Another Collar and Sewing/Pattern-Copying Tips

I liked the silly collar I posted yesterday so much, that I decided make a pattern from it and sew the new one up in a medium weight cotton.

Edit: Wow now I realize how ridiculous this red collar looks (especially with my bad hair etc) .

I am kind of embarrassed. But fashion is like that… I mean I can barely comprehend it but once people thought mullets looked good. So tastes change, perceptions are distorted etc.

I was just making use of a fabric scrap and testing out the pattern so I wasn’t too fussed about the end result.

Here is how I made a copy of the pattern from the collar…

Also here is the sewing tip…. Actually its more of a pattern tracing tip.

Last year bought the Patternreview.com book “1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips”.

In the book it mentions a tip about using clear cellophane to trace with when copying a ready to wear garment.

I thought that sounded like a great idea because it would make it so easy to see the seams and design details on the garment, so I bought loads of clear cellophane in anticipation of trying it.

I tested it out and for the purposes of this collar and it worked AWESOMELY :)!

Please excuse my excitement over such a trivial matter thats just what I am like…

Here we see the cellophanes awesomeness in action: Look how easy it was for me to see what I was doing! I used a permanent marker/sharpie and it did not slide or rub off once I marked the clean cellophane (you beauty!)

That stripey thing on top of the collar is a self-made pattern weight. I use them all the time when I trace patterns (particularly burdastyle magazine patterns).  It its a small area I am tracing I do this: Before I put the weight on I mark any line then place the heavy sewing weight over the line I drew. That holds in in place and makes it easy to trace the rest without anything shifting.

I made it the weight(s) by buying what are called “mending plates” from the hardware store, taping two together (one on top of each other for extra weight) and the making a little pocket of fabric and sewing it closed both ends.

Would anyone want a pattern weights tutorial?

These weights are super heavy 100 times heavier than those fussy light little washers and I find them lot more effective.

The real commercial pattern weights ones are just too expensive for me but these ones are equally as effective :)!

This is what it looks like traced onto the cellophane with texta/marker. That upper line on the collar piece needs to be corrected but we will just ignore that. See how easy it is to trace with?

You could just add your seam allowance directly to the cellopane but I retraced them onto a thin tissue paper. Pictured above is the one I always use (its quite thin and slightly translucent). I also use this for tracing Burda Style magazine patterns. The only place in Australia you can buy this tracing tissue is Lincraft I think its around $5 for 5 sheets of 150×110.

The “finished” pattern pieces with seam allowance added and a center front fold. They are a bit sloppy but they did the job. I am a little messy/gung-ho sometimes.

The easiest refashion EVER and other neat discoveries

This is a little quirky and I know its not everyones style.

But I am all about quirky style (well OK not the Lady Gaga I-wear-meat-or-just-underwear-in-public-level of weird) but a little kookyness is good!

Today while I was getting dressed I noticed I had a shirt in my wardrobe that no longer fit me and the print was a little OTT for  a whole shirt .

Perhaps its not a big revelation but I cut off the collar and now the collar is a frivolous fashion accessory that I love! It reminds me of those miu miu collars from a few years back…Wow I just discovered a tutorial here I am 3 years behind haha never mind.

Also I remember coveting these collars in 2010 when one of my favorite fashion bloggers made and wore them! She is adorable. Look at how she styled the collar here I love her colourful retro style!

Anyway here is my tutorial (I realize it may be silly to give a tutorial since its super easy/obvious)

1. Find a shirt you no longer fit or you no longer like (it has to have a 2 piece collar)

2.  Cut just below the stitching line of the collar stand.

Volia! insta-fun collar!

The container I am holding is from Daiso store in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia (it came in a set with 2 other animal contaniers). It’s from a Japanese shop where everything instore is $2.80 an item.

If you are a horder of have no storage space perhaps you should enter with cation. Such a great shop for cute/silly/kitchy items though :)!

OK so another thing I am excited about. Today I bought a small cookbook holder that makes a fantastic stand for my Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Yay! Now I can watch Gertie’s Starlet Jacket Course on Craftsy while I sew! Actually  I recently enrolled in almost all the craftsy sewing courses (thats where all my money goes…)

Those of you who have ipads or galaxy tabs you would know how expensive the proper stands are and this one does the job nicely for $4. This is so excellent also because I don’t have room for a TV in my sewing room.

Edit: I wrapped some cut pieces of rubber bands around the metal slats of the cookbook holder (where my tab rests on), that way it has a bit of traction and wont slide off.

OK perhaps this is the most trivial thing ever but if you are an Aussie and you hate cheesy tissue box designs with pastel butterflies and that sort of thing: The Reject Shop has leopard-print tissue boxes at the moment for $1.

I love leopard print so I was sold!

 

Now If only my sewing room wasn’t so cluttered I could get in and do some actual sewing!

Felt Collar

I made this detachable felt collar thing today. It requires no sewing (only a little hand sewing). I am pretty happy with the result. I used the DIY peter pan collar from honestlywtf.

This felt is a touch itchy to wear. Next time I may invest in some wool felt. I used nasty acrylic stuff.

Not a lot of sewing has gone on recently. I also promised to update this blog at least once a week. but I have had serious back pain/problems so I have in bed a lot of the time.

Also the Burda 7494 fitting saga is enough to make me bored by sewing. It’s such delayed gratification when you want the fit of a garment to be right, but I have complained enough about that on this blog.

Actually I have done a little sewing…I taught my niece to make a gathered skirt with an elasticized waist. Was sooo fun to teach a young one some sewing!

I have been acquiring a lot of fabric lately. The beauty of working in a fabric shop is you always know when the good bargains are around!

Necklaces

I have not done a lot of sewing recently but I did make a necklace or two.

So quick and simple to make!

Whilst browsing pintrest  I can across this tutorial  by the dainty squid and I feel in love with it.

Heres my version

Yikes I need to cut my fringe badly. I do not suit a long fringe!

I used leather for my version because we have a whole bag of leather scraps.

Also the leather hole punch I had made holes that were FAR to big so I just used a thick needle to poke holes through the leather to attach the jump rings through.

Heres another necklace I made the supplies I used to make it.

I don’t know why I never considered using leather or vinyl for jewelery before as it’s awesome!

I recently sorted out my sewing notions along with my jewelery making supplies. I often buy chain from fabric stores or if I have a necklace or (a part of a necklace) I no longer like I take the chain off to use on another d.i.y.

LOOK at the organized nature of my supplies below (this is unlike me so I am proud!)

I discovered that little plastic pill storage is a great way to store the fasteners and jump rings. They are super small and you can open one at a time. I dont know if that makes any sense. I tried to take a better picture off them but failed.

I am totally going to finish Burda 7594 soon. But yeah like I said have to get the fit right which is annoying.