Monthly Archives

January 2014

Free Patterns Girls Sewing Patterns Sew-along Sewing Tutorials Sewing Videos

Girls Qi Pao / Chinese Dress sew-along Pattern variation

January 31, 2014

I have been seeing lots of YOUR creations on my Facebook page and I can tell you it’s been wonderful seeing them.  Now it’s my turn to show you mine. First of all, I said I was going to sew on Chinese brocade, and I did. I made one dress but I was not happy with it. Firstly, it was hard to sew with, even though I made sure I used the correct needle. The fabric is polyester and frays like crazy, and the binding didn’t catch properly at certain points. Which is probably the reason why they use such thick binding/piping in the mass produced ones. The fabric also puckered along straight seams and I just didn’t have time or patience to try it out on dress number two. So I fell back on my favourite fabric, the same that I made the first dress from. But this time I made a variation to the pattern. I chopped off the pattern at the waistline, and added a flare skirt.

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Instead of a front opening, I decided to sew the front panels fixed in place, and used a concealed/invisible zip on the back.

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I stitched in the ditch at the edge of the bias and the fabric, to secure the front panel in place.

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This is what it looks like from the inside, the inner flap doesn’t have to be so wide/deep now that it is going to be stitched in place, but I was too lazy to cut it off after sewing.

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To make this variation, following the following steps.

  1. For the back pattern piece, instead of cutting on fold, I added a one cm seam allowance to the centre back line. This gave me the extra allowance to fit a zip in. I then measured the waist position on my daughter using the back neck point as a reference, and marked it on the back bodice piece. Remember to add one cm seal allowance to the waist line for attaching the skirt.
  2. For the front bodice, just match the waistline mark with the back piece, making sure the pattern is aligned at the underarm seams.
  3. Cut out the pieces and sew the top bodice as usual.
  4. Combine the two front pieces by laying flat and sewing the top outer flap onto the inner flap, following the curved edge of the bias. Stitch in the ditch.
  5. Measure the width of the front bodice where you cut off at the waist, mine was forty cm. Multiply that figure by two, and cut out a piece of fabric in that width. For the length of the skirt, it is up to you. Mine was eighty cm wide by fifty cm long.
  6. Do the same for the back bodice to determine the width of the back skirt panels.
  7. Sew the side seams of the skirt, make gathers and attach to top bodice.
  8. Attach the concealed/zipper starting from the back neck point down past the waist line, stopping approximately ten cm below the waistline. The actual end point is up to you since it depends on what size you are making.
  9. Finish up the back seam and hem, sew on decorative buttons. And you are done.

P.S. Note how I had to spell out all the dimensions? The entire row of numbers on my mac keyboard is not working. :/

Anyway, here are some pictures of my brocade version if you are interested. It still looks pretty good in pictures… lol…

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Off to go visiting today. Happy Chinese New Year to those of you who are celebrating it. Have a good weekend 😀

 

Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Magazines Kids Sewing Patterns

Magazine review – Cucito Winter / Early Spring 2014

January 27, 2014

I bought this magazine in December while I was in Japan, to learn about the latest fabric releases of the season and to help inspire me on my fabric shopping trips. This issue is for winter + early spring, and includes a back to school sewing special.

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Since it is a winter+early spring special, the focus was on warm clothing but not heavy duty winter clothing.

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Bring out the shorts for spring! The floral fabric is definitely an interesting choice for boys pants 🙂

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A very cute pumpkin pants for the girls. (the Japanese term provided is かぽちゃパンツ which literally means pumpkin pants) The one in the picture is made using Dyed corduroy which is great for warm weather but you can also use the pattern with normal twill cotton for a lighter spring+summer version as well.

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There is another 130-150cm feature in this issue of Cucito, which I hope is going to be a permanent feature in every issue! There are 3 patterns for 130-150cm size this time round.
1. Coruduroy flare skirt with pockets
2. Frill Jumper skirt (picture above)
3. Brushed fleece jacket with elbow patches (picture below)

There are two variations for each pattern, basically using the same pattern but with variations in color/embellishments.

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Sewing lesson – Using fluffy and soft fabric for sewing. This is a special sewing lesson feature for sewing on all types of fluffy fabrics, like faux furs, fleece, brushed fleece etc. (All synthetic of course!)

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There are detailed step by step photographs showing you exactly how to cut and sew on such fabrics.

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Once you have mastered sewing with this type of fabric, you can move on to other projects using the same fluffy fabrics.

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Boys & Girls Heavy Rotation Wardrobe –  Co-ordinates feature. The words heavy rotation wardrobe probably means clothes that you will wear often, over and over again?

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The magazine not only provides patterns for the co-ordinates, but shows you the many different ways to wear them as well.

