Sewing With Nancy

Pirose or O Sew Easy Scarf

~ Michelle ~ 4 Comments

A few years ago I worked in a little boutique, and I saw many lovely clothing items. I got a discount too, so some of those lovelies made it home with me.

One of those items was a Reno Rose Pirose scarf. A few of these came home with me.

They’re lovely to dress up an outfit and also give a little more coverage. Unfortunately, they no longer seem to be available.

Sewing with Nancy

I knew I’d seen a similar scarf on an episode of Sewing with Nancy. She made a scarf that is the same shape and style as the Pirose scarf – the O Sew Easy Scarf.

It’s the first scarf she shows in the video below.

I’m still so very sad when I think of Nancy being gone. I’m trying to just be thankful for all the years she was here and how much she imparted, but am mostly still sad.

Making the Scarf

The Pirose scarf came in three sizes. Small, Medium, and Long. I found the Medium worked best for me. The Long dwarfed me, and the small, although a good size for my frame, is probably better suited to someone smaller busted.

I used one of my Pirose scarves to trace off a pattern. After I cleaned up the edges of my new pattern, I followed along with Nancy’s video to make my scarf. Nancy Notions does have a great-looking book with the pattern in it, and many other scarf patterns too. I sent a hint about the book to my hubby.

My Scarf

I found a lovely chiffon in the clearance section, and scooped it up right away. I love a great deal!

I wanted sheer black, but I was happy enough to find this slightly textured chiffon. Again, the price was right.  The scarf is longer on one side than the other, so I can wear it with the shorter side at the front, or at the back. I can even wear it on a diagonal. Each way I wear it gives a bit of a different look.I’m so happy with this.

Here are a few different ways I can wear it. I have a pin that clips on, so will wear that with my scarf. I’m looking for some patterns to make a few more of these pins as I bought this one with one of my scarves. Like the scarves, the clips no longer seem to be available. Here’s a video showing a bunch of ways to tie a Pirose scarf, all of which would apply to the O Sew Easy scarf as well.

 Happy creating!

Another Perfect T-Shirt

~ Michelle ~ 5 Comments

After working on drafting a bra, I wanted an easy sewing project. I knew just what to sew.

I pulled out my Perfect T-Shirt pattern.

This was my third time making this pattern. The first one was pretty good, but the neckline was a bit loose. I adjusted the shoulder so the neckline would fit better for the second one, and have loved it. So this third one, well, all the alterations I needed for this had already been done, so it was simply a matter of cutting it out and sewing it up.

This T-Shirt pattern was shown on Sewing with Nancy – that was where I first saw it. I recorded the show thinking I’d watch while making up the tee. You can watch it here.

However, being in Canada, I’ve had a hard time finding the notions used in the show and recommended on the Pamela’s Patterns website:

Knit Stay Tape (neckline), Woven Stay Tape (shoulders), Double Sided Fusible Stay Tape (hems)

The Stay Tape is shown here in a screen shot from the show.

I asked at my local fabric store what they’d recommend instead of the Stay Tape. One of the staff there sews a lot of knits; she said she uses knit interfacing for the neckline and hems. She uses a woven interfacing for the shoulders. I did just that. Here is my first tee showing the woven interfacing on the shoulders. (I didn’t take any photos during sewing this time.)

I have to say, I’ve made three tees this way now, and the interfacing works beautifully. If the Stay Tapes aren’t available in your area, knit and woven interfacing works and is probably a lot less expensive.

Here’s my last tee’s hem with the knit interfacing for the hem. I cut a 1″ strip and fused it onto the tee.

Below is a screen shot from the show where they’ve used Double Sided Fusible Stay Tape:

Looking at this, I’m thinking the interfacing would take less time than the Stay Tape. They’ve had to cut the Stay Tape so it will curve along the hem. There’s no cutting the interfacing once you’ve cut the strip because it’s a knit. It curves along any curves very easily. I do have to use pins though, where they’re not using any pins.

Here’s my new tee. It was a lovely quick sew, and I know I’ll enjoy wearing this as much as I’ve enjoyed my last two Perfect tees.

