A new year and some new techniques

I once had a very old Singer man tell me how he sat at a dealers' convention in the '50s and saw the first zig zag machine introduced.

"Well now they have thought about just about everything," he said then.

I think the point here is that no matter how much you think about sewing there is always something new to consider and, potentially, a new way to solve an old problem.

With just three days into the new year, here are some of my personal favourites:

1. Yoga band instead of an elastic waist. Obviously highly appropriate for yoga pants or leggings (make sure the band is sizeable, like say a cut width of at least 6 1/2" or a finished width of 3" for an adult). Would be perfect for maternity wear or those of us who have past maternity influenced waistlines.

I have mentioned in a previous post that I used this technique for Billy's jammies and can report that since the fabric I used is a good recovery cotton/lycra, they stay up very well and are super comfortable:

2. Sewing clips. I first saw these used in bag making to hold stiff and multiple layers together under the sewing machine needle when obviously mere pins wouldn't do the job. I really liked these little units when I tried them myself. I bought a ton of them for very little on Amazon and was surprised at how easy they were to remove as I sewed - I just pressed down on the top (coloured side) of the clip on the bed of the machine and kept a bowl beside me to toss them into.

In garment sewing I have found the clips super useful for sewing knits and holding them still with some strength. Elastic or neckbands (or yoga bands) for instance or just for seaming.

Here they are in action on the seam of a ponte skirt:

3. Finally, and I promised this a while ago, I tried and am sold on, Eloflex thread by Coats.

First here are my observations on this thread:

• It really is stretchy. I was surprised how much so. As a result I was concerned that winding the bobbin action and high speed sewing could extend the thread before it got to the fabric and that once there it would relax and consequently pucker the seam. Anticipating this I wound the bobbin really slowly and sewed with a slow but steady pace to prevent that from happening. This seemed to work.
• It is a slightly stiff thread, and a 2 ply that has a tendency to unwind. This made getting it into the eye of the needle a bit tricky - took 4 tries - and I was aware of a few loops as the thread approached the tension disks but these seemed to work themselves out before the seam. After much sewing I had the thread fray above the needle only once and this was after I did some start and stop sewing. Since it was only once after a lot of stitching I felt this did not outweigh the benefits of the thread, and that I could deal with this in future with some steady sewing. I am also wondering if this might be one of those threads that some machines might like more than others but really since I did my test sew on a 60 year old machine to fully test it I am not sure about this. Of course I used a knit needle for my sewing.

Here are some pictures to show how I used this thread:

Straight stitched knit hem from the outside. Kind of nice to have this as a hemming option as the straight stitch of course won't over work the fabric and produce wavy hems.

A seam in my laser cut ponte near the hem where it gets lacey. I didn't want to serge because I figured that would make the seam too obviously although I did stitch twice since I was trimming the seam allowance close.

The knit hem fully stretched out, not a stitch breaking or bubbling. A fully stretched knit hem done with a straight stitch on a vintage machine. I mean really. How cool is that?

So count me pretty impressed and on my way down to the fabric store to get more colours to take with me on my sewing travels in the rv. 

Would also be a good option I think in the needle when sewing active wear too. I am really happy to know that there is a practical option for me to sew those detail areas in knits, like a V neck, with a reliable straight stitch for precision.

So what's new to you so far this year?

New Year's resolutions and Movie Night pattern review

Well the tree is still up but the dining room table is covered now in things the spouse is considering packing into the RV. 

We will be leaving Nova Scotia in about two weeks. We are heading to Panama Beach Florida and more or less along the Gulf Coast to Texas, where we will cruise around for about a month getting to know the place the youngest son now lives in, and then west to San Francisco to do the same for the son and DIL in California.

It's pretty cold out there so we are packing warmer than usual clothes and of course a couple of months of sewing projects. When we hit the Bay area I am going to be shooting a few videos for the publisher, very homey, on some of the hints I think new sewers need to know. Hope they are braced for that. I have kind of decided to just be myself for that sort of thing and hope that makes sense to someone somewhere.

I am wondering how well I am going to go without sewing friends to talk to for nearly three months. I have even considered getting an American Sewing Guild at large membership so I can drop into a few meetings as we travel to just sit with other sewists.

For those of you who belong to the ASG does this make sense?

Back on topic.

Living in an RV brings out the inner minimalist. I know the concept of traveling this way might seem weird, certainly not something I thought I would ever do, but I really like it. 

I remember saying on a student trip to Europe years ago that I could travel forever if I could go home every night and sleep in my own bed.

It's like that with the addition of your sewing room traveling with you too. Imagine if every hotel room you ever stayed in had your pattern collection and machine in it.

There actually is a point to this.

I have made one major New Year's resolution, which I actually think I will keep because it is something I want to do anyway.

