by Dave | Dec 10, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Fashion, Inspiration, Lucy's Sewing Lab
WHO, WHAT, WEAR is my fall back for fashion trend. I love that site, it inspires me. It drives me to do better. It makes me understand fashion. Sew what is not the actual name. The actual website is called WHO, WHAT, WEAR. I use this website as a sounding board when deciding what clothing I want to make and the articles of clothing I’ll skip! Let’s take a look……………
The most recent trend they discussed …… “the most expensive looking skinny jeans”. This is VALUABLE information for people like us who sew our clothing. I look at the article and take note then combine the little details into my me made jeans. The list on the website includes:
- high-waisted fit
- dark wash
- the right fit for your body
- high waist seems to be the most flattering on all body types
Top Trends of the moment
- Layering- turtlenecks and jackets under coats
- Tuck Your Joggers Into Your Boots
- Pair a Knit With a Chunky Sweater (push up the sleeves of the chunky sweater to show off the other style
- Jean jackets layered under coats, sweater dresses, and more
- Distressed leggings?
I LOVE (and the website agrees)
- Full sleeves- I’ve been doing this a few years. It’s quite simple. Start with a 3/4 sleeve and add enough length to make it a long sleeve by using gathered fabric. EASY PEASY
- Experimental denim- I keep a bin with outgrown jeans to use for fabric. I love patchwork jeans! Use your normal pattern. Place scraps in randomly….very on trend.
- Sweatsuits! Go stay at home mom in public and be fashionable.
- Leopard print was listed as the trend that we will still be wearing in 20 years! In case you are not old enough to remember 20 years ago……I assure you animal print was very hot!
- Plaid….plaid….plaid….if you have no idea where to start your fabric collection, begin here! Plaid is a mainstay for all seasons and versatile enough to become a dress, skirt, top, or pants!
ENJOY your fabric collecting and sewing up some of these amazing on trend pieces!
by Dave | Jun 30, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Experimentation, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Reviews, Tools and Technique
So it seemed like to me it’s been a while since I’ve done a review.
Tutorials
Tutorials, what a great topic to do reviews. The Internet definitely has a vast assortment of websites for sewing tutorials. But, just because there is a large variety does not mean they are all equally fulfilling your needs when learning to sew. Everyone can go on YouTube search and videos of sewing tutorials. That’s one way to get started.
You can just look at about.com to learn about sewing. Wikipedia will tell you about sewing, sewing machines, searchers scissors everything you need to know. But without a really good tutorial site to guide you through or hands on training, learning the art of sewing is not exactly easy. There are lots of methods from cutting up tee shirts for patterns, e patterns, and the old stand by paper patterns. Everyone eventually finds their way in or around sewing. When I started sewing again I just sewed. I sewed lines, curves, pillows, pockets, things like that just to get back in the groove. Moving on to patterns, the real deal I used some of the sites below.
Some of my Personal Favorites
When I first started sewingI discovered Melly! Her site is amazing, she covers it all! Those projects will keep anyone busy for quite some time. Have fun sewing, cut up clothing from the thrift store and make something new, it doesn’t matter always how the project turns out. It’s great to have fun.
Threads magazine is another great tutorial they focus more on fit and technique. Their series, “Teach yourself to Sew” benefits the beginner.
Craftsy is a great place to go, they have both free and paid tutorials.
Tutorials for Appliqué Templates and Designs and tons of other fun projects abound. She has pages and pages of fun projects. The sewing machine needs you to mess with it, and that is what her site is about sewing a little of this and a little of that. She has a great whimsical area on her website, So Can She .
One day I found an overwhelming amount of information. If that is what you are looking for, All FREE sewing is your new home. All free sewing is an example of a wonderful tutorial site, they take you from objects they don’t have to be sewn all the way through bridal wear.
Melly’s tutorials are wonderful! She is thorough, imaginative, and can get you through pretty much anything.I like the way her site is set out, the site is easy to read easy-to-follow and includes email for subscriptions.
Of course Pinterest has tons ideas tutorials and such the one I use the most is Colette. She has authored a few books that I enjoyed reading as well.
![The Next Level]()
by Dave | Jun 24, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Experimentation, Fitting, Knit Tips, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Tools and Technique
I design a lot of my clothing, I’ve been dying to take my designing to the next level with a dress form! Constant trying on, next running to the mirror, next adjusting, next ripping seams, next sewing seams, next, next next, it takes for EVER! Then when you THINK your garment is ready you try it on…..NEXT what the is the fit? Do I want to portray this look? People see me everywhere I go. Do I feel good wearing clothing I should hide? See the problem? A dress form takes care of the guess and next work.
So, what’s really NEXT?
Learning the ebb and flow of threads combined to create the fabric chosen for the garment. It’s easier once on the dress form to define how the fabric reacts to movement, wrinkling, , and how it generally lays against a 3 D object, eventually your body.
