Sewing practice or you can't have too many pincushions ...

This summer, I started to sew a few t-shirts for myself (see e.g. this Instagram post). I am far from being a confident sewer - not very neat or exact. Even though you might get away with a few inaccuracies in Jersey, I decided I would use some of the leftover fabric to practice sewing exactly.  

The finished piece looks from above a bit like a paper fortune-teller (the childrens' game) or to be a bit more technical like an origami Blintz base.

If you want to do something similar yourself, here's how to do it:

1. Cut out four pieces of this pattern from leftover fabric. The outer (dotted) line is the cutting line - it already has a seam allowance of 1 cm.

2. Mark the sewing line (along the grey line in the pattern). 

3. Decide how to place the pieces. In the picture the parts are numbered for reference in the next steps.

4. Pin pieces 1 and 2 right sides together and sew along the highlighted (black dotted) line on the right hand side.

5. Now pin part 3 to part 2 (also right sides together) and again sew along the highlighted (black dotted) line. Make sure to not sew part 1.

6. Now pin part 4 to part 3 and again sew only the right hand seam. Now all four pieces are sewn together and there is an open seam between parts 4 and 1.

7. Now pin parts 4 and 1 together and sew the sides according to the picture below, i.e. leaving an opening through which you can turn the piece.

8. Now your piece looks as shown below - with only a small opening (where the arrow is).

9. Turn the piece right sides out and fill with stuffing through the opening (I always use the cuttings from my overlock machine for stuffing). Make sure that the stuffing gets into the corners, too.

10. Close the opening by hand sewing. And the pincushion is finished.

Unfortunately, my piece is not as neat as I would have liked - the bit in the middle (where all parts meet) . The reverse side is even worse :) I guess I need some more practice - i.e. I need to think of another scrappy project that requires a certain precision :)

Patchwork Jeans Skirt

I'm currently on holiday and have a lot of free time - which is absolutely lovely. But due to the ongoing restrictions, going out much is not exactly advisable. So I am basically staying at home and trying to get creative.
One of the things I absolutely wanted to do, is to improve my sewing skills. And since even shopping for fabric is not much fun nowadays, I'm using old stuff that I don't wear any more. (Plus, it's more fun to to use what I have :)
So yesterday, I browsed Pinterest to get ideas on how to fashion a skirt out of old denim jeans. there are quite a few tutorials around, but the way most of them dealt with the crotch wasn't quite what I wanted. Then I found this picture on Pinterest - and I instantly knew that I had to try this ...

I'm quite happy with the way the skirt turned out. And even though, I tend to wear trousers pretty much all the time, I might actually wear this in public.

Here's a how I did it:

• I used an old pair of jeans that fitted me around the hips and cut the legs off - it was an old a pair of jeans with holes between the legs.
• From the legs and other old denim I cut circles (or something roughly circular).
• With my overlocker, I trimmed the edges of the circles - I had the machine threaded in a way, that either orange or white thread was visible.
• After deciding on the lenght (I wanted it to end just over the knees), I layed out the patches on the floor - roughly the same way that I wanted to sew them on later. So I knew when I had produced enough circular patches (see picture below).

• With my sewing machine and in zigzag stitch (with a short stitch length) I attached the patches by sewing along the edges. I started from the top and worked my way down - making sure that the patches and their overlaps were arranged in a way that the skirt got more volume below. 