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There are some cute patterns for little babies/toddlers too…

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Smock blouse

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Vest and pants

Then… there is the back to school special.

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Something I look forward to every early spring issue – Back to school sewing starts around this time because the new school term in Japan starts in Spring. So there are lots of kids fabric collections that are released around this time of the year.

New fabrics from puti de pome. (Kiyohara)

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I loved this rainbow fabric so much I bought the exact combination of co-ordinating fabrics  in two colors – pink and blue, and even the sew-on applique.

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Fabrics from Kokka

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Nico Nico land by Lecien

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Tip Top collection by Daiwabo-tex

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I love these cutting layout diagrams where they show you exactly how to use the material.This is what I call well-planned fabric design. 🙂

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There is even a series of step by step photographs showing you how to sew some of the back to school accessories.

My absolute favourite this season – the nyan cat panel fabrics.  My little girl loves cats. Especially on fabric 🙂

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The magazine comes with two sheets of actual size pattern pieces.

There will be no post next Monday because it’s the Chinese New Year holidays. The weekend will be busy with feasting and visiting, plus Monday is also a school holiday. But I will be back next Thursday with a vote?/survey? for February’s sew along. If you have a specific request (from any of the books that I own) be sure to let me know then and I’ll see if I can include it in the future sew-alongs. Happy Chinese New Year to those of you who are celebrating the festival!

Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books Ladies Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Easy Sewing for Beginners

January 20, 2014

Today’s book review is a wonderful find from my trip to Japan. The title is はじめてさんのソーイング. Which roughly translates to First timer’s sewing.

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It’s actually a sewing book for beginners, and despite having sewn for many years, I still feel like a beginner sometimes. There are many techniques that I have not mastered. This book does not just cover the basics, but it guides you through projects in order of difficulty so that you can progress as you sew along. The best part is, there are lots and lots of step by step photos.

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This book is published by NHK – a name more commonly associated with the TV station. NHK publishing is related to the TV station and in fact, they publish many books and magazines that are related to the content on their TV programs, but at the same time, they are also an established publisher for a wide range of books and magazines.

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There are 18 projects included in this book, listed in order of difficulty and covers everything from the most basic straight stitch to even sewing with knits and other fabrics.

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Sizes included in this book.

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The first project is a simple tote bag, where you learn basic straight stitching, like how to start and end a stitch, sewing around corners, attaching a pocket etc.

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Then you move on to something more complex. Projects #2 and #3 are both skirts, but while skirt #2 is a simple gathered skirt, skirt #3 is a more advanced wrap skirt with hidden pockets.  The steps are shown in very detailed photographs even for the simple projects. For example, skirt #2 itself has 8 pages of step by step photos, showing you the proper way to finish seams, sew a proper facing for the elastic band and even the proper insertion and securing of an elastic band.

The following projects are listed in order as shown in the book, and you can see how it gradually becomes more complicated. If you work your way through this book, you will become an accomplished seamstress at the end of it! 😛

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A typical how-to-make page looks like this. I love how the color coded boxes helps to divide up the information and make it a lot easier to search for information. Colored diagrams help a lot too in identifying the orientation of the fabric.

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An example of a page with detailed photographs. There are only two projects without photographs but colored diagrams instead, probably because most of the techniques involved have already been covered in earlier projects.

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Another page sample with detailed steps, this one shows you how to insert a side opening zip for a skirt.

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One large pattern sheet included.

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If you are interested in picking up garment sewing, this is really a good starting book. The projects are simple and most of the pieces are great for everyday wear, most of all, the step by step photographs make it really easy to understand, without needing much translation work.

Title : はじめてさんのソーイング
ISBN : 978-4-14-199173-1
Author : かわい きみ子
Publisher : NHK Publishing

 

Free Patterns Girls Sewing Patterns Sew-along Sewing Tutorials Sewing Videos

Girls Qi Pao (Chinese Dress) Sew Along Day 3

January 16, 2014

Today we are going to tackle the side zipper opening of the dress. This took me a few experiments to figure it out. I am not even sure if this is the correct way to do it but it works! 🙂 So here goes….

What we did yesterday…
1. Cut out fabric.
2. Preparation work – iron on interfacing for collar lining, serge edges
3. Sew shoulder seams, open seam allowances flat (sewing video)
4. Attaching the collar pieces (sewing video)
5. Finish raw edges of bodice+ collar, armholes, hemlines with bias (sewing video)

How to make (continued)
6.Attaching the zip to the side opening.
7. Sew the inner flap to the back bodice, and the side seam below the zip opening.
8. Sew up the other side seam of the dress.
9. Hand stitch to tuck in top of zip and neaten up side seams.
10. Add decorative frog/chinese knot buttons across the collar and to keep the front bodice attached to the front inner flap in place.


and here’s part 2 of the sewing video. If your connection permits, I highly recommend watching the video in 720HD – the explanatory text is a lot clearer.


