Saved by the seam ripper!

Some days, you get as much done by ripping something apart, as you do putting it together.  This little shirt was on it’s way to Wadderville, but got a reprieve, courtesy of the seam ripper, and a wee bit of color blocking.

I embroidered the designs on it during the summer. They are from Urban Threads I know, a black t-shirt when it’s 110 outside, but hey, when have I ever followed convention? Anyway, all was going along just hunky dory.  The designs stitched out well, no fuss, no muss.  I liked the variegated purple thread – in real life it looks very black-light-ish.  Then I thought to do a little refashioning on the neckline.

I cut the ribbing off.  I didn’t sew the neckline to stabilize it before doing this.  The neckline stretched.  “No problem”, I says to  myself, “Self, it’ll be a boat neck top.”  so I continue on my merry way and turn under the edge.  At this point, “self” is rolling her eyes.

It was a boat neck alright.  A boat neck that slid off my shoulders so much it brought to mind the  Flashdance style from the 80s.  NOT what I was after.

Lately I’ve been thinking of color blocking, when it hit me!  I could make a new neckline, and Save The Top!  There was much rejoicing.  Followed by much seam ripping.  Followed by a little bit of serger sewing.  Ta Da!  Wearable T-shirt! I am most satisfied.

Bountiful Blossoms

Flora gets Flowerful

Rather than sewing I got out the embroidery unit for The Enterprise, and thought I’d put some designs on the blank t-shirts that were laying about.  Nothing quite like a blank slate to either whet one’s appetite, or strike fear into your nether regions.  Sometimes both.

The T-shirts were courtesy of a sale at Targét.  For $4, I can’t afford to make them.  I picked up a bunch of colors, some of which will remain solids.  Three were decorated.

This design is from Bobbi Bullard, the self-proclaimed Queen of Bling.  It’s called
On the Table.  There are options to stitch it with and without crystals.  Naturally, I chose with crystals.  You can also stitch it as a single color design, a la vintage linens, but what would be the fun in that?

It took 2 hoopings, but Bobbi gives you registration marks to get everything lined up properly.  Since The Enterprise is self-threading, all the color changes aren’t nearly as much headache as you would think.

The second shirt I used a design that was stock, or internal to my machine.  I hardly ever use these, and thought it might be time to give it a whirl.

I enlarged it the allowed 20% – the brains of these newfangled machines will only let you re-size designs a certain amount.

Variegated thread, and some crystals which pick up the flower colors give a little added zing…and we all know zing is a good thing!

Earlier I mentioned putting designs on 3 shirts.  Well, #3 is on its way to Wadderville.  While the design stitched fine, once it was washed, it puckered something fierce, and I do enough ironing already.  Ironing t-shirts is just not going to happen!

I’m not sure what went wrong.  I probably need to spend more time playing with the embroidery unit than I do.  Alas, I tend to embroider in spurts which isn’t always a good method for achieving mastery – of this skill or any other.

Flora-l Bouquet

Jalie 968: The Grey Jeans

I’m wearing these today. And no, my sewing mojo still hasn’t returned.  I made these a couple months back.  The Grey Jeans as I call them, from my favorite jeans pattern, Jalie 968.

The fabric is a really nice, beefy denim with a slight striation in the color.  Not a poor dye job; it’s supposed to be that way!

It’s from a denim sale Ressy, The Evil Fabric Queen had.  Ressy runs a co-op on yahoo groups that caters to the fabric addict.  She gets some of the nicest stuff!

I did my usual with these, meaning the fly placket and pocket linings are from another fabric.  On denim, I find it works out better.  These is less bulk where you don’t want bulk.  Hmmm, better work on the grammar of that sentence, it doesn’t parse very well.

I had intended to make these up quickly over a weekend, but one thing led to another, and they turned into more of a project.  The backs just seemed a little bland, so I added some machine embroidery on the pockets and yoke, as well as some gunmetal rhinestuds.  Sparklies!  I likes.  The added detail promotes these from being “just” jeans to being dressy jeans.

The embroidery designs are from Bobbi, over at Bullard Designs who, by the way, is having a holiday sale right now.  50% off selected designs.  These designs fit right onto the pocket and yoke without any tweaking or re-sizing, which is even better.

*#(@*&! Degrees

Sometimes, thing are just going along a wee bit too perky.  That was the case with my pre-vacation sewing.  Things fitted.  Patterns worked.  Stripes lined up. I knew it was too good to be true.

