From Boyfriend Cardigan to Housecoat!

Pattern - Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - French Terry from l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - zipper installation

I desperately needed a new dressing gown/housecoat!  I thought really hard about using the Octave Coat - and let's face it - that would be amazing!  But I didn't want a wrap gown with the tie belt or buttons.  I wanted something that zipped up the front.  Finally I decided that the Boyfriend Cardigan could work.

My plan was to lengthen it and sandwich the zipper in the shawl collar pieces.  I would also size up to make sure that it was roomy.

I had a length of lovely French Terry from l'oiseau fabrics that I'd been hoarding.  The 2.5 metres should be enough for the body and 3/4 sleeves I was wanting.  The collar would have to come from a solid and I had black French Terry which would also do for the pockets.

I extended the front, back and shawl collar pieces 14" by just adding onto the bottom and removed the vent extensions.  I added 3/8" for a seam allowance to the outer edge of the shawl collar as I wasn't going to be cutting it on the fold.

I followed the tutorial instructions until I got to attaching the shawl collar.  It was time to get ready for the zipper installation.

I stitched the shawl collar pieces together at the back to create two separate collar pieces.  I pinned one collar section to the body - right sides together.

Now it was time to start thinking about the zipper and how high up to place it.  Since the gown was nearly complete, I was able to put it on and hold up the zipper and mark it on the collar pieces.  As 30" was the longest separating zipper I could find, I knew it wouldn't go all the way down, but I needed it fairly high up the front.

Next I placed the gown on my cutting table front facing up with the halves separated and the bottoms even with one another.  The shawl collar was brought to the centre so it was facing right side out.

Then I applied double-sided tape on the edges to keep the zipper tape in place.

I laid the zipper halves on top of the double-sided tape with the teeth facing away from the edge.  Then I laid the other shawl collar piece on top, matching at the back centre and bottom ends, then pinning in between.  Time to take it to my sewing machine.  And a big tip!

I know that with the under piece of the collar stabilized by the double-sided tape and zipper, that the top layer could stretch and shift, so I employed a little trickery!  I had a piece of card stock which I placed right beside the needle and stitched right at the edge of the card stock.  This prevents the top layer from stretching and moving.  As I reached the end of the card stock I kept the needle down, lifted the foot and moved the card stock along - until I reached the end of the zipper.  It works like a charm!

Now for the finishing steps.  With right sides together, I stitched across the ends of the shawl collar pieces 1" from the bottom and trimmed the corners.  I turned the corners inside out, then pinned up the bottom hem 1" and pressed.

Then, to secure the collar to the gown, I pinned the collar in place so that the raw edge covered the seam, which I had pressed towards the collar.  I pinned along the seam on the right side while my fingers felt to make sure that the raw edge was far enough over the gown body side to be caught by my machine.

Then finally I stitched all around the gown collar and then across the hem.  I used my coverstitch machine, but a sewing machine works equally as well.

And I'm delighted with how it's turned out!  I now have the zip up housecoat I've been thinking about for months!  If you don't already have the Boyfriend Cardigan, you can get it through my affiliate link below.

Love Notions Boyfriend Cardigan

Happy sewing!

A Sense of Direction

Patterns - Peek-a-Boo Patterns Lullaby Lap Tee & Happy Buns Britches
Skill Level - Confident Beginner
Fabric - l'oiseau cotton spandex
Skills - directional fabric with cuffs

This blog post is more for me than it is for anyone else who happens to read it!  I struggle every time I have to make cuffs with a directional fabric, so this time, I decided to document the process.

We have quite the baby explosion among our neighbours and friends here on our little island.  I have to mention that most of the babies are arriving for grandparents, but I always make something for friends who are expecting a new family member.  My favourite patterns for babies are based on what my daughter-in-law found most useful for her babies.  She really liked a lapped neckline for the ease of getting over baby heads and the pants that had plenty of room for cloth-diapered bottoms.  Peek-A-Boo Patterns has lots of patterns for babies and little children and they're generally my choice for the under-twos.

I like to combine patterned and plain fabrics when I make a baby outfit.  If I used patterned for the top, I use plain for the bottom with patterned cuffs to match the top and plain on the neckbands so that the whole outfit ties together.  And every time I make this outfit I always have to think several times on how to attach the cuffs and waistband!

I fold the cuffs and waistband right sides together and then pin quarters for the waistband and halves for the cuffs.  I match them up with the quartered waist and halved leg bottoms.  I found that having the waistband with the right side up pinned plus the right side up with the cuffs works.  I never seem to be able to remember that, so I've made myself a little drawing for the next time.

Now a couple of little tips when making these tiny garments.

When attaching cuffs, I pin them so that the seam allowances face in opposite directions.  This makes less bulk for stitching and also is less bulky when worn.

When attaching the cuffs, I have the cuffs on the outside.  Then I slide the garment under the foot so that the cuff is on the bottom.  This way I can stretch the cuffs while making sure I don't get tucks in the legs.  I do this with my serger, but the process is the same if you're using a sewing machine.

When hemming I can fit even the tiniest sleeve under my machine's foot by turning the garment inside out and lowering the foot inside the sleeve.  I do this with my coverstitch machine, but the process is the same for a sewing machine - just make sure that these tiny sleeves get hemmed with a stretchy stitch.

