Hello everyone,

Recently a sewer asked me about transitioning from a flat-fell seam to a side vent.  She was making a shirt from our pattern called A Subtle Twist (by the way, it is now discontinued, but this blog will apply to other shirts as well).  

I was not particularly pleased with all aspects of my first experiment with solving the problem, but I'm going to show it to you so you can see the process--and what I didn't really like.  Then in my next blog I'll show you what I like better.  So let's get to it.

A Subtle Twist includes 5/8" wide side vents.  Here's a photo of the wrong side of the Front showing you the dot where the side seam ends at the top of the side vent, the miters at the hem corners (we draft those for you), and the hem.  You can see that I've already serged the side seam and hem edges.

Here you can see that I've created the back piece of the sample, serged it, and stitched it to the front piece, stitching the side seam to the dot.  I've pressed the seam allowances open, continuing to press the remaining portions of the seam at 5/8" down to the corner miters, forming the vent.  Finally, I trimmed the back seam allowance to 1/8" down to a point 1/2" above the dot.  It's important not to trim all the way down to the dot! At the bottom of the trimmed back seam allowance, be sure you've clipped all the way to the side seam stitching.  (I had to do it later!)

 

Next, I used our 1/4" Pressing Template to press the front part of the side seam allowance.  Again, I had to clip all the way to the side seam stitching before pressing.  You can see how this would create a weak spot if you did this at the dot.

 

 

Next, I pressed the folded front seam allowance over the back seam allowance.  (By the way, having the serging tames that raw edge and makes it easier to press.)  I slid a strip of Steam-a-Seam under that folded seam allowance.  Get it all the way under, press lightly, and peel off the paper backing.  (I didn't want to slide mine all the way under yet--you wouldn't have been able to see it!)  I pressed again to fuse.

 

Note that in the photo above, I have 2 raw edges at the top of the side vent (just above the dot).  

 

Here's the front seam allowance fused in place.  Also, I've turned down those 2 little raw edges to make a prettier finish.  Slide little bits of Steam-a-Seam under just those angled edges and fuse them also.

 

Now you're ready to stitch the miters.  These will be uneven miters, because the side vent is 5/8" wide, but the hem is 1-1/4" wide.  The thing to note is that the diagonal seam allowance for the miters is 3/8" (shown in the first photo), so the serged edges must cross at 3/8".  It's simple if you can see a photo--.  The top pin is at 3/8".  Stitch from that top pin to the corner--we always place a dot at that corner to help you.

Once you've stitched, you'll trim the corner of the miter diagonally and press its short seam allowances open over a point press.  Turn them right side out.

 

So this is where I started wondering just how I wanted to proceed.  I tried what we often do with flat fell seams.  I used my edgestitching foot and stitched (working from the wrong side), down both sides of the seam and across the bottom, right where the trimmed seam allowances end.  Then I stitched across the hem, up one side of the vent till I was even with the dot, pivoted and stitched up the angle at the top of the vent, and the same on the other side of the vent.  

 

I thought I had done ok, till I looked at the right side.  I thought it looked way too fussy.  It's hard to match up all the lines of stitching, and I think the look is overly complicated.

I decided to try again, cleaning up the final appearance.  I liked those results better, so I'll show you those in the next blog.  

I wanted to go though all these steps with you, though, so you could see the whole process and perhaps learn from my not so lovely first attempt at figuring out how to topstitch this configuration.

See you next time!
 

Hi everyone,

 As promised, today I'd like to show you how to add sleeves to the boxtop (view B) in the This or That pattern.   Here's the boxtop with sleeves that I made for my Summer Wardrobe in the group of plum, green, and white fabrics.

 

I chose a mesh fabric from my stash that happened to go with the pants (Easy Ageless Cool) and shell (Putting It Together) that I had made earlier.  Please keep in mind that this boxtop can also be worn over the other striped shell in the wardrobe as well as the dress/tunic in the flocked white fabric, a pattern hack from the Putting It Together shell.  One garment = 3 new looks. (I covered the how-to's of that dress/tunic in my previous blog.)