A really cool part about a dress form is examining the look of the garment on something that is three dimensional. Hangers cannot make clothing look good. If they could, the body consciousness in America would not exist to the extent at present. I recommend shopping around before deciding on and purchasing a dress form. Also studying up on the dress form you purchase is a great idea. I went with brand name only. I should have visited this instead.
Singer does it for me again! I don’t like the color, but I’m creative, I can recover it to match my studio. I love that it’s so completely adjustable. I found this one at Amazon. The features are wonderful. All of the below information is excerpted from Amazon. I am not an affiliate.
13 key adjustments (bust, waist, hips, neck/back) provide a perfect fit
Height adjustment lets you customize the dress form to your height in a snap
Foam-Backed fabric exterior allows you to easily pin dresses, skirts, tops and patterns
Four leg metal base for extra durability and added stability
Pin cushion with key holder provides convenient storage for pins and adjustment key
In my own opinion, this dress form is pretty generous in range of size. I like that the dress forms size changes with the twist of a knob. The foam backing is a dream for any designer or seamstress. I’ll follow up with a real life experience as soon as I get the chance to enjoy it.
I’ve figured it out, I used a chop stick to adjust the size. Important tip that could change your life!
by Dave | Apr 30, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Tools and Technique
The Serger
I’ve been reading, and reading, and reading about the this toy/machine. I read so much I decided I can’t live without one. So, I purchased this beautiful piece of machinery. [envira-gallery slug=”juke-serger”] I threaded it, on my own, and actually sewed some old Levi jeans as a test run. Do not try to sew over the seams. I broke my needle and to replace it, which I’m working on right now; you have to use the teeniest allen wrench known to man.
I would recommend getting a Bachelor’s degree in sewing with a serger before doing anything fancy. While studying I found you some really great sites:
Crocheting with Your Serger This is a bit advanced, but since it’s my favorite I had to post it first.
How to unpick Serger Stitches I promise, this is the best part of owning one!
Gathering on a Serger Some sites tell you how many feet you need for your already expensive machine. This one does NOT!
Four Signs you should Invest in a Serger
Flat locking One of my very favorite posts!
MUST Print I promise, you will be so thankful you printed this. Every word you need to know, and it is FREE, well expect for the ink and paper.
Best Stitch Guide EVER
TEN best Serger Tips
National Serger month Great make and takes and wonderful advice.
Please before you embark upon this journey, read up on the machine and make it less scary. This list is less intimidating than you may believe at first. Just relax and soon it will be your friend and you will wonder how you ever made anything without this machine. Do not listen to those telling you how many feet are needed to properly use this machine. I promise there are ways around everything.
by Dave | Apr 7, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Lucy's Sewing Lab
I had no idea how easy it was to learn to sew learning from your television. The longest running show Nancy Zieman is on PBS for learning to sew. I have apple TV. There is a choice for PBS television. It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS. Fit to Stitch is on the channel but, an easier way to watch this show is to use You Tube, which is also tv compatible. The video series with Peggy Sagers is complete on the Fit to Stitch YouTube channel. It’s incredible the topics that are covered in this show. I’ve listed just a fraction of the topics covered.
Another great TV tool for learning to sew is the It’s Sew Easy Sewing show on PBS as well as the videos the videos are on Vimeo and located on the site is a chart
by Dave | Mar 7, 2016 | Beginner Tips, Blog, Lucy's Sewing Lab, Tools and Technique
Color Theory (history of fashion)
Not the most entertaining part of creating apparel, but the most crucial when designing and sewing garments.[envira-gallery id="2923"]
[envira-gallery slug="primary-colors"]
- Can you believe the first color wheel was invented by associating each color with a note one a musical scale? This was accomplished by Newton.
- 100 years later psychological studies began on the effects on colors.
- Goethe divided the psychological effects of colors into two groups.
*Plus side (red, orange, yellow) colors producing cheerfulness and excitement
*Minus side (green, violet, blue) colors of weakness and unsettled feelings.
THE REAL DEAL (COLOR RULES)
- Any two colors opposite each other are harmonious.
- Colors spaced around the wheel forming a triangle, or rectangle are also harmonious.
- Color schemes——also known as harmonies remain so no matter what the rotation angle is.
BASIC COLOR SCHEMES[envira-gallery id=”2926″]
- Monochromatic Color Scheme-The use of color tints and saturations of one color.
- Analogous Color Scheme– This color scheme uses colors next to each other with one color ore dominate to enhance the color scheme.
- Complementary Color Scheme- One of the most used schemes, the colors are opposite each other on the wheel. This scheme is used best with a cool color with a warm color.
- Split Complementary Color Scheme- Uses three colors. One color is chosen as well as the two adjacent to the first color, providing a high contrast.
Triadic Color Scheme
The triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the color wheel. The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious.
Tetradic (Double Complementary) Color Scheme
The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary color pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four hues are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a color to be dominant or subdue the colors.
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-theory-basics.html