I now have my card pinned to the wall in my sewing machine so that next time I make an outfit with directional cuffs, I'll know exactly what to do!

Happy sewing!

New Cushion Covers

A friend got a real find at our local thrift store.  She scored several yards of beautiful drapery material and wondered if I could make new cushion covers for her. She was fine with whatever closure I was able to manage.

The first thing I did was to take one of the old covers off and "liberate" the zipper from it.  Time to use the lovely seam ripper that hubby made me!  I measured the old cushion cover and cut the front and back of the new cover 22" square and allowed .5" seam allowance.

My first attempt at installing the zipper was how I'd done them in lined zipper bags.  But I didn't like the look and ripped out the zipper. 

Then I used a lint roller to catch up all the little bits of thread - you need one of these in your sewing kit!

I finally decided to sew a .5" seam down one side of the squares.  I measured off 2" at each end and marked them with green-headed pins.  Yellow headed pins denoted where I'd sew a basting stitch.  I used a 2.5 stitch length for the first 2", cut the thread and then stitched 4.0 to the other green pin, cut the thread and finally stitched 2.5 to the end.  Where the stitching line came to the basting stitch, I doubled back to secure the ends.  I pressed the seam open.

I laid the zipper out on the seam with the zipper teeth directly over the stitching line.  I used green-headed pins at each end of the basting stitch.  Zipper foot on the sewing machine, I stitched down one side of the zipper to just past the green-headed pin.

Then I turned 90 degrees, stitched over the zipper teeth (no problem on nylon teeth!), did another 90 degrees and then stitched up the other side of the zipper.  I used the seam ripper to take out the basting stitch and now I was ready to finish sewing the cover.  And it's important at this point to open the zipper so that you'll be able to turn the cover right side out!

I folded the cover right sides together and pinned.  I stitched down one side, across the bottom and up the final side.  I clipped the two bottom corners to make turning easier.

Now all I had to do was to stuff the cushions in their new covers and admire how nice they looked!  Including ripping out the old zippers, cutting the fabric, back-tracking on zipper installation and finally finishing the covers, it only took me a couple of hours and now my friend has 3 lovely new cushions.

And now that I know how easy it is, I'm going to re-do some of my own cushion covers!

Sewing an Intricate Pattern

Pattern - Jalie 2212 Half Zip Pullover
Skill Level - Advanced
Fabric - Bamboo French Terry from Discovery Fabrics
Skills - Pattern layout, marking, 

My son's birthday is coming up and once again he's requested a half-zip pullover from the Jalie 2212 pattern.  Jalie makes excellent patterns, but I don't find their instructions the easiest to follow.  And the big downside to this pattern for me is the fact that it's a tiled PDF that doesn't give me the option to print only one size and unfortunately, Jalie doesn't have any plans to update this super pattern. However, the result is a great pullover with lots of detail that my son loves.

All that detail means lots of pattern pieces!  And lots of topstitching!  Organization is key.

The first thing I do is lay out my fabric - in this case a lovely soft bamboo French Terry from Discovery Fabrics.  My son specifically asked for a fabric that was lighter than the recommended sweatshirt fleece. The softness and drape of this fabric means that it could stretch easily, so I put a chair back under the end to hold it up and prevent distortion.  I lay pieces out to make sure that they're going to fit on the length of fabric.

I have already made my alterations.  My son is tall, so I've added 2" to the torso and another inch at the bottom of the body pieces and sleeve because I'm hemming as opposed to the foldover elastic that the pattern suggests.  Don't be afraid to alter a pattern to what you really need.

Once the pattern pieces have been cut out, the next step is transferring the markings.  In a pattern like this with so many pieces, it's essential that markings are accurate.  I even go so far as to use quilting pins with different coloured heads and keep the colours consistent so I know what will attach where.

Marking done, I like to put the pieces into groups.  Front and back pieces are separated from each other.  And I keep the paper pattern pieces with the fabric pieces until they're used.  Some of the pieces look very much like each other and it would be easy to get confused.

Organization and marking done, I'm ready to sew.  I put the instructions up for reference.  With Jalie patterns you can download the instructions without buying the pattern so you can see what is needed and how the pattern goes together.  Pictorial instructions are on 2 separate pages for this pullover and the written instructions take less than a page of quite small type so you need to go back and forth between pages.  You need to have them both readily available.

Once all the prep work is done, you're ready to sew.  I find that the sewing takes so much less time than the prep work for this pattern.

When sewing something with so many pieces you really have to pay attention - and I got distracted!  I serged the right side of one piece to the wrong side of the other.  So here's a little trick if it happens to you.  I used my seam ripper to slice through the looper threads at the top of the serging in between the two pieces of fabric.  Then I pulled out the needle threads to separate the pieces, but I was left with so many tiny bits of thread!

Here's the trick.  I ran a lint roller over the stitches and it picked them right up saving me a lot of work and mess!  Yup - lint rollers belong in your sewing kit!

LOTS of topstitching!

The shirt is now done and packed, ready to give to my son for his birthday.  It took a lot longer than most patterns do because of all the pattern pieces and the topstitching, but it's a shirt I know he loves.  Being organized is the key to getting it done.

Happy sewing!