by Dave | Jun 13, 2015 | Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Reviews
I’ve been ultra busy! Sew much going on here, remodeling the hubby’s music studio, my sewing studio, and living in total CHAOS! Sew, I haven’t done a review in awhile. I have been studying like mad though. This sewing business is something else. It seems the less you know the more you sew. Seriously! When I did not know about fitting, altering, adjusting, and sew on and sew on, I mass produced clothing. Yeah, I really did. I’m kinda embarrassed to say, some of that clothing I gave as presents. People loved the presents though! It must not have been that bad, right? I think they are just super nice people and didn’t want to tell me. haha!
While I’ve been, not blogging, I’ve been reading a lot of other blogs! Earlier this year, I posted my list of best sewing blogs. They are still great blogs. I’ve exposed myself to so many more now, and that was just March! WOW…it really is mind boggling, the quality of sewing blogs. Lately, I’ve become obsessed with the perfect fit and vintage everything sewing. It reminds me so much of growing up and sitting next to my grandma while she sewed. I recently found a book, the exact book she had in her sewing room. Amazon has some of the vintage books in electronic format.
This Simplicity book is the one I am really interested in now. It just brings me warm fuzzies!
While surfing the web, is surfing still a thing? Anyway, I found the most extensive list so far for Sewing blogs as rated by the blogger. Madalynne has her list of sewing blogs in cool categories. [envira-gallery id="883"]
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I love it! There are categories for most inspirational, best bra maker, funniest, best tutorials, and tons more! I love that her list is so extensive. I could spend a few months working my way through that list. Not to shortchange her, because her own blog is spectacular! While you are surfing sewing blogs or Amazon for vintage goodies, ENJOY!
by Dave | Jun 7, 2015 | Blog, Fitting, Lucy's Sewing Lab
WOW! What a different world sewing is when you begin to use muslins. I never had any idea they were so helpful. I thought they were a pain in the bootie. Seriously, who wants to sew the same garment twice? No one has that much time, do they? Essentially, without realizing it, I was sewing the same garment twice, three times, maybe four just to get the right fit. UGH what a waste of money! Muslins should be the first commandment of sewing. I have no idea why they don’t teach you this in home ec. Well, my home ec class didn’t teach me this.
I recently sewed my first dress muslin. No biggie right? Then I had the nerve to post it in a Facebook group and ask their opinions. Yeah…that was a true eyeopener. In a good way though, seriously. I learned quite a bit. My most important critique was of the photo itself. I had no idea the picture really mattered.
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Guess, what? It REALLY matters. I’ve given you a graphic to look at for proof. These were all comments after I posted. Well, except the part about not smiling. I figured that out on my own. If you smile, people think you believe you created a masterpiece or something. Not true, I smile. I smile, all. the. time. I did not wear the proper bra, this severely altered the look of the fit. I couldn’t find mine, it was late at night. My hands are on my hips for obvious reasons. Hands on your hips make you look thinner. This is a no no, because of my hands being on my hips it hides the true fit of the dress. Oh, and I also did not press the dress. I really did not care, but as you can see it makes a huge difference. The skirt kinda looks wonky. I’ll cover the adjustments suggested in another post. While you are sewing, whatever it is you are sewing, ENJOY!
by Dave | Jun 4, 2015 | Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Studio
The most fun I have had remodeling my studio is the decorating part. Let's admit it, wall decor is expensive! Plus, I couldn't really find what I wanted to use. What's a girl to do who wants studio decor on the cheap? Of course, make her own! What? I want something cool, not homemade! One day while surfing my groups on Facebook, I saw where someone had sewn a retro pattern. DING, DING, DING! I could purchase retro patterns on Ebay! Not really so cheap. Pretty cheap, but I wanted cheaper!
Shazam! I can use the pictures of the patterns. Hmmmm…..time for a visit to Pinterest. I created a pretty good size board.
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Then, I saved the images I wanted to print. You can do this by right clicking and select save image. Next, I imported them into my Walgreens account.
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They have a great deal on 4×5 prints. The Dollar Tree is my one stop shop for picture frames for my studio decor on the cheap.
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These turned out really good and look amazing in my Studio.
I think next I’ll use Vogue magazine covers and create 8×10 photos too! [envira-gallery id="827"]
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Whatever you do, or however you decorate, ENJOY!
by Dave | May 30, 2015 | Blog, Fitting, Lucy's Sewing Lab
I’ve been surfing the net lately looking at perfect fitting patterns. Muslin is always the answer. Don’t you just hate that? In order to attain the perfect fit, one must sew twice. UGH! Well, I at least try, sometimes, to use a fabric I may want to wear? Usually not though. I’ve wasted so much fabric not making muslins that now I am not about to sew new patterns without making a muslin first.
Okay, so, in my wonderful internet adventures I have discovered some really good sewing sites. One in particular, from the UK has a great solution to fit. This site uses a pretty no nonsense approach, basically, if it doesn’t fit, fix it! I love it!! It’s such common sense, if you are short, make it shorter. If you are tall, make it longer. If you are big, make it bigger and if the fit is too big, make it smaller.
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Those are the easy adjustments. For those of us that have bodies not conforming to the ideals of pattern companies, Craftsy has an entire section on fit. The tutorials they have are easy enough for a beginner to follow. Crafty has a wonderful perfect fit tutorial about fitting the pattern before the first cut. That is something I can use for sure! I cannot imagine the time I would save! Right now, their tutorials are half off as well. I hope no matter what you do while sewing, you ENJOY!
by Dave | May 30, 2015 | Blog, Experimentation, Lucy's Sewing Lab
I know, I said I would finish this the next day. I am sorry I didn’t make it back to do that. I was working on some sewing of my own. Yes, I used my sewing hacks. I always hem everything before assembling! Honestly, the method I mentioned of putting sleeves into shirts….why would I use any other method? When it works, why fix it? So, we have knits and fitting left to discuss don’t we?
Well, I thought I was much more experienced in these two topics prior to a few searches on the internet. As I’ve mentioned before, I cut my sewing needles on knits in the 80’s. I grew up in the country and didn’t want to waste my precious money on the 30 minute drive to the store to buy cool clothes for a Saturday night, Wednesday, Monday, any night! At that time the cut up tee-shirt look was in full force. Sewing a knit dress with the back cut down to there was not really a big deal. Plus, it didn’t use much fabric either. LOL [envira-gallery id="792"]
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The first hack I learned was knit does not ravel! Yay! Wooo hoooo……it’s like Christmas everyday! You do not have to hem it unless it’s the look you want. Casual dresses and tops can stand on their own, without hemming. The leopard print top above isn’t hemmed anywhere, neckline, sleeves, or bottom. It is a rayon blend, so that helps. Knits with more spandex tend to curl. If that works with your look, more power to you! Save time!
Fitting hacks are a whole new ballgame. I worked super hard on making a full bootie (butt) adjustment. Beginners luck, it worked perfectly! Then, I could not make it work again for anything! I found a great tutorial on the internet. The seam alteration method, basically the extra fabric is added on the top seam. It really does work, I am sure I was just concentrating too hard the second time I did it. Because, the first time worked like a charm.
The most useful hack I’ve found for pants fitting is to use a different pattern. Not all patterns fit each individual body type. Well, whether, you are making dresses, t shirts, or pants please make sure you ENJOY!
