Sew Sister: Simplicity

Showing posts with label Simplicity. Show all posts

Kimono Craziness

I am sewing a Kimono Bathrobe. I have used this pattern before, way back in the 70's. I sewed myself a pink cotton one, and then a brown satin one in the 80's. I still have the brown one....So I thought it must time for a new robe, yes I'm sewing for me for a change.

I'm afraid though this fabric became my nemesis... it was SO slippery, I simply hated sewing it. Seven days later I emerged with the finished robe saying to myself I will never do this again...

The uneven turn up for the hem on the left....How did this happen?
What I did love was the clear markings of the 70's pattern...

The fabric is Polyester, did I say I hate polyester? With it's smooth matted satin finish on the right side, this fabric looked impressive in the fabric shop, and at only $10.00 per metre I was sold. I bought 4.5 metres but didn't use it all...I needed a ball point needle for sewing this fabric other wise the fabric kept snagging badly.

Bow, Front, Back views....

For the finished Kimono Bathrobe below I sewed a patch pocket onto it. But you can't see it in the pic as I have crossed it over the other way...

Front view...

Back view...

I French seamed the robe because it frayed so much and also because it looks much neater inside. Personally although the robe looks okay I think I prefer cotton, (I have some blue in mind). I can just see me walking around in this floaty, slippery thing and everything will fall out...not a robe for dashing about in..

Pattern and full length pic of Kimono Bathrobe...
Simplicity Pattern 5685 jiffy easy cut easy-sew

The worst part of this project was the cutting out the fabric...It moved so much that all the cut out pieces were not straight. In the end I just used my eye to measure everything up. I gave up on using the tape measure...

The Sewing Lesson

Sewing lessons am I good at this? No, not really I was too impatient for the skirt to be finished. Watching my daughter doing all that gathering sent my head into a spin....Here is her effort, the Simplicity pattern we used is one I have used before and you can find it here.

Looks more becoming on than just hanging....

Fun at the Pajama Party!...part 2

Well I'm early to the Pyjama Party, it's the 28th and it's Saturday down here at the bottom of the world and is is so dark outside.....so here I am early..... (all ready to party LOL). I have a lovely gal wearing the pajamas I made, and she's reading Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, he's her type of guy....Hmmmm!

Here is a few words from the lovely pajama wearer.....

The pajamas are comfortable, warm, they make me feel relaxed especially after spending an hour doing a circuit with my brother. I actually have some trim on the legs so I feel quiet privlaged. I'm reading book six in the Skullduggery Pleasant series and I've read all the others. It's a children's book but I like to read them as I buy them for the Library and I enjoy them.

As always the cat ruins the shot....

A great read so far...

I put elastic in the waist and also
a draw string...

Cat tails, books and pyjamas all cozy and warm....

They are long enough, but I thought they were a bit
baggy! Probably I would use another pattern
next time...

Basic Bias for Beginners

Making Bias Binding with the Simplicity Bias Binder Machine

The first batch

It folded well at the back....

Firstly you need to fold your fabric and how to do this can be found @ Sew4Home. It's a really good idea to press your fabric first before marking your strips (I didn't though).

Measure and mark 2"fabric strips to make 1" bias binding.
When it's re- folded it becomes a 1/2" bias......

Cut the strips with scissors or a rotary blade. I think a rotary
is best if you know how to use it. I still go wonky with it
hence I'm using scissors.

Cut the ends straight and pin on right angle......

Sew right angle with a straight stitch....

Cut the excess fabric off. My seam is a fraction big....
Then press open creating a flat diagonal seam

Right side of bias strip is now all ready to press

Wind the bias strip onto the spool......

Not too tight though, but firmly wind......

Place the spool into bias machine......

Just about there....

Now thread the fabric strip through the 1" bias maker. You
may need to use something pointy to help guide it through.
Next heat up the machine at right setting. I used cotton......

Now remove the cover over the iron. Follow the instructions
that come with the bias machine on how to do this part
(you slide it back)

Ready now to put the cover back on.....don't burn your fingers!

Press the 'run' button and out comes the folded bias.....fantastic!

Yay! it's all done and ready to roll or press in
half if you want to......

