This Year's Biggest Sewing Challenge

Stash-busting 2014:  Little Velvet Dress

Fabric:             3 metres of cotton velvet and 0.5 metre of polyester lining

Zipper:             22" invisible zipper cut down to 16"

Pattern:            McCall's 5795

Bias Tape:        2" strip

Basting Tape:  44"

I don't know where to begin. First, I'm so thrilled that this is done. I can't believe it is done. 

This dress will go down as the most challenging project of 2014.  

Velvet proved to be an extremely challenging fabric to work with, but this dress is totally adorable and that makes it all worth it.  

The fabric has been in my stash for many many years. I can't remember where exactly I purchased it but I do know I picked it up in Toronto. It is a cotton velvet and I had enough yardage to cut out two dresses. This dress is a size eight and the second one currently on the sewing table is cut in a size five.  

Actually, everything used to make this dress was found in my stash with the exception of the invisible zipper.   

The pattern, McCall's 5795 is adorable and can be adapted into a special occasion or cute summer dress. It includes variations on sleeves and contrasting over-dresses. The pattern is for a fully lined dress but I chose to just line the bodice. And instead of a regular zipper I inserted an invisible zipper.  

I repurposed a belt that went with one of my own velvet skirts. It appears as a trim but I just put some snaps at the ends so that it can be worn as a belt.  

All that is left to do is finish the second one, give this one final "pressing" with the steamer and carefully fold this in tissue paper before I gift-wrap it.

Happy Sewing!

Sewing with Velvet: Tricks that Work!

This weekend I found a copy of The Best of threads Party Dresses and inside there was the perfectly timely article that came to my rescue. "Velvet Indulgence" written by Linda Lee first appeared in threads magazine in 2009 as "How to Sew Velvet like a Pro" which can currently be found online here.

Despite all the tips found online and reading vintage advice from Sew A Fine Seam, I felt that I needed this Winter 2014 threads magazine issue. Instead of sewing yesterday, I spent the day reading and planning. And I have to say that it was worth every penny and minute I spent.  

Stitching velvet proved to be a challenge whether it was sewing two pieces of velvet together or sewing the lining to the velvet. Lee offers several tips for tackling this task. I can't review all of her suggestions but I can say that I did hand stitch my pieces with diagonal basting before taking it to the sewing machine and it work out beautifully! 

Lee suggests a little trick for gathering velvet fabric, use heavy cord in the bobbin. I didn't have cord but I did have a heavier weight overlock thread that worked like a charm! It was brilliant.  

Lee also suggests that details like zippers could be hand-worked instead of machine sewn. Her reasoning is logical as a preventative measure to avoid ripping out seams but I was feeling brave, or maybe a wee bit foolish.  

I inserted an invisible zipper using basting tape to hold it in place and then took it to the sewing machine.  

Thankfully, the invisible zipper turned out great. Even though I have four days to finish these dresses I don't regret taking a day off from sewing to read Lee's article and gather up some courage.  

There is still some work to do on the first one (hand-stitching the bodice lining in place and hemming the skirt) along sewing up the second one. I should feel panicked, shouldn't I? But I don't. What's up with that?  

Well, I should get back to work. Happy Sewing!  

In Sewing News Today...

McCall's came out with a set of new patterns this past week. Lucky for my wallet, there are no patterns that jump out as must-have patterns. According to the selection of dresses released in this collection, it looks like hemlines are on their way up. There is one pattern that I do very much like, McCall's 7093. 

I do like anything with pockets (necessary for work). I just don't need another top pattern but I do think it is cute even though it has the high-low hemline that I'm so, so over. And of course, McCall's came out with some cute kids' patterns which would be perfect made up for gift-giving.    

Talking about McCall's patterns, do you remember the last dress I made? I wore it to work this past week on the day of the Advent concert. I was trying to dress up Christmasy (is that even a word?). Someone said the dress looks like an angel costume (I don't see it) and then Thursday that came up again. I'm not sure if they are kidding or they are serious. I hope they are kidding because for one thing I would hate it if the dress came across looking like a costume and secondly there were hints that the dress would make a good angel costume which apparently "needs to be replaced." I didn't see anything wrong with the costumes at the Advent concert so my fingers are crossed that they're kidding. There is nothing that makes me feel ill to my stomach than someone trying to recruit me to do big sewing projects. I can't see where they will find money in the budget for supplies to make new costumes never mind wanting it made out from a pattern that is sized for an adult and took over three metres of fabric and five of trim. Besides, you can buy costumes cheaper than you can make them. And even that I can't see being in the budget. They must have been kidding. Besides there are more realistic angel costumes out there like McCall's 2340 that are appropriated sized and styled for elementary aged-students. Besides making me completely perplexed, the whole experience now has me hating my costume-y looking holiday dress and it is now in the donate pile heading to the Salvation Army.

Well, I'm hoping that the the velvet dresses I'm working on won't look costume-y when I'm done. I like how they are looking so far but then I didn't think my dress looked like a costume. If anything, I hope the velvet dresses will be looked upon as a favourable holiday cliche.  

Fingers crossed.  Happy Sewing!

Sewing with Velvet: Auuuggghhhh!

I am still plugging away at the little velvet dresses as I kick myself for ever thinking this was a good idea. But I digress... 

These dresses are proving to be a challenge because

1. nap
2. pile

Along with the fact that I should have started this months ago.  

Velvet has a nap which requires greater yardage. In the velvet that I chose for this project, it had a narrow width and I had to be careful on the placement of my pattern pieces. With a fabric with a nap if you hold opposite ends of the fabric against your body and look down on it you will notice that one end will appear darker and richer in colour than the other end. If this is the case take care when cutting. You may want to mark the end where it appears darker and richer in colour as the "top" and then mark the top of your pattern pieces so that they face the "top" end of your fabric. Did that make sense?  

