V8882 Green Skirt & Invisible Zipper Tutorial

I made the same skirt as before. With the pink one I did it with Mastermind and now that we have thousands of miles between us I cannot resume my class with her. To ensure I was paying attention I did this one all by myself.

I always go through the clearance section of fabric and got this green fabric for a killer price. :D Since I didn't have to buy a new pattern but use the old one I saved money that way. It turned out really well and I did get stuck at parts but luckily I have this blog with posts on how to do stuff. The pleats made me pause then I was like, "Oh yeah check the blog!" Then I was on my happy way.

I have also learned that the more you iron the better the product. I hated ironing with a passion when I started sewing because it felt like the most unproductive thing. But now I just put on a podcast or movie and iron away. :D

I am going to add some embroidery along the hem in a ivy leaf pattern. I haven't figured it out completely but I post that as well when it is finished. What I forgot to post about was how to do the invisible zipper.

Invisible Zipper Tutorial

1. Sew 1/2 inch from edge of fabric from top of fabric to bottom markings to where it is supposed to end.

2. Iron edge flat then lay the back flat and separate the edges apart from each other and iron really well.

3. Pin the zipper to where you think you want it situated on the back. Then flip it over and see if the bottom of the zipper is aligned with the bottom of the zipper markings.

4. Once you have it figured out pin it really well and make sure the zipper is aligned to the small gap between the folded fabric edges.

5. Now that it is ready move your needle to the farthest it will go to the side of your zipper foot. It took some messing around the sewing machine for me to figure out how to do it on my machine.

6. Now take a scrap of fabric and run it as practice under the machine to make sure it is doing okay.

7. If the needle is on the far right I want the zipper foot pressed as close as possible to the left side of the zipper and make sure the zipper tab is flipped up or it will cause a bulge farther down the zipper. And sew downward then once you have reached the bottom with the needle in the fabric turn the fabric so that you are going to cross over the zipper. But DO NOT sew over the metal piece of the zipper because that will break your needle. Sew across and back then lift off the needle and cut your threads.

8. Same as 7 but you should have the needle to that farthest on the left pushing the right side of the zipper against it. Also go across at the bottom then snip the threads.

9. It should look like this. Once you are satisfied with your zipper undo the basting of the two edges in the middle.

10. Voila! Any questions or if I missed anything please don't hesitate to comment. The point of this is to guide others and then whenever I want to look back on how to do things.

           -Mrs. Feisty

Skirt Finished!

I wore it to an interview and I didn't have my hair done yet so that's why it isn't fancy. Anyways it is so cute! I picked up some light green fabric from Joann's to make another one with that isn't as transparent.

It is so much fun to wear as well when it's windy because it whips everywhere. The most difficult part of the skirt for me was hand stitching the waist band to the skirt. I was nervous about the pleats in the front but when Mastermind showed me how to do it I wasn't so scared anymore.

I got really stuck up about the zipper because I wanted it to look perfect. you see I did the zipper with mastermind and then I ripped it out because I was confused how some pieces were supposed to get together then I hulked out and ripped out every seam of the skirt we had done.

She saw it in shambles and nearly beat me. I didn't blame her. After ripping out all the seams I ate like 7 smores and some ice cream. Then I nearly cried and read a book. I was confused on some parts were being put together because I cut out the wrong front piece for the pattern.

So I cut out the right piece and sewed it all back together. And tada! :D I will try to get better pictures uploaded. I am entertaining an idea of making my own form to drape my work on so that it doesn't keep getting folded or thrown on stuff. Have any of you done that before? Below is a tutorial if you are interested.

                            Mrs. Feisty

Making your own dress form.
Do's and Don't for a dress form.

V-Neck Shirt

I will upload pics when I get home. However, I have everything done except the hem and sleeves.

I had misunderstood Mastermind's instructions and ended up getting lost.

I wasn't lost technically but you see I had this idea. What I imagined she said was that I had to sew the collar from front to back and it worked fine in one direction but not the other. So I tried sewing backwards. :D That is right; I sewed in reverse. :D




It did not go well as you can see (will upload later). But I was also curious if I could do it. It is not my super power but I am sure there is someone out there with it. :D

The shirt has a v-neck and Mastermind normally does round neck and so we were unsure if there is a right or wrong way to do it and it turned out fine. If you have any information if there is a right or highly effective way to do a v-neck please comment. :D
                                       -Mrs. Feisty

"Oops I did it Again!"

