  To make is easier we are going to utilize the sewing sideways feature!

8. Set up the machine for sewing a straight stitch and move the needle all the way to the far-right position. Slide the jeans under the foot starting at the waistline. To read the full blog post, head over to my post as a Brother Expert Consultant on the Brother Stitching Social.

Looking for more ideas on refashioning jeans, check out my blog post on embellishing jeans with embroidery.Be sure to share photos on the social side #angelawolf – I always love to see what you are working on!

Cheers,

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Embroider 103 Learn How to Embroider on Hats

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Drape a Square Sweater Jacket

Drape a Square Sweater Jacket

In this tutorial you will learn how to drape a square sweater jacket with Angela Wolf. Fabrics, techniques, and measurements will be taught in this lesson.

Kate Skirt Meets Loved To Pieces from Mister Domestic

Kate Skirt Meets Loved To Pieces from Mister Domestic

I am very excited to team up with Mathew Boudreaux (Mister Domestic) as part of his blog party launching his new fabric collection Loved to Pieces!  I had the choice of many of his beautiful fabrics and chose a beautiful 100% rayon fabric to sew the Kate Skirt Pattern. Of course I needed a top to go with the skirt, so I opted for a cotton / lycra knit Art Gallery Fabric with a color that coordinated with small circles in the rayon fabric.

When this fabric arrived it was even better than I expected.  The drape of the rayon was so light and airy and the cotton knit had great recovery!

Pre-Shrink

The first step is to pre-shrink the fabric.  I washed and dried each piece individually, just in case there was any bleeding. Both pieces came out just fine, in face they hardly wrinkled at all!  The rayon fabric frayed slightly and the cotton fabric tends to roll at the ends, but those are easy to work with.

Cutting The Kate Skirt

Because of the print, I chose to cut the skirt with one layer of fabric (meaning I didn’t fold the fabric).  The fabric is so lightweight and tends to shift which can cause issues matching up prints and grainlines.  After laying out the fabric, I used a yard stick to check the fabric grainlines.  They look pretty straight here, so I cut one side of the skirt and then folded the pattern over to cute the other side.

Bias Waistband

I altered the Kate Skirt pattern by cutting the waistband on the bias.  This fabric is so lightweight, it reminds me of silk charmeuse. I prefer bias waistbands for silk skirt, so thought the same for this one.  Not only is it comfortable, it works the print.

Finishing the Edges and Zipper Insertion

As I mentioned earlier, the rayon fabric tends to fray a little.  After cutting out the skirt, I ran the edges through the serger to finish the edges (I used a 3-thread wide overlock stitch).  But before serging the edges, press the fusible interfacing in the zipper location (see pattern instructions).  The fusible interfacing is light enough to not show through the fabric right side and prevent the fabric from stretching out while sewing in the zipper.

The next step is to sew in the invisible zipper and sew the side seams.

Check the pattern lining up on the side seam.  It looks pretty good here 🙂

The next step is to attach the waistband …

And lastly, the hem.  Turn the bottom of the skirt up 1/2″ toward the wrong side of the fabric and press.  Use a tailor’s clapper for a crisp crease.  Turn the hem up another 1/2″ and press. Topstitch the folded hem in place.

Here are a couple of YouTube videos showing how to sew the skirt if you want to follow along:

Here is a list of all the talented bloggers sharing in Mathew’s big fabric launch for Art Gallery Fabrics. And be sure to visit Mathew’s Mister Domestic Instagram for weekly fabric giveaways!

MISTER DOMESTIC’S LOVED TO PIECES BLOG PARTY

I will talk about the cotton shirts on Episode 88 of my facebook live show Behind the Scenes Wednesday, July 18th at 11:00am , where I will also interview Mathew about his new fabric launch.  Be sure to join us live or on the replay!

Cheers,

EMBELLISHING JEANS WITH FREE MOTION EMBROIDERY

EMBELLISHING JEANS WITH FREE MOTION EMBROIDERY

Embellishing Jeans with Free Motion Embroidery

An easy way to restyle or upcycle jeans is to add a touch of embroidery.  Free motion embroidery, also referred to as thread painting, is so easy and you don’t even need an embroidery machine for this technique.  Instead we are going to use free motion quilting / embroidery techniques.

Supplies Needed:

  • Jeans
  • Medium Weight Tear-away Stabilizer
  • Any type of thread (all-purpose, rayon, embroidery, silk, cotton)
  • Embroidery Hoop
  • Fabric marking pen or chalk
  • Open toe quilting foot

Layout the Design

Try on the jeans and determine where you want the embellishment to go.  A few things to keep in mind:

Don’t place the embroidery:

    • too close to the zipper
    • on top of thick seams
    • over thick pockets
    • on top of metal rivets
    • Too far down the leg (remember you need to get to the area to stitch J)

Good places for the embroidery:

  • Above the hemline
  • Along the back yoke (avoiding the center back seam)
  • Front hip
  • Waistband

Choose a hoop size that can easily fit into the jean pant leg and large enough for the design you have in mind.  Using tailors chalk, mark the placement for the design.

Draw a design with a fabric pen.

Hooping the Jeans

Slide the stabilizer into the jeans leg behind the design area.  My design is close to the front pocket, so I will pull the pocket lining out of the hooping area.

Align the smaller inside hoop on the outside of the jean leg with the larger hoop and stabilizer inside the jeans leg.

Push the hoop closed, encasing the jean fabric and stabilizer, and tighten the screw on the hoop.

Free Motion Embroidery

Set the sewing machine up for free motion quilting and slide the hoop under the presser foot, making sure to keep the back of the jean leg out of the way.  We only want the fabric in the hoop under the needle on the machine.

Start in the middle of the design and fill in the design with thread.

Here I have outlined the design first. Then fill in the petals by moving the machine back and forth with thread.  This is your design, so don’t worry about perfection, just have fun!  Continue to change colors of thread and paint away J

When you are all finished designing, remove the hoop and tear-a-way the stabilizer.

You can see here how my design falls just under the front pocket, perfect! Brush off the chalk marks and your new embellished jeans are ready to go!  Be sure to join me on the social side using #angelawolf ♥ I always love to see what you are working on.

Cheers,

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