Another Tilton Comes to Life - Marcie This Time

FINALLY, I am going to cut into the beautiful wool knit that I bought in Italy last fall.  For the first time I made a muslin (see previous post). So perhaps I was over confident in cutting and not concentrating and did a really stupid thing. 

 First, I completely forgot to cut out the facing pieces since they were not needed in my muslin that was strictly for fitting my shoulders. Then when I cut them I really CUT one in half. AM I BLIND? Place on the fold seems pretty clearly marked.

 There is not enough fabric to recut so it is new machine to the rescue.  Here is the touchscreen showing my stitch choice. I butted the pics together with a bit of added interfacing (a black tricot)

It came out really strong and looks remarkably good especially since it will be on the inside of the jacket.

For the first time I used the buttonholer for this machine. The pattern calls for a 1and 1/8 inch button and the attachment only accommodates a one inch button but I just opened the thing to its fullest and made lots of practice buttonholes. Due to the stretch of the fabric, the button goes through perfectly.

 With it buttoned it looks pretty good BUT....

                               Unbuttoned, not so much. Very wavy. More interfacing?

                 And, the black interfacing shows on the edges even though I did stitch it twice around.

           My reason for choosing this pattern is the interesting seaming on the back and sides.

               
And I think I did a pretty nice job of topstitching using topstitching thread. Why is red  so hard for me to photograph?????

So where is the jacket in its entirety? You'll have to wait until I am able to photograph it in a perfect setting. Stop by in about a week from now for the unveiling.

Here is a hint.

Snake Eyes + A Jacket Muslin

New Embroidery Machine - bad photo

When I bought a new sewing machine about two years ago, I was sure I had all the bells and whistles that I needed. My Janome (did you know Ja No Me means SNAKE EYES!) even has an automatic thread cutter.

However, I have been making all manner of items for my Etsy shop and just this last January fell upon the item to make the shop really begin to pay off. SEE HERE.  Many of these are being purchased as bridesmaid gifts and the brides keep asking if they can be monogrammed and I have to say "NO".

Many of them have still proceeded to purchase them and I have brought in more revenue on these than I did for a whole of 2014. So when I attended the Cleveland Sewing and Quilt Expo a few weeks ago I checked the embroidery machines out. And I brought one home the first day.  The dealer had an offer that I literally could not refuse without feeling stupid.

It is another Janome and besides the offer,  I really like that its controls and accessories are interchangeable and very similar so moving back and forth between machines is effortless and less taxing to my aging brain.

I have have to learn more about acquiring the fonts and some editing software to be able to offer more choices and I will be lettering all over the place.  The cool thing with these machines is that once you have it all set up, it sews on its own. I can step over to my other machine and work on something else while it does its thing.

Other things might include working on that jacket I have been planning since I bought the fabric in Rome.

Here it awaits its transformation draped over Francine, my mannequin.

I am taking on the red wool knit first in Vogue 8982 jacket by Marci Tilton. My last post was about Marcie's sister Katherine's zipper-trimmed shirt.
I have another trip planned and want to be able to
have the jacket, at least.

 For the first time in my life I made a muslin...well, a half-muslin. Since this knit is thicker and pretty stable I felt it was alright to use a woven (old bed sheet) for my trial. Shoulder fit is always the problem for me. So that is all I am concentrating on.





The markings were made while on me. Francine's
shoulders are much wider. I will trim this and adjust
the pattern and I am keeping my fingers crossed
that I have a better fit.


The pattern is very interesting and that is why I chose it but,  due to the sort of wrap-around back/side piece, I will not be able to sew the sleeve before the side seam as I usually do with a knit. A real set-in sleeve is on the agenda. Wish me luck. Should I embroider my initials on the inside?

Oh, and that snake eyes thing! Wikipedia explains:

The name "Janome" (蛇の目) literally means "snake's eye" and was taken from the appearance of the latest bobbin design. At the time of brand establishment in 1935, the round bobbin system was the more advanced technology replacing the traditional long shuttle type. As the new round bobbin looks like a snake's eye, Janome was chosen as the company's name.^[

A Piping Tip + More Mid Century Mod

I'm posting early this week as I have something to show you.  While meandering through lots of sewing stuff on Pinterest I came upon a tutorial on how to add piping or cording to a pillow or anything for that matter.  I'm always in the market for helpful hints so I checked it out.  Well, I am hear to tell you I suddenly felt the need to post my own version.  I don't want to disparage the nice person's offering but...

This is the way my mother showed me and she was a real pro.  She did upholstery and slip covers as well as anything else with a needle and thread.
Here is her  simple and nearly invisible way to make the beginning and end of cording on a pillow meet up.

 Leave some fabric at the beginning of your piping unstitched when you make it. Then start pinning it down on your project's edge at the point where inserted piping begins. Pin all the way around.

 When you get back to the beginning point cut your cording and fabric at the end to exactly meet up with the start. They to leave no gap or bump. Then fold over that fabric so no raw edge will show.

 Pin it down.    Now sew down the piping all the way around with your zipper foot. I always sew this down securely before I attach the back side of the pillow.  Sewing all those layers at once is too hard and will not save you time in the long run when it all goes awry.  

