.
.
.
.
.
Get ready for Sewing with Ease and Style next on Sewing with Nancy.
This program is a kick-off of a three-part mini-series named Designed for Creativity.
I'll be using one pattern and showing you seven style variations.
The sewing is streamlined. The creative options are almost endless.
First I'll detail basic sewing skills on this classic jacket style.
Plus, you'll find that this pattern is so versatile that you can create a jacket or vest.
Discover the joy of sewing next on Sewing with Nancy.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A good place to start is to look at the basic components of this jacket or vest pattern piece.
Simple styling. Easy straight seaming for the side seams.
A simple collar. You'll see an exposed zipper in this style, but we'll also have some other options for you.
There are four basic pattern pieces. A front, back, sleeve and collar.
You can't get much easier than that.
Here I have the simple style of the front piece, the back piece.
I'll be cutting two of all these. The collar, of course, the sleeve and then the collar.
The collar has both upper and under collar on one pattern piece.
You'll be cutting on the fold of the fabric. When it's double, you can see what a simple seaming will take place to create this collar.
There are also facings. Front facings.
We also have facings for the sleeve hem and the lower edge hem.
With these basic pattern pieces, you'll have lots of options.
To start with the beginning, we're going to first put a zipper in this jacket. It's one of the first steps.
To give the jacket front some stability where the zipper will go, I'm going to ask that you cut a strip of interfacing.
We're using lightweight interfacing, a knit interfacing, because the jacket fabric in this instance is a knit.
It's a medium weight knit. It has very little stretch, but yet some stretch.
Regardless if it's a knit or woven, I like to cut about an inch and a fourth to an inch and a half strip of fusible interfacing
and place it on the wrong side of the fabric and fuse down.
This will give support to that heavy separating zipper.
Separating zippers come in standard lengths.
The patterns are all designed to fit those standard lengths.
Here we have a separating zipper. One half of it is pinned to the jacket front.
I've started to pin, having a few key areas.
The stop of the zipper, the very lower edge, needs to end five-eighths of an inch, the standard width from the lower edge.
I'm pinning it one-fourth of an inch away from the cut edge.
The surged edge is shown here.
That surged edge is almost a fourth of an inch, so I use that as a guideline.
The reason I use this a fourth of an inch guideline is that when sewing five-eighths from the edge of the fabric,
your zipper teeth will be exposed, so you need that little guideline.
Just pin all the way up and then stop the zipper tab.
Again, a little bit below five-eighths from the top.
There's a heavy-duty stop at the top.
Here's a close-up of using a zipper foot and just straight-stitching down the front of the jacket to attach the zipper.
On the second half of this jacket, we already have the zipper stitched.
You just have to make certain that the stopping and starting point of the zippers are in the same place, or they're a mirrored image.
Just like that, the first step of the jacket is almost complete.
The exposed zipper is put in.
On this sample, I have the shoulder seams sewn together, then press the seams open, and then I work with the collar.
The collar piece has interfacing as well.
To streamline the process, we've used a full fuse of the interfacing.
In other words, cut the interfacing the exact size of the pattern and fused it into place.
Didn't do any trimming of seam allowances because we're working with a lightweight interfacing.
Meet the collars right sides, and the sewing will take place sewing the five-eighths of an inch seam on both fronts.
Just stitch down the fronts.
On this next sample, I have done some trimming, grading the seam allowances narrower,
trimming off a fourth of an inch or slightly bit more, angle-cutting at the corners.
As I take this over to the ironing board, you'll see the two pressing techniques that I like to do for almost all sewing.
That is, first of all, press the seam flat, just as the way you stitched it, and then press it open.
I always do this two-step pressing on almost all of the seams.
Then press open.
I'm pressing over a smaller pressing surface so that I can get the collar turned correctly,
or press it the way it will be when it's finished, and then turn right side out.
That two-step process will assure you that you'll have a very professional-looking seam.
Next, I'm going to take a little break and pin the collar to the next seam.
It's always interesting to realize that when working with basic sewing skills,
a portion of your skill is the stitching, pressing, as well as trimming.
You'll be doing almost equal amounts of all three areas.
That especially is applicable to this jacket.
As I mentioned, I was going to pin and finish working with this collar around the neckline.
I have it half stitched to the neckline.
I'm just going to show you the second half of it.
I'm matching the notches.
I have little nips at the shoulder seam notch, and then pin it around the rest of the collar.
There's one more little notch to match.
The collar is stitched to the neckline with a five-eighths of an inch seam allowance,
a standard seam allowance, just a straight stitching.
As I come around to this second half of the collar, which I've already stitched,
I'm going to do some grading.
Grading is to eliminate all the bulk of the three seam allowances at this neckline,
I always make the jacket or the portion that's going to be sandwiched the shortest,
trimming about to a fourth of an inch.
Sometimes I re-stitch the neckline seam because it's going to have the most wear and tear on it.
Just trim this neckline.
By the way, I did use red thread in here, not black thread, which I would do if this were not a sample.
I'm afraid to trim because that will give the ability for the collar to lie flat.
The inner collar, again, is trimmed.
This time, just a slightly greater seam allowance.
This is bulky fabric, so it takes a little time to get in through all these areas.
Then finally, the upper collar.
You can trim off a little bit.
If you'd like, you can zigzag or serge this edge after trimming.
