Things I Like - thingsilike

Sewn

The ingredients and products of my own sewing experiments.

Black and Pink Robe

I've had a pink bathrobe for quite a few years. It's comfortable, but has a few issues: The belt strap is torn partially lose from the robe, the robe itself is shorter than I'd like, and it's excessively pink. In an effort to solve these problems without having to buy pink thread, I used some black slinky fabric (matching the pink slinky fabric of the robe) to add a panel at the bottom and to cover the pink belt and my belt repair attempts.

I originally planned to make the bottom extension double thickness (so it would be equally soft on both sides), but forgot about that when I went to cut. I sewed the piece to the bottom of the robe (along the original hemline) before I hemmed the raw edges; this made it tricky to hem the edge I had attached to the robe, but I managed it with a combination of ironing and pinning.

Hemming the side edges went poorly: sewing through three slippery layers at once caused the upper layer to not move forward evenly with the lower layers, twisting the entire hem and causing it to pucker.

To avoid this problem for the bottom hem, I adhered all three layers to each other using Stitch Witchery hem tape (pre-cut fusible interfacing). I then sewed over the tape, which gave me a wonderfully flat hem.

When making the corresponding belt, I tried using a glue stick instead of the (expensive) interfacing. It seemed to work just as well: I cut a 5" strip of black fabric, ironed it in half (right sides together), glued the open edges together, and sewed it up. I meant to sew it 2" wide, but ended up sewing it slightly smaller by accident. Then I turned it rightside-out, and hemmed the short raw edges by folding them over.

I only attached the black belt to the robe in the same location the pink belt was attached, leaving all 4 straps loose. The overall effect when the belt is tied is varigated.

iPod Case

For a while now, I've needed a way to carry my iPod when wearing a skirt without pockets. I recently picked up a remnant of vinyl, so I thought I'd try putting together a case that I could hook onto clothing and leave my iPod usable.

I used my shiny purple stretch fabric, but I cut the strip so that the stretch was going the wrong way: lengthwise. I should have cut it along the stretch, so that the stretch would be around the iPod, instead of in the direction that gravity is already pulling. To delay the inevitable drooping, I fused interfacing to the strip of fabric, but it didn't stick very well. I ended up having to sew the interfacing to the fabric at high-stress locations.

Cutting the screen and wheel holes was easy: I placed my iPod face down on the wrong side of the fabric, and started marking the height and depth of each section (by lifting the iPod up a bit and noting where the edges were). Once I had the basic location of the scroll wheel, I traced a circle using a large spool of thread. Then I cut out both segments, and cut a piece of vinyl large enough to cover both holes.

Sewing the vinyl to the fabric was a pain. Fortunately, my fabric is non-fray, so I didn't have to worry about finishing the edges. Unfortunately, both the fabric and the vinyl stuck to the sewing machine, preventing the feed mechanism from moving the material forward. I solved that problem by putting pieces of tissue paper on both sides, and carefully tearing them off once the sewing was complete.

Next I had to figure out how to sew the sides together. I finally placed the fabric right-side up, and laid my iPod flat against what would become the back of the case. Then I folded the front over the iPod and adjusted the positioning until the windows were in the correct locations. I pushed the sides down against the iPod and pinned them into place. This meant the side seams wouldn't be centered along the midline of the iPod, but it also meant the side seams would be slightly hidden, as seen from the front. I sewed one side, then repeated the positioning and pinning for the second side.

I hand sewed the swivel clasp to the center back of the case, along the upper edge. I didn't want to completely cover the top of the case, so I trimmed down the excess fabric above the top of the iPod, leaving only one strap of fabric to snap onto the other side, and prevent the case from flopping around too much. I sewed the corresponding snap into the center area of the swivel clasp, as an extra security measure if the clasp comes unsewn. I should have made two straps: with only one off-center strap, the other side of the case flops around a bit.

Hopefully, my experience in making this flawed case will let me make much better cases in the future.

Half-Circle Skirt

Many firsts with this skirt: my first skirt, my first zipper, and my first interfacing. The fabric I used is a satiny stretch woven; I picked it because it's thick enough to not need lining.

I originally intended it to be a half-circle wrap skirt (in my doomed quest to avoid zippers). However, the instructions I was following failed at math, and so the resulting semicircle wasn't nearly large enough to overlap around me. Fortunately, the stretch in the fabric meant that the piece was at least large enough to fit around me once.