Here’s the front.

Here are the back and side.

This is a darted tee, so the fit is very flattering. However, there are a couple of little construction aspects I’m not sure I love. I’m showing them in the set of photos below.

When sewing on the neckband, it’s the standard quarter the neckband and distribute it equally around the neckline. It even says this for the scoop neckline, which I used. I wasn’t thinking when I sewed it up because it’s not equal distances all around the neckline. You can see the difference between the front and back below in the first two photos.

One other design aspect to this tee is the curved hem, which is flattering on, but to keep the material from distorting, I had to narrow the hem at the sides. (That’s the third photo.) It’s about 1/2-inch on either side and it’s 1-inch for the rest of the hem.

It’s not a problem as along as I’m aware I need to make these changes. So, I’ll make a note on the pattern to remind myself of both of these issues for the next time I sew a Perfect T-Shirt.

Happy creating!

A Baby Shower Gift

~ Michelle

 A very dear friend of mine just became a Grandma. It was time to make a baby shower gift.

My TNT baby gift for the better part of 20 years is an idea from Sewing With Nancy.

IMG_8814

A beautiful hooded towel. I don’t have this great-looking book, but saw Nancy make one of these towels on her show, and I’ve been making them since.

They’re a great gift. I’ve heard back from Moms that they love them and use them for years. I’ve even had Moms ask for one for their next baby after receiving one.

You can see a step-by-step tutorial of a similar hooded towel by Nancy here.

img_8539-imp

Isn’t this cute? I’ve never made the bear style.

For the towel I made, I was told the colors were black, white, and pink. I found a pink towel, black ribbon, and used some white thread to embroider on the ribbon.

ribbon

After embroidering the ribbon, I attached it to the towel and facecloth.

To make it a little different than simply sewing on the ribbon, I gave the ribbon a little twist every few inches. You can also see here I didn’t embroider all the ribbon.

pinned-twists

Here’s a close-up of the twists in the ribbon before it was sewn down. I used pins hold those twists in place.

ribbons-on-towel

Here’s how the front of the towel will look. There’s a single embroidered ribbon on the other side of the towel.

And of course there’s the matching ribbon and twist pattern on the washcloth/hood.

sewn-down-twists

Here’s the hood. I draped this over my dress form, Catherine.

finished-hood-view

I think it looks adorable. Here’s the whole hooded towel:

full-view

That’s nice and long to wrap that little baby up for a few years.

Do you have a TNT gift you make? What is it? I wonder how many of our TNTs come from shows like Sewing with Nancy? Do you love her show?

Happy Thanksgiving & happy creating!

The Perfect T-Shirt

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Last year I saw a Sewing With Nancy episode – Sew the Perfect T-Shirt. I was so glad I PVRed that episode. I have been wanting to make a T-shirt, and who doesn’t want the perfect one?

You can watch the episodes here: Part One and Part Two.

After watching the episode, I immediately went over to Pamela’s Patterns and ordered her Perfect T-Shirt pattern.

Perfect Tee

The pattern has been sitting patiently on my desk with so many other projects for a few months now, but it was time. I bought a whole whack of cotton/Lycra to make Tees for summer. It was time.

I love the approach Pamela takes on the show. You determine your size, and then start with that sized Tee, any alterations are done to that first Tee and the pattern at the same time. I think that’s a great idea! That way you get a corrected pattern and a correctly fitting Tee with one alteration.

There was one glitch. I started reading the instructions (see, I learned from the last project) and then went to our local fabric store to find Stay Tape. Well, it seems no one in Canada seems to know anything about Stay Tape. The stores don’t carry it. So instead of getting on with my sewing, I was trying to figure out a replacement for Stay Tape. We also had a looming mail strike, so there was no way I was going to order anything and possibly wait three months to get it.

I used woven and knit interfacing in place of the Stay Tape. I found a great blog post on Pattern Fantastique describing  how to make your own Stay Tape and decided I’d try it.