On the finished jacket, we did the serging.
Now this gradated seam has a very gentle feel to this and not very bulky at all.
You've graded this seam line, and then you could press the seam allowances to the jacket.
The facing is next.
We have facing to go down the front of the jacket, and I've pinned the facing.
It's just a strip of fabric that has a fusible interfacing on it to the jacket front.
I pinned it from the jacket side so that I could re-follow
or I could follow the stitching line where I stitched in the zipper.
The interfacing thread is overstitched where I stitched in the zipper
and also stitched across the top of the facing.
Trimming is really important, especially where all these seams meet.
Angle cut, trimming the bulk out of the area.
Be aggressive here. Don't be timid when doing trimming.
Again, if it's necessary, do some re-stitching of the seams.
I do the same trimming, again, gradating down the front of the jacket.
I'll just do a little bit at this point, and now maybe one more trimming.
When you turn this right side out, you'll find that the combination of grading
and pressing and straight stitching will give you the very sharp point
at the top of the collar.
On my finished jacket, I've done one more row of stitching.
That is to tack down the seam allowances to the jacket neckline.
Just stitch it down into place with a straight stitch.
Because this fabric is bulky, you can't really see the stitching.
The next step is to set in sleeves.
The type of technique that you use to set in sleeves depends upon the style of the sleeve.
I'd like to show you the two basic styles, a cap sleeve and a shirt sleeve.
The cap sleeve is shown by this front pattern with quite of a pitched cap area.
This always needs the sleeve itself to be eased into place to fit the armhole.
The other hand, the shirt sleeve, and that's what we'll be working with today,
is cut quite differently.
Notice that the slope of the mountain is much less curved.
It really doesn't require as much easing as a traditional set-in sleeve.
Since this is the style that comes with the pattern,
I'm going to show you how to set in sleeves without doing extra stitching.
Here is a sleeve that has been stitched at the underarm.
I have the notches marked with chalk or white pencil.
Usually one notch is always the front of the sleeve, two notches the back of the sleeve,
and the third basic marking is the cap.
Here we have a small sample to show this.
I have the two pinned together, the armhole as well as the sleeve.
Here's the underarm of the sample.
I have one pin showing the front and then here's another pin.
Let me put two back there so that you know that this is the back of the sleeve.
This is the surged edge, that's the sleeve edge,
and the non-surged edge is the armhole of the jacket.
Notice the difference of the curves, outward curve for the sleeve,
almost an inward curve for the armhole of the jacket.
When you have this two contrasting of curves,
they help ease the fabric through, they kind of bite the fabric.
Whenever you have one area longer than the other,
make sure you put that area of the fabric next to the feed dog area itself.
Let the machine do the work for you.
I'm going to be sewing from the garment side and I'm going to start on the left of the seam.
Double stitched as we go along.
I'm going to start to sew at the 5-eights of an inch seam allowance.
You kind of have to work your fabric around so that you're sewing flat.
I'm sewing the underarm seam. I had those seam allowances pinned flat.
I'll get that little thread out of the way.
Let the machine do the work for you. The feed dogs will ease it.
Notice again, here's this surged edge.
Rather than having this surged edge lie flat,
I'm just going to hold the fabric at a slight angle.
By stitching in this manner, by holding it upright,
I'm going to ease the fabric at a slight angle.
I'm going to reposition this and sew the second half of the cap.
Again, the feed dogs are going to ease in the cap and holding the fabric at a slight angle.
When I'm done, I'm going to be pressing the seam flat just the way I stitched it
and then pressing the cap to the jacket itself.
Now I'm going to move around to the underarm seam, right where I started.
I'm going to move the seam over and stitch a fourth of an inch from the edge
so that this underarm has a double seam.
In the underarm area, I usually trim the seam allowances to the second stitching line.
In the underarm, it's been double stitched.
This jacket variation has a simple yet effective design change.
We brought what is traditionally on the inside, which is the facing, to the outside.
Facings are designed to give support and a finish to an outside edge.
In this case, they do much more.
The decorative surged edge adds an instant trim-like finish. Here's how.
The fabric is quite reversible.
It's another knit fabric where it has on the inside the soft, napped look
and the outside a very definite knit look.
It's a tonal effect, not totally contrasting, but has a nice enough accent between the two fabrics.
The collar and the facings all are the other right side of the fabric,
and traditionally the wrong side.
If you can keep all these right and wrong sides straight, you're doing well.
Just know that you're going to be working with the opposite side of the fabric for the collar and the facings,
which means rather than working with the fusible interfacing for the collar on the fuzzy side,
you're going to place it on what's normally the right side of the fabric.
The trim-like finish is what I'd like to detail next.
We're going to be adding the finish to the outer edge, or the edge without the seam allowance.
Here's my pattern piece, and here's the traditional 5-8 inch seam allowance.
This is just the edge that would normally be turned under or zigzagged or surged.
I'm going to be surging that edge using a heavier yarn.
I'm using an acrylic type of yarn in both the upper looper and lower looper,
and in the needle I've just used the traditional all-purpose serger thread.
Do a test run first of all, testing to see how the stitch works.
I have a three-thread overlock stitch, a wide stitch.
Notice I'm trimming off just a small amount of that edge.
When finished, this has a nice trim-like effect. The yarn had great coverage.