Velvet also has a pile where you can find the "top" of your fabric by rubbing your hand back and forth over the fabric. You will be able to feel which direction the pile lays and determine the "top" of the fabric. Here again the "top" of your fabric should be matched up with the "top" of your pattern pieces. 

The pile on the velvet has been creating a challenge when it comes to sewing as well. As you can imagine this fabric likes to slip and slide all over the place as it runs through the sewing machine. Special tools are needed.  

The presser foot on the left is my regular presser foot. And it does not work well on this project. The middle presser foot is what is recommended in many of my reference books for sewing fabrics with a pile. And for the most part this roller foot does work. But I will admit that it was challenging to use when I was sewing the darts. I then used the third presser foot shown so that I had an unobstructed view as I sewed the darts. I do have a walking foot that provides two sets of feed dogs to shift the fabric along but regardless of which presser foot I use, there are challenges presented with the pile.  

Auuuggghhhh! This project may drive me to drink or it may make me slow down and do some serious hand-stitching. There are three basting methods are are recommended when working with velvet.  

1. double basting
2. back-stitch
3. diagonal basting

The hand-stitching won over the drinks. And I have chose the diagonal basting method. Especially when it comes to sewing the lining fabric to the velvet along the neckline on the second dress. 

The drinks might have to wait until these dresses are done. Stay tuned, more to come.  

Happy Sewing!  

In Sewing News Today...

I'm a little freaked out that it is eighteen days till Christmas. 

I had big plans to work on those little velvet dresses this weekend but instead I'm fighting the mother of all head colds. I was in bed at six last night and slept straight through for over twelve hours. I don't know when the last time that happened without the aid of codeine infused medication. Panic is setting it as I don't have time to be sick. I have some serious sewing to get done!  

In other sewing news, sewing club ended last week but some of the students decided to stay in for recess to work on their stockings. 

I'm still finding students trying to thread their needles with six strands of embroidery floss! I did a lesson on the blanket stitch that was very well organized. So I thought. What I didn't anticipate was the level of excitement and enthusiasm that would sabotage the lesson. 

Instead of threading their needles with two strands of embroidery floss one young gal decided it would look better if she used the whole skein of embroidery floss. And she told two people and so on and so on. Kids will always listen to their peers first. The stockings are looking adorable by the way and the young gals and boy have been a delightful group. I'm going to miss the sewing club.   

I sold another pattern at the Etsy.com shop and almost fainted at the post office.  

Almost. I can't believe how much postage has gone up. I lost $2.30 sending this one on its way. And I'm going to have to rethink my shipping rates. At least it is on its way to someone who wants it and will hopefully enjoy making these dresses.  

Well, that is all in sewing news today... 

Happy Sewing!  

Sewing With Velvet: Pressing

Actually, never press velvet! Sounds crazy when you think about the fact that there is actually such a thing as a velvet press board.

A velvet press board is a wooden or canvas board covered with very fine, short, wire bristles. It is used so that the pile on the velvet fabric lays on top of the needles and "pressing" is done on the wrong side of the fabric. In this position the nap of the fabric can rest on the needles without the pile being crushed.  

In all my years of sewing, I have never come across a velvet pressing board. And I was around when these were all the rage.  

Velvet blazer, circa 1970s

The 1955 edition of Sew a Fine Seam clearly outlines how one is meant to be used.

Lay the velvet, pile down, against the wire board.  Lay a dry press cloth against the wrong side of the velvet.  Lay a damp cloth over this.  Bring a warm iron close to the damp cloth (do not rest the iron on the cloth). The steam will penetrate into the velvet and flatten seams or edges (Messer 82).  

Velvet pressing boards are not a relic of years-gone-by, they still exist and can be found for sale online for a king's ransom.   

Margaret Messer also mentioned a thing called a "velvet press kit" that were once found at sewing centres. Google the phrase velvet press kit and you'll discover it has a totally different meaning today. According to Messer, back in her day, it referred to a "specially prepared plush press pad and special press cloth." 

In the nineteen seventies there appears to be a name change. The 1976 edition of The Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing refers to pressing velvet with a "needleboard" as does the 1980 edition of Vogue Sewing. 

Into the next decade Roberta Carr uses the term "bristled press cloth" in the 1993 edition of Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing. She also mentions another product, June Tailor's "Velvaboard" used to protect the nap of velvet fabrics.  

Sandra Kelly wrote an article in The Victoria Advocate back in 1979 offering a cost saving alternative to a velvet pressing needleboard bristle pressing cloth ah, lets go with velvet pressing board.  Her suggestion is to use another fabric with a pile.  

I am both too cheap and lazy short on time to make a velvet pressing board to slip over my ironing board just so I can press some velvet. I'm going with a simple terry cloth draped over the ironing board and it seems to be working just fine.  

Happy Sewing!  

Yes Virginia, there is such a thing as cotton velvet!

I've cut out wee little dresses in this beautiful teal coloured fabric. Shhh, it is someone's Christmas gift. Actually, I'm okay since it is going to someone who doesn't read sewing blogs.   

This fabric has a nap, dense pile and comes in a ridiculously narrow width. Thirty-seven inches wide if you're wondering. It looks like velvet but it doesn't have the same drape as the other velvets in my collection. Now I just assumed that if a fabric with this kind of pile were made from cotton, it would be called a velveteen fabric. But did you know that there is such a thing as cotton velvet? I thought that velvet meant the fibre content would be either silk or rayon. 

According to Claire Shaeffer's Fabric Sewing Guide, there is such a thing as cotton velvet!  

The velvet pile will unravel on the lengthwise grain between two warp rows.  

And I learned something new today!

Happy Sewing!