Simple Sofa Pillows - Singer Sewing for the Home

No, not more garment sewing but some necessary and long overdue home sewing.

In 2016, I created two custom slipcovers for a 62" wide octagonal ottoman we use for a coffee table, one in a wipeable vinyl and another in upholstery fabric. Before 2021 arrives, I have now finished the matching sofa pillows in that same subtle green, brown, teal, and orange Ikat print upholstery fabric. (Let's just say I have a little problem with procrastination, ok?)

Sewing for the Home (1988)

It wasn't difficult because I had the help of my first Singer Sewing Reference Library book, Sewing for the Home. My favorite method for covering pillows is their version that has an overlap closure. 

So easy, so elegant, so quick! If you don't have this book, there is a very similar tutorial from So Much Better With Age. I also found one by The Crafting Nook that uses one piece of fabric, simplifying the process.

I could have used a ruler and measured the 17" x 17" front and 17" x 22-1/2" back pieces right on the fabric. Instead, I created one paper pattern measuring 17" x 22-1/2," which at full size I could cut the pillow back. By folding it under at the 17" line, I could also cut the pillow front. Therefore, one pattern could be used for both parts.

During construction, I reinforced all the stress points by double stitching at each corner and the overlap area, knowing that these pillows would need to be hardworking. I then steamed every seam and pressed them with a clapper to create flat crisp edges.

This is a great way to change your decor quickly and cheaply; it takes less than two yards per typical couch accent pillow. An added bonus is that if you chose only machine-washable fabrics, spills are no longer a problem if you move quickly.

Spending My Time Wisely When Sick

Over the last few weeks I've been fuzzy-headed, coughing, and congested with a long bout of sinusitis. Not being able to concentrate most of that time, I spent my non-working hours watching a lot of TV and reading a few books. Here are the ones I enjoyed, you should check them out.

TV* 

Difficult People a Hulu Original Series

Lark Rise to Candleford

Playing House (USA)

Odd Mom Out (BravoTV)

Agatha Christie's Marple - loving this one, 23 episodes!

Music

The Civil Wars = which I listen to in large doses before the dark imagery and atmosphere gets to me and I must seek out something fun and happy.




To experience the dark side of southern love, you can also check out their Civil Wars, Barton Hollow, and The Civil Wars: Unplugged on VH1. It's amazing to believe this duo met, gained fame, and crashed in less than four years, 2009-2012.

Books

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (also a motion picture with Charlize Theron)

In The Woods by Tana French (part of the Dublin Murder Squad series)

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (also a BBC series)

* Streamed through Hulu

What I'm Liking Right Now...

*Hulu's vast selection of British situation comedies and dramas that are FREE to view. I have been binge-watching one after another. Right now, I am watching Fresh Meat about uni (college) students in group housing. It has some great laughs, some great characters (Vod, Howard, Sabine) but its rampant promiscuity or lack of awareness when in comes to sex kicks off my "old woman on porch'" or the GET OFF MY LAWN! genes. The story has a "will they, won't they" couple who can not stop sleeping with other people. Arrgggh!

Past series I've watched on free Hulu and now highly recommend: Miranda, The Wrong Mans, Moone Boy, The IT Crowd, manstrokewoman (Man/Woman), Scott & Bailey, and the animated genius of Stressed Eric.


*Heather's hilarious recaps of "I Want To Marry Harry" (she watches - so I don't have to!) on GoFugYourself.com. Besides her observations on some of the most clueless American women, she also points out signs that the show is produced very cheaply despite having to portray the lifestyle of someone who is fourth in line for the crown of England! Her recaps are so good, I'm sometimes tempted to actually watch the show. Not.