So do this on all your facing edges, that edge that normally would be tucked away on the inside.
Now that you have the surging complete,
I'd like to show you how to do the process of making that facing come to the outside.
Since this jacket has a zipper, we're going to insert the zipper but in the opposite manner.
This is the right side of the jacket.
The zipper is pinned to the inside of the jacket.
We use the same technique of setting the zipper by about a fourth of an inch from the edge
and top-stitching it into place.
On the opposite side, we have the zipper stitched to the inside of the jacket.
This time, the facing is placed next to the inside of the jacket.
Keep in mind, we always give you these instructions on the booklet that accompanies the program.
If you ever have a question, we'll give those to you, don't worry.
Now the magic happens. I'm not really going to trim now,
but just to show you, when you bring the facing to the outside, it's already finished.
You don't need to grade and trim as I detailed earlier,
but now the next step is to top-stitch the facing to the jacket.
In this sample, we have the facing going all the way around the jacket.
The jacket front, the lower edge has this facing edge.
As you can see, it's mitered at the corner.
With matching thread, I'm using contrasting threads that you can see a little bit easier.
This is straight stitching, sewing along the inside edge of the trim, the serged edge.
Just top-stitching it down, simple as that.
With this simple stitching technique, your outside facing is now on the inside
and has a very attractive look.
In this first episode of Design for Creativity,
I showed you the basics of working with this jacket pattern.
The zipper, facing, collar, and sleeve.
A lot of straight stitching, grading, trimming, and pressing techniques as well.
I hope you'll give it a try.
Position your machine to match your sewing task.
Koala's Soft Touch airlift system makes it easy.
To move your machine from the smooth workspace of the flat surface
remove the custom cut insert and gently push your machine.
Now in the free arm position, your machine is set to sew cuffs and other tight areas
as well as to embroider.
One last push, and your machine is ready for storage.
The airlift system makes sewing as simple as one, two, three.
Taking measurements is easy with the Wrap and Stay tape measure manufactured by Prim Dritz.
Wrap the tape around the area you wish to measure,
then secure the tape in the built-in slot.
Once you record the measurement, push the button to retract the tape.
Because both sides feature metric and inch markings,
the measurement you need is always in the side that's showing,
allowing you to make conversions at a glance.
This tape measure provides an accurate reading over any curve or round area.
Experiment with your amazing designs, embroidery cards, discs, and CDs
by stitching out only portions of each design.
Almost all embroidery motifs have multiple thread choices to create full-color designs.
You'll be quickly guided through the thread selections.
Yet, there are so many options within one design.
Choose, as I have done here, just the outline stitch.
Rather than stitching the black outline, select another color.
Here you see blue thread highlighting the outline of the embroidery,
creating a totally different and versatile motif.
Have you been searching for the perfect iron for travel, class, or your sewing room?
The lightweight Rowenta Latitude Iron accommodates all these tasks.
The compact design is ideal for small projects in your sewing room.
For added convenience, keep the latitude next to your machine so you can press as you sew.
The handle quickly collapses for easy storage.
Rowenta's Latitude Iron proves that good things do come in small packages.
Design for creativity is a topic for this mini-series.
Thanks for joining me.
During the first program, I detailed the basics,
the streamlined sewing techniques of a basic jacket or vest.
In this segment, I'll show you how creative a basic pattern can be
by taking a designer role, changing a few seams, combining fabric.
This jacket features the designer touch as we call color splicing.
The jacket and sleeves are seamed with a coordinating fabric
plus a simple yet dramatic fabric and trim accent was added.
Discover the joy of being a designer next on Sewing with Nancy.
I started out this series with the first episode working with this jacket,
a very simple style, easy collar, exposed zipper, set in sleeves,
and then showed you one other variation.
But today we're really going to redesign the jacket
just by simply adding some horizontal seams to the jacket
and doing some few other changes.
There isn't a zipper.
The front edges just meet together with loops and buttons.
But the main design change is having a seam at the lower edge,
some trims both on the front, the back, and the lower edge of the sleeves.
The collar, as you'll soon see, is also slightly changed.
It's the same collar piece as you just saw,
but we've treated the collar to create a tunnel in the collar.
With a simple collar style, it's very easy to work with.
Here's the process for some simple changes to the pattern piece.
Since we don't have a zipper or a closure at the front,
rather that the front edges just meet together,
the yellow tissue paper shows that I've trimmed off
the 5 1⁄8-inch seam allowance from the front of the jacket.
Now to this front piece, we're going to make a few more design changes,
and this is where I mentioned you're going to become the designer.
To get the horizontal seam, simply meet the cut edge of the front piece
as well as the back piece,
and I'm just showing it to you on the front piece.
Do the same to the back.
Meet it to the underarm cut edge, increase.
This magically, or I guess not magically,
but evenly distributes the design,
having 1⁄3 of the jacket and 2⁄3 of the jacket,
a good design proportion.
From this pattern piece, you can cut separate pattern pieces
so that you have seam allowances.
The lower front is from the cut edge to that fold
plus a 5 1⁄8-inch seam allowance.
As you might guess it,
the upper front has the same length as the original pattern
but just adding a seam allowance,
so it is slightly different, just a little bit.
Now the sleeve, we'll need to do some changes to the sleeve as well.
