Velvet Standards - Lillies Finished

Some more pictures from the embroidery. Here you can see how I join the curves. I learned to make a peak - I hold the fabric with only one hand while the other's turning the stitch width wheel slowly down to zero. Then it's easy to cover this end with another line.

I also try to keep the order of layers - the last to be embroidered at every lilly is the center. It's the uppest layer and just before doing it, I cut all the threads and the last line of stitches will hide them.

Now, I have the two parts of the flag prepared. This was the easier work:-)

I bought red fringe, sewed it on one of the parts, on the right side, facing inside. I didn't sew to the corners, a cm before them I sewed in 45° angle.

Completing the flag is what I'm not looking forward to:-/

Chemise Renewed

Can you remember the old chemise project? I laid it aside because I cut the neckline too much at the back. Now I set up a UFO box (for those who don't know UFO = unfinished object) and I found energy to fix it.
I sewed in a new saddle. That means doing all the gathering and pleating again.

Before sewing the knife pleats, I basted them to be neat and even.

I decided to use elastic ribbon for fastening the sleeves. I didn't want to use buttons, this chemise is for a fighter and getting hit over the button.. Ai ai:-)
Probably, I'm just paranoid.

I made a tunnel for the band. I cut a strip and pressed its sides in. I pinned the quarters of the sleeve to the quarters of the strip and divided these distances once more.

I took the excess fabric like this to find out how much fabric I have for the pleats, I divided this length by the number of the pleats. In the end, each one was about half a cm wide.

I basted all of them for sewing and easy ironing as well. I just commiserate with the one who will have to wash the chemise and iron all the pleats with no basting on them :-D

Now I could sew the strip on.

I ironed the pleats and the lace - at the lace at full length, at the other side for about three centimeters from the strip.

I put the elastic band in. I pinned it near the ends.

Now I could sew the side and sleeve seams at once.

I carefully cut new neckline and tried the chemise on:-)

Velvet Standards - Lillies Prepararation

Four velvet double-sided standards, what a terrible work they made out for me! :-)
As the first one, I decided to make the one with French lillies. The smallest and easiest shapes to get the skill.
I cut them in two layers, drawing the shape roughly around the pattern.

I ironed vlieselin on, then put one more with the glue facing up, drew the lilly on it and sewed the upper vlieselin to the rest in the marked lines.

Then I cut the shape two milimeters from the stitches and I could iron it on the flag.
What would you think I managed to? Yes, I sewed one piece of vlieselin with the glue facing in:-D

Fortunately, I managed to tear it off, pinn another one on and sew over the stitches. In the end, it wasn't even noticeable.

Flags, such a boring project, nothing to show.. So you may at least laugh seeing the little light dot on the red lilly. I was laughing as well, when I saw I had ironed the lilly on the flag with a pin left between:-)

Yellow-brown Dress - Hand Sewing

The last thing to sew - the neckline and sleeves. They had to be finished in hand.
I pinned them roughly together and used overcast stitch.

First, I planned to take invisible back stitch, but I found out this one's actually invisible from the sides if I take as little of the fabric as possible.
And it's so easy to sew! <3

So now the dress is waiting only for the lacing.
I'm impatient to see it on the future owner!

Yellow-Brown Dress - Lining

Inserting the sleeves. As the spot in the armpit will be the most strained, I sewed a cm inside the seam allowance to help it.

Then I took the sleeve, let the shoulder and underarm marks at both the pieces face and pinned together. The sleeve is bigger than the armhole so it had to be a little gathered (everywhere but at the armpit).

I basted it, using a back stitch every now and then for the gathers not to shift.
Here you can see my inner conflict between the historical seamstress and the modern dressmaker, I'm being elevated to be in these days:-) I hope I will find some reasonable compromise between these two when I finish the school (actually I'd be pleased if I could be as little of the latter as possible, except hand sewing which I don't prefer)...

I steam ironed the gathering so that I could sew it. The gathers almost disappeared. It makes sewing easy because no tuck may develop at the sleeve when you sew.

