EnchBySew-53: Spring Shirring (MOB)

Click on this link in iTunes   to download the 53'rd, and other, episodes of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast

Or listen directly on the web by clicking on http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/castFINALSpringShirring.mp3


This podcast is an extension of my regular sewing blog - http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com

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In this show I'm continue to share with you, some of my experiences working on my Mother-Of-The-Bride ensemble.

All 3 garment pieces involve  pattern creation or alteration.

Snapshot of This Month’s Show 

1) Pensamientos Primeros/First Thougths 

Shirring? Are we talking sheep? Thoughts on scissors,  shears, and the sewing technique known as ‘shirring’.

To shirr is to gather a piece of fabric, or garment piece,, using drawn or elastic thread in close rows.
 

The knife center.com ….The Difference Between Scissors & Shears www.knifecenter.com/shop/scissors

2) Entonces inspiración para fruncir/Inspiration for Shirring  

Museum portrait and wardrobe shopping

Fruncir means “ to gather”. If you’re practicing your Spanish you might also use the word ‘fruncir’ in reference to frowning or knitting your brows, or puckering up your lips! 

http://www.spanishcentral.com/translate/fruncir

3) Y finalmente, Technicos /And finally 

Techniques that I’ve used for shirring

Give Fabric Elasticity with These Shirring Tips for Beginners - Craftsy

https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2014/11/shirring-tips/

1 Cached

Nov 12, 2014 - Shirring is a magical technique for sewing texture that takes a regular piece of fabric and shrinks it up, giving it elasticity. It's great for skirt waists, shirt hems and even entire bodices! But shirring for the first time is no walk in the park.

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Shirring Fabric - Sewing Tutorial - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZtOqqyRZU8

Note: Within the Inspiration Section, and at the end of the ‘cast,  I included travel notes for places I like to visit in San Francisco Golden Gate Park for fellow sewists who may be visiting, or to prompt other local sewists to share their own thoughts on this locale.

Drafting my Back Block - Learning Pattern Work with Moulage/French Pattern Drafting

Version 1 of my Back Pattern Block Draft

I'm taking Lynda Maynard's Moulage class at Cañada College. Moulage is the traditional style of pattern drafting used in France. Lynda studied pattern drafting, among other things, with Kenneth King. We're using a printed version of Kenneth King's Moulage book. 

On the web I can only find Kenneth King's Moulage Book on CD http://www.kennethdking.com/book/#moulage

   

We'll be creating a skin-tight, fitted moulage and then a sloper - a moulage that includes minimal wearing ease. We'll also be drafting sleeve patterns/slopers to work with these. My sewing buddy Susan and I, are very excited about those sleeves! Susan was featured in last month's Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast - A Very Fitting Sewing Day With Susan

We've begun by drafting our back pattern blocks.

To get to this point, we followed Kenneth King's/Lynda's directions. Those included:

1) Taking careful measurements of, and recording, many dimensions of our bodies - front and back. I think there are about 20 measurements between our neck to the floor, with most of them centering around the torso. This is not something you can do for yourself. You need at least one buddy. It reminded me of the measurements we took when we made our dress form kits. (I produced a podcast about creating Dress Forms)

2) Using these measurements in a number of formulas, to create a sheet of calculations. Again we made a careful record. It was definitely worth my time to triple-check that I had
a) transferred the right measurement into the formula
b) done the math correctly
We rounded up all of our math to the nearest 1/8'th of an inch. 1/8'th of an inch is the smallest measurement on most rulers.
The book includes metric directions as well.

3) Next we followed  Kenneth King's/Lynda's directions to draft the back block you see here, using the calculations. Once more I'm went back and triple-checked, to be sure I was using the correct calculations in my draft.

Lynda reviewed our work not only for correctness, but also to make adjustments for various figure types. She adjusted the line in many of our shoulder drafts down at an angle. I'd guess that you might see the need for this later on in the process, if you're doing this work on your own.

Next we'll be drafting our front block.

After that, we'll work up a version in muslin.

This is one of those processes that takes a lot more time than I'd expect, but it's going to be well worth it for me.