As you can see from the envelope, the boxtop (on the left) has no sleeves.  But we're creative, and we can add them if we want them.  First, I decided on how big around I wanted my boxtop to be by consulting the measurements included in the pattern.  Then I used the following steps to draft a sleeve pattern--really easy!

The original pattern has dots that mark the armhole.  I laid the pattern on some tracing paper and marked those dots. I also marked the shoulder point.

 

Here's a view of the straight line for the top of the sleeve with those markings.

Then I drew the sides of the sleeves by drawing perpendicular lines 5/8" away from my original marks, to give me the seam allowances.

Finally, I added the hem.

Obviously, these sleeves are straight.  They're short (9", I think) and I didn't want to taper them.  The idea of the Summer Wardrobe was easy and casual, so the straight sleeves fit right in.

I was lucky.  The selvedge of my fabric was firmly woven, so I cut my sleeves to have that finished edge at the hem.

 

Of course, my first step in sewing the boxtop was to follow the instructions to stitch the binding to the neckline.  It's a nice, neat finish.   Take another look at the finished boxtop at the top of this blog--you'll see that I used a more firmly woven fabric for the neckline binding.  The mesh fabric was too loosely woven to use. I had also serged all my edges.

Then I stitched the side seams.  I chose to leave the lower portion of the side seams open as vents.  At the top of the side seams, I secured my stitching at the dots marking the armholes.  I was ready to pin the sleeves into those armholes.  You can see my turquoise dot marking the top of the sleeve.

 At the left of the photo above, you can see the seam allowances at the sleeve underarm.  When stitching the sleeve into the armhole, push those underarm seam allowances out of the way so they don't get caught in the stitching.  There's a pin at the left poking into the bottom of the sleeve showing exactly where to begin your stitching.  

Once the sleeves are stitched, press the sleeve seam allowances toward the sleeve.

Taaaa-Daaa!  You've made a garment you didn't know you could make!  I love pattern hacks, and I hope you'll play around with your patterns too.

 Hi Everyone!

At last I'm ready to show you another project.  I've been working on patterns (soon!!), writing newsletters, and helping to create another special project (also coming soon).  

 

But I'm so glad to have time to show you another way to use one of your Cutting Line Designs patterns.

 

As you know, I've been sewing a casual, comfortable summer wardrobe over the last couple of months.  I began with some plum linen, some green linen, and some prints that could work with both.  Once I made the green linen pants from Easy Ageless Cool, I knew I could make a couple more tops to go with them, expanding this summer wardrobe even more.

 

I had a very lightweight white cotton with little flecks of green thread woven into it.  It would make a floaty, cool something, and I decided to lengthen the shell from Putting It Together to make a sleeveless dress.  Here it is:

And a side view:

  As I began working, I realized that this might need to be a top with long side vents to allow movement over the pants.  I can't really wear it as a dress with such high vents (at least in public), but that's ok as I really was after a new top anyway.  But you might want to think about this detail if you decide to make this same top.  You are your own designer!  Once I was all finished, I decided this would get a lot of at-home wear.

 

The first thing I did was trace the pattern and make it longer.

 

I made it just a bit bigger through the hips for more ease over the pants.  Look closely at the right side (side seam edge) of the pattern to see that I added 5/8" to make the side vents wider.  I thought they would give a more finished look to the garment and add a bit of weight so it would hang better.  (The x's are boo-boos!)

 

I drafted the side vent/hem miter.  For more info on this, search for miters in this blog or read all about them in Louise's article in the September 2020 (issue 210) Threads Magazine.

 

I used the neckline facing from the pattern but decided on a lighter finish for the armholes.  I cut 1" wide bias strips of white fabric and used my tape maker to make single fold bias tape.  If you haven't done this, be sure you press the folds just as they are coming out of the tape maker.  Otherwise, the tape unfolds.  It's an easy process both for finishes and to make embellishments.

 

 I trimmed away 3/8" of the seam allowance from the dress's armholes (side seams are not sewn yet).  Then I stitched the tape to the armholes in the 1/4" foldline on the right side of the garment.