After the first two sleeves, I tried not to sew the cm short seam, because it made sewing difficult. First I sewed the sleeve on and then closed the side in hand.

Both parts of the dress prepared for the completion. Let's go.

I pinned them in a few places to be in the same position (shoulders, necklines, sleeve seams), laid them flat and pinned the two colours together along the edge.
I sewed from one armpit to the other a cm from the edge.

For the lacing to be durable and not to fray out, I ironed a band of vlieselin.

Turning over, rolling the rims in my fingers and ironing on the lining side.
I almost forgot to make small cuts at seam allowances in curves:)

Yellow-Brown Dress - Sleeves

As I must double everything, I have to work with a paper pattern. I marked the changes since the last trial - fortunately, this just meant to change the back tuck.
I ripped it out, drew on both the dresses and resewed. The center back tuck has been prolonged to the little tuck above the gore, so that the little one actually disappeared:-)

The sleeves were OK, so I could prepare them for the dress assembling. I sewed them in the center seam and pressed the allowances flat. As the seam's not very straight, it should be ironed in the following way.
I put it on a tailor's ham and ironed the straight part up to the top of the curve which has been placed to the edge of the ham.

Then I turned it and finished ironing from the other side, raising the sleeve to make it easier.

Not very interesting work to watch today:-)

Toy Serpent

A Christmas present for my almost one year old niece.
I had a scrap of velvet kniwear. I cut it in about a triangular shape and sewed the edges together at the long side. The seam shrinked as you can see - maybe you know what it is like to sew knitwear on regular sewing machine.-)

For reasons like this I have been collecting small useless pieces of fabric. I tried to cut them to even smaller squares or whatever for the toy to be soft.

Before filling the head I basted the fabric about two centimeters from the edge.

I stuffed the head, gathered at the basting and pushed the edges inside. I sewed quite a lot of times over the opening for the toy to be safe.

I sewed on a tongue with satin stitch. It was cut from a piece of red satin lace.

I took a fabric from above and under the tongue, pressed them on it and sewed there. This way I got an upper and lower jaws.

The rest was embroidered - I didn't want to use beads or so for such a small child. Eyes - raised fishbone stitch, back - coral stitch.

Yellow-Brown Dress - Neckline

Before the friend would try it on, I could prepare the necklines as well. I basted the line and made small cuts towards it.

I ironed the squares so that I got a regular ellipse, or whatever:-)

I roughly drew a pattern for the sleeve, she should wear it with the lower side turned up, so I had to make this part straight.
I sewed the sleeve to the armpit and now I'm very curious if it will fit:-)

Yellow-Brown Dress - Gores

A dress for a friend of mine. I've owed it to her for more than a year:-)
Now we finally got to the pattern - I arranged the fabric on her and made a paper pattern. That was necessary as the dress should be lined. In fact two identical dresses sewn together.
This is the pattern I got. I has a tuck on a spine and should have one gore in the front, one at the back. The lining doesn't have a seam at shoulders, unfortunately I didn't have enough brown canvas to cut this as a whole.

The worst part - the gore. I have been searching for another method than this. I made more than fifteen models of the gore's tip. But this way I got the best results.
I cut an opening for the gore. I made a little tuck at the top - a cm high and about three milimeters wide.

I pinned the gore to the dress. I drew a mark on the dress, twenty centimeters below the tip, and that's where I put the edges equally.
You may spot a pin on the left, it helps me to know, wheather the tip of the gore and the end of the tuck are exactly one on the other (it must then stand upright).

I jabbed the needle to where the tuck ended. I can move my needle left or right, so I arranged it so that the edge of the gore would follow the left side of the foot.

I sewed in a stable distance from the gore edge. In my opinion, at this technique it would be better to iron vlieselin on before cutting and sewing for it not to fray out.

But not necessarily. The gore has wide enough allowances and attaching these to the dress should cover the narrow ones securely.
I won't do any of these, seam allowances will be hidden inside the dress.

The gore at the right side.