*Library books to read, if I can ever stop watching Hulu:

The Truth About Style by Stacy London of  TLC's "What Not To Wear"
Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington, the creative director of Vogue magazine.
The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan (a non-fiction book about her life before and after The Joy Luck Club).\

Coconut shell purse detail

*The most gorgeous coconut shell handbag for $40 seen for sale at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, of all places! The purse (# 453805) isn't on their website anymore but you can see a similar coconut bead belt they sell here. I have never seen a handbag in person and wanted it like this. Ever. In a magazine spread yes, but never in a store. Except for the cloth ones I've made, my purses were all gifts. I've bought briefcase-like bags and totes but never a pretty handbag for myself. This one had short enough straps that it could be worn on the shoulder and nestles up under the arm perfectly, it was the perfect size.  I just got a job but I have no justification for buying it and really nowhere to wear it. Man, it was beautiful! Update: Weeks later, it went on sale...I bought it.

Book Review: Sewing Lingerie (1991)

As part of the Singer Reference Library, the Sewing Lingerie book from 1991 covers lingerie construction from fabric, lace, and elastic selection to how to construct beautifully detailed custom lingerie.

For the lace instructions covers lace overlays, appliqué, motif matching, and lace insertion techniques. I was amazed by how thorough and extensive the information all presented with step-by-step photos. While I lack the motivation or inclination to make my own lingerie past simple knit underwear, this book should be all that is desired for anyone else to take on the task. Other things included are how to cut woven fabric on the bias and takes you through the construction of basic bikini briefs to slips, tap pants, teddies, dressy robes, kimonos, and flannel-lined silk robes.

For a more thorough review, check out this one by Renee from Miss Celie's Pants.

The fact that the book is long out-of-print should not be a negative. Though the book can still be found in some local libraries, the book can also be found through numerous Internet booksellers. I purchased two other volumes of this Singer series (The Perfect Fit and Sewing Pants That Fit) from Alibris.com for only $.99 each! Though I might not see myself using this book to its fullest, I will probably locate and purchase a copy just for the individual techniques. Therefore, I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: Sewing With Knits (1992)

Sewing With Knits (1992) is part of the brilliant Singer Sewing Reference Library series and covers construction of knit garments from A to Z. The book explains fabric types, care, how to select the right elastic and all the seam finishes you would want to know in order to make your garments look professional, there are no wavy seams here!

Some of the things covered in this volume:

• How to sew knits, from interlock to stretch velvet to two-way stretch fabrics
• Eight different ways for finishing necklines (p.36-45)
• Create perfect knit plackets and welt pockets (p.76-79)
• Five different elastic waistband treatments (p. 90-95)
• Construct neat and tidy buttonholes using fusible web (p. 109)
• Blocking sweater knits (p. 20)
• Dealing with knits fabric that have nap such as velvet, velour, stretch terry (p.104-105)

Two really cool tips too good to keep secret:

• The best overlock thread colors to have are not neccessarily black and white, look what can be accomplished with just an off-white, gray/taupe and a rosy shade of red (p. 23)
• Lining the knee area to prevent baggy knees in knit pants (p. 60-1)

In addition, a special section on swimsuits and leotards (pages 112-123) shows how to:

• Adjust paper patterns for swimsuit torso adjustments
• Apply elastic or elastized binding
• Create partial linings for swimsuits
• Constrict bandeau top linings with or without bra cups
• Produce professional elastized straps

Last but not least, I am again impressed with how well all the information is presented with clear step-by-step photos.

This book is long out-of-print but can be easily found on Etsy, eBay, and used book sellers like Alibris.com and Amazon. If you're lucky, you can also find it in your local library like I did but I think you will probably do better to get your own copy. Watch out for overpriced copies though, I've seen them listed for far over $20(!) when I found my own copies of other volumes in this series (The Perfect Fit and Sewing Pants That Fit) for only 99 cents each! Don't get hoodwinked. I highly recommend this book and now that I have read five books in the series, I will be looking out for the rest of them too.*

*Tailoring (1988), Sewing Activewear (1987), are a few I am interested in.

Book Review: Wordbirds by Liesl Schillinger

A few weeks before my big move, Simon & Schuster sent me a newly published book, Wordbirds: An Irreverent Lexicon for the 21st Century (2013) by Liesl Schillinger and illustrated by Eliza Zechel. The book is a little over 200 pages.