For those of you who prefer pictures, I have extracted some screenshots of the key steps for today’s sew-along  so you can refer to these if it is easier to view pictures compared to video.

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Align side seams where zip is going to be, with fabrics’ right sides together, sew a long basting stitch to temporary hold the back and front bodice together.

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Open up the seam flat, and place the concealed zip (right sides down) onto the opened seam. Align the top of the zip to the bias binding.
Hand baste the zip down on both sides of the seam allowances.

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Once the zip is basted, you can remove the first long basting stitch that was holding the front and back pieces together.

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Sew the two sides of the zip to the front and back bodice respectively.

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Now to sew the inner flap. First, align the inner flap from the armholes, right side facing back bodice. Mark on the wrong side of the inner flap, the position of the zip stop.

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Sew with a 1cm allowance, from the top edge down to the point marked blue. Make sure your stitch line lies to the left of the zip teeth so that it hides the top of the zip behind the seam.

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To secure the bottom half of the flap, change to a regular zipper foot, and sew as close to the zip teeth as possible. This time, you have to sew to the right of the zip teeth so the zip is not obstructed.

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For the other side, just align from armhole to hem, pin in place and sew with a 1cm seam allowance.

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Time to put some finishing touches. first, tuck in the top of the zip by folding it over the bias and then folding back . Hand stitch to keep it in place.

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To prevent the side seams from sticking out, open them up and sew them down to the other side of the bias.

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Sew on the decorative buttons, sew on the metal snap fasteners in the gaps  between the decorative buttons, and you’re done!

If you made this dress, do post it on my facebook page for all of us to see! I will be sewing two of these in Chinese brocade fabric over the weekend. Will post the pictures up when they are done. Hope you liked my sew-along and keep those suggestions coming for the next one!

Free Patterns Girls Sewing Patterns Sew-along Sewing Tutorials Sewing Videos

Girls Qi Pao (Chinese Dress) Sew Along Day 2

January 16, 2014

Now, let’s get started! This is what we are going to be doing today. The sewing was mainly documented in video form and I did not have enough time to take screenshots so most of the sewing process will be in the form of a video tutorial.

How to make
1. Cut out fabric.
2. Preparation work – iron on interfacing for collar lining, serge edges
3. Sew shoulder seams, open seam allowances flat (sewing video)
4. Attaching the collar pieces (sewing video)
5. Finish raw edges of bodice+ collar, armholes, hemlines with bias (sewing video)


1. Cut out pieces on fabric
As mentioned yesterday, it will be a good idea to make the first piece in a cheap fabric, just to test for fit and make any adjustments.

Following the directions on each pattern piece, layout the patterns on your fabric, and transfer the outlines using chalk/fabric markers.

These are the pieces you should have after cutting out the fabric. I have used different color fabrics for all the pieces in this tutorial, so that while I am taking close up pictures, you can still identify the individual parts of the dress without getting confused.

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Do take note for the orientation of the two front pieces. If you cut the front piece by placing the pattern piece on the wrong side of the fabric, the curved edge will be on the left side of the dress. (from front centre down to left side seam). If you do that, make sure you do the same for the front inner flap, i.e. to trace and cut out on the wrong side of the fabric, and you will get two pieces that match each other.

If you wish the curve to be on the right side of the dress (running from centre front to right side seam), then mark on the right side of the fabric. Do the same for the front inner flap.  This was how I cut my fabric. I placed my pattern pieces on the right side of the fabric and this is the orientation of my pieces (right side up)

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You are seeing it on the monitor and hence it is a mirror image. Imagine if you turn the dress around and put it on, and you will see that the front curve runs from the centre front down to the right side seam.

2. Preparation work

– apply fusible interfacing on collar lining piece.

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– serge shoulder seam and side seams (see diagram below for edges to serge

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For steps 3-5, please watch the video below. As mentioned earlier, I did not have time to extract the screenshots for a step by step photographs tutorial. So I hope it’s not a problem viewing on youtube for most of you. I do find video tutorials more useful and less words are needed for explaining the process, so I hope you will enjoy them too.

Tomorrow we will finish up with the side zip opening, side seams, and the decorative buttons down the main bodice curved opening. Before we move on to that, it will be a good idea to test the fit on your little girl (if it’s not meant to be a surprise :P). You can make some adjustments to the armholes/waist/length if you prefer the dress to be more fitting. I will leave it to your discretion.

See you back here tomorrow for Day 3 of the sew along!