 

 I pressed the seam allowance away from the garment, maintaining the second pressed fold in the tape.  Here's the view from the right side.  It's helpful to press from both sides.

And from the wrong side.

Next, I pressed the tape into the armhole, favoring the seam a thread or two to the wrong side of the garment.

I then pinned the side seams, with the tape turned up away from the garment so I could sew it as part of the seam.  I turned it back down and trimmed away the excess.

After sliding strips of Steam-a-Seam under the bias tape, pressing lightly, and removing the paper backing, I pressed the tape again to fuse it in place.  Then I just edgestitched the bias tape.  It was a quick and easy finish to the armholes.

I pressed the side vents to the inside.  With the added 5/8", they are 1-1/4" wide, of course.  

At this point, I was ready to press up my 1-1/4" hem, stitch my miters, and try on my new dress/top. 

I hope this inspires you to try playing around with your Putting It Together pattern.  You could make your new top any length, from a fingertip-length tunic to an ankle-length dress that would be great to wear while we are all at home so much.

 

Happy hot summer weather to all of you!

SUMMER WARDROBE UPDATE

Finally, another garment!  This time, it's the shell from the Putting It Together pattern.  I was happy to discover that I had enough fabric left over from the original shirt to make a matching shell, stretching this little wardrobe even further.

As a reminder, here's the original shirt from The Blouse Perfected pattern.  I wrote about it in an earlier blog, along with the original pair of One-Seam Pants.

With the leftover fabric, I made this shell.

You can just glimpse the "cheater strips" I added at the shoulders.  I had a problem--not enough fabric to match the stripes over the shoulders.  So I used a simple fix.  First, I stitched the shoulder seams wrong sides together, so the seam allowances were on the outside of the garment.  I trimmed them to 1/4" and pressed them open.  Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph that till I already had moved ahead several steps, but this photo will show you anyway.

I cut two strips of fabric with the plum and white stripes at the center.  I folded the raw edges under, pressed, and trimmed.  Then I used Steam-a-Seam to fuse those strips over the shoulder seam allowances on the right side of the garment.  Finally, I edgestitched the strips.  Here's how that looked.

 When worn, the stripes will look just fine.

I'll mention a couple of other construction items.  Once I stitched the facings to the garment, I graded and clipped the seam allowances.  Finally, I pressed those seam allowances open.  That makes it easy to turn the facings to the inside accurately.  

Oh, right--you may be wondering why the facings are a different fabric.  Again, stripes on the facings wouldn't match the garment's stripes, and I was afraid the mismatch would show through to the right side.  So I chose a solid fabric that harmonized and cut the facings from that. 

As you may know, we draft all the miters included in our patterns, so you don't have to figure them out.  However, some of the uneven miters can look a little funny.  

In this case, both the side vent and the hem edges are serged, and those edges are what must be matched--but they will be matched at a point 3/8" from the raw miter edges.  That's because the miters are stitched using a 3/8" seam allowance.  There's also a dot at the bottom corner of the miter, 3/8" in from the raw edges.  Take a look--the photo is easier to understand.

 
 I also wanted to show you how I measured, then stabpinned the hem in place before pressing it.  It assures a straight, accurate hem.  It's also helpful to have glass-head pins that won't melt from the iron's heat.

Of course, that original shirt can slide over the new shell, giving me a 4th outfit from the 4 garments I've made so far.  

I hope I've given you a couple of ideas for your own summer wardrobe!

SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE PATTERN HACK

Hello everyone.  Sometimes we just want to simplify our lives.  We need to sew up a quick but attractive little top, and we're impatient to get it done. Plus, we want it to be versatile and attractive.

What to do, what to do?

Try a pattern hack.  Seriously--simplify the Simplify Your Life pattern, view B.  Here's how.

 I'm talking about the shell on the left of the pattern envelope.  As you can see, it has a great detail on the left shoulder, where it incorporates facings, buttonholes, and buttons.  When you have time, it's a great look.  But if you're in a hurry, make the top without that detail.  

