2009 Sewing Affirmations Review

I posted my sewing affirmations for 2009 on January 3. So how did I do?


1-Take advantage of sewing opportunities and spend more time at machine than computer. I give myself a B on this one. I still spend too much time at computer when could take advantage of sewing time. This will be an ongoing goal for me.


2-I will make some garments from BWOF since I renewed my subscription. I did make three garments (knit top, faux suede jacket, wool skirt) from BWOF; one I just completed today. I have plans to make more garments as I renewed the subscription again.


3-I will learn and use two new sewing techniques.I learned three-all involve working with or around zippers. One was sewing linings by machine to invisible zippers; the other was inserting a regular zipper with the outcome to look like an invisible zipper; the third was attaching a facing to an invisible zipper. I have used two of the three techniques on a fairly regular basis.


4-I will continue to sew for quality not quantity.I really worked on this. I really worked to have well fitting garments, seams lining up as they should, plaids or prints matching up nicely, adding linings to make the garment look and wear better, and more. I completed 23 garments for the year which was a lot less than what some others have recently noted. Not sure if the low quantity is because of this goal or because of goal 1.


5-I will make one good pair of well fitting pants. Oops! I failed this one. Did not even try though I bought two pant patterns. Maybe in 2010. RTW normally fit me just fine.


6-I will strive to use patterns more than once. I made some strides there. I made three skirts from one pattern, a couple of tank tops from a KS pattern and a few other knit tops from other TNT patterns like KS and Jalie. I also have a Simplicity dress pattern I used again for a knit dress. I have a couple of dresses in mind to sew soon and involves using a previously sewn dress pattern.


7-I will use fabric from my fabric collection more often. I think I did better with this one for 2009 but still gave in to the urge to buy more fabric which sometimes got sewn up quickly and other times not and now is aging nicely in my collection.

I have not fully thought through my goals/affirmations for 2010, some of the above, like #1 will be back on the list.

Well, it is back to work tomorrow. I have had a nice time off for holiday and vacation. Even though I did have a bout with vertigo, I was mostly able to do much of what I wanted during my time off. Later.

Learn something new

I began working again on the BWOF jacket this AM. I made considerable progress. As I posted before, I am following their "sewing course" that was included in this issue of the magazine and was written for sewing this particular jacket. As many who sew patterns from BWOF, they mention often the confusing instructions. I ran into some confusion attaching the collar band and collar to the jacket neckline and thus I got bogged down with trying to understand what I was being directed to do.

Part of the confusion in the end was not that I misunderstood what was written but the mechanics of what they were instructing the reader to do. Their method of attaching the collar/collar band to the the jacket was a completely different method from any I have used. Normally I would have attached the collar to the collar band and then attach this unit to the jacket. I would then would stitch the front and back facings together. Then I would attach the facings to the jacket. Then trim and press.

I took a photo of the collar/collar band attached per their instructions once I got my head around what they were instructing one to do. Let me say, that I missed some markings that were on the pattern when tracing. In one case, I had marked the pattern piece but was not clear as to the purpose of the mark. It become clear what this mark was for after proceeding to attach the collar/collar band and front facing. (You can click on the photo and get a larger view of this.)

Their method would have you attach the front facing piece to the front and bottom edge of the jacket; and attach the front facing to the upper neckline stopping at the "mark" that I should have made on the fabric that was on the pattern piece. They do have you attach the facing front to back, but you stop attaching this unit at the mark. They then have you sew the collar to the collar band. Next you sew the sides of the collar bands, leaving a seam allowance width to stop sewing at the bottom edge of the band. Since I used 5/8 then I stopped at the 5/8 seam allowance and left that unattached. You then sew the outer (interfaced) collar band to the facing pieces and the edge of your collar band should line up with where you stopped stitching the front facing at the neckline. The good part was that my pieces did.

Now you are ready to sew the other side of the collar band; this is stitched to the jacket. The instructions are to trim and press the seams open. Then you will line up the collar band joining edges and topstitch all of this together. I have yet to get to this step. I think I have my mind around the fact that topstitching will join all of this together and you will have a nice enclosed collarband and facing.

I recognize that I could have finished the jacket if I had done it my usual way. I could then be typing now telling you I completed my jacket and I am ready to start the next project. It was important to me me to follow this through as it is good to learn new things. That was one of my goals for 2009. I will probably not use this method again in the future. It does seem to take more sewing time to do this; especially since I had never used this method before. I am glad that I did it. I am also very proud that all the pattern pieces lined up nicely to sew this; IMHO that is sign of a well drafted pattern. Also I traced well !!!

When I do topstitch the collar band at the collar band joining edges (as they describe this area), I will not have a lot more to complete. This has been a good sewing journey.

One new technique learned

One of my sewing affirmations for 2009 was to learn at least two new sewing techniques.

As many of you know from reading here, I hate to do much hand sewing. I don't think I am very good at it; plus my right hand hurts when I do a lot of hand sewing. I have always attached my linings to zipper tape by hand. However, most of the time I just don't like the look of it when I am through.

While thumbing through the book "Easy Guide to Sewing Linings", I found a section on attaching linings to invisible zippers. Thus I tried with much success the first time when I completed the Butterick skirt recently. When finishing up the Vogue skirt, I decided to try it again. I am pleased that the results were good again. So this will become my method of choice from now on. Here are two photos showing the attached lining to visible zipper.

I sometimes ask myself why did I not know this before. I have been sewing forever. I know that no one taught this to me either and of course, did not figure it out on my own. I have found this book to be one of the most helpful books on linings and I highly suggest it to others as well.

My 2009 Sewing Affirmations

A friend and I were talking about resolutions. From that conversation, we both agreed that affirmations were meant to be more positive, as the person is affirming to do something. So I decided that I will not have sewing resolutions but sewing affirmations. So my sewing affirmations for 2009 are:

• I will take advantage of sewing opportunities when they present themselves and spend more time at sewing machine than computer.
  
• I will make some garments from BWOF; I renewed my subscription for 2009 after a two year hiatus, so I want to get my money's worth.
  
• I will learn and use at least two new sewing techniques.
  
• I will continue to sew for quality not quantity.
  
• I will make one pair of good fitting pants.
  
• I will strive to use patterns more than once, develop some TNT's. (As my sewing friend Carolyn has noted this does increase productivity as the pattern has been perfected for fit and will still allow for creativity.)
  
• I will use fabric from my fabric collection (stash) more often during 2009.