My Big Bad Sewing thread

[mossrose]

It's cute! And if it wasn't corduroy, and was plain cotton instead, it would be going into my quilting stash!



It should look really nice with the navy and pink.

[Dee Dee Warren]

Well I finished the outfit, I will post it when I have it on, though you gotta ignore my fat knees.

[Dee Dee Warren]

Here is my next project, I am venturing into the world of Vogue patterns. I bought a vintage pattern, and it has 18 pieces! I will post pics of the fabric soon

[Dee Dee Warren]

Well I cut out the paper pattern - the paper on Vogue patterns is horribly thin compared to say Simplicity or Butterick. I could not believe it. It was also interesting in this one pattern that it was not multi-sized which made it a bit easier to cut. But there were 18 pieces! - and I looked at the instructions, and they were difficult. Part of it is that this is a vintage pattern so the instructions are "dated" in that sense, but I am having a hard time making heads or tails. I am glad my sewing class is starting back up so that I can have the teacher's assistance, though I doubt I am going to be able to finish this whole project in the eight classes. It is very difficult.

What was really odd is that the pattern required a remnant of organza, and it is using the organza to reinforce points on the lined bolero. I just don't get it. It seems so odd.

Also I went to the store yesterday to get the rest of the materials (this is proving to be an expensive proposition) and I forgot the lining! I don't know if I am going to be able to find lining in the colour I want. The bolero is going to be in a shocking pink, and I doubt I will find that colour in lining material. I am considering just lining it in plain cotton cause I will be able to find that colour, and I am not a big fan of those shiny linings anyways.

[mossrose]

It looks like a nice pattern, though. But it is as old as I am!

Do you have to use organza? Can you use another stabilizer type of fabric instead? What kind of fabric are you using, that you need a lining, or is that just the bolero? And I don't see why cotton wouldn't work just fine for lining.

[Dee Dee Warren]

Here is my next project, I am venturing into the world of Vogue patterns. I bought a vintage pattern, and it has 18 pieces! I will post pics of the fabric soon

Somehow this quote seems very wierd with my Spock avatar.

[Dee Dee Warren]

It looks like a nice pattern, though. But it is as old as I am!

It is a reprint of an old pattern, so it is recently produced, but the same as the old one. You should look through Vogue new pattern books in their vintage sections, they have some nice patterns, but very expensive. This pattern was $25 but I had a forty percent off coupon.

Do you have to use organza? Can you use another stabilizer type of fabric instead? What kind of fabric are you using, that you need a lining, or is that just the bolero? And I don't see why cotton wouldn't work just fine for lining.

The lining is just for the bolero not because of the fabric, which is poplin. I don't know if I can use another fabric for stabilizer I was going strictly by the instructions.

[mossrose]

I haven't bought a garment pattern for so long that I have no idea what is out there. Will have to go and see what is up!

It might be worth checking to see if another stabilizer would work instead of organza. Organza is so sheer and light that I don't even know how it would work.

If it is a true reproduction, they will call for using what was available in 1954. And none of the other products were out then. Is organza hard to find? I have never even seen it in the stores!

But, I am usually only looking at the cottons for quilting, so that might be my problem.....

[Dee Dee Warren]

Yeah I found organza easily enough. I always bought (for the first time) sew-in interfacing. Did the pattern call for that only because that is all that was available then? Perhaps iron on interfacing would be okay?

[mossrose]

I don't know if that would strictly be the reason the pattern would call for organza, but I am fairly certain that the interfacing fabrics and stabilizers that we can find today weren't available then. I remember my Mom making clothing for us, and she would always use as interfacing just another piece of the same fabric as the rest of the garment was made of.

By the time I was sewing, in the late 60's, there was a sort of really stiff, heavy interfacing that was available, but there was no iron-ons, and certainly not the lightweight ones that we can find today.

I would only use a very lightweight interfacing, and I am not sure if I would use the iron-on or a sew-in. If the fabric is poplin and not a real soft kind of fabric, then the iron-on might be okay.

But, if you have found organza, I would say go ahead and use it. I would be interested in knowing how it turns out, for sure.

[Dee Dee Warren]

The fabric for the bolero

[attachment=1]

for the dress

[attachment=2]

[mossrose]

Is that a type of embroidery on the pink fabric for the bolero? It's really cute!

[Dee Dee Warren]

Yes it is white daisies. It really stunk when a notch fell on one of the daisies, veyr difficult to notch.

It takes me a span of multiple days to cut and mark the fabric. My back hurts if I keep at it too long, and when I get strained or bored, I rush, and a bad cut and mark job ruins the whole project.

[mossrose]

Yep. I have the same problem. Sewing too long or cutting out is hard on my back.

My daughter has a wonderful kitchen table. It is higher than the average table, comes up to about my waist, and I am 5'7". It is great for cutting stuff out, I don't have to bend over far, and so the strain on the back is much less!

Too bad it is in her house and not in mine.......

[Dee Dee Warren]

I just bought a pack of those sewing weights - I only use them to keep the tissue in place when measuring to make sure the grain line alignment is straight, but boy has that been a help.