We found that just doing some simple folding
didn't give us the right proportion,
so to get the right proportion, we tested all sizes
and simply measured 6 inches from the finished hemline,
6 inches from the hemline,
draw a line perpendicular to the grain line,
and you're going to be cutting again two pattern pieces.
A tissue could make another lower sleeve,
just adding a seam allowance again,
and an upper sleeve.
That's all designers do, or change the seams,
and that's what we've done here,
worked with the basic piece but added two horizontal seams
to the front pattern pieces and to the sleeve.
I should say three, we're also going to add it to the back.
We have some trim on our jacket or on our finished jacket,
and that trim can be made really any size that you'd like
because it's going to be applied to the pattern piece itself.
I'll show you in our sample.
Here we have the jacket front, just one front,
and then you'd have a second front as well as a back,
and here's the sleeve pattern.
We used a chenille corded fabric for the top,
a linen for the lower portion,
and to create trim we cut two and a half inch strips
of an accent color and two inch strips of the navy,
several of these, folded them in half
so that I had a finished one inch strip.
Down the center of or in the back,
on the back of this accent strip,
fuse a stabilizer, an iron-on stabilizer,
or just use any type of your favorite stabilizer,
and decoratively stitch down the center.
This is just one option.
Here's a close-up of just take your time
and choose a stitch to your liking
and stitch down the center of the strip if necessary.
You may want to mark the center
so you can follow along easily.
Then remove the excess stabilizer,
and I'll remove portions of it.
You can take all of it off, of course.
You can make this trim any size you'd like
because you're simply going to place it
on the lower edge of the sleeve
or the lower edge of the jacket in this instance.
The raw edge of one of these fold sections
will meet the cut edge,
and the second one on top,
you're framing that decorative stitch
and stitch into place.
Now this seam is going to be covering the raw edge,
but to cover the other raw edge
just find some coordinating trim
and topstitch to straight stitch it into place.
You'll be stitching the accented lower panel
to the upper panel for the sleeve front,
or excuse me, the jacket front,
jacket back, and both sleeves.
Now it's time to do some other
decorative accents to this jacket.
The accent feature that I was talking about
is the collar.
I don't always think of a collar as an accent piece,
but in this instance we're going to change
the shape of the collar that we worked with
in the last episode of this series
to a tunnel collar.
Here's the collar piece,
it was a double collar, upper and under collar
made in one, fold wrong sides
and stitch the center front seams.
Notice there isn't any interfacing here,
it's just the fabric weight itself.
We don't need that fabric to be interfaced
because of the way it's going to be treated.
You're going to put the collar on the jacket
in the same manner.
Just meet the collar,
the underside of the collar,
pin around the neckline,
and stitch the collar to the neckline.
On this sample I have done
some grading of the seam allowances.
Changing the seam allowance width
so that the jacket is the most narrow,
then the medium width of the inner collar,
and then the seam allowance
of the outer collar, the widest.
Approximately 3 1⁄8 of an inch wide
if you're done.
You don't have to measure,
just trim three different widths.
We're going to start with the facings.
Instead of having a facing to this edge,
we have bound the inside
with bias fabric,
cutting a navy fabric
that we used on the lower edge of the jacket.
About 2 1⁄2 inches wide,
the choice is yours,
cut it on the bias.
I'll show you what to do with this.
I always think bias trim
is a really nice design or feature
and it gives a very clean finish.
The bias trim, folded in half,
the raw edges are met
to the cut edges of the jacket,
of the collar area.
I'm going to pin it
from the jacket side.
It's going to go over the edge
of the neckline.
Then re-stitch that neckline seam,
attaching the bias trim
to the neckline.
I'm just re-stitching that seam
to the neckline edge.
I have it already halfway stitched,
so I'll stop at the center back.
You'd need some pressing at this point,
but right now I'm just going to finger press.
Finger press the bias trim
over the seam allowance
to encase it
so it's enclosed.
On this end of the collar,
the neckline,
I have stitched it down into place.
You can hand stitch
or edge stitch by machine.
If you had a hobby,
you could handle the machine stitching.
What a nice finish on the inside
just by cutting a bias strip
and finishing the edges.
To make this tunnel collar,
fold the collar in half,
meeting the folded edge
to the neckline seam.
After you have pinned it in place
all the way around the edge,
simply edge stitch the collar down.
That's all we did
to create this tunnel collar effect
on the finished jacket,
just straight stitched.
The tunnel needs a cording.
I don't always have cording at hand
that matches what I'm working with,
so I make my own
by using the bobbin,
and almost all bobbins
have a little extra hole at the edge,
and I've placed a cording
or a little lasso
through that bobbin edge
and cut yarn or decorative threads.
I've cut two lengths
and cut it four times
the length that you need.
Now, this isn't going to create
a very long length.
It's going to create a relatively short one,
but I'll give you the concept.
These two yarns have been placed
through the lasso,
and I'm pinching the ends together.
I'm going to hold the yarns up straight
and wind the bobbin,
but I'm not winding the bobbin,
I'm just twisting the yarn.
When the yarns have been
I'm going to fold it in half
a second time.
That's why you need four lengths,
and I'm going to pinch the ends
to the lasso.
Now, where my right index finger is,
it's just going to twist.
It's twisting on itself,
and as I cut this off
you'll see this nice cord.