It is written as a dictionary, complete with phonetic transcription and part of speech, that examines the concept of Wordbirds = word combinations creating a new word with a new meaning and then illustrated by a bird-related image. The images are delicate and in the cataloging style of bird watching journals

Goods one such as:

• Hyperscentilate (v.) To apply too much perfume, surrounding yourself in a thick, aromatic mist that causes people to choke, sneeze, and cough, (p. 8).
• Shoeicide (n.) The act of destroying your feet by deliberately wearing shoes you suspect or know to be excruciatingly painful, usually out of vanity, (p. 15).
• Tyrannitot (n.) Child who is permitted (or encouraged) to dominate adult social gatherings and indulge its whims in all particulars, (p.164).

Personally, as a person who talks about my love of dogs and how I want one so bad, yet still have not brought one home, I feel a deep affection for Dawgle (p. 148) and Procrastidate (p. 119) having used my returning to school later in life as an excuse to put off dating. Other great words to check out would be invipaytion (p.45), polterguy (p. 118), phonedeaf (p. 98), and the highly accurate GP-Ass (p.175).

Until I selected the above list of words I had not realized how many of these could easily be used in conversation. Knowing that the book originated from the Ms. Schillinger’s popular tumbler site, I wonder now how many of these have already entered the modern vocabulary.

I find the words and definitions clever and enjoyable; however, I am less a fan of these particular illustrations. While they are definitely gorgeous and finely detailed, the style seems at odds with the youth and irreverence of the text.

I see the images more suited for a tome of poetry or a novel. If I had read the text alone, I would have suggested something younger in feel, a bit less realistic with more whimsy and humor. The text is the most important element. However, the images are what gave the book its title…Wordbirds; therefore, they are an intractable part of the project. Therefore, my suggestions about the ornithology images are moot and just my humble opinion.

Overall, I can see this book as a great holiday gift for someone with a keen sense of humor.

Illustrations: Eliza Zechel

Drape Drape All Around the World!

This is part service for others and part archived research for me. Enjoy.

For two years, I've been obsessed with the Drape Drape books by Hisako Sato, a graduate of the Bunka Fashion College in Japan. Each time I see another blog seamstress in one of these creations I just want them more. Because of my already straining book shelves of twenty sewing books, my still slow-moving stash of projects and fabrics, and my less than bountiful cache of disposable income I haven't bought one for myself. However, while I work through my other projects I keep track of the finished projects from all books, I guess to torture myself? Until I give up and buy them, I thought my research shouldn't go to waste. I put together a list of sewing bloggers around the world that have succeeded in creating gorgeous pieces from these books, along with links to those particular posts on their blogs.

Meggipeg projects from all three books (Australia)
Ancien-Nouveau from Book 2 (Sweden)
Sew Well from Book 2 and 3 (USA)
Lula Louise from Book 2 and 3 (USA)
Handmade by Carolyn from Book 1 (Australia)
Tessuti used all three books (Australia)
Jorth from Book 1 and 2 (Australia)
Fehr Trade from Book 2 (England)
Tangerine Samuri  from Book 1 (USA)
Fashion Incubator sewed from all three books (USA)
Nikkishell from Book 1 (Australia)
Sew Smitten from Book 1 and 2 (England)
The Slapdash Sewist from Book 1 (USA)
Sewing In Athens from Book 1 (Greece)
Made By Meg from Book 1 (USA)
Sew Busy Lizzy from Book 2 and 3 (Australia)
Cation Designs from Book 1 (USA)
The Surly Seamstress from Book 2 and 3 (New Zealand)
The Material Girl from Book 1 (England)
Dixie DIY from Book 1 (USA)
Yes, Patterns from Book 2 and 3 (France)
The Sew Convert from Book 1 (Singapore)
J. Kaori Sews from Book 2 (USA)
Duck Bucket Sewing from Book 2 (USA)
Alabama Chanin tried out the #13 one piece tunic from Book 3 (USA)
Ariation made gorgeous bridesmaid dresses by adapting dress #2 from Book 2 (Trinidad & Tobago)
Pins And Brushes from Book 3 (Italy)
Needle And Ted from Book 2 (England)