I cut a waistband from the same fabric. In retrospect, I should have cut it on the stable grain, rather than the stretchy grain; the extra stretch means that the top of the waistband gapes. I folded the strip in half, and sealed it with Stitch Witchery (essentially double-sided fusible interfacing, in tape format).

Then I added interfacing to the waist of the skirt body, to keep it from stretching any more than it had. This was rather tricky, as the waist was in the shape of a half-circle, and the interfacing was a straight rectangle. Fortunately, steam solves a multitude of ills; next time, I'll simply steam it into shape to start with, instead of attempting to pin it into place. I sewed the waistband to the waist, and had something vaguely skirt-shaped.

Next came the zipper. I had bought an invisible zipper to use, but had forgotten the invisible zipper foot, so I had to make do with my regular zipper foot. This was easier than I expected, as after the zipper coils were ironed flat, they naturally fit into the opening on the foot which put the needle in exactly the right position. The only tricky part was that I couldn't get very close to the zipper pull with the regular zipper foot, so I had to close the zipper and sew from the other end.

After I had inserted the zipper and closed up the back seam, I had to finish the waistband above the zipper. Because I had sewn the waistband on before inserting the zipper (and I had put the zipper a little lower than I should have), I had to fudge finishing the edges of the fabric above the zipper and below the waistband. Then I put a button on one side of the waistband opening, and put a buttonhole in the overlapping part of the waistband.

Then came the hemming, but because the skirt was already shorter than I had planned, I just attached black bias tape (that Frances had given me) to the bottom and called it a day.

There's still a slight gap between the button and the zipper; I've bought a hook&eye loop to close it up. And the waistband gaps at the top, due to the natural convex nature of my stomach; this could theoretically be solved by darts, if I cared. But otherwise, it's a completed skirt!

Apron Top

The first "real" piece of clothing I made from scratch. The idea is very simple: It's a rectangle of fabric that's just wrapped around the chest and laced up the back.

I used two slinky fabrics I had. The black fabric was a cheap remnant, and the purple geometric fabric is a glittery charmeause that I bought with no particular use in mind.

First I cut the fabrics into two rectangles that would fit around my torso, and sewed them together. Then I hemmed them all up - this was actually rather difficult, since, unlike the fleeces and knits I'd been working on before, these fabrics would ravel if left unfinished. I'm still not sure how good a job I did, because I haven't yet washed the finished top.

After I had a finished rectangle, I tried it on (as much as you can try on a rectangle) and decided where the most flattering locations would be for lacing. I cut really long strips from the remaining black fabric, and sewed them into straps. I didn't do a very good job of cutting along the grain, so the resulting straps twist along their length. Again, I'm very grateful I was working with black fabric, because it's quite hard to tell!

I made the lacing loops from the long straps, sewed them into position, then sewed the remaining long straps onto the front. At this point, it was actually a piece of clothing, rather than a piece of fabric.

However, after lacing it up, there was a really unflattering lump of cloth between the first two laces, a result of the fabric having to bend over my upper chest. Apparently the female body isn't a perfect cylinder! Who would have guessed? So I gathered the excess fabric there into darts, and pressed them out of the way.

The final problem to fix was that the front top gaped a bit. So I gathered the front center, which makes it fit closer, as well as adds some interest to an otherwise plain black front. The technique I found online is actually rather clever: Cut a piece of elastic to the length you want the gathered fabric to be. Stretch the elastic to the current length of the ungathered fabric, and sew it on. Once you let go of the elastic, it'll contract to its original size, automatically gathering the fabric with it. Clever!

Fleece Hats

When I decided to make a hat, I figured I'd need three pieces of fabric: the crown, the body, and the brim. So I cut a circle and two rectangles of fleece. It was only once I sewed together the brim and body pieces that I realized there was no logical reason for them to have been two pieces of fabric, rather than just a single piece, folded over on itself. Oh well, it's not like I couldn't use the sewing practice.

The hardest part of making these hats was figuring how to attach the round top to the rectangular body. My lack of geometrical intuition slowed me down a lot here, but eventually trial and error (mostly error) led to a solution: with the body inside-out, stretch the top of the body outward a bit, so it forms a flat ring around the top, and pin and sew the crown to that ring. It's easier to do than explain, fortunately.