This is a heavy cord,
and it will stay twisted.
Now, this wasn't very long, as I mentioned.
You may be 8 to 10 feet away
and work kind of in tandem,
but it creates interesting cording
using not only for the jacket,
the tunnel collar of the jacket,
but you could also use it
for the button loops
that we have right here.
We've pinned some button loops,
put some button loops on
before finishing that edge.
Speaking of that edge,
how to finish it,
let me just work on this sample.
It's like binding a quilt,
and I'm going to cut a 3-inch
crosswise strip of fabric,
fold the short end down
and fold it in half.
We're working with a lot of
straight little strips today,
and meet this strip to the front edge.
If you recall,
I did some trimming
of that jacket front,
eliminating that front seam allowance,
and I'm going to sew
only a small portion of this for you.
Sew this binding to the front
of the jacket
with about a fourth of an inch
seam allowance,
a lot of straight stitches,
and now some more pressing
would be needed.
Press the seam allowance
or press the binding
toward the front edge
to cover it.
Let me take out this pin
and then wrap that binding
around the edge.
On the inside, you can hand stitch
or, again, you can straight stitch
it into place, depending how
you'd like to have this finished.
Sew some creative uses of fabric,
interesting trims,
interesting use of the collar.
You can change that basic jacket
into a designer jacket.
Use the same pattern
to make a quick change
from that casual jacket
that I just featured
to this more dressy style.
The variation showcases
suede punching.
Add a few accents or add many.
Remember, you're the designer.
This jacket features many accents.
It has several accents
of the suede punching.
On synthetic suede,
you can punch through
with a lot of tools
and the fabric will not rattle,
either down the front
where we used a light green suede
or the jacket front of black suede.
You can see this filigree design
where wearing a light colored top
would certainly showcase
this interesting effect
or if you just want to
just do the facing itself.
The jacket fabric is a coordinate knit
for the sleeve and the jacket back
that have the same colors
that we've chosen for the suede.
What I'd like to detail now
is working with the punching
of the suede.
The suede is for sure
going to be used on the facings
by a fourth of a yard of suede,
an eighth of a yard of suede,
and still have a great accent.
Since suede doesn't rattle,
we're going to kiss the seams,
in other words, butt the seams together
of the front facings.
I'm going to turn under
the facing seam allowance of the front
as well as the collar band.
Just eliminate those
to cut out the facing pieces
so that later on we'll just simply zigzag
or decoratively stitch
otherwise you cut out the facing,
the size that is listed
on the pattern piece.
I talked about kiss seams
and I'm kind of going ahead
a little bit, but I just want to show you
where those seams have been kissed.
We simply met the edges
and then zigzagged together
or used a feather stitch
so that there isn't any bulk in this area.
But first of all, the punching.
For the punching,
we're going to be using a pattern.
On the pattern comes the design,
so you don't have to design it yourself
using three different shapes
of the leather punch tool,
a teardrop, a circle, and a leaf design.
And you transfer these designs
onto a templar or
plastic quilting template sheets
and punch out the design
using the tools.
A detailed design, a little design,
all or part of it, the choice is yours.
On the wrong side of this facing,
I have transferred the design
onto the fabric,
and then we'll simply do the punching.
This is a great way
to eliminate some frustrations
because you simply work
on a hard surface,
use a mallet,
and punch.
This is a simple process.
It does take a little bit of time,
but you can soon see
as I punch out just portions of this
really how simple it is.
Now you may find
as probably I'll have here,
you'll have to use a scissors
to get some of the edges out.
We'll find out.
This one is perforated there.
Let's see, one more.
And we'd have to cut
this little one off,
so you may find a few areas
that you were not able to punch.
So this is just a portion
of the design right now.
So after you have the facings punched,
the jacket punched if you'd like,
then simply meet the facing
to the top of the jacket front.
Now these are both suede.
Before doing this,
you have the option
of scalloping the edge
of the suede.
Using a scalloped scissors
or a rotary scallop,
simply easily cut
and evenly as possible
around the edge.
Take your time to do this
so that you have a nice, even amount.
And that's how it gets
this simple edge.
Place it on top of your fabric
and topstitch.
Now the outer edges
have been stitched as well.
You can see that we've just
topstitched the outer edge
about 5 1⁄8 of an inch
away from the edge.
Since both of these fabrics are suede
and they're not going to rabble,
now again, cut.
And take your time
to uncut this.
And see what a nice edge
this gives?
And I'm going to do the same
around the neck edge.
Now again,
this is if we have
two suede fabrics.
And wow, what a fast way
of finishing that edge.
And I think I have a little bit
too much fabric here,
so I am going to gently scallop
that off so it's very even.
Now if you would just like
to use only a facing
that's of suede
and the jacket front
of a traditional fabric,
I'd like you to meet
the suede to the inside
of the jacket
and sew a 5⁄8 of an inch
seam allowance,
which I have sewn here.
And then simply wrap the suede
to the right side.
But take some pressing,
and because of pressing
the suede would require
working with a press cloth,
take some time to press
the suede perfectly flat.
And then do some edge stitching,
stitching on the edge of the fabric
and top stitching down the center.
This is the technique we used
of adding a suede cuff
at the lower edge of the sleeve.
We met the suede facing
to the inside of the jacket
and wrapped it to the underside.
