The Flowery Skirt

Bikin details

Just keep in mind that this was my first try and don't expect something spectacular, ok?

So, I finally got around to using the elastic foot on my serger. It was rather easy. Just some tweaking to get the tension right and there was a seam I liked!

Here you can see the front and back of the seam. First, I serged on the elastic (on the wrong side!) and then turned it in and finished with a three step zigzag on the right side.

The top - just triangles and straps. For the triangles I used my old swimsuit. Traced around and added seam allowances - 1 cm at the sides and 1,5 cm for the bottom where the strap goes.

 

These are the basic pattern pieces used. For the bottom I deconstructed an old pair of panties. After inspecting the swimsuits I own I discovered they had only two pieces, i.e., the front and gusset were cut as one single piece. Although you need the gusset pattern to cut the lining piece in  cotton.

Wonky bottom...

I added 1 cm seam allowance everywhere except at the sides because I decided to give it some interest with the circle strap closure.

The sides were turned in 1,5 cm to allow the straps through.

 

The gusset was sewn in at the front-back seam and left loose on the other side. That's also a method discovered after inspecting my old swimsuits. They are all different so I encourage you to take some time and see what you can learn from the things you already own.

 

Since the fabric used for this test project were cotton knit scraps it will not be used for swimming. I hate having wet things on.

Yesterday I decided on the next pattern to try. This time I will use lycra remnants and another top (bra) shape. I don't have much to show off and those little triangles make me even flatter. :-(

I'll try to document all the steps so I can share them and, hopefully, help someone. Maybe even using the sewing machine only. For those who don't own a serger. 

Ciao until then!

Is it spring yet?

Hello everyone!

It has been raining today, so I wanted to start with this gorgeous Second hand shop find! Yummy, no? I feel spring when I look at it! Also, little flowers started blooming around the house and made me smile, but the weather forecast said it was going to snow - again. So this little number will have to wait a minute before going to town.

I need to take it in at the sides because it's two sizes too big and maybe shorten it a few cm. And change those ugly buttons. Weeelll, you do understand I had to take it home anyway, don't you? :-))))

I also made some progress on the refashioning front. Finally those superbad fitting jeans became a skirt. Forgot the before pic, sorry.

You know how it goes:

- you measure the length and cut off the surplus of the leg length of the jeans

- unpick the seams of the legs till the point you can easily overlap the pieces

- insert a piece of the leg remnant as a panel to the front and one to the back

- pin first and than try it on to see if it fits nicely, otherwise repeat the process till you're satisfied

- sew the pieces together - I did it directly, with topstitching

To finish this skirt differently, I didn't just hem it, but stitched a decorative stitch  1 cm from the edge and then frayed it. You can click on the photo to see the detail better.

Blue socks tutorial -WR

Hello, dear readers! How are you today?

It was ironing day around here and while I was at it I took this pair of old and worn out socks to throw away. Then the obvious caught my attention! Why not deconstruct them and get a pattern? And also actually sew a pair of socks with a heel?

Here's how I did it:

1. Cut an old cozy sock around the fold and at the heel seam.

2. Find a piece of knit to refashion/reuse/recycle.

You can see I also matched the hems of the sock and fabric. This one used to be a skirt.

3. I cut the fabric directly around the sock pieces (did not make a paper pattern first) with a margin of 5 mm to serge. Of course, you can hand sew or machine sew them.

4. Pin together the heel pieces right sides in and serge.
 

Here you can see a serged heel and one turned to the right side.

5.On the long upper part of the sock mark the position to match the heel seam on both sides. I snipped the fabric a bit (over the yellow pin head).

6. Pin the pieces together right sides in and serge.

7. Ups! This pattern seems to have a problem. The heel seam falls under my heel! Which means the old socks were actually too short. Will have to adjust the paper pattern a bit (when I make it) to resolve this little issue.

 

8. Otherwise, it's a nice little sock.

Ehm, socks! :-)

Quick and easy project. Takes 15 minutes to complete.

 

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

Have a nice and cozy evening wearing your new socks!

How to - Reuse the leftover thread in your serger

Many of you that own a serger must have thought of a way to reuse the remnants of the previous thread after you've re-threaded your serger, right? If you didn't, here is a way to do it:

 

1. Attach the new thread (black) to the previous one (white)

2. Divide the upper thread from the lower

3. Pull out the upper threads by pulling them towards the back (NOT towards the front like in this picture) so that the thread can easily slide through the needles. One thread broke here. Occasionally it does break, if the knot struggles to pass through the eye of the needle.

4. Pull the lower threads out from underneath the foot

5. Cut the the threads after you've pulled out some of the new thread

6. Cut away the knots. Well done! You got yourself some completely useful thread to sew or baste with! In the pic you can see my reused thread spool (also reused). :-)

How to - Know which needle is in the sewing machine

Now, which needle is on? That's what  I would often ask myself after not having sewn for a while.

Eventually, I came up with this infallible simple method: I made a compartment for needle boxes inside the machine tool box. Now all the boxes are in one place and the needle that is on is from the first box in the row. 

 

Do you find this hint useful? How do you know which needle is on?

How to - Cut a Burda pattern sheet without opening it

You might not have thought of this, but it's the quickest and easiest method to divide the sheets and takes a lot less space to do.

After you pull the bunch of patterns out of the magazine, open it to see the red line where it is to be cut. Then you just lift the first layer of paper - mind, ONLY THAT ONE LAYER, and pull the scissors or knife through for the whole length. Done! Now you can pull sideways to divide the two sheets you obtained.

Hope it helps! :-)