F.Y.I. Here is the size chart used in all three books converted from metric to imperial:

Size	S	M	L	XL
Height	153	158	163	168
Bust	78	82	86	90
Waist	58	62	66	70
Hip	84	88	92	96

Size	S	M	L	XL
Height	5’	5’ 2”	5’ 4”	5’  5”
Bust	31	32	34	35
Waist	23	24	26	28
Hip	33	35	36	38

For informational purposes here are the lists of contents from all three volumes. Noticed that the project titles are less than descriptive so I linked the finished projects I've found online to the name and correct volume so you can make an informed decision about which book you want. Luckily, the books are no longer hard to find and the English-language versions are now available from many online sellers outside of Japan. Therefore, it's now possible to price around and get the best deal.

Drape Drape 1

no.1 loose drape top here here here and tuck drape pants

no.2 gather drape cape jacket/vest here and gather drape pants

no.3 gather drape dress here here here here and here

no.4 drape drape dress 

no.5 v-neck drape drape dress green one here and here

no.6 low back gather drape dress

no.7 gather two-pattern tuck drape dress
no.8 drape drape all-in-one
no.9 loose drape blouse
no.10 tuck drape dress
no.11 loose flare drape dress here
no.12 drawstring-detail drape tank-top here
no.13 loose drape top
no.14 tuck drape tunic blouse
no.15 loose drape tunic blouse
no.16 drape drape dress with gathered sleeves
no.17 goddess drape drape dress here

Drape Drape 2

no.1 two-pattern gather drape bolero

no.2 one piece side drape top(dress) here here here and here

no.3 three-pattern drape vest here

no.4 one-pattern drape top striped one here, here and another

no.5 one-pattern drape skirt

no.6 three-pattern drape dress and here

no.7 two-pattern tuck drape dress/open bat-wing dress sleeveless here and here

no.8 two-pattern gather drape blouse here

no.9 three-pattern tuck drape pants

no.10 four-pattern tuck drape blouse

no.11 one-pattern drape dress

no.12 two-pattern tuck drape pants

no.13 two-pattern gather twist drape skirt

no.14 four-pattern gather drape skirt

Drape Drape 3

no.1 one-piece twist drape dress here

no.2 one-piece drape dress

no.3 three-piece gather drape top

no.4 three-piece tuck drape pants
no.5 four-piece drape blouse
no.6 two-piece drape on drape dress
no.7 two-piece tuck drape blouse
no.8 three-piece tuck drape pants
no.9 three-piece twist gather drape dress and here
no.10 three-piece tuck drape skirt
no.11 three-piece string drape dress
no.12 three-piece gather drape wrap dress here and here
no.13 one-piece boatneck tunic
no.14 eight-piece twist collar tuck drape dress here
no.15 one-piece gather bare top drape dress

If you know of any from countries I haven't listed, please let me know in the comments. I am updating this as I find them. Thanks!

December 28 Update - End of Year

The Simplicity 5190 autumnal floral dress is finished! It looks exactly like the little illustration from a few posts ago! I will wear it tomorrow and hopefully get pictures taken then.

The Grainline Moss skirt has not been cut out. So it will be 10 in 2012 after all. I'm not bothered about it at all because since it is not cut out, it will not count as an unfinished object (UFO). I will start the new year fresh with three muslins that I can then sew right off the bat. Sounds good to me.

My last projects of 2012 are two fleece dresses and one fleece sweatshirt for two children in my extended family. As of this moment they are not done but hopefully will be by Saturday afternoon when I will see them in Maryland. I guess I'm just not me unless I'm stressing myself out!

Currently reading: Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams (of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) by Nick Webb and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.

Listening to: Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine, pretty much all the time.

Most recent movies seen: Skyfall, Hitchcock, Les Miserables


Have a Happy NEW Year!!!