And with these simple techniques
you can add the elegant accent
of synthetic suede to the outer edge.
One of the most creative parts
of sewing is combining
different fabrics.
In this particular jacket
we have synthetic suede,
plus for the back and sleeves
we have a knit fabric.
It's interesting to see
how a variety of fabrics
can be used together.
So I'm going to show you
how to do that.
So I'm going to show you
how to do that.
It's interesting to see
how a variety of fabrics
can work together.
Easily combine embroidery designs
by simply touching the screen
on the Baby Lock Elagio Embroidery
and Sewing Machine.
Begin by selecting
the Embroidery Edit function.
Select a design from one
of the built-in designs
or a design from a memory card
or disk.
Add a second design,
then simply begin to embroider
with the touch of a button.
Clearly, combining designs
is a streamlined process.
Did you ever wonder
what the difference is
between a straight and microsurrated edge?
Ginger explains that the straight edge
shears has carefully polished points
and is designed for all
dressmaking needs.
The microsurrated edge, however,
features fine gripper-like teeth
that easily grasp slippery fabrics
such as silk and rayon.
Also, the microsurrated shears
has slightly blunted points
to prevent snagging on finer fabrics.
Whichever blade you choose,
you can be sure of a clean cut,
even through many layers of fabric.
Looking for a spool
that feeds smooth and even,
locks thread ends, and eliminates tangles?
Madeira Machine Embroidery Thread Spools
are designed with just that in mind.
First, thread is straight wound
instead of diagonally
for smooth feeding.
Second, both the bottom and top
of Madeira's exclusive locking spools
pop up, providing access to the thread end,
then pop down to lock thread
back into place.
Finally, a wide shape eliminates
the drop-off and tangle problems
associated with elongated spools.
It's time to discover the joy of sewing.
Welcome to Sewing with Nancy.
This is the third episode
of my mini-series on Design for Creativity
where I'm showing you design
and fabric variations on a simple jacket
or vest pattern.
In this program, I'll begin by showing you
how you can make a detachable collar.
It's a design modification
which provides flexibility.
The collar shown is velveteen.
Plus, I'll also show you how to make
a full collar variation.
Get ready to be creative next on Sewing with Nancy.
It's relatively easy
to change a collar from being attached
to detachable.
You have to start off with making it detachable
by simply making a little extra change
to the collar, adding a band to it
plus some button and buttonholes.
You can change the jacket style
by unbuttoning it and wearing it
without a collar.
Or the other option would be
to add another version
working with a faux fur
and button this on for a very evening look
to the same jacket.
I'll show you some flexibility
with this one pattern.
First of all, the velveteen collar
and how to work with this.
We have added interfacing
to the velveteen collar.
Since this is a stretch velveteen,
I've chosen an interfacing
that has the same characteristics.
It has a lot of stretch.
With velvet, velveteens and satins,
using fusible interfacing
can be kind of a challenge.
Notice that I have a terry cloth fabric
and I'm really just lightly touching
the iron to the interfacing.
I'm not pressing,
I'm just gliding it over.
You're not going to fuse it on
very firmly, just so that it
stays long enough for you to do
the sewing of the side seams
and then the interfacing will be
caught in the fabric.
Touch it very lightly,
just like a little kiss on the cheek
is the way you're going to touch
your iron to the interfacing.
The sewing technique, as we showed you
earlier in this program,
just stitch the side seams,
which really end up being the center front
of the collar, and turn right-side out.
Then you're ready to hold this aside
until the time I put
the neckline trim on.
Let me show you how to work
with the faux fur.
You only need a small amount
of fur, enough for just one upper collar.
We've chosen the pattern
that has just the upper collar.
The pattern will tell you to cut two of this.
Actually, you're just going to cut one.
Working from the wrong side,
the knitted side of the faux fur,
make sure that the fur is petted down,
that you will be outlining
it with chalk.
We've outlined one half of the collar,
then at the center back, flipped it over
and outlined the second half of it.
Now, cutting.
Cutting a faux fur is a little bit
different than cutting fabric.
You're not going to cut the fur at all.
Simply use a small scissors
and the tip of the scissors
cutting the backing.
The fur will just kind of peel away
without having to shed
too much shedding around the collar.
Then just snip along.
This will take a little time,
but you're just going to snip
and then spread the fur apart.
That's all there's to it.
There's a lot of bulk with this fabric,
so rather than mitering corners
or turning corners,
on each corner I'm going to have you measure.
I'll find my little measuring gauge.
Measure from the corner
an inch and a fourth.
You may wonder why an inch and a fourth
from both edges.
Well, that is double the seam allowance width
and place a piece of tape,
an inch and a fourth across that diagonal.
On the next sample,
across that diagonal strip I've cut
and we're cutting off the corner.
This will allow me to press,
finger press, not with an iron,
but the seam allowance is up
the five-eighths of an inch seam allowance
and then easily hand-stitch.
We have bright pink thread here
just to hand-catch the seam allowance.
You would use black thread.
That's how you finish the three outer edges
of your fur collar.
Both collars are ready,
whether it's velveteen, satin,
which I didn't show you,
and faux fur to add a neckline trim.
Not out of bright blue, of course,
but this is for contrasting purposes.
