Selvage refers to the lengthwise finished edges on a piece of fabric. These edges are
usually a little stiffer and firmer than the crosswise, or cut edge of the fabric, and will not
ravel. When you look at your pattern cutting instructions, it will show you where the selvage is when cutting. Be sure to line your selvages up evenly to avoid cutting off grain. In addition, you can measure from the distance of your selvage to your grain line to make sure you have the piece position properly.
If you buy a piece of fabric that is 45" wide by 2 yards long, the selvage edges are along
the 2 yards, and the cross wise edge is along the 45" side of the fabric.
Fabrics "with nap" will reflect light differently, or have a one way pattern or design. If your
fabric has nap, it is very important that you follow the "With Nap" layout on your
instruction sheet. Fabrics with nap include the following:
1. Pile fabrics - like velvet, velveteen, velour, and corduroy.
2. Fuzzy surface fabrics, such as brushed flannel, fake fur, plush felt.
3. Shiny fabrics, such as satin, damask, and some knits.
4. Plaids and stripes with an uneven repeated pattern.
5. Printed or woven motifs with a "this end up" look, or one way design.
Be sure to always check your pattern to find out how much yardage is needed if you have a nap to your fabric, because you may need a little more length to get your pieces to comfortably fit going the same direction.
**Parts of blog excerpted from Simplicity's "FAQ" page.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Marking Grainlines
One of the most difficult fabrics to work with is chiffon. Now make it a burn out chiffon. That combo just might be the worst nightmare of the average seamstress. It's so easy to lose the cross-grainline which absolutely must lay straight in order to cut your pieces perfectly. You can mark your grainline using a thread from the fabric. Here's how:
To pull (remove) threads for marking the grainlines, clip through the selvage, if any, with scissors. Then start about 1" from the edge by loosening and pulling a thread free with a needle. You might need a magnifier to identify one single thread. Hold the inch-long end in one hand and slightly gather the fabric along a few inches at a time, never pulling hard enough to break the thread as you work toward the opposite edge. Gather the fabric just enough to loosen the thread so that you can visually see the line created through the width of the fabric. Use that line created by the pulled thread as your basis to straighten your fabric. Do this on either side of your pattern pieces to ensure that both ends are straight. Once you have your fabric perfectly arranged be sure to use weights to ensure that it doesn't move. You don't want to "un-do" all of your hard work!!
To pull (remove) threads for marking the grainlines, clip through the selvage, if any, with scissors. Then start about 1" from the edge by loosening and pulling a thread free with a needle. You might need a magnifier to identify one single thread. Hold the inch-long end in one hand and slightly gather the fabric along a few inches at a time, never pulling hard enough to break the thread as you work toward the opposite edge. Gather the fabric just enough to loosen the thread so that you can visually see the line created through the width of the fabric. Use that line created by the pulled thread as your basis to straighten your fabric. Do this on either side of your pattern pieces to ensure that both ends are straight. Once you have your fabric perfectly arranged be sure to use weights to ensure that it doesn't move. You don't want to "un-do" all of your hard work!!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Fashion Interest Groups
There are several groups around the nation that specialize in fashion/costume. If you have a certain interest in an area of fashion it's always nice to meet and interact with others that have common interests. Below is a list of a few groups that you can join:
International Textile and Apparel Association
http://www.itaaonline.org/
The ITAA is a professional, educational association composed of scholars, educators, and students in the textile, apparel, and merchandising disciplines in higher education. ITAA welcomes professionals employed in those fields who wish to join with members of the Association in the pursuit of knowledge, interchange of ideas, and dissemination of knowledge through meetings, special events, and publications.
Fashion Group International
http://newyork.fgi.org/
The Fashion Group International is a global, non-profit, professional
organization with 5000 members in the fashion industry including
apparel, accessories, beauty and home. The FGI mission is to be the pre-eminent authority on the business of fashion and design and to help its members become more effective
in their careers. To do this, FGI provides insights on major trends
in person, online and in print; access to business professionals and a
gateway to the influence fashion plays in the marketplace.
Costume Society of America
http://www.costumesocietyamerica.com/
The Costume Society of America advances the global understanding of all aspects of dress and appearance. We work to stimulate scholarship and encourage study in the rich and diverse field of costume.