I am going to try make as many Indie patterns as I can in 2018 and review them.

Here are my reasons for doing this:

1. It will be fun
2. I will learn something new - really important to me as a sewist that I don't get limited or stuck in my familiar techniques. With sewing there is always a new idea and a different way the same thing can be done, we all know that. An example is the pattern I am going to review here.
3. A few of the patterns I have tried could do with some alternative instructions or maybe a construction technique alternative- if I see an opportunity to add information that might be helpful to the next person sewing this pattern I will do that.
4. I enjoy the stimulation of the sewing community that follows some of these pattern designers, nearly all have FB groups, and seeing their makes. This is good for my own creativity and when you are inspired, in my experience, you just should sew something.

And finally, this is too big an idea to be in a list, I want to explore new pattern designers. The ability to produce and sell .pdf patterns has revolutionized the access of design talent to the sewing community. 

I truly believe that there is a lot of talent out there and I want to meet it. I don't believe at all that the potential to create a great pattern or design can only happen on 5th Avenue. Many good ideas start on a kitchen table, late at night, or while someone naps. If anyone understands that I do.

And to quote Joseph Howe, a father of Confederation and fellow Nova Scotian,  you don't need a big field to grow a big turnip.

As an aside, just so you know,  I will pattern test if asked but I buying all patterns I am reviewing. You need to know I am being as objective as I can.

Now onto the Movie Night Pajamas.

This pattern is a free one from Sew a little seam if you join their FB page which will give you the freebie code. Note there is also an adult woman's version of this pattern available too. I am going to get that cut out soon to take with me to sew in the rv because I am anticipating some chilly nights on wheels this next month at least.

I threw together this pattern on December 24th for Mr. Billy who was yakking away about Batman jammies. I got the fabric from Fabric Crush, a Canadian online seller I highly recommend, just in time.

Of course I had already made Billy traditional flannel Christmas jammies but like all children, and most adults if they would admit it, how they felt was as important to him as the print was to me and to his mother.

He told us he didn't like the way the wide legs flapped around his feet. He is an action guy after all.

So I went searching and found the Movie Nights.

They were a particularly fast sew, which is handy when you are whipping something up the day before Christmas, with bands at both the cuff and ankles as well as the neck.

The only hem is on the top and I serged the edge and top stitched it down with a three step zig zag which, because the steps eliminate the long floating threads of the plain zig zag, and I have found to be the most durable for children's clothes - more so than my cover hem for instance.

The intriguing thing about this pattern (not illustrated because my model wouldn't stay still) is the option to replace the traditional elastic waist with a "yoga band" essentially a big wide band of Cotton lycra knit. This is a brilliant idea and one I am going to use more often.

The yoga band is of course super easy to apply, faster than the elastic, and more accommodating when you are trying to figure out what length to cut the elastic for someone you can't test on.

Billy finds it about 1000% more comfortable than an elastic waist too and it also does the job of holding up the jammies just as well.  

Where else can I use this idea?

Finally my model, Christmas morning:

Now off to cut out projects for the trip.

Handy sewing hint of the day #1

If you have been a follower of this blog for a while you know I have been on a theme about how those of us who have sewn for a while know a lot of little things that make our sewing easier, and our garments better, that newer sewers, working from patterns of varying detail don't have yet.

The difference between good and really good sewing IMO  so often lies in the number of little tricks the sewer knows, rather than some overall educational scheme.

Even now, after having sewn for at least several lifetimes, I often pick up some new trick and slap myself in the head with a "why didn't I think of that?"

When you sew it is the little things that matter, and you never stop learning.

The idea of passing on knowledge, even little bitsy bits of knowledge, has also been my mind.

At one point I thought, maybe I should write a book, but there are a lot of new general sewing books out there, and to be honest I am not going to get another one put together unless I give up my family, job, and my own sewing.

That is not going to happen. And I do suspect my mind fires too randomly for a structured book at the moment.

So I have had an idea.

This is it.

Pretty simple.

I am going to post a short little sewing hint every day until I run out of them.

This maybe next week, or maybe not.

Feel free too to send some of your own hints in and I will put them up here too.

Now most of you experienced sewers out there know more than I do, or already know many of these hints, but my intended audience are new sewers.

So in no particular order here we go:

Hint #1:

Children under the age of five tend to have inseam, hip, waist, and head size within and inch or two or each other.

I verified this when I once had to keep a whole pizza party entertained waiting for the pizza to come out and all I had to work with was a tape measure in my purse.

Why does this matters?

If you are sewing a pull over top for most children make sure the head opening is large enough. Way too often the neck openings are graded like adult clothing with the necklines smaller.

It is not unusual to have a four year old with a 21" head and a 21" inch chest. How many women do you know with 46" heads?

See how high level the information I am going to share with you is?

Another one tomorrow.

I mean that.