You can't hate the bad 90's pun there. :D

Check out this lovely thing right here. I was busy cutting out my pieces when there seemed to be a lost line. I know what I usually do to lines like this; that is cut them.

Looking at the piece's I couldn't figure how it would benefit, so I texted Mastermind but it got garbled and I took a risk.

Well, bad move on my part. You see this is the neck line and you are not supposed to cut a line in it but rather mark it for the seam point. Ah. That's okay we remedied it by taking the v lower which will still stay at a modest dip thank goodness. Can't get too crazy yet. ;)

On a happy note I used up my first little needle box! :D I thought of keeping it but it would only take up space I could use towards more: needles, thread, lace, etc. So I am dedicating this post to my little milestone instead. It has taken a few projects to get through them all but I figured it out. :D

V-Neck Shirt Update

Don't we all hate moments like this. I mean you look in the mirror and realize there is too much fabric and too little in other places.

Upon discovering how to tailor clothes and remake the patterns to my  shape I have discovered that my right shoulder is lower than my left. Who knew! The amazing things we discover each day.

If I had been left ignorant of this knowledge I could have caused a funny pucker, fold, or weird stretch as our lovely example is showing off. I would like to thank the people of Wal Mart for their great fashion don't examples. :D

We got everything sewn except for the arms which I have been waiting on and the edges. I want to focus heavily on the arms because I hear this causes many headaches. Enjoy your week and I will see you next Thursday.
                     
                 -Mrs. Feisty

V-Neck Shirt for Star Wars Pants

Well, I had hoped to finish most of it yesterday but sadly I was trying to bake rolls and sew at the same time. (Not the brightest idea I've ever had.)

 

Shirt A is our goal. :D We can do it! We will make the sleeves shorter though because after cutting them out and laying the pattern piece against my arm it seemed rather long. Better to have more fabric than not enough.

 

Silly me! So I did get everything cut out, marked, and aligned to be sewn together and I wasn't paying attention while sewing; it wasn't feeding through but pulling it beneath the dogs and amounting to a thread and fabric mountain.

In this picture I had already tamed a bit of the beast but I will tackle it more on Saturday or Sunday.

Such a hard lesson to learn. :/ But I have had fun learning more about my sewing machine such as what North is on it. I was tempted to draw a compass on it but I figured not. Also, I have learned it takes a lot of effort to get a true 1/4 inch seam.

I had to measure from where the needle is to where I need the fabric to follow. I placed some yellow tape on my sewing plate to help. I cannot figure out how to make my needle move left or right which will have to be discovered eventually but my current research came up blank.

No worries I can still manage the 1/4 seam it was just interesting how involved it had to be. :) I rocked out to Eminem, Beethoven, and 80's rock while sewing & baking. Enjoy your Easter weekend!

                                             Mrs. Feisty

Star Wars Pajamas!

Woohoo! :D

I am so glad to have finished the darn pajamas pants. What, a month later?

Well you see I work two jobs and Mastermind is a full time mom so between our schedules it gets tough. But we iron things out. :D Bwahahaha bad pun. 

I am accompanied by our cat "Boo" he is a very serious cat and takes his image to a silly level. 

I ended up having to reinforce the back seam because even though we added more fabric it wasn't enough. Hahahahaha.

Next is the PJ shirt which is a simple V-neck with short sleeves and long torso. I love long shirts it relieves so much worry of showing off the unmentionables. :/

My hubby now wants Star Wars PJ's. I still have to finish his bath robe. . . . I'll get on it maybe Sunday. You'll find out! :D

-Mrs. Feisty

Batman Pajamas!

These are my favorite pajama bottoms ever! They are so comfy and Batman style. :D

Mastermind said I did a fabulous job! :D Woop! woop!

Batman looks so awesome! After all my mess ups I am glad I still finished the project. I learned a lot. Now the Star Wars ones are not featured yet because when I bent down to grab the cat it ripped in the back. Oops. Lol. So I have to fix and reinforce that area. We are making the knit top for the Star Wars pants. Next week we won't have class because it is Spring Break! :D 

I will post about my progress on the Star Wars pants and shirt. Hope you enjoy your week. Thank you for all your support and cheery comments! :D

-Mrs. Feisty

Pajamas Pattern Part 2

Why is there a ruler on my pattern piece? Fantastic question! We need to be sure that the pattern stays  aligned so we can measure from the edge to the grain (7.5 inches above) to make sure it doesn't get tilted. 