Here’s the interfacing on the shoulders. I used woven interfacing as Pamela said to use the woven stay tape here.

Interfacing

For the neckline I used a knit interfacing. Both were fine. (Sorry for the blurry pic.)

Interfacing on neckline and sleeve

Here’s my Tee:

Front of Tee

I adjusted this pattern to make a size Small top, with shortened armholes, lowered the bust dart, and graded up a size for my hips. The grading up gives this tee a peplum look, which I wasn’t wanting. The hips are a bit loose, so I may try a size Small for my next tee.

And from the side:

Side of Tee

I love how the darts on this disappear. You can’t see them at all. That was a small concern I had before making the pattern. I didn’t want to draw attention to my bust by adding a dart to give enough room for the bust. It might be different on a solid colored fabric, but on this it’s great!

And the back:

Back of Tee

It all came together very well, and I will definitely be making more.

I really like this pattern. Pamela has a second pattern that goes with this one that’s all necklines. I know what I’m ordering soon. I love the darted bust, which saved me from making a Full Bust Adjustment.

I do have a couple of changes to make still. I think I’d like longer sleeves for my tees, and the neckline is a tad loose. I need to adjust the inner shoulders to bring that up.

Here I am on a really feel-good day in a total Me-made wardrobe:  top, bottom, and undergarments. And I’m in the mountains (trying very hard not to squint). My hubby says take off your sunglasses. No sunglasses = squinting.

Me in mountains

Happy creating!

The Cotton Spandex Opportunities

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

On a sewing forum I follow, someone posted a cute pair of panties and had lots of response. ‘What pattern are these? No elastic? I have to know what pattern, …’ It went on for a while. We were told they were Scrundles. Off I went to search the web for Scrundles. I didn’t find any Scrundles, but a little more searching and I found Scrundlewear Ladies Underwear by Stitch Upon A Time.

I looked at the first photo to show up and thought, that doesn’t look like what I saw. This photo is from their Etsy shop. These are boy shorts. What I’d seen were more of a classic brief shape.

boy short

Then I scrolled through the photos and saw this:

brief

These were more along the lines of what I’d seen posted. Super cute!

The pattern offers five styles of panties in one.

pattern

Hmm. Now I’m thinking. I really love my TNT Kwik Sew 2286s, but I did think these were super cute. Here’s what they say about their pattern:

2 different styles included, Briefs and Boy shorts
4 different waistband options
2 different leg band options
3 different trim options, faux fly, lace and ribbon bow
You can make more than 16 different underwear with this one pattern!

They were sounding better and better.

Then things got more tempting for me. On the same forum, all these people started posting about the cute printed Cotton Spandex they were finding at a Canadian fabric store, Fabricland. Off I went to my local store to see if they had it. Nope. It seemed to skip my Province. From what I was reading, it was in the Eastern stores, and the stores in the Province west of me too.

I put the thought of those cute panties on hold. If I was going to make them, I wanted mine to be cute with some patterned material too, not just the solid colors of Cotton Spandex I’d found.

Then there was that unexpected trip to Ontario. After visiting and spending time with family, a very quick trip to Bra Makers Supply, and more family visits, it was time to go to Fabricland.

There is was! The same cute patterned Cotton Spandex I’d seen on the forums.

cotton for panties

My first trip to Fabricland was a quick trip, so I grabbed a meter of each with plans to go back and get a little more while it’s on sale for half price.

At this point, I had the material, but not the pattern. Then came Jennifer Getter’s birthday (Jennifer of Stitch Upon A Time). On the SUAT’s Facebook page, she said she was celebrating by offering 40% off patterns that day. What a great opportunity! I’d bought some material, so with 40% off, there was no reason to hesitate anymore.

Another of my goals for this Spring is to make myself a T-shirt that really fits. Sewing with Nancy had a few episodes on sewing the perfect T-shirt. After watching, I purchased my pattern. It’s from Pamela’s Patterns. You can find it here.

perfect t-shirt

This is a darted T-shirt, so should really help when it comes time to do a Full Bust Adjustment on it. It’ll be like the work is half done for me. Rather than starting from scratch and adding a dart, I’ll only have to adjust the dart that’s already there. On the show, they even show how to adjust the dart higher or lower as needed. Great!

