Have You Fallen off the Waist/Crotch Grid on your SFD Pants Pattern?

If you have a thick waist and fairly short front crotch length, when you are drawing off your SFD Pants Front Pattern, your numbers may fall off the Waist/Crotch Grid that is provided on the Pants Master pattern.

The remedy is so logical (as are most solutions with SFD).  You simply extend the grid lines.  I've posted a short, but informative article on drawing the solution on Adapting & Drawing the Waist/Crotch Grid.  This article is found in the SFD Learning Center - Article Library.  There's also a couple of photos of a what one person's body looks like with this situation and required this solution.  You'll want to check out this article.

I hope you can see the photo of how easy this is to do. 

And as always, contact me if you need more assistance.

Kindly,
Glenda

Everything Old is New Again

Not too long ago, in fact it was in the May 31, 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal, I saw this article called: Jean Mutation: How Red, Pink and Mustard Took Over.  It says ‘Bye, Bye, Blues…J Brand jump-started the color trend in Feb. 2011.  Since then, many denim brands have followed with bright, distinctive hues such as mustard, green and red.’  The article’s author, Christina Binkley says, ‘It’s hard to miss the season’s most prominent denim trend: blinding color!’

Here’s what they look like.

 

Now, let’s jump back to 1984!  Here I am in my SFD hot pink jeans with turquoise blouse trimmed in hot pink.  They were skinny, very trim fitting jeans designed from the SFD Pants Kit.  I may not be tall and skinny or wearing high platform shoes, but I loved them!

 

Though they wouldn’t fit me now, you can see why I say ‘Everything old is new again!’  If you wait long enough, the fashion cycle rolls back around and our old clothes become the newest fashion.

Kindly,

Glenda

P.S. - Yes, my husband's shirt is from the SFD Shirt Kit.  My blouse is from the Dress Kit.

Finishing a Knit Top V-Neck

There are often many different ways to accomplish any task - like how best to finish off the raw edge of V-Neck T-shirt or top.  I'd like to share with you an easy technique that my friend Joy - from Joyful Expressions - uses very successfully.

Joy not only has written instructions, found here - Joyful Expressions - but she has also prepared a video tutorial on finishing the knit V-neck.  I encourage you to watch it.  You will notice that she is using her Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit bodice for her pattern.  (Joy has made so many SFD blouses and tops, that she has a body blueprint (personal sloper) for working with both wovens and knit fabrics.  Also, you'll likely notice that she has moved the side bust dart down into the lower side seam.)

During this tutorial, she shows you how to draw/trace a facing for the neckline.  In addition to her visual instructions, please realize that the written instructions for drawing a perfectly fitting facing are found on page 20 of the SFD Dress Kit Instruction Book.

This is a 2-Part Tutorial.  Here's Part 1.

Part 2

Thanks for sharing, Joy.

Kindly
Glenda

Technique: Stitching a V-Neck

Stitching a V-neck, which results in a sharp 'V' point when the facing is turned, is easy with this technique.

Begin by using a magic, disappearing marking pen or tracing paper to mark the stitching line for the V-neck.  This visually helps so that you can see where to stop the stitching to make the first pivot.

The facing has been prepared with interfacing and pinned in place to the neck edge.

When you are stitching the seam allowance (either 5/8" or 3/8" (1.6cm or 1.0cm), as you get to within 1" (2.5cm) of the actual 'V' point, tighten up the regular stitch length to become very tight stitches.  When you get to the point, leave the needle in the 'down' position and pivot the fabric around the needle until you are able to stitch across the point with one or two of these tiny reinforcement stitches.  Then pivot one more time before you begin stitching up the other side of the 'V'.  Keep the stitches tight and small for about 1" (2.5cm) as you sew up the other side, then lengthen the stitches back to normal to complete sewing the neck seam.

Here is a very clear illustration of what your stitching should look like.  I've exaggerated the illustration of the stitch length so that you can see where the stitches begin to get tighter.

Once you've competed stitching the neckline, very carefully clip through the seam allowance up to the 'V' point.  You may want to stop the clip back a very short distance, then clip diagonally to each pivot point.  Be very careful NOT to clip through the stitches.  You will also want to trim away any excess seam allowance to almost nothing right at the point.  But for the remainder of the seam allowance, you should leave enough trimmed allowance to allow for understitching. 

The purpose of stitching across the bottom of the 'V', allows for the 'turn of the cloth' when the facing is turned to the inside.  And, understitching the facing to the seam allowance helps the facing to lay flat on the inside.