 ALERT! I was noticing how close my fingers got to the needle while using this zipper foot.  BE CAREFUL.  I have never sewn my finger...yet! This is the foot from an old Elna (Mom's) that finally had to put to rest.  I resurrected it for my new Janome because the zipper foot that came with the machine doesn't let me get as close to the piping "bump" even when I move the needle position

Notice the difference?

Here's another thing that caused me to wince but not like a sewn finger.  That screw on the right goes up and down with the needle and I have gotten my knuckle rapped a few times.

                                     Here is the nice neat finish.  CAN you see it?

Fronts

 And here is the project I was working on.

I got into the mid-century modern mode when I offered to make pillows for Peter at Male Pattern Boldness.  See them here or in my previous post.

They were so much fun to do that I decided to get with the trend and make some for my Etsy shop where these are now listed.

Hoping other people like them as much as Peter

Detail

and Michael do because I'm going to make more in different colors and patterns.

Backs - The zippers are hidden under the center stripe.

Piping is the finishing touch that makes a pillow go pro.  I have made pillows without but they are never as satisfying.  

Thread Texting

Last week I was AWOL from the blog due to fun and frivolity with the grand kids. But this week I am going to show you what project  I managed to squeeze in that included them. What I didn't squeeze in was a photo op! If you remember from a previous post my grand-daughter was not a willing model. So I had to get my son to snap a few and these are his iphone results.

 "Yes, I LOVE my zipper bag."

 Isn't Grandma AWESOME to make this for me?"

The text is sewn on with the capabilities of my new Janome machine. I am limited in size but can say whatever pops into my head...even in Cyrillic.
Son did not photo the interior or even think to turn the zipper pull to the right side (extra gift in an order from Zipit.)

The frog bag has a froggy green lining and the bunny bag has a black and white polka-dot lining. The reverse is plain...no time.
Here are a two I have on my Etsy shop.

Side one

Side two  This one has a flat bottom.

 

This smaller model is not.

The typewriter, the frog and the bunny images are all from THE GRAPHICS FAIRY. The keyboard and typewriter+Write images were bought from Etsy seller Graphique.

Project Run-Away

I have spent many hours the past week putting together a one-of-a-kind quilted jacket for my 2 year-old grand-daughter.  It was a good mind challenge for me since the pattern was not intended to be lined and my "model" was not available for fittings. I was pretty much winging it.

 

Simplicity 2292 was my pattern choice. First, because it has raglan sleeves which would make sewing AND fitting easier. Second, because it had other patterns for pants and a jumper and if I have to pay so much for a pattern it better have options. Yes, there is a hat included BUT really??

The girl version is strange. I might have fallen for it if it was only from the illustration. I guess they were going for a cupcake theme. I did make my own interpretation that is more like the boy's.



 

 The Cloud 9 organic fabric from Joann was my inspiration. The lollipop flower, gray chevron and the birds in the branches are from the collection. The other coordinating fabrics are from my stash. I just cut a pile of 2" wide strips and started piecing them together in roughly the shape of the pattern pieces.

 

I cut a light batting to the pattern size and used it to cut into the patchwork.

Utilizing some of the fancy decorative stitches on my new Janome machine, I went to town on the patchwork surface with white, greeen and hot pink thread. This was the fun part and went very fast.

 

I put all the pieces together at the raglan seams first. The pattern called for sewing up the sleeve seams first, but I could see this would be really hard when doing a lining. Essentially I made the lining in the same way then sewed up the underarm/ side seams in outer layer  and lining. But not yet.

                                     FIRST I added the zipper.

 



 This is the lining. Sorry. I could not resist this polka-dot fleece. I have the zipper pinned into a sandwich between the 2 layers.
Here it is with the zipper that I got from Zipperstop on Etsy. They have actually been a shop in NYC since 1941 and can get you just about ANYTHING. I find the local supply in both type and color to be severely limited.

As usual, because I tend to make this stuff up as I go along Ihad to fudge a bit. I wanted to put my grand-daughter's name on the jacket with the cool ability my new machine has to do text (albeit, only very small) but I had progressed too far to do it directly. Well, I tried but messed up. So I spelled it out on another piece of fabric and hand stitched it on. Close up I see a problem with that lower right corner!

Considered a nice hanging loop in the inside back, but again I thought of it too late.

Now it is done EXCEPT for the final sleeve cuff. Angela and her older brother are coming and I can't wait to put it on her and have her pose adorably. Riiiiight. The day was great for an outdoor photo shoot but a bit on the warm side for a fuzzily lined quilted jacket. About 5 minutes would have done it,  however she is a two-year-old with a mind of her own as do all children. If I force her into it the pictures would be ugly anyway. Her dad is going to try for one IF she ever thinks it worthy to put her little body into it!!

 
This is as close as I could get to having her AND the jacket within camera range. Got it onto her long enough to see that it fits, however it wasn't long enough to even get the camera turned on. Having a lot of leftover giant pink polka-dot fleece, there is also a pair of pull-on pants, a tasseled hat and a stuffed bunny her six year-old brother requested. He amused himself much of the day playing with fabric scraps turning them into blindfolds, tails, etc.
He even draped a piece of fabric around Angela into a sort of a garment. Maybe he has a future on Project Runway?

The hat stayed on just long enough for this snap.

Creativity abounds.