My goals for the class are:

A) To make a new fit garment for my dress form, Conchita. I'll also be removing some of Conchita's padding and batting, to fill out that fit garment correctly. Gosh, wouldn't it be great if it were that straightforward for people to lose weight?

B) To create clear plastic transparencies I can use when altering commercial patterns. Lynda says the material she uses for this is from Tap Plastics ( Tap  Plastics:
24 1/2"  by  45"  by  .020  smooth/matte  polypropylene  sheet  SKU#20346)

C) Down the road... I might use these block in some way, in conjunction with draping my own patterns

Learning more about what makes patterns come together is the kind of thing that keeps me . . .

Enchanted by Sewing!

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My Buddy Susan and I share what we've each learned about getting a good fit with our sewing patterns. In Last month's Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast  Susan described key things she learned from sewing fit classes (Also we had a lot of fun chatting) A Very Fitting Sewing Day With Susan (Download or just listen on Line) http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2015/01/ench-by-sew-028-very-fitting-sewing-day.html

Enchanted By Sewing Audio/Podcast - Dress Forms (Download or just listen on Line) 
http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/09/ench-by-sew-12-dress-forms.html

Scraps: Scrunchies or Chou Chous? Green Sewing for the New Year

Two Completed Chou Chous
(along with a fabric covered book) I made for gifts

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Web Resources 

Enchanted by Sewing Show Notes and Links to Shows http://www.enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2014/12/ench-by-sew-027-festive-holiday-tees.html

Audio-Only Link http://ec.libsyn.com/p/7/1/3/713e354889f7b167/FINALcastFestiveTeaAndTeesdec2014.mp3?d13a76d516d9dec20c3d276ce028ed5089ab1ce3dae902ea1d06c98e3ed7cf5d5260&c_id=8063812

What is a Chou-Chou or a Scrunchie? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrunchie

Although I made chou-chous for holiday gifts, they are a perfect cleanup-for-the-New-Year or anytime, sewing cleanup/recycling project. You can't get more green than using up scraps of fabric that are too pretty to toss. You can also use the ends of stained or recycled clothing. You can even repurpose old worn elastic!

In the current - Festive Holiday Tees and Tea -  Enchanted by Sewing Episode (audio/podcast) , I described the process of sewing Chou-Chous, which are also known as Scrunchies. You can listen to that episode on your computer or download it to your favorite mobile device.

Here's the idea in picture form, to help you follow along with the Technicos segment of that show.

I can never toss really pretty scraps
But at some point, I need to use them!

I measure out 10 inches of 1/4 inch elastic

I fold a 20 (or slightly longer) tube of scrap fabric
This one isn't perfectly straight and it has one edge hemmed  as a result
of a long-ago project trim. No problem

I pieced on one extra scrap, to make the tube about the
right width
An extra seam at an odd place isn't a problem
when you are scrunching up the fabric anyway

 I cut a piece of string longer than the length of the tube

And lay it inside the tube, along the fold line

Stitch down one side of the tube and across just ONE open end
Make sure not to catch the string when you sew the long side
But DO catch it when you sew across the open end

At this point, I chose not to trim along the seam line,
to give a sausage-like look to the finished chou-chou

Push the sewn across end down into the tube

Pull the string end through the tube, so the outside pulls through

Note that this is a very thick, fabric like chou-chou
That's because I chose not to trim the seam after I sewed it,
to give that sausage-like appearance.

Remember, the chou-chou fabric tube should be about twice as long as the elastic,
so that the fabric scrunches up
You also want enough elastic to be able to double the band around the hair
Otherwise, it will slide off.

Open the sewn-across end, by snipping off the string
Now you have two open ends

Add a safety pin to your 10" of elastic
Pull the elastic through your tube

I set the zig-zab stitch on my machine

I caught up/secured my elastic end on both ends
with a zig-zag stitch.
Be careful not to lose the elastic ends  down either end of the tube, at this point!

Then I sewed the two secured ends together

When I doubled the finishing off seam back to get a neater finish
I broke my needle
So after that, I wrapped my second, neatening seam with a hand stitch
That takes less time than changing my machine needle!