Two Patchwork Cardigans

Recently, I bought an overlocker. It was threaded in four colors (blue, gree, red, yellow). Of course I tried it out with these threads because I was too lazy to change them (it's probably less complicated then it looks in the manual, but still ... ). I really liked the color effect on my grey test piece, so I thought seams like that might make a nice feature on the outside of a garment.
That thought matured quite some time in my head, and this weekend I thought I'd give it a try and started to construct a cardigan. I used different grey(ish) jersey fabrics - leftovers and recycled old t-shirts. I didn't use a pattern but eyeballed the pieces when cutting and assembling them (with my measurements in the back of my head).
Unexpectedly, it actually worked and I had a finished jacket on Saturday evening. The piece fits me well - even though the seams are not what you'd call neat and tidy ;-)

So, I decided to make a second one on Sunday - using two old XL sized t-shirts - also in the "seams on the outside"-look.  Unfortunately, the two of the thread bobbins were empty, so I had to learn how to thread the machine (and it wasn't that difficult - except for the fine motor skills that you need to thread the needles :)

This second one (in light green and teal) is less successful in terms of fitting, but it's still basically a wearable jacket.

There are several things that I learned when making these two jackets:

• threading an overlocker is easier than it first seems
• when using an overlocker I use up much more thread than I ever expected
• thread tension is important
• two XL t-shirts (especially if they are old and a bit distorted) are not quite enough to make a jacket for me
• when cutting pieces, better err on the generous side :)

Box Pleat Top

I have been meaning to learn to sew for quite a while now. A few months ago, I started in earnest - usually with old fabric that was already available in my home - e.g. old bed linen.
I'm learning quite a bit while doing it, so I think it might be a nice idea to share my learning process when trying to make new clothes without bought sewing patterns. Especially, if I share my mistakes, too :)
My goal now is to sew a top (blouse, shirt etc.) that looks professional enough to wear it at work. I sewed this top twice - the second time with a quite neat facing. I'm not yet there, but I'm getting closer ...

Please note: This is NOT a complete tutorial, but a rough description of the idea.


This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.




Materials

• about 1 meter of woven fabric - I used old bed linen
• thread in a matching color
• scissors (or a rotary cutter)
• pins
• a sewing machine
• a pressing iron
• a top that fits you well, in order to take the pattern from it
• paper to draw your pattern on

How-To

1) create your pattern
Fold you top in half and place it on paper. Draw a line about it, adding at least 1cm for seam allowance (except on the fold).

2) cut the front and back
Place your pattern pieces on your fabric and cut them out. Since the top was made of stretchy fabric - and I planned to use (woven) non-stretchy fabric for my top, I added a about three centimeters on the side for front and back. (When in doubt, always cut a bit more - it's easier to take clothes in than out.)
As the original top didn't have a box pleat - I had to add about 5 cm on the fold for the front piece (on the right in the picture below). On the front piece mark the place (at the neckline) for the box pleat.

3) sew the box pleat seam
Fold the front piece in half (right sides together) and sew a seam thats about 7 cm long from the neckline straight down - parallel to the fold (see black dotted line on the picture above).
Now open the piece, distribute the pleat equally on both sides around the seam.
Press the pleat down with your iron and fix the pleat with pins. You can see the result, in the picture below.

4) cut the facings (front and back)
Now fold both pieces in half insides together and place each of them on a piece of fabric. Cut out the same shape than the upper part of the piece. I tried to match the stripe pattern, but since the facing pieces will be on the inside, this is not especially important.
Here, by the way, I made a mistake, as I cut the facing pieces too long - about 15 cm below the armhole. Had I sewn this down the side, the top would have been too tight. So I ended up cropping them shorter.

5) sew facings to outer pieces
Place the facing of the front to the front piece (right sides) together and sew the armholes and the neckline. Do the same with the back piece and its facing.

Cut into the curves, but make sure not to cut your sewing.

Turn both pieces right sides out and give them a good press.

6) sew shoulder seams
Mark one side of both pieces (e.g. the left-hand side) with pins or clips.
Now turn the back piece insides out and draw the shoulder straps of the front piece (right sides out) up throug the back pieces shoulder straps so that the upper edges meet. Make sure that the facing pieces face each other as well as the main pieces. Sew the shoulder seams closed (see dotted lines on the picture below.
Turn the piece back right sides out the press it.

As you can see on the picture above I had now cropped the facing pieces to a curve - in a way that I would only sew a few centimeters into the side seams.

