Sartorial Stitchery
I’ve been a sewing hobbyist for most of my life—it started with Barbie clothes, and I think I constructed my first skirt in primary school. Admittedly, I’ve gone through phases; various life events have interevened with my sewing adventures i.e. College. However, it is something I am very driven to begin again. So, long story short, I am sewing again, and this is my way of keeping myself accountable to that desire and the investment involved.
What is a fat quarter?
Back before I started this whole quilting endeavor, the quilting section of fabric stores was quite a mystery to me. Sure, I’d wander about because patterned cottons can come in handy for other types of sewing, but one section of fabric really confused me: the fat quarters. I had no idea what that meant. But now, the mystery is solved. … Continue reading
New Sewing Goodies
The presser feet I ordered finally came in the mail today! I’m looking forward to all the things I can do with them. … Continue reading
Using Jacquard iDye
I mentioned in my last post of project updates that I am working on a dress for a wedding (now little more than a week away. Eek!). My original plan was to use the ivory/gray linen I have sitting in my stash, but kept being bothered by how bland it is for such a happy affair. The only other usable (for the style/pattern) length of fabric I have is some very bright white ramie linen. A conundrum. … Continue reading
Find Deals on Specific Fabrics at Fashion Fabrics Club
I’ve had good experiences with buying at Fashion Fabrics Club. The fabric I’ve bought has been good quality, the shipments fast, and the descriptions pretty accurate. One thing on the site really bothers me as a user and a front-end Web developer: their user interface design for browsing. There's no way to filter down to specific prices or fabrics. But, I’ve found a workaround to browsing through their sales list trying to figure out if the perfect fabric is in there—modifying the URL with different categories. Hopefully this can help you as well. … Continue reading
Project Update—16 Jul 2010
Followers may have guessed from my post about cutting half-square triangles, I made a bit of a math mistake when cutting out my pieces for the quilt blocks. Soldiering on, I decided it wasn’t the end of the world and I’d just deal with the slightly smaller blocks this would result in. It changes the grid of the blocks as well, just a little, but in same way across both blocks, so again, I’m fine with it. … Continue reading
The Wedding Quilt (if I manage in time)
I’ve never quilted before. Ok good, just so we’re clear on that. I already had it in my head to start quilting before this project; the goal was to make a crib quilt for my best friend in the world’s bun-in-the-oven. That sounds pretty easy, since it’s a relatively small quilt. But then I got … Continue reading … Continue reading
How to Cut Half-Square Triangles
Math’s no fun, at least in my opinion. So, as I get into this whole quilting thing, I’ve been doing more math than I like, and doing it poorly. I have found that Adobe Illustrator is great to play around and piece my quilt blocks together in a digital sense, but unlike quilt-specific software (like Electric Quilt), it doesn’t magically add my seam allowances for cutting out the bits and pieces. My most annoying mistake: sizing half-square triangles. … Continue reading
Sneak Peak
Here’s just a small sneak peak of my current project. It’s large. It is (as opposed to “I am”) in charge. It may or may not go well. I hope to finish it by August 14th. -Ish. -That week. -That month? Sometime before a year from now so that it is within etiquette bounds of sending as a wedding present instead of a first-year anniversary present? … Continue reading
Copyright, IP and… Fabric? Oh My!
My various projects in the world of sewing, web, and life are legion, but I’ve now got it in my head to start quilting. We’ll see how that goes considering I’m 48 hours into this plan, and I’m already being surprised. Not by the process of quilting but by something I found as I quested into the rarely-explored (by me) section of quilting fabrics at the local JoAnn Fabrics: non-commercial, home use-only fabrics. What? … Continue reading
Modifying Layouts for Maximum Yardage Savings
For the novice sewer, the cutting layouts supplied by most pattern manufacturers are a boon. Not only do they help approximate the most economical way to cut pieces out, they ensure that your pieces are being cut in the right direction—either on the grain or properly on the bias, on the right or wrong side of the fabric—to ensure correct draping and fit. But there are trade-offs involved: those layouts generally take into account the different gradings of the multi-sized patterns, so smaller sizes will have many more scraps of odd sizes than will the larger. As you gain experience, it might be time to start developing your own cutting layouts. … Continue reading
