Monday, October 27, 2014

Between projects

Once again, the grey choir ladies have returned.....
Lord, look at that cleaned off table! You can see the seam ripper! And the big pins! Kids, this is a photo from two years ago, and that table is still there. Somewhere. Under the stuff.
First off....
Cleaning up.
Re-padding ironing board.
Last minute mending
A semifail on the Loungewear make for New Vintage Lady's challenge



Cute fabric, fun pattern


Front, okay. I'm box shaped but it's cute and comfy


Back.... Cross ties not working and nobody wants a full back shot of this. Still poking at this but so far, it's not making me happy....more later.

I've been going through stories and tutorials on the computer and printing them out for a binder in the sewing room (don't have internet/puter in sewing room)
Do have semidead laptop for movies!

For the vids, I've gone through and taken screen shots when useful and copied them into a  document, alternating pics with typed in notes.

Copied and hole punched.

I already have a Bias workbook, the title confuses my sociology friend. Many different biases to be studied.

Pruned the pattern collection - going to stash shop and sewing workshop for donation/ favor currying.


I mean, I don't need them. And I like Ms C's shop a lot. Someone will find them useful. It is always a good thing to curry favor.


Who doesn't like a good curry?


Friday, October 17, 2014

Football T Shirt ReModel

Welcome to today's edition of the Crafty Football Blog Hop. No need to jump today, cause here we are.

This year will be Superbowl 50.
Not Superbowl L, for obvious reasons.

But let's go back in time, to Superbowl XL. Or #40, whichever you prefer.

It was supposed to be a far different outcome, at least as far as this shirt's original owner was concerned when this was printed before the event.


An interview with the referee of the game was front page, headline  news here when he admitted that the call was probably wrong and that he was sorry. 

We found this in a thrift store, and had to bring it home. It is now too small, and the request from the client (my son) was: make it fit me now.

Mom! Now!


the second graft for our dragon Fafner. If you size this up, you can see the two rolled edges on the outside of the stitching. Makes a nice double frame.
I've done many transplants, grafts and total gut remodels of tshirts over the years, so this is standard operating procedure around here.




The design is unbalanced



and a little tasteless to my mind



Here is the recipient base. Not a color match, but close and they work together (team colors changed slightly over the years)



Folded up shirt, modeling what a straight transplant would look like.
Meh



To get an idea of how a cut-up would look, I copied the shirt (took two passes)  and cut out the elements to play around with them

Various arrangements were examined



As the original design would show, I could turn the shirt inside out and use the reverse.

And then tragedy struck: somebody wanted the original shirt as is. And another somebody wants a rebuilt model.


With some scanning, cutting and pasting and editing on the computer (in Paint: a blunt tool but one I'm skilled with) - we can rebuild him!


I changed the logo and removed the gruesome.

The wrinkles and crackles were considered an old school feature and not to be smoothed out. I did move the elements around to make it a  bit more balanced.


I added a border to make a better visual transition from printed, woven material to solid knit. Generally, I don't like to sew a woven to a knit, but this was my best option for my available materials. The client has spoken! 


This passed muster with the client/son. 


I printed it out on transfer material. Glad I had a new ink cartridge; these sheets soak up the ink and read a little lighter than originals because of it.

Follow the directions for this stuff, whichever brand you buy.  Printer ink is not lightfast or waterproof until you do this part. And you are going to be handwashing this from now on if you want it to last.

The border is also handy for stitching the material to the shirt. 

It's important to make sure the recipient shirt is as 'ongrain' as a readymade shirt can be (which is to say: Not Much). A knit tube will keep twisting over time, and frankly that means a woven applique of this size will.....not last that long.

Spraying with starch and ironing it first helps.

I did use a fusable layer between the two layers. I've done this with knit on knit appliques, and it keeps things together longer. 

It also helps to deal with unraveling.

This is a good reverse cut-out applique with stabilizing. Pretty shirt!


This is a bad reverse applique without stabilizing. And a really sad end to a project.