Messing With My Moss Muslin - Part 1

Well, I have made it to the tenth project on my official list. Two weekends ago, I constructed a muslin for the Grainline Moss Miniskirt.

I am so glad that I sewed up a muslin for this skirt. It looked good and fit on the front side. Though I used the correct size for my measurements, the distribution of my "stuff" requires a little more width at my hip and perhaps a little bit more length center front for a protruding abdomen. My copies of Sewing Pants That Fit and A Perfect Fit informed me that I also needed an alteration for protruding front thighs.

See the indentation under the stomach and the horizontal stretch below that at upper thigh level.

However, the back was a fitting mess. It seems my "badonkadonk" is just too "bootylicious" for this skirt! The shaping that was designed for the back skirt pieces was not enough for me.

There is a 10" difference between my hip and waist measurements and a lot of gaping above my most protruding part. The problem must be the way my "stuff" is distributed back there. The center back waist-to-hip area needed to come in a lot. I placed two 1" wide darts in the yoke and waistband part only. This seemed to work but I still needed to know how to alter the actual pattern pieces in order to cut my fashion fabric.

At first, I thought of opening up this post to reader ideas when I realized I could do one better. I emailed Jen Beeman of Grainline Studio, the designer of the pattern, and she supplied the details on how to complete the skirt. She even hand drew me helpful illustrations and actually did all that over the Thanksgiving holiday! Way to go, Jen, thanks!

Next time I post, hopefully it will be to show you the corrected muslin and altered pattern pieces or the final garment. However, I know it won't be this weekend as I will be attending the MD/DC/VA sewing blogger meetup on Saturday!!!!!

I Won A Giveaway!



Patternmaking by Dennic Chunman Lo

I can hardly believe it! I rarely win things and definitely not things that I really REALLY wanted. But this time, I did.

Thanks to the generous giveaway last month by Shams of Communing With Fabric, I won a fabulous copy of the above book, Patternmaking by Dennic Chunman Lo, the director of the Creative Pattern Cutting program at the London College of Fashion. He is also the designer of his own Lo and Cabon label.

The thing I love most about this book is that it provides a detailed step-by-step guide to creating the basic pattern blocks for a bodice, sleeve, skirt, dress, and pants along with information on how to create patterns above and beyond the rules, ex. the book's cover photo. This book looks at pattern making as it applies to the actual human body by giving written and photographic examples of  the body's range of motion and the considerations that must be drafted into a block to accommodate them. There are no complicated formulas to memorize and everything is created by using true body measurements. Although, the book uses a standard English size 12 in the examples all you need to do is replace those measurements with your own.

Patternmaking is part of the Portfolio Skills series of books for student designers (architecture, advertising, fashion, etc.) that are written by top professors at leading art and design schools. They are all published by Laurence King Publishing, Ltd.

For more information on his course, click on any of the links in this post. You will find more detailed reviews of the book on the Flossie Teacakes and Fashion Incubator blogs. In addition, you can also check out this video by Mr. Lo himself:


Pattern Cutting by Dennic Chunman Lo from Laurence King Publishing on Vimeo.

My First Quilt Is Done!


Unfortunately, the sun wasn't out the day we photographed, so here it is held up in the fluorescent lighting of my office. I hadn't named it before but I will now, the Moneta d'oro (the Golden Coin) quilt.

Instruction:

I am so happy that I took this class, I highly recommend it. You learn the correct techniques for making a slightly larger than crib-size quilt  (35" x 49") based on the Twisted Coins design in four 2-hour sessions. All of the instructions for this and fourteen other quilts were from the book, Piecing the Piece O' Cake Way by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. This book was required for the class and I also recommend it.