The black hat was the first one I made. Black is a great color to sew with, because it doesn't show anything. Mismatched seams, asymmetrical fabric pieces, and the holes from ripped stitches all fade into the shadows. I still think the black hat looks the best of the three, even though it objectively has the most flaws.

I made the purple one next. I got the fleece fabric on sale as a remnant, so I didn't have very much to use. Cutting out the crown as a single circle would have used up most of what was left after cutting out the body/brim piece, so instead I cut two half-circles and sewed them together. The resulting top seam actually made the hat fit better, in my opinion, and gave me the idea of a checkerboard hat.

When I went to make the black & white hat, I realized I'd need to do something about the unfinished seam visible when the brim is folded up, because there'd be a seam in both the front and back of the hat. With the previous two hats, I had folded up the double-thick brim before I sewed the body into a cylinder. This meant that the seam from closing the cylinder was clearly visible on the brim. For the black and white hat, I figured out how to sew the brim up *after* closing the cylinder, which meant the seams were safely hidden inside the double-thick brim. This led to a much neater appearance.

Of course, for the black and white hat, I had to cut seperate pieces of fabric for the brim, so it could be opposite colors from the body. Unfortunately, due to poor measuring, I cut the white too short. I tried sewing on some extra length, but I sewed it on backwards, with the seam facing outwards. *facepalm* So I gave up and just made the entire hat smaller and tighter. It fits comfortably normally, but is a bit too snug when worn over headphones.

When I made Rissa's hat for her birthday, I used what I had learned from all of these mistakes. I enclosed the seam inside the brim, and tapered the side seam to make it fit tighter at the top of the head (making it rounded rather than square). Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it before I sent it off, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was the best hat yet.

Shirt Alterations

Before I tried sewing anything from scratch, I first tried altering some shirts I already owned that had... issues.

The black and tan shirt was one of my favorite shirts, until the ratties chewed up the ends of its long, bell sleeves. So I cut off the sleeves just above the elbow, and hemmed up the edges. This is when I discovered the problem with sewing thin knits: the sewing machine wants to suck them into its guts, never to be seen again! It took a lot of babysitting to get a reasonably straight hem, but the end result is once again being able to wear a shirt I really love.

The white T-shirt was a gift from Joseph's grandmother. It's a really nice thick cotton, but it was at least two sizes too large. I turned it inside out and pin-fitted it to my body along the side seams and sleeve seam, then sewed it up. It took a couple tries to get the right shape, at which point I cut off the extra fabric and ironed the seams flat. I tried adding a back dart, to remove some of the extra fabric that was bunching up in back, but all it really seemed to do was make the shirt shorter. The end result looked pretty good, but after half a dozen wearings and washings, the fabric is starting to give way at the resewn seams. I'm not really sure why, but I'm going to have to resew it soon.

The long-sleeved white shirt is an old shirt from high school. It's gotten stretched out over time, so I tried to take it in. I took in the side seams and sleeve seam just fine (although I ended up making the sleeves too tight, and now I can't roll my sleeves up), but my attempts at bust darts weren't as successful. I think the fabric was too thin, because the excess dart material is pretty visible through the fabric. In any case, the stitching's holding up better than the short-sleeved shirt, but I think the overall effect isn't as good.

Things I've Sewn

Apron Top

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Fleece Hats

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Shirt Alterations

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Rat Hammocks

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Ingredients

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Rat Hammocks

The easiest thing to sew is rat hammocks, because they really aren't very picky. They won't critique your stitching as they chew through it, and the quality of fabric doesn't matter much, as it's all going to get peed on anyway.

So far I've made two different hammock styles out of fleece. The first was intended to be a dual-pocket hammock, but they've pretty much ignored the pockets. It lies flat, and up to 4 rats can fit in it (we've tested this experimentally). I sewed a buttonhole at each corner, and it hangs by large paperclips looped through them.

The second hammock is a hanging pocket hammock. It's essentially a long triangle which hangs from its point (buttonholes reinforcing where the paperclips go in). It hasn't been as popular as the other hammock, although the smaller rats (Blue and Cao Cao) seem to like it ok.

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5/16/2012 1:18:55 PM