NPRINS

Or at least not well enough to decipher Patrones instructions. Somehow words like 'facing', 'zipper', and 'baste' didn't make it into my 3 years of high school spanish. With the help of Paco Peralta's Spanish sewing glossary, I've managed to somewhat figure out what the instructions say, but not in enough detail to follow. What I have noticed is the first few garments in the issue have more detailed instructions, after that when something is repeated (like a fly-front zipper), they just tell you to refer to whatever pattern number has the details. This skirt is number 37 in the August 2007 Patrones, the fly-front zipper instructions are found in number 6. I think I determined which part was talking about the zipper. August 2007 Patrones #259, garment 37 Instructions/layout senalar con un hilvan el centro delante de cada pieza, quedando esta senal a 4cm. del extremo del la vista; doblar hacia dentro la vista del lado derecho, sujetar con hilvan;...

I haven't forgotten about posting my thoughts about the Coffin shirtmaking method, I've just been interrupted by a spurt of sewing mojo. Taking full advantage, I made up this Kwik Sew pattern with some silk jersey from Fashionista Fabrics that has been chilling in my stash for a few months. I almost finished it last night but the hem will have to wait until this weekend. I was semi-inspired by this Milly dress, I thought the contrast bands would help the fabric look better against my pale complexion. Light blue tends to wash me out. Milly Tiki Butterfly dress on Saks.com The trim is an espresso brown silk jersey from Stonemountain & Daughter , I purchased it locally so I could match the dark brown in the print. The pattern calls for a woven fabric, since I used a knit I cut an XS instead of a S, and eliminated the back zipper. It pulls on easily, even thought the armholes and neckband are quite fitted. The belt is topstitched to the gathered front in a rectangle, th...

I've copied a couple RTW garments now, using a few different methods, but I tried something different on Jeff's shirt that worked really well. And it uses a cool sewing gadget, which I feel deserves extra points. It's always gratifying when you find a real use for some notion you bought months ago that you just had to have. This is a Clover serrated tracing wheel , it has spikes instead of a smooth or bumpy wheel. I think it's supposed to be for tracing around a pattern onto another piece of paper, on a soft surface the spikes penetrate leaving little holes in the shape you traced. Clover serrated tracing wheel However, I found that by placing a roll of pattern tracing cloth down on my ironing board, and pinning the shirt in sections on top of that, I could use the tracing wheel to mark the seamlines. Even though the wheel doesn't penetrate the shirt, it left a very clear marking, and around the hems you can trace directly onto the cloth, which makes nice littl...

Happy birthday to my husband Jeff (hi sweet cheeks!), who is 36 today. I just barely managed to finish his shirt in time, here he is (reluctantly) modeling it for you all. He was quite pleased with it, although he completely doubted my ability to finish it in time yesterday. Poor man, he's heard me say 'just 30 more minutes!' waaaay too many times when I'm at my sewing table. Why should his birthday present be any different? I have a lot of comments to make about the construction, but I'll save those for the next few blog posts. All I can say for now is that David Page Coffin is a genius. I am not worthy. Armani 100% cotton shirting from Michael's fabrics Pattern is copied exactly from one of DH's shirts With flash, it appears more blue here, the true color is somewhat in between the two. Yes, I did actually manage to match the stripes across the front and the pocket. And I meant to do that too.