Now the bias binding is all ready to use. Keep the bias binding
wound up on a spool. I didn't have anything fancy so I just
used the inner of a plastic wrap roll.....

Bag Maker Make me a Bag

Bags are not my strong point and over the years I've made a couple, but just easy ones...... A lot of shops charge for bags now (saving the environment by not giving away their plastic bags...well maybe!). So it pays to have a stash of bags in your purse or car, saves you paying for one......

I took a liking for this fabric, then I took a liking for the green fabric as well. Both fabrics are cotton and the lime green cotton I used to line the bag. The more open weaved, patterned cotton for the outside. The pattern I used was a Simplicity 2402 (easy) which I picked up for the bargain price of a $1.50.

This is a really simple easy shopping bag pattern. It has a pouch also, but I didn't make that as my bag was too bulky to fit into it...... I managed to get a bit stuck on the joining of the handles....... I just ended up doing it my way which was slightly messy but okay ( nice and strong).

The lining needs ironing......

A Summertime Skirt by Simplicity

I had a bit of fun making this skirt (Simplicity 2414 1 hour skirt). It did turn out a lot better than I thought it would considering my put together effort was hit and miss!. What looked to me like a simple project was not and I have made this style before......But the young lady in question was just a little girl then.....less material, much easier to gather, therefore much easier to sew......Did I make the 1 hour deadline sewing this gathered skirt....No!

To start with I muddled up all my pattern pieces and then forgot to mark my O's. The fabric made it hard to distinguish the right and wrong sides so I muddled up that as well......... I did mark all my notches though but the numbers and pattern pieces got me all confused. To add to the confusion I couldn't understand why number 7 pattern piece had no notches.....Which was the bottom and which was the top??? I did learn later that the top was where the O's were printed (but I didn't mark them). Why didn't they print notches on pattern piece 7? I do love notches...... just match up the notches, that's my motto when sewing and all will be good!

The other mistake I made was I put the buttonholes in the wrong place. They are at the top of the skirt, I also inserted thin elastic in the casing because at that stage I wasn't having a tie. In the end I did make one out of the scraps of fabric I had left and it looks okay even though it is not in the right place.

Overall though I did get annoyed with all the gathering.......But the skirt was a great success and it looks good on. The material this skirt is made out of is a patterned cotton lawn, a very light summery fabric. It was a little bit more difficult to sew because of the fabric weight. But guess what? I'm going to be making this baby again and it should be a breeze because I will have learnt by my mistakes!

Looks an easy skirt except it can take longer than 1 hour....

The skirt finished Simplicity 2414 View D
Looks good when wearing it.....

The tie is rough edged on one side...just something different
Would have been nice if it was in the right place though!

Simply Simplicity

Well I've finally sewn something and yes it's another skirt.......I really like making skirts they would have to be one of my favourite items to sew........My pattern of choice today was Simplicity 2655 Simplicity easy-to-sew pattern, view E and as the pattern states it is pretty much an easy sew. A very good pattern to have as it has six different skirt styles to chose from.......

I cut the sewing pattern out on a size 16 and then scaled the skirt back a size after the initial fitting. I'm no good at measuring things so sometimes I cut my fabric out to the bigger size pattern (just to be safe!). I figure you can always make a skirt smaller but not bigger.......( that's the beauty of muslins that I don't sew......you have an idea of the sizing before you cut into your good fabric). This A frame skirt sits about and inch below the waist line ( I must say it's very slimming style). The fabric I used for the skirt is a fairly stiff printed linen with a slightly open weave. The stiffness of the linen made the skirt very easy to construct, press, and fit.

Easy to sew Simplicity 2655 View E

The fitting of the skirt on the dummy makes
the waist look very big......

This is a longer version of this style and is made in
an open weaved heavy cotton which was very hard
to sew, my straight stitches started to look wonky.....

More Dolly Sewing...

This time I was off to a better start and sewing these outfits were a lot easier than my first try (see earlier post). I was well into into the swing of things this time and didn't make many mistakes.....I'm getting used to sewing the small stuff now.......I even used the Juki for the first outfit. Miss Dolly's clothes are from the sewing pattern Simplicity 2458 view B....Here are some more pics modelled by the dolly in residence.....Poor thing she'll be naked when they all go.......