Front

Back

Expense:

In total, the project cost more than I expected, even with my store discount. You see, I had never gotten around to buying a rotary cutter and mat before this. However, I was able to purchase the mat, rotary cutter, and a "6 x 24" quilt ruler at a 50% discount from Joann's for $46.00 with some of my graduation money.*

The fabrics for the front (1 large piece and six fat-quarters) and thread cost $27.00. The next purchase (white quilting thread, batting, and fabric for back panel) cost about $29.00. Required notions like a walking (quilting) foot, curved safety pins, and a pack of needles totaled $29.00. So, in total, this project cost me $131.00 or $89.00 not including the items that I would have probably bought anyway; the rotary cutter, mat, needles, and white thread. Oh, and I have enough fabric left to make a matching quilted pillow or bolster to coordinate with the new Moneta d'oro throw on my couch.

I can't remember right now, but I have a post on here that listed things I wanted to accomplish. I can now check off Make a Quilt!

* Thanks Aunt Teresa and Erica

Images: courtesy of Joanna Wilson-Green and myself

My Sewing Library UPDATED

Almost three years ago, I wrote a post listing all the sewing books that I had at the time. Since then, I have accumulated a few more including some quilting books too.

Posts about some of my other book additions are here, here, and here. In addition, I didn't write about receiving the Colette Sewing Handbook as a birthday present.

Today, I'm writing about the last three garment sewing books that have joined my collection:

Vogue Sewing Book, 1982 edition - My sister bought this for me from a library book sale. It's not as cute and kitschy as other sewing books from the other pattern companies, but it is very comprehensive. I recently used their instructions to create a blanket-stitched thread loop to corral a button on the back of a blouse.

The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide To Altering Patterns, 2005 (Also published earlier as The Perfect Fit, 1987, as part of the Singer Reference Library*) - This book is very comprehensive and easy to understand with clear pictures and explanations. You may have heard of this book, it is highly recommended by many sewing bloggers. However, when I tried to find my own copy I found it difficult to track down which one they were talking about.

So, in order that you won't have to go through what I did: the book was published twice, once as part of the Singer Reference Library series of sewing instruction books and again separately on its own with no reference to Singer. However, it is the same exact book (see below), they even share the same cover image.

Sewing Pants That Fit, 1989, part of the Singer Reference Library - This one was a bonus when it was advertised on Alibris.com for only .99 cents! I had only meant to buy the book above but how could I resist one specifically on pants, especially since I have FIVE pairs of pants on my To Do sewing list.

Hopefully, I can keep this "sewing book problem" down a bit. I still want the English language versions of all three Drape Drape books but I could settle for access to them through a loan or a library. I have not found a store that carries them. Basically, I would just like to riffle though the actual books myself. Tempted to see if my part-time job would special order them as they have carried a few other Japanese sewing books: Cut-Up Couture, Shape Shape, I Am Cute Dresses, and Simple Modern Sewing.

UPDATE: Just found another printing of The Perfect Fit with a new updated cover, but it still has the same old photos. Basically, if the sewing book is called "The Perfect Fit", it is probably this same book.  

 
*The Singer Sewing Reference Library - I already own one book from this series of hardcover books so I already knew how clear and concise the instructions would be. I highly recommend this series.

So Chic, So Attainable

Yes, Project Runway and I have had issues over the years and I now only experience the series through recaps on Tom & Lorenzo. But sometimes, they have picked actually talented designers to highlight on their show. One such contestant was Laura Bennett from Season 3 way back when the show was on Bravo.

Flipping through the pages of her new book, Handmade Chic: Fashionable Projects That Look High-End, Not Homespun, I was amazed at what she was able to accomplish. This book allows you to make extremely lush and high end-looking accessories with a crafty mind on a thrifty budget. Using real or synthetic leather to craft luxe looking accessories and bags with metal hardware to recycling thrift store real mink shawls and coats (or you could buy synthetic fur instead) to make gorgeous fur items, including a to-die-for mink pullover that evokes images of the 1960s. Come on, just picture it with a headband, cigarette pants, and black ballet flats.

Believe it or not, every one of these is a project in the book!

The instructions are simple, so simple, but the results are amazing, right? If you are crafty, stylish, and lust over high-end accessories but have a much lower budget to play with, this is your book.

Images: Rodale Books