(Do measure the neckline and your head.  Mine goes over my head just fine as a closed neckline, but it's good to be sure ahead of time!  If needed, sew the neckline facings to the garment with a 3/4" seam allowance rather than the standard 5/8" seam allowance.  That makes the neckline just a bit bigger.)

So I just make up my top with the left shoulder looking the same as the right shoulder--with no buttoned opening.  Here's how I modify the pattern--so simple. 

First, use the patterns for the right sleeve only.

You'll use these pieces for the left sleeve as well, so pay attention to cutting them properly for both sides.

Then modify the neck facing patterns.  

Use only the portion of the facing that is not covered by the ruler.  I'd trace off the portion not under the ruler that extends from the shoulder seam to center back.  Then you'll cut that traced piece with the center back on the fold of the fabric.

Do the same with the front facing.  Trace a new pattern piece that extends from the shoulder seam to center front and cut the new traced pattern piece on the fold of the fabric to give you a whole front facing.

Of course, I used some of the exquisite, lightweight fusible interfacings that we stock at Cutting Line Designs.  In the instructions for each pattern, we tell you how to preshrink your interfacings and how to fuse them.  

Then you'll need the body of the garment.  As you can see, we've cleverly extended the center front line all the way from the neck to the hem.  How convenient is that?  Let's look.  You can see that I've marked the left and right of the front pattern piece, and we only need the right portion.

We don't really have to trace this piece, but you can if you want to.   To save time, you can just fold the front piece along the center front line.  Of course, you'll need to cut this piece with the center front line on the fold of the fabric.

You'll need to follow the same procedure with the back, but with one little change.  First, the simple part.

Look carefully.  The left shoulder is higher than the right shoulder.  Let's fold.

That pesky left shoulder is sticking up.  Here's a closer view.

Just fold it down out of the way.

So that's it.  I love this top because it can be a basic to go under jackets, and it can be half of a slightly elegant outfit if it is the same color as pants or a skirt.  Then in a print it's a standout and can go with a variety of  jackets, skirts, pants, or shirts layered over it. 

Here's one I made using this pattern hack.  

I hope you find this easy change useful.  Maybe I'll see some of these on the Cutting Line Designs Facebook Forum!

SUMMER WARDROBE 2020

At last I have made progress on my summer wardrobe.  I thought I might not get done before the holiday season--and I don't mean 4th of July.

I've completed 2 more pieces, so take a look:

Sometimes I have to play around in my fabric stash.  That quiet time can give me a push forward into my next project.  I had purchased a pretty striped linen years ago that was white with plum and green stripes in it.  I pulled it out and browsed the other shelves.  Sure enough, there was a plum that worked, then a green, then this floral print that had both the plum and green in it----------and I was off and running.  Found a couple more things as well, and you'll see those soon.

Anyway, the whole idea was to create several garments in fabrics that are cool in Florida's heat and humidity, so these cottons and linens worked.  Also, I chose designs that were a bit loose and easy to wear.

This top is made from View A of Simplify Your Life.

 I left off the pocket because it would not have showed on this lively print, and I eliminated the sleeve bands to make it easier to pull on a jacket over the top.  So here's a closeup of my version:

 

 Pretty neckline and a pleat at center front.

The pants are soft linen, made from the tapered version of the One-Seam Pants.

 My pants are soft with tapered legs.  But I decided to pull my pants in at the ankle with a detail I found while snoop-shopping.  I simply pleated each pant leg at center front and sewed a button on to hold the pleat.  Looks great when worn.

The idea of a wardrobe is to have a group of garments that can be mixed.  To be more specific, I like to aim for 3 tops that can go with each bottom.  And of course, the tops for one bottom should go with the other bottoms.  It's multiplication. 

So my start is the Simplify Your Life above, the plum One-Seam Pants, and the modified shirt from The Blouse Perfected that you saw in an earlier post.  

So far, I have 2 tops and 1 pant = 2 outfits.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.  If I get with the program, I'll finish before there's snow on the ground.