7) sew side seams
Now lay both front and back right sides together and sew the side seams from under the arm to the bottom hem.

8) sew the bottom hem
Fold the lower edge over, fix it with pins and sew it.

Turn your top back right sides out, give it a final press with your iron ...
... and voilà, it's finished.

T-Shirt Upcycling - The Knitter's Way

I started this project back in 2016, when I was quite into watching DIY videos on YouTube (especially sewing toturials). I had the idea of upcycling thrifted stuff, but with a certain knitting element :). I first tried the general idea on an old black T-Shirt I had, but the finished product had so many flaws so that it wasn't fit to be worn in public. But you learn from your mistakes, right?
So I started with a similar idea on a nice dotted t-shirt that I had bought at the thrift shop. However, it was a bit tight especially around the arms, so I decided to make it a bit wider by inserting a ribbon into the sideseams ... but this ribbon as well as a piece for the neckline are hand-knitted :)

This is NOT a tutorial, but just an explanation of the basic idea.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.




The Materials I Used

• an old T-shirt
• thin cotton yarn (fingering or sport weight)
• knitting needles the yarn calls for
• scissors and a seamripper
• sewing needle and thread 

How I Did It

• First I decided on the design. Since this piece had a low back that I didn't quite like, I decided to turn it around, but to include a knitted panel in front to make the neckline not quite as low.
• To get the measurements of the pieces to be knitted 
• I measured the distance from the bottom hem along the side seam to the end of the arm hem
• and with a piece of paper inserted into the front, I drew a semicircular shape that I'd need for the front piece - and cut that out (plus about 5mm seam allowance around the curve).
• Then I knitted the three pieces:
• two garter stitch ribbons (10 sts wide) that are as long as the measured distance from the bottom hem along the side seam to the end of the arm hem
• the semicircle (starting with a few stitches and increasing symmetrically)
• And I gently blocked my hand-knitted pieces.
• I seamripped the side seams of your T-shirt - including the underarm seam. 
• With a sewing needle and thread that matched my yarn I handstitched the knitted pieces to the T-Shirt (starting in 2016 ... and finishing just now :)

Even though I'm not completely happy with the result, I think the idea of combining T-shirts with hand-knitted elements has a certain potential. (T-shirts are also knitted, after all :). Plus, I think that upcycling (or reusing) old stuff is a good thing. But I guess before I achieve something that is wearable outside, I need to work on my sewing skills - e.g. learning to do this on a sewing machine ... and get over my "fear" of using a sewing machine on my hand-knitted pieces.
Have you ever combined hand-knitted (or hand-crocheted) pieces with cloth (jersey or woven)? If so, do you have any tips how to apply a sewing machine to hand-knitted pieces? I'd be grateful for anything helpful :)

Circular Needle Storage Solution

When you have a lot of circular needles there is always the question on how to store them. Some people prefer them stored neatly in a box, but I always liked them be hanging down from somewhere which - supposedly - is better for the cables. However, for me this usually leads to a certain entanglement of cables ... plus I always have to search hard for the needle size I'm looking for.
So when I glimpsed a gorgeous solution while watching this video by Roxanne Richardson (her circular needle storage can be seen at minute 32:30), I wanted something similar for myself.
Unfortunately, I'm not much of a seamstress - and I am really bad at handling my sewing machine. But this weekend, I finally sat down to do it.
Here's a (really short) tutorial on how to do something similar. Please note that I'm completely new to sewing (any experienced seamstress would have cried out laughing if they saw me handling my fabric and use the sewing machine). So there are probably quite a few things that could be done better. Plus you can see that my seams are far from looking professional.

The piece has two compartments for each needle size. A long one (made from the light green fabric) and on top of it a shorter one in red fabric (sewn on top of the green one) and attached by the crosswise seams. The shorter compartment can be used for needles that are shorter than 40 cm (e.g. Addi Socks Wonders or CrasyTrios).