Just before we left, I finished embroidering a shirt, which I had planned to take on our trip.  Machine Embroidery.  Those with a discerning eye will notice the past tense of that sentence.

I used a Wet & Gone fusible stabilizer, ironed to the  inside of the t-shirt.  It appeared to stick pretty well, and the t-shirt behaved.  No puckers, design shifts or anything untoward.

I was feeling lucky.  (You have an idea where this is going, don’t you?)

Anyway, the instructions on this stuff said to use a 260° iron.  What’s with these instructions?  I don’t know of any irons that are  calibrated in degrees.   At least, not degrees on the dial.

My iron, pictured at right, comes with settings labeled cotton, wool, linen, silk and synthetic.  Nary a 260° mark on the dial.

So, I followed their directions (press cloth), and used what seemed appropriate to get the stuff to stick.  It stuck.  I embroidered.

I washed the backing off, to be met with this hot mess! Waaaahhh! Washing did not remove the glue.  In fact, it feels like sandpaper against the skin.

I put the whole thing aside, with a plan to revisit once I returned from vacation.

I was looking at this the other night, knowing I still had a whole roll of the stabilizer.   Embroidery stabilizer is expensive.  I didn’t want to toss this nearly new roll.  Being a geek,  I donned my Junior Scientist beanie (Scientists don’t wear traditional hats), and decided I’d find out if this stuff would co-habitate with my non-260-degree marked iron.  Time to experiment!

Experimentation produced this->  I ironed on one square of stabilizer at each marked setting of my iron.  Let the fabric cool, then ironed another square at the next highest setting, being careful not to touch any previous tests.

The white glob on the right is at the linen setting.  This stuff literally melts!  Things work backwards to cotton, wool, etc.  The two faint blocks on the bottom are silk on the left, and 1/2 way between silk and synthetic on the right.  Anything less, and the stuff (that’s a technical term) wouldn’t stick.  Those look to be the best settings for this stabilizer.  There is also some glue residue left after washing in warm, then hot water.

Will I use up the roll?  Probably.  Will I purchase more of this brand?  Absolutely not! I am displeased with their instructions, not just the 260 degree bit, but no hint to test things first, caveats to watch out for, etc.  I also don’t like that there is still a little residue left behind, even after washing.

Thanks for reading my little rant! You may now return to your normal Blog-O-Sphere.

BWOF #112 6/2009

The capris are done! Don’t they look lovely on Flora?

Burda World of Fashion (BWOF as it’s sometimes called) is a combination fashion / pattern magazine from Germany.  Besides en courant photos of up and coming styles, the magazine also includes a center tear out section, where you can trace off all, I repeat, all the clothes shown in the magazine.

Of course, since all sizes are included on the same pages, following the lines for the right pattern and size can be a bit tedious.

The style is for capri pants that are beachy, with wide legs, a shaped waistband, with small front pleats and in-seam pockets.  I liked that idea!

That said, these didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped.  They are certainly wearable, and I will wear them, but they’re just not what was in my mind’s eye.

The fabric is a an embroidered cotton / linen blend from Big Box*.  A very limp linen.  It stretched in the waist once cut; but I was able to corral that by increasing the size of the front pleats, and doing a little judicious gathering and button placement.

The in-seam pockets went in very well.  I like those!  I did my usual waistband facing – something from the leftover bin.  In this instance, it helped, as the yellow cotton provides more stability than just interfacing the fashion fabric would have.  It doesn’t alter then exterior look either.

These will work in Cactusville.  What I’ll do on the next pair: take in the overall width of the front by a bit, narrow the legs, us a fabric with more body.  Yes, Virginia, there will be a next pair!

*Big Box, aka the chain store that begins with J.

Scurry About

Now that we have more furbots in the house, especially young ones, I need something to keep them busy while I’m working.  While I don’t mind them napping in my lap (all together now: Awwww) the Hellboys can be particularly pesky when I’m trying to run meetings (I work from home as a computer contractor).

Let the mice out!  Scurry about!

These are in-the-hoop embroidery designs from Moose B Stitchin I stuff them halfway with catnip, and the rest of the body with fiberfill for plumpness.  Attach tails of braided ribbon, and Voilá, Herd of Mousies!  The tails stay attached, for the most part, and the moggies really enjoy the catnip.

Claire plays with them quite a bit, then likes nothing better than to take a nap in the sunshine.