Border Prints!

Profiled Pattern - Love Notions' La Bella Donna (with a couple of alterations!)
Skill Rating - Beginner
Fabric - l'oiseau fabrics
Skills - matching patterns, scrap busting

I think the thing I love the most about being able to sew clothes is that my finished garment is something unique that no one else has.  Border prints just step this up quite a few notches.

Knit border prints are not that easy to find, but l'oiseau fabrics in Calgary, Alberta stock some amazing ones.  Nearly all of their fabric comes from Europe and I find them irresistible.  Every now and then I'll see a post on their Facebook page in which someone loves a border print but has no idea what to do with it!  Hopefully I can give you a few ideas.

Many patterns can be adapted for a border print.  Basically you need a straight edge and most often the bottom hem is the logical place for a border print to sit.  If the pattern doesn't have that, it might be a simple matter to create the edge you need.  A lot of border prints run up the sides of the fabric.  As most of these fabrics have a 4-way stretch, it's not usually a problem cutting against the grain, but it's something to watch out for.

The fabric I used for the La Bella Donna is a cotton/spandex knit called Tumbler and appears as repeats during the fabric's length, so I had to choose a pattern that wasn't any longer than about 30"

The LBD (as La Bella Donna is affectionately known) is a super simple pattern - dolman sleeves and fairly straight body.  It took me all of an hour and a half from start to finish!  I did make a few changes.  I took the curve out of the hem.  I drew in a straight hem about an inch under the line on the pattern for adding a band.

I also borrowed the neckline from the Laundry Day Tee (which is free if you join the Love Notions Facebook Group).  It was a simple matter to put another piece of paper under the pattern piece, tape it in place and draw in the new neckline.

When it comes to cutting out the pieces, it's important that you pay attention to the lines of the border print - much as you would a plaid or striped fabric.  You want the pattern of the fabric to line up at the seams.  To make sure I get this right, I'll make a mark on the pattern piece and when I cut the piece that corresponds to this one, I'll make sure that the mark hits the border print at exactly the same spot. I also made sure to cut the neckband and sleeve cuffs from the border print to tie the tee together.

There are lots of other Love Notions patterns that will lend themselves to border prints.  The above is Rue des Artistes, which I used when I tested the Terra Tunic.  I made the front and back hems the same level to accommodate the design.  This amazing fabric had stumped purchasers for a while and when I saw a number of potential garments, I snapped up all that remained at l'oiseau fabrics in the colour.

This one is the Girls La Bella Donna - a perfect canvas for the fabric.

The Sun Kissed Tee and Gloria from Peek A Boo Patterns were used in the above 2 dresses.  The second dress used a fabric called Enchanted Forest.

And then there are panels - and I guess the Tumbler I used for my LBD is technically a panel.  They are sold in repeat lengths.  l'oiseau had an amazing one called Rose Dawn.  Two sections made the above one-of-a-kind cardigan for my daughter.

And of course you must never discard any usable pieces of a border print!  Scraps from Rose Dawn made a very striking outfit for my granddaughter.

And all those curly side pieces that cotton/spandex knits produce - I save them, too!  They make wonderful plant ties for the garden and unique ribbons for tying up presents!

So never be intimidated by a border print - there are some amazing ones out there that will make you a unique, one-of-a-kind garment.  And just a tiny bit of imagination will get you there!  Here are some other Love Notions patterns that would lend themselves to a knit border print:

Sybil Illusion Skirt Collection - pencil and pleated skirts
Boyfriend Cardigan for Ladies
Ladies Hip Hop Tank & Tee
Origami Tunic & Cardigan for Ladies
Tabitha Top
Tessa Sheath Dress

Why not take the plunge and give it a try yourself!  And if you're looking for some wonderful border prints, do check out l'oiseau fabrics!

Let's Get Organized!

I'm not a very tidy person - anyone in my family will tell you that!  However, before I retired, my work area was always neat and organized.  Now that I'm sewing so much again, I need my sewing room to be the same way.  I get easily distracted and if my space isn't cleared and organized, I can easily be diverted.

My sewing room does triple duty.  It was originally a guest bedroom.  Now, however, it's my computer room, sewing room and guest bedroom.  When company comes, the computer desk and coverstitch  desk gets moved out and the double-bed gets brought in and set up.  Fortunately we have another guest bedroom so that doesn't happen all that frequently!

Today I want to start a new project, Sabrina Slims from Love Notions, but I can't get going until I clean up my mess!  I am blessed with a husband who loves to woodwork and is very good at it.  He built me my wonderful sewing desk with shallow drawers that every person who sews needs.  It has a very wide kneehole so I can slide back and forth between the sewing machine and serger.  He also made me the shelving unit above and the pinboard between the two.   I can tack up pattern pieces and notes, plus there's a screw in the top frame that I can hang a clipboard on.  I put pattern instructions here between the serger and sewing machine.

The shelving unit, which has adjustable shelves, holds all manner of things - from gardening books, to computer manuals and a set of Dickens novels that belonged to my mother!  Oh, and sewing supplies!

One shelf has a plastic bin holding all my elastic and a basket with all my sewing thread.  The thread is in plastic zip lock bags separating the colours.  I learned this from a friend who is a sewing instructor and it's really worked for me.

Another shelf has my serger thread.  I really only use 3 basic colours - black, white and grey.  I do have some other colours but they rarely get used.  If I really need to match, I put the matching colour in the left needle, but the serger thread is usually well hidden in a garment.  Above the serger thread (and my tiny music system!) are bins holding interfacing, zippers and buttons and various manuals.  I pick up shirt buttons at my local thrift store and keep those buttons in tiny zip lock bags in an old peanut butter jar on the top shelf.

My coverstitch machine is on a separate table under one of the windows.  My son, also a terrific woodworker, made a tray to my specifications to hold all manner of bits and bobs I need beside the coverstitch.  And notice the tiny toy Singer sewing machine given to me by a dear friend! One thing a sewing room needs is lots of light.  Besides having 2 windows in this room, I have a swing lamp that swivels between the sewing desk and the coverstitch.  The shelving unit has LED strips under it and a clip lamp over the ironing board illuminates that area.

Fabric is on 2 shelving units.  One is filled with knits and has a cradle (made by hubby) for pattern rolls.  Plain interlock,  cotton/spandex and rib knit are on the top shelf.  Next down is patterned cotton/spandex, then various other knits on the next two shelves.  The closet (okay, it's still messy!) has woven material amongst other miscellany.

Patterns take up 2 bins on the floor.  I've gotten rid of nearly all my old tissue patterns as I'm finding .pdf patterns work so much better and I can count on the fit.  One bin has all the patterns with their instructions in letter-sized folders and the other has manilla envelopes containing adult family members' patterns as most of my sewing is for family.

Floor vacuumed (one day I'll get hubby to put in hardwood flooring!) and things once again tidy, I'm ready to tackle those Sabrina Slims!

How do you organize your sewing room?  I'd love to learn some new organizational tricks!