     Once the measurements on both sides of the grain line match you can pin them then pin as close to the edge as possible at all corners and sides preventing the fabric from being cut in a choppy fashion. 

     Because I chose a patterned fabric I had to insure that it was properly aligned so that it wouldn't look cadywompus on me. As you see in the picture she showed me how to conserve fabric. 

     Mastermind achieves this by having the fabric underneath stick out farther than the one on top. Make the fold and selvage as close to the edges of your piece as possible. That way we have smallest pieces for scrap and can have bigger left overs. :D 

Question Answered by Mastermind

How can you tell you have good or high quality fabric?

     -Well it depends on where you go and it comes with practice. Wally's World is not going to have top of the line fabric but they do have high quality once in a while. I wouldn't mind going there for pajamas but not for a prom dress. 

     Mrs. Ann's  is middle quality. It has a lot of bad, good, and high quality because they carry so much. An easy way to tell is by checking if the cut of the fabric on the bolt matches the grain line. If it doesn't don't touch it. If it was initially cut incorrectly for a bolt your are going to fight it the whole time and there will be a pucker. 

<--------Lets avoid this .

Continuation of explanation: 

     You also have to understand that here in America sewing is expensive and a hobby so you gotta cut your coupons and watch the sales to buy from the high quality stores in your area. High quality stores are stores that only carry fabric. (I have find such a place!) 

     So I did that today I went to the store with my coupons in hand and took advantage of some sales. ;) I'll share my haul later. :D 

                         -Mrs. Feisty

P.S. Seems like we didn't accomplish much but I learned a lot. Next week we will be busting out the sewing machine! :D Woop! Woop!

Pajamas Pattern Part 1

"I can teach you everything you want to learn." - Mastermind

This is where my mind went as she finished her sentence. Just a few examples of some things I would like to have. :D

I love dresses! This is a simple one that I just love. Its modest, well I would bring up the fabric farther in the front. The color pops so well against her skin and hair color. 

Okay, back to business. Mastermind laid down some rules for our lessons. We work on the pajamas together and I experiment with patterns and sewing at home. Woohoo! With a catch of course. My experiments have to reflect the concepts I have learned in our lessons and cannot get too complicated. 

I have this tendency to bite off more than I can chew and Mastermind does well at keeping me in check. :D 

Now that we have our fabric in hand we have to follow these steps to ensure success: 

1. Wash and dry your fabric. (Sounds silly but no one wants it to shrink after you spent the time creating a master piece.)

2. Iron the fabric. Every inch! No cheating people. We want the fabrics to 'set' back together and it will help make our measurements and cuts accurate. 

3. Have someone measure you. Here is a good guide to follow the directions and make sure you are standing straight up! http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-get-your-body-measurements.html 

4. Compare your measurements compared to the pattern. After Mastermind took my measurements we discovered that McCalls upped me to a size 14. *Serious scowl. (I'll rant about it later)

5. Cut out the pieces from your pattern that you need then iron them at medium heat. 

6. Pin your pieces together to try it to see how it fits against your body. We had to make some adjustments because I needed the width of a size 14 but I am only 5'4. :)

7. Make adjustments as needed based on where your curves are at. :) 

Trying it on.

That is as far as we got in an hour and a half but we had to make a lot of adjustments because I am short but curvy. Plus the waistline for the pattern goes to where your real waist is at and not at your hips where I like to wear my pants. 

Then we accidentally cut off too much from the top and had to go back and add onto it. It was fun but I learned A LOT! 

Soap Box Time

Now, I told you I would rant about this. ;) I thought that working with patterns would relieve me about the sizes I wear. On the contrary I'm not feeling any love from the fashion world for my size. I am 5 '4 and weigh 135 pounds. 

Not many woman are open about their weight but I don't care so much because I like the way I look. That is right! I LIKE THE WAY I LOOK! Am I considered overweight by the doctor, fashionistas, shallow men, and snarky women? Yup. But it's my body and I like it. :D

 I am a normal person and the truth is that everyone has curves, but they are in different places. The other problem is that we don't always know how to dress our curves because we see them dress only a few body types or bodies that have so little weight you can't find their curves. Bwahahahaha. :D 

So I will try not to pay attention to the sizes if you will to. :) What is my size then? Well . . . lets just go with gorgeous! ;) What's yours?

                                                                             By: Mrs. Feisty