Just Sew It

Okay, after the first goal scored by the Hurricanes I had a strong feeling the oilers were going to lose. I was right. I sewed while I listened/watched the game. Good thing. Anyways, I finally started on my twist top.

My step was to finish off the upper front’s edge off with a serged seam. I put a tricot strip to prevent waves on my edge.

Next, I folded the edge over 1.2 cms and pressed. The instructions tell you to topstitch the folded over edge with a twin needle but I just stitched twice. If you look closely at the following two photos, you will see that I used the middle of the right part of the foot to measure the distance of 1/4″ from the edge and from the first stitching. Do I make any sense??

Once that is finished, gather the sides of each upper front until they are 8 cm in width. I then placed the upper front with the wrong side facing the RIGHT side of the lower front. The gathered side must match up with the side.

Then I did the same to the other side.

Now comes the twist.

Stay tuned for the next steps. Ciao!

Not a bad thing though. I love watching the hockey playoffs. Lots of excitement. Saturday night was an awesome game!! I set up my machines for my next project but that’s it. Can’t sew and watch the game at the same time. Too exciting! After the game, a couple of teenaged girls were outside behind our house with their signs getting everyone honking.

This guy had a homemade replica of the Stanley Cup on the back of his truck:

Tonight, is do or die. Game #7 for the Oilers and Hurricanes. If we win, its going to be party night for Edmonton! If not, many many people will be so depressed. Go Oilers!!

I picked a book (Mastering Machine Applique) up from the library to help me learn how to do raw-edge applique. Out of all the books that I’ve borrowed from the library on this topic, this book is the best. It is very thorough. Out of all the techniques I like the raw-edge application using paper-backed fusible web. Fast and easy. I don’t like the other fussy methods.

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Fabricland always has sales on various items. So yesterday I went to look for quilting fabric. I just wanted a little to practice making appliques. They had shit. Fabricland is theee worst fabric store around. Unfortunately, it is the only one that offers memberships. Fanny’s Fabric closed down last year. I was so disappointed when that happened. Of course, there are some quilting stores in the city and they do have a lot of cottons to choose from but they are on the south side of the city. So when I pick up fabric for my quilts I will be making the hike. Fabricland sucks! I can’t stand them. They have incompetent staff with terrible sales skills. Choices of fabrics suck and their lack of notions is pathetic. Even Walmart carries more than they do. That is bad. I really wish more people sewed then there would be more fabric stores. I have had to go on-line to buy supplies and while that is not all that bad I wish we had it locally too. But Canada’s population is much smaller than the States. Supply and demand.

Last night, I watched the movie Jarhead. It was good but not great. My husband looked at the cast and said, “no wonder you wanted this movie it has Jake Gyllenhaal in it”. He was probably standing in the blockbuster wondering why I wanted a war flick. Duh! the beef cake! There is no action in this flick. It focuses on the characters more so. I think Jake may have made this movie so he is not type casted as a gay man. Don’t worry Jake. We know you are not gay.

Many people don’t think of this when sewing but the needle you have in your sewing machine can greatly affect the stitch in your fabric. Each time you do a project you need to change your needle in your sewing machine. Sometimes I will change after two projects if they are small projects. It is also important to select the correct needle for your project. Schmetz needles seem to be very popular with sewing educators and I’ve been using them for the past two years. Many years ago when I first began sewing I used one needle and never changed it. Now I know better. Many sewing books will help you select the correct needle for your project.

Well, I opened up my Burda magazine and took out the pattern pages. I gently ironed out the page that I was to trace and then layed it out on my counter. We renovated in January and February and now I have a countertop that is wide enough for me to trace and cut my patterns out.

After laying my pattern page out, I traced it using canary paper which is used by architects. I found a roll at a local drafting and art supplies store. I traced the pattern pieces using a fine-tip felt pen. I then had to add 1.5 cm (5/8″) seam allowances to the edges. Burda WOF patterns do not include seam allowances. I made a nifty tool with a pencil and felt pen by putting a piece of cardboard in between. They are held together with an elastic. Its cheap and it works.

To cut my pattern pieces, I squared my fabric by folding the fabric in half with the selvages matching. I adjusted the selvages until there were no wrinkles in the fold. Then I took my quilting ruler which is 6″ wide and 24″ long and squared it and then cut along the crosswise grain. The purpose of this is to get the fabric on grain. Very important otherwise my top would twist. There is a lengthwise grain and a crosswise grain. On each pattern piece, there is a straight grain line indicating where the pattern piece must be placed. The straight grain line must be parallel with the selvage. Some pattern pieces must be cut on the fold. One edge will indicate a center fold and this edge is put on the fold.

I used a rotary cutter to cut out my patterns. Using this tool to cut out your patterns is faster and more accurate. Why more accurate? The fabric is not lifted up when cutting. With scissors shifting of the fabric can occur slightly when cutting. But there are times when I like to cut with scissors.

Before I get started I dread the task of tracing. But when I get started I actually find it relaxing. Now that I can trace on my counter i enjoy it even more. I’m also upstairs with the family. Sometimes I’d like my sewing machine to be upstairs too but that is not possible. I don’t like the upstairs to look cluttered either.

Check back in the next few days as I will be beginning construction of this popular twist top.