However, it was another of those projects that needed Cotton Spandex, so it’s been waiting.

These are the materials I purchased to work on a few Summer tees. I may mix and match things up too.

cotton for tees

I had hoped on my second trip to the store, I’d find some brighter colors. They did have a couple, but the prints were huge. They weren’t anything I’d want for panties or Tees. I’d even brought my hubby in with me to help me decide. He didn’t like the other prints either, so I’ll have to be happy with all these nice new black and white prints.

While I was there I did see one more wonderful fabric.

african print

This is part of an African Prints collection. I grabbed what was left (not even a full meter), and will use it for a Swoon bag, or as a feature on a bag. So pretty.

Happy creating!

A Pirose Clone (Look What Came to Stay)

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I really wanted to make a copy of one of my favorite scarves – The Pirose scarf. I have two of these, and just love them both. However, they are rather expensive as scarves go. Then I saw a Sewing with Nancy episode: Sew Amazing Scarves. You can read about it here. And she was talking about the O Sew Easy scarf. Well, that’s pretty much the same as the Pirose. I decided I’d make a clone.

Here’s one of my originals.

Pirose

I really love this scarf. And I often wear it just like this – on the diagonal. I find it a fun and flirty this way to wear it. I cut out my clone after making a pattern, and then tried a few ways to finish the edges. Nancy says you can just overlock it with a serger, but I prefer the original finish on it – a serged rolled hem done with woolly nylon thread.

Here’s my clone.

Pirose copy

The edges are still unfinished as of yet. But not because of lack of trying on my part. I went to the fabric store and bought some woolly nylon to try in my sewing machine. I’ve read a few times that the bobbin is the problem area using woolly nylon in a sewing machine. That was not the case for me. For me, the upper thread kept breaking. I started entertaining ideas of a hand-sewn rolled hem, but didn’t act on that.

Then I decided to call a friend – and just like on the TV show, I hit the jackpot! My friend, whose husband happens to be a Producer, had a serger I could borrow.

How does the hubby fit in? Well, he produced a sewing show for a few years, and the machines went with him when the show was done. Doesn’t that sound like a dream come true?

I went to pick up the serger and my friend said she wasn’t in any hurry to get it back, but I could just keep it at my house. She said she didn’t even know how to use it!

Serger

Here’s the newest member of my sewing family. I can tell you, I’m really hoping it lives here for years! This is a Janome 1110DX.

My friend and I continued to chat and she said she had another machine I might want to take too. I asked her what it was and she said it was called Cover Pro. I’m sure my mouth fell open. I could not believe what I was hearing. Not only was I going home with a serger, but also a cover stitch machine? Really, I hit the jackpot!

Here’s the other newest member of my sewing family. This is a Janome CoverPro 1000CP. This one I’m buying from her so it can stay forever.

Cover Pro

Oh, I am such a happy sewer right now! Or is it sewist? I read on another blog a suggestion for sewster. That sounded fun. Regardless, I’m really happy!

I found the manuals online and printed them off so I have a hard copy to help me through any things I don’t remember. I haven’t had a serger for years. And the one I did have years ago had problems. I remember taking it back to the dealer to be fixed at least three times. And the last time I had it in, I mentioned I’d had the same issue repaired already. They looked it up and sure enough, I had taken it in more than once. At that point, they told me I could exchange the machine for a new one! That was amazing, but by that time I had really fallen out of love with the serger. It came home with me, and sat. I finally sold it to a dear young woman who was getting into sewing.

Back to this serger, I cleaned it out, and started it up and ran a test strip of material through it. Boy, it needed some TLC. I got some oil and oiled it. It does sound a bit better, but I’m still concerned about how it sounds.

Hmm, I’m not sure when that scarf will be finished at this point but I’m really looking forward to learning all about and using these newest members of my sewing family.

Happy creating!