It's cut on the bias,
so it's cut on the diagonal,
three inches wide
and has a little interfacing attached to this.
You can simply fold or meet,
first of all, let's meet,
the cut edge of the binding
to the cut edge of the fur.
I'm going to reach down
and find my original fur collar
and show you that
when sewing to the fur,
I like to use a zigzag stitch,
not a straight stitch.
That will make that seam a lot less rigid.
With the fur, it works a little bit better.
Stitch it to the edge,
and if you'd like,
you could trim down your collar
to only having a fourth of an inch seam.
It really isn't that critical.
Fold under the seam allowance,
the five-eighths of an inch seam allowance
of the free edge of the binding,
wrap it to meet the seam,
and edge stitch,
or hand stitch, the choice is yours.
I also did finish each front edge.
The next step is to sew buttonholes.
You saw earlier
how I had the buttonholes
or this collar attaching to the jacket.
We had five buttonholes,
one at each front,
at the shoulder seams,
and at the center back.
You do this on all of your collars.
This is one variation
that you could easily make
to this simple jacket pattern.
Another option is to look at the binding
that's down the front and around the edges.
The second program of this series
I detailed working with a trim
using a linen fabric
to trim the outer edge.
Here we've chosen
that same velveteen fabric
to trim the edge.
We've used the same concept,
but let me just give you
a quick refresher course.
You're going to trim away
the seam allowances of the front,
the neckline, and also the hem,
so you're not going to have any seam allowances
in this area.
Then, if the fabric is lightweight,
as we have experienced
with this fabric,
it's a lightweight knit,
you may want to consider
meeting your facing.
Keep using your facings.
Meet it to the jacket,
wherever the facing is required,
meeting wrong sides.
The binding is again cut three inches wide
and folded in half,
you're going to stitch the edges together
and meet to the right side of the jacket.
Stitch with a fourth of an inch seam
and then simply wrap this
again to the underside
and hand stitch.
Notice that we have curved the front
rather than having a mitered corner
at the top.
Another option would be to curve it
at the top as well as the lower edge.
Here it's been curved.
This will give you another option
to this jacket, rounded corners
Now, let's explore more options
for adding accents to the facing,
bringing the facings to the outside
and choosing from a variety
of edge finishes.
This jacket features a simple finish,
a clean finished edge.
It's an ideal way of turning
an ordinary style into an elegant style.
Plus, the facing provides
a great palette to showcase
a dynamic closure.
This jacket pattern
has lots of flexibility
in creating these facings
rather than having them tucked on the inside,
having them exposed on the outside
is a way of dealing with creativity
or adding creativity.
We've added an interesting
alpine-type closure at the top
and just have that simple facing
going all the way around
the lower edge, the sleeves, etc.
Notice that we have a seam
on the diagonal
where the facings meet.
That's the way the pattern is designed
and the instructions that come with today's program.
I'll be giving you special detail
how to work with this area.
But first, the facings.
This is a simple option,
having a clean finished edge.
Since I have a knit fabric
that we've chosen for this facing
and we want it to be very accurate
to have the facing the same width
all the way down,
you'll see on this sample
some basting stitches,
a hand-running stitch
on this side of the facing,
normally the side that would be tucked underway,
we're going to turn under the edge
and again we did a little hand basting
so that when it comes to time to stitch it down
it's just prepared in the right manner,
it's the right width.
You're going to be sewing the facings together.
There'll be a mitered edge.
It's already sewn or cut for you.
All you have to do is follow the seam allowance
and since you've pre-turned under the edges
you'll have a clean finish in this area.
You'll see this come to light
in just a few minutes.
Some other options you may want to consider
for the inner edges
and how to finish them.
For a casual look,
this is a nubby sweatshirt fleece.
We've used some stretch Lycra,
Lycra binding used on fleece,
polar fleece, Nordic fleece.
Stitch to that inner edge
a 1⁄4 inch seam
and then wrap it to the underside
and this sample shows it pinned.
Leave it pinned at this point
before stitching it down.
For a fabric accent trim,
this trim of an accent color
was cut an inch and a fourth wide
and folded in half as you can see
and then stitched to the edge
just with a narrow little seam allowance
and then pressed that fabric edge forward
and then you have a fabric accent.
So these are just three options
that you could consider.
Then attaching that facing
to the jacket is what's next.
I'm going to show this to you on the sample.
Now we worked with a knit fabric
that had some stretch
that we didn't want to have it too stretchy.
So in a contrasting,
fusible interfacing,
normally I would use black,
but for you to see we used ivory,
fused the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric.
Then when working with the facing,
you're going to work from
the wrong side of the fabric
and the right side of the facing
and pin the facing to the jacket
and this is just a portion of a sample
but you'd pin the two together
and stitch on the outer edge.
Again, right side of facing,
wrong side of jacket
and it's going to be flipped forward.
This next sample features
dark interfacing fused to it
so it's going to look just a little bit different
but the facing has been stitched to this area.
Pressing is really critical.
Press the seam flat
just the way it's been sewn
and then press it open
so it's not going to have the seam pressed open
when it's finished.
It will make turning that facing
go more smoothly
if you take this next step
to press open the seam.
Then a little trimming will be needed,
grading the seam allowances
varying the widths
and one I trim off
about half the width
and the other a smaller portion
and I will cut more later.