I used a straight stitch around the image first, then trimmed the edge to the stitching.

  
Then I overcast with a zig zag.

Superhero model with cheap effects. I am sewing for teen boys. I do what the client requests. No, I don't like how big and rubbery this applique is, but....the client is always right (mom sighs....)

Because the applique was big enough, I didn't have to reverse the shirt this time. 

Another epic moment in Seahawk history preserved, for TWO!

Will they repeat? 

photo from SI Kids website, Getty Images source









Sunday, October 12, 2014

the International Crafty Football Blog Hop



One of my secrets is that I do some work at a fantasy football magazine

I work for my old college pal Bruce. He is a great boss, a fine human being and a master of toasted cheese sandwiches. See, seven years of college paid off!

I am not a football person, but I play one on the telephone. And my son is a football fan.
Which explains why I am the October 17th stop on the Craftypod football blog hop.


Monday, October 12th --   http://www.maidenjane.blogspot.com -- NFL clear bag
Tuesday October 13th -- http://www.craftypod.com Football Stadium scarf

Wed, October 15 -- http://theredscorpio.com -- Shrink Plastic NFL Charm
Thursday October 16 -- http://www.designsbykarengibbs.com

Friday October 17th - me! Another tshirt remodel (or the Revenge of SuperBowl )

Monday October 20 - - www.alifepinspired.com
Tuesday October 21- - http://ancoracrafts.com/ Cross Stitch Guide to the NFL
Wednesday October 22 -- www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog
Thursday O 23 -- http://cakecrumbsandcottonreels.blogspot.co.uk - Aussie Rules Ball toy/rattle

(See this is an international hop!)

Friday October 24 -- www.quiltytherapy.com

See you this Friday for a trip down tshirt memory lane.....









Friday, October 3, 2014

Tracing off a pants pattern

These are shorts, but they are going to become a pants pattern.

This took most of the working day (about four hours) (not including sanity breaks to pet the cat, eat some lunch, feed the kids)



I almost think it should be 'marking off' a pattern, as I am making marks rather than tracing lines. I will connect the dots (which often end up in different colors) later. 


I found out that it is better to spend an extra hour making sure it's all lined up right NOW rather than redoing it over and over again in muslin form. The jeans project would have taken fewer iterations to get to a medium good fit if I had taken more time with the original pattern.

Get some pins and some cheap white fabric. I recommend sheets from the thrift store. 

In this case, the cheap white stuff is from a youth production of Julius Caesar. 

Yes, old togas.  

I don't need one big piece or the same weight of fabric. A bunch of pieces I can write on will do.

You will need a lot of straight pins. 



I stuck a long flat mailing box in to keep things as flat and straight as possible. I could roll the piece back and forth to get the wrinkles out.


I cut notches at the crotch to make sure I got the correct curve.


I pinned all through the center and with the pins facing the same way to reduce the self-stabbing. This is the closest to quilting I will get.


I made dang sure I marked the pattern on the SEAM LINE.  Seam allowances are not a part of this right now.  I have no idea how wide they will be. I don't need to confuse myself with that right now.





Figuring out where the dart is going to be. Smoothing the fabric back and forth. Yawn.
Need coffee.


Need to get the cat off the window sill.



Break done. Dart marked on the seam line.


Oops, not enough fabric to get to the seam

I'm not washing these; add a strip with doublesided tape!

Mark where the pockets are if you like them. If you don't like them, ignore them. Don't forget the added fabric for the pocket facing if there is one. And trace the pocket bag as a separate item JUST on the seam line (even the bottom part).

Repeat on the other side of the leg. Each piece gets its own piece; doubling them up leads to madness. Make sure to make  the different waist band parts and fly pieces and MARK them as to which/where they go. Don't add seam allowances until you're making the pattern itself.

Yes, this takes time. And it beats drafting a whole new pattern you won't like. Take your time, take some breaks, this is brain/hands work at it's finest.