American Sewing Guild
http://www.asg.org/
American Sewing Guild is a membership organization that welcomes sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels and from many different walks of life. Chapters are located in cities all across the country and members meet monthly to learn new sewing skills, network with others who share an interest in sewing and participate in community service sewing projects. Membership in the Guild gives you an opportunity to experience your love of any type of home sewing with others who share your interest. (The Plano Chapter meets at Fabrique on the first Thursday of every month.)
Most of these organizations require a small membership fee. If you have any other associations that you think would be helpful to spread the word about, please feel free to post a comment and let us know!
International Textile and Apparel Association
http://www.itaaonline.org/
The ITAA is a professional, educational association composed of scholars, educators, and students in the textile, apparel, and merchandising disciplines in higher education. ITAA welcomes professionals employed in those fields who wish to join with members of the Association in the pursuit of knowledge, interchange of ideas, and dissemination of knowledge through meetings, special events, and publications.
Fashion Group International
http://newyork.fgi.org/
The Fashion Group International is a global, non-profit, professional
organization with 5000 members in the fashion industry including
apparel, accessories, beauty and home. The FGI mission is to be the pre-eminent authority on the business of fashion and design and to help its members become more effective
in their careers. To do this, FGI provides insights on major trends
in person, online and in print; access to business professionals and a
gateway to the influence fashion plays in the marketplace.
Costume Society of America
http://www.costumesocietyamerica.com/
The Costume Society of America advances the global understanding of all aspects of dress and appearance. We work to stimulate scholarship and encourage study in the rich and diverse field of costume.
American Sewing Guild
http://www.asg.org/
American Sewing Guild is a membership organization that welcomes sewing enthusiasts of all skill levels and from many different walks of life. Chapters are located in cities all across the country and members meet monthly to learn new sewing skills, network with others who share an interest in sewing and participate in community service sewing projects. Membership in the Guild gives you an opportunity to experience your love of any type of home sewing with others who share your interest. (The Plano Chapter meets at Fabrique on the first Thursday of every month.)
Most of these organizations require a small membership fee. If you have any other associations that you think would be helpful to spread the word about, please feel free to post a comment and let us know!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
10 Common Mistakes of New Sewers
1. Selecting a Complicated Project
If you don't have a lot of sewing experience, don't try to tackle a wedding dress or a tailored suit jacket. Look for beginning patterns that have words such as "easy," "simple," and "quick."
2. Using Inferior Tools and Materials
No one does their best work when using cheap and/or poorly designed tools and materials. Always choose the best you can afford, even if it means waiting awhile before you have all the tools you'd like to have. Add good quality fabrics and thread, and you'll have a much more pleasant sewing experience!
3. Starting with a LARGE project
When learning a new technique or working with a new material, always start on a small scale. Learn the necessary techniques on a project that's easy to handle, then move on to something bigger.
4. Selecting the Wrong Fabric
Always check the back of the pattern envelope for "Suggested Fabrics" and select a material similiar to those listed. You may not be familiar with all the types listed, but you'll have a better idea of the sort of fabric for which the pattern was designed. For example: don't choose a soft, drapey, lightweight fabric for a pattern that recommends "firm, woven fabrics such as suiting, twill, denim;" on the other hand, don't use a stiff fabric when "lightweight, soft wovens such as challis, rayon, and silk" are suggested.
5. Using the Wrong Needle
While the Universal needle size 80/12 is great for most sewing projects, it can cause problems on others, particularly when stitching with specialty threads and/or fabrics. Always choose a needle that is suited for the technique you are stitching.
6. Using Poor Quality Thread
Do you constantly have stitch problems? If the thread you're using is a "5 spools for $1" special, the problem isn't you or your machine, it's the thread. Cheap thread is just that - cheap. Using good quality thread not only eliminates your stitching problems, but will last longer and make your projects look more professional. Poor quality thread is made from very short fibers, spun together to form a strand. The resulting thread has thick and thin places that do not flow through the sewing machine evenly; it also sheds fibers creating lots of lint. Good quality thread is made from long fiber strands, is very even (which keeps the tension even), and makes very little lint. The next time you have a problem with stitches, make sure you're using a good quality thread such as Mettler or Isacord.