This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Materials

• fabric: I used one light greeen piece that was 2x20 cm wide and 2x50 cm high (both plus seam allowance) and another red piece that was 2x10 cm wide and 60 cm high (also plus seam allowance). In fact I wanted a "recycling" project, so I used old T-shirts.
• 9 buttons 
• a paint marker (to mark the buttons with the needle sizes)
• needle and thread to attach the buttons (or glue ...)
• a dowel and a cord 
• a sewing machine and a pressing iron

How-To

1. Cut out a piece of fabric that is twice as long and twice as wide as you want your finished piece to be (plus seam allowance). One of my construction goal was to avoid seams along the side of the piece (because I thought that the needles my be caught in that seam each time you put it in). That's why I chose to use a piece of fabric that was twice the intended width. I wanted a needle holder that was 50 cm high and 20 cm wide - so I cut out a rectangle that was 100 long and 40 cm wide (plus about 1 cm at each edge) - light green on the photos.
2. Fold the piece in half lengthwise (right sides together) and sew it along the long seam. (Now you have a long tube that has intended width). Place the piece with the seam right in the middle and press the seam flat. Turn it right sides out. Now the side with the seam will be the "wrong" side or inside.
3. Fold the piece along the shorter side (right sides together) and sew along the short edge. Press the seam and turn it right sides out. Press.
4. Cut out a piece of fabric that is twice as wide as the strip in contrast color and about 10 cm longer than the intended height of the finished piece. In my case this was piece of red fabric 20 cm wide and 60 cm long.
5. Fold that piece in half lenghwise (right sides together) and sew along the long edge.  Place the piece with the seam right in the middle and press the seam flat. Turn it right sides out. Now you have another (narrower) tube of fabric.
6. Lay the smaller piece on top of the bigger one, with 5 cm overhanging on each side. Pin in place. I chose to place it a bit off the center.  
7. Fold the overhanging 5 cm back and handstitch in place - on the top and the bottom.
8. Now sew a few seams right across the piece - I used a thread in a contrasting color and started with the first about 1.5mm from the top and continued with a distance of 2.5cm, increasing to 3cm towards the lower end. That way, I did 16 crosswise seams, which gave me 16 compartments - plus one at the top to place a dowel for the hanging "mechanism".
9. Sew buttons on and mark them with the needle sizes. (Actually, I only noticed too late that the space of the compartments was to small to sew the buttons, so I glued them to the fabric.)
10. Draw a cord throught the compartment at the top. and place a dowel inside for stability ... and it's ready to hang.

I do like the finished piece even though it looks far from professional.
But it a) does the job and b) was made with materials I had at home :)
If I ever do something similar again, I will ...

• ... use sturdier and non-stretchy fabric - if you are a sewing newbie (like me), stretchy fabric is a nightmare
• ... use interfacing or something similar to stiffen the piece
• ... sew on the buttons before sewing the crossways seams - and use smaller buttons :)
• .... sew neater seams, of course ...

T-Shirt Upcycling

Currently I love watching DIY videos on YouTube - especially sewing tutorials and even more especially tutorials where people use thrifted materials to create something new and stylish. Currently, my favorite channels are:

• Annika Victoria: Great sewing tutorials - and I really love her show "Make Thrift Buy"
• Coolirpa and her show "Thrifted Transformations"
• and Pinkchocolatebreak

They all have wonderful ways of creating their own patterns from clothes they already own and a great way of explaining the mechanics of sewing.

That's why I wanted to do something similar - however, with a knitting spin. I decided to use a t-shirt that had holes in the front part (just below the neckline) and "cover" these holes with a knitted collar. Here's how the piece looks in progess ... if it works out the way I want, I guess I will write a tutorial.

Yoga Pants

Considering that this is my first EVER sewing project,  I'm quite pleased with myself even though the seams are not really straight and there are some parts that I'd do differently next time - but they fit! I used the method from this wonderful video tutorial.