This V-neck stitching technique is suitable for either knits or woven fabric.

Next week, watch helpful videos on making the facing lay flat on the inside of a V-neck knit top which are provided from Joyful Expressions.

Happy fitting and sewing,
Glenda

So Refreshing...So Summery!

Thanks for sharing your latest sewing projects and accomplishments.  Carolyn has created the most attractive summer outfit - bright and cheerful, yet delicate, refreshing and summery.

You'll want to read of her successful weight loss and as she continues to shed more pounds, Sure-Fit Designs is being used to help maintain her wardrobe.

To read Carolyn's complete comments about her progress and her wardrobe, visit Carolyn's Sewing Room.

Caring for my Designing Stylus

Glenda,

I have been using my Designing Stylus a lot and I have been drawing my patterns in pencil, so my Design Stylus is getting messy dirty from the pencil and my little finger prints.
How do I keep my Design Stylus clean?

And thank you for the video "GI.4 Designing Stylus - What it is and how to use it." from the Sure-Fit Designs Learning Center.

 Hi Becca,
What an excellent question!  First of all, if you have a nice, big, fat, soft eraser, you should be able to erase the pencil smudges.  And the Designing Stylus is totally washable.  Just use some warm soapy water and that also should clean it up fairly well.

But Shelby from Kentucky wrote in a while back with this 'pencil tip'.  I would like to add a tip about using a mechanical pencil to trace SFD blueprints. Using a .5mm or .7mm mechanical pencil with HD lead makes the lines very accurate and thin and HD doesn't smear easily. The lines don't change size as you use the lead like a regular pencil and you can buy replacement lead to keep handy. These pencils come in many colors, so I buy them in a pack and keep several handy because they tend to "walk" under things on the table and the bright colors make them easy to spot. They work really well with the "big, fat eraser."

Test Muslin - How Best to Get into it? Add 5/8" at CF.

Glenda,

I am going to cut fabric for a Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit Dress Sheath.  What was that you were telling me about adding 5/8” to the Center Front for testing and fitting purposes?

Rebecca,

You need to allow 5/8" on BOTH edges of CF - (CF can no longer be on the fold of the fabric) - you've got to get into it somehow.

See the attached photo.  This woman has added a 5/8" seam to the CF - then she simply stitched on this 5/8" line - so that she new exactly where the 5/8" line is.  Then when you put the dress on, you simply overlap the 5/8" stitching line when it's on your body.  Notice that she has CF pinned closed on this stitching line.

If this doesn't clarify, we can do a quick Skype - I'll show you my pink bodice

Glenda

Rebecca Revisits Her First Failed Sewing Project

I was digging thru my pile of "this doesn't fit - I messed it up" stack of failed experiences and I came upon my first sewing project which I attempted from a Cindy Crawford sewing pattern.  I pulled out the pattern and laid out my messed-up blouse.

NO WONDER I messed this up. Clearly this pattern calls for a stretch knit and I sewed my failed attempt in a tightly woven cotton.  Not to mention that the pattern just does not fit me at all.

Thanks to Glenda and Sure-Fit Designs I have a perfectly fitting body blueprint Bodice which I have drawn from the Dress Kit and with sleeves that fit my large arms.

Of course I still don't know anything about sewing with stretch fabrics, but this too will come.

Tune-Up: Narrow Shoulder to Full Bust

As I further analyze my completed Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit bodice with the set-in sleeves, I think that the armhole seams could be drafted a little better to give me an even better fit.  My shoulders are narrow and my chest above my bust is flat.  I wouldn't say I have a full bust in that I have a large cup size (I am a B), but my full bust circumference including the across my back, is a lot bigger than my narrow chest.

When I was looking through all of the videos that Sure-Fit Designs offers, I found this  How-To-Video Narrow Shoulder to Full Bust with instructions to check and tune-up my armhole seams.  I am going to definitely try this out.  Even though I don't have a particularly full bust, I think the refinement might be beneficial to the fit of my pattern.

Large Upper Arm Tune-up

I used the instructions from the Sure-Kit Designs How-To Video Lowering the Dress Bodice Underarm - Minor Tune-Up, and the instructions on page 16 of the Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit Instructions Book to tune-up my sleeve pattern.

I guess I should have read these instructions first, because with my first test bodice the sleeves were very tight since I have large upper arms. So I applied these instructions and widened the sleeve pattern upper arm width. I also lowered the underarm just a bit as this video suggests doing.  Not everyone is going to need to do this, but my test muslin now has sleeves that fit and I can really move, stretch and reach up high.