7. Not Utilizing Machine Accessory Feet
How many of the accessory feet included with your machine have you actually used? Nearly all sewing machines come with at least four "standard" presser feet: an all purpose or zigzag foot, a buttonhole foot, a zipper foot, and a blindhem foot. In addition to their primary functions, many other techniques can be sewn with these accessories. For instance, the guide on a blindhem foot is perfect for edgestitching and understitching, and a zipper foot is excellent for creating and inserting covered cording and piping. Read your owner's manual and other sewing books to learn more about your machine's accessory feet.
8. Ignoring Sewing Machine Features
Many beginning seamsters are unaware that their machines may have one or more of the following useful features:
--adjustable needle position, indispensable for topstitching,
edgestitching, understitching
--satin stitch, which is just a regular zigzag stitch with the stitch length reduced so that
you get a rich, full line of stitching -- great for applique.
9. Expecting Perfection in Every Project
If most stitchers never made mistakes, there would be no such tool as a seam ripper. No matter what we do, we all have to practice, practice, practice to develop new skills.
10. Not Loving What You Sew
For most people, sewing is a hobby, not a job, and as such it should be FUN! If you focus on working with fabrics that call your name and projects that inspire you, you will continue to learn and grow until stitching up "something new" is second nature.
**Article excerpt taken from http://www.berninausa.com/
If you don't have a lot of sewing experience, don't try to tackle a wedding dress or a tailored suit jacket. Look for beginning patterns that have words such as "easy," "simple," and "quick."
2. Using Inferior Tools and Materials
No one does their best work when using cheap and/or poorly designed tools and materials. Always choose the best you can afford, even if it means waiting awhile before you have all the tools you'd like to have. Add good quality fabrics and thread, and you'll have a much more pleasant sewing experience!
3. Starting with a LARGE project
When learning a new technique or working with a new material, always start on a small scale. Learn the necessary techniques on a project that's easy to handle, then move on to something bigger.
4. Selecting the Wrong Fabric
Always check the back of the pattern envelope for "Suggested Fabrics" and select a material similiar to those listed. You may not be familiar with all the types listed, but you'll have a better idea of the sort of fabric for which the pattern was designed. For example: don't choose a soft, drapey, lightweight fabric for a pattern that recommends "firm, woven fabrics such as suiting, twill, denim;" on the other hand, don't use a stiff fabric when "lightweight, soft wovens such as challis, rayon, and silk" are suggested.
5. Using the Wrong Needle
While the Universal needle size 80/12 is great for most sewing projects, it can cause problems on others, particularly when stitching with specialty threads and/or fabrics. Always choose a needle that is suited for the technique you are stitching.
6. Using Poor Quality Thread
Do you constantly have stitch problems? If the thread you're using is a "5 spools for $1" special, the problem isn't you or your machine, it's the thread. Cheap thread is just that - cheap. Using good quality thread not only eliminates your stitching problems, but will last longer and make your projects look more professional. Poor quality thread is made from very short fibers, spun together to form a strand. The resulting thread has thick and thin places that do not flow through the sewing machine evenly; it also sheds fibers creating lots of lint. Good quality thread is made from long fiber strands, is very even (which keeps the tension even), and makes very little lint. The next time you have a problem with stitches, make sure you're using a good quality thread such as Mettler or Isacord.
7. Not Utilizing Machine Accessory Feet
How many of the accessory feet included with your machine have you actually used? Nearly all sewing machines come with at least four "standard" presser feet: an all purpose or zigzag foot, a buttonhole foot, a zipper foot, and a blindhem foot. In addition to their primary functions, many other techniques can be sewn with these accessories. For instance, the guide on a blindhem foot is perfect for edgestitching and understitching, and a zipper foot is excellent for creating and inserting covered cording and piping. Read your owner's manual and other sewing books to learn more about your machine's accessory feet.
8. Ignoring Sewing Machine Features
Many beginning seamsters are unaware that their machines may have one or more of the following useful features:
--adjustable needle position, indispensable for topstitching,
edgestitching, understitching
--satin stitch, which is just a regular zigzag stitch with the stitch length reduced so that
you get a rich, full line of stitching -- great for applique.
9. Expecting Perfection in Every Project
If most stitchers never made mistakes, there would be no such tool as a seam ripper. No matter what we do, we all have to practice, practice, practice to develop new skills.
10. Not Loving What You Sew
For most people, sewing is a hobby, not a job, and as such it should be FUN! If you focus on working with fabrics that call your name and projects that inspire you, you will continue to learn and grow until stitching up "something new" is second nature.
**Article excerpt taken from http://www.berninausa.com/
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