Thursday, July 26, 2018

Good use for cheap thread that breaks easily

I bought a giant cone of thread from a discount fabric store for $1.  It turned out to be very brittle and breaks easily, couldn't use it in the serger at all.   But then I had to make several muslins (toiles) whatever you want to call it, mock ups is my favorite term, for a client.  And I found a use for it, it breaks easily so I just rip the pieces apart easily.  There is always a silver lining in every cloud.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Reversible Knit Tank

I've been obsessed with reversible clothes for the last year or so.  I go fabric shopping flipping all the fabric over to see what's on the other side.  Most of the fabric came from Joanns, Nichole Miller has a line of polyester stretchy shiny knits and recently they had some dry-fit type workout stuff also reversible. 

I started out with no sleeves because they would be easiest.  Most of the time I just use one row of zigzag and one row of straight stitch on a very narrow seam to mimic the look of flat-locking.  Edges were serged.  One side is silvey the other a light grey but the photo shows less contrast.  Also made it V-neck/ scoop for maximum versatility.





Monday, April 30, 2018

Adding Pocket to Surplice Dress

I am obsessed with pockets, as you can probably tell from my previous posts.  I have allergies and always carry a kleenex with me.  I don't want to sneeze all over everything.  So the problem with fitted knit dresses is where to add the pocket.  I decided this surplice dress has ruching on one side and that's a good place to hide a small pocket.  I used fabric usually used for slips in a slightly lighter color (didn't find an exact match.)  Made an envelope type pocket and sewed it along the top stitching.




And now you can't see it, and the ruching should hide any bumps form the contents.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Waist Band Wallet

Saw a discussion of how to carry things when running/traveling etc.  I have some very stretchy fabric and decided to make a loop with some holes in it for charge cards and passport.  I just used a 7.5" inch tall fabric with the width of my waist.    I purposely opened the passport part slightly to show whats in it.  I didn't use a zipper because the fabric is so stretchy that I left an opening about 1/2" narrower than the passport so it can't fall out.


Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Separating zipper won't stay close

The jacket has a separating zipper but the bottom of the zipper had a part that broke off in the wash and now doesn't stay together when zipped.


I would normally replace the zipper but it's a down jacket and I don't want all the feathers to come out so I just added a hook and eye and now it stays shut when I am wearing it.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Making matching color snaps

I am making a wrap with snaps and I wanted the snaps to be as unobtrusive as possible, so I got plastic snaps and colored some with a sharpie.  The color doesn't rub off.