Just cut this off
but then you simply meet
the facing to the right side
of the jacket
and pin.
You can see my basting stitches line
and then edge stitch either by hand
or by machine
just catching that facing into place.
Now we have two other options
to show you how to do the finishing
and this has the fabric trim
along the very edge.
The facing has been put onto the sample
brought forward just the way I detailed it
stitch the facing down into place
stitch in the ditch
stitching in the well of the seam
to hold that facing into place.
The same option would take place
with the sweatshirt fleece
with that lycra binding
you can see a much beefier casual binding
again stitch in the well
or the ditch of the seam
to hold the facing down
and now you have creative options
for your facings.
Embroidery provides the next creative element
I chose an embroidery design
with two thread changes
to cascade down the front of both sides of the vest.
The key to using embroidery
is design placement
and the treatment of the fabric
in the embroidery hoop
to the guidelines that I'd like to share with you.
Here's a close up look of our vest
you can see the design is simple
actually there are two patterns
two different designs
the larger one being in the corner
of the vest lower corner
and to get the placement correct
we like to make a little pattern
how detailed you'd like to make it
is kind of up to you.
Mark on the jacket front
the facing placement
since that facing came to the front
just like I demonstrated a few minutes ago
we need to mark where that finish line
of the facing will end up
so the pattern piece
has the clean finish turned under
and then I'll simply meet it
to the jacket front
front, neckline as well as the hem.
Now here's the optional part
to make a pattern
but since we have so many
embroideries on this jacket front
we did make a pattern
using a template
first we stitched out a sample embroidery
and then traced it on a templar
quilting template
and then
with a tissue paper and marking pen
drew along the designs
alternating and flipping.
To place this design
in the lower corner
I simply would match my template
to the pattern
move away the pattern
and position the template.
Now to put the fabric in the hoop
really I don't like to put the fabric
in the hoop too often
I'd rather hoop the stabilizer
as you found on Sewing with Nancy
rather than hooping the fabric
that way you're not going to leave
an imprint on the fabric
In the hoop we've placed a stabilizer
that is sensitive to water
that makes it adhesive
after it has some
just a little bit moisture applied
and gets sticky
and you can apply your washable fabric
to this area
you notice that we have one of the
embroideries already positioned there
and already stitched
so the one I'm going to stitch for you
is going to be the next one online
so I'll simply match my template
and whisk away the pattern
you might want to double-check
that placement
might have moved a switch
and then tape the template into place
and I'll show you how to do the stitching.
It's now time to position the embroidery
so that I'm going to be sewing
in the right spot
according to my template position.
I'm going to put the memory card
in the machine
and wait a few seconds
for it to bring it up
I've found my notebook here
I'm just going to push the button
for my design
and as it comes up
I can see that it's the mirror image
of the position of the template
or the design on my fabric
so I'll just do a little changing here
and hit the mirror image button
and now the image on my LCD screen
matches the image of my template
but the needle is not
in the starting position.
As I mentioned, we made our own templates
and in past programs
I've given you many ways
of making your own templates
and we just outlined the design
and placed a paper punch
at the starting spot of the needle
so I could get this lined up exactly
and just move the needle
until it's at the right starting spot
and I double-check it
I have to back up a little bit
and one stitch to the right
or left I should say
and I think I'm in the right spot.
This is the stabilizer and the hoop
and in some fabrics that's enough.
This is a knitted suede
it's yardage suede
it's not a very heavy fabric
so to give this fabric some additional stability
I'm just going to insert
another layer of stabilizer
underneath this whole length
and I like to do this many times
after I have the stabilizer and the hoop
just to have it free-floating
because soon it will be attached
I'll lower the presser foot
and then just begin to sew.
I'll be in the right position
and just hit the start button.
Let me just do a little clipping
of the threads here
and then we'll just do some more sewing
and let the machine stitch away.
Now in some fabrics
you may find that you'd like
to put a stabilizer on the top
a clear, water-soluble stabilizer
but I always do a sample
test on the fabric first
and I found that I didn't need that
I'll just take a little bit to stitch
and you'll find too
with your sample stitching
to make sure you have the right color combinations
sometimes I stitch two or three
to make sure I have the right color thread
to go with the fabric.
If we take another look
at the finished garment
you will see that
all the designs down the front
kind of cascade
and they reverse positions
we have to mirror image and then flip
and you'll just have to rotate
on your screen using your design.
After you've done the embroidery
then it's important
that you remove the stabilizer
from the underside of your fabric
because you'll have to
use a tear-away stabilizer
and then just tear away that stabilizer
so that it's not included or left in the fabric.
I might want to mention though
I used an embroidery thread
a red embroidery thread on the top
and a lightweight bobbin thread underneath
it's a simple process.
Thanks for being with me
during this three-part series
on Design for Creativity
where I used one basic pattern piece
and showed you seven different options.
Each pattern is included
in the reference material
that goes along with this three-part series.
Thanks for joining me. Bye for now.
Madeira threads
because creativity is never black and white.
Prim dreads
the source for sewing and quilting notions.
Amazing designs
embroidery solutions
for any embroidery machine.
Koala cabinets
designed with maximum storage
using minimum space.
Rowenta
beautiful performance and beautiful results
for all types of ironing.
And Nancy's Notions catalog
discover the joy of sewing and quilting.
you