Hello! 
Long time no see.  It sucks to be sick and I'm coming up on my 9th anniversary of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.  However, things are looking up and I made an Instructable for a comfortable face mask which doesn't put pressure down the middle of your face.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Comfortable-Face-Mask-in-Easy-Steps-Pattern-Includ/

Embellishment Test

Hi,  Long time, no see =)  One interstate move later, I thought it was time to post something.  Today I was testing an embellishment technique for a dress I'm currently working on.  The dress will be blue, but the test is on a pink scrap of the same kind of fabric.  I tested the same design three ways.

*Note* Always test on the actual or same type of fabric.  

*Note* There are two kinds of embroiderers/embellishers, those who test and those who wish they had =(

I learned the hard way.

This first photo was after I did twin needle sewing with a pearl cotton thread underneath, caught in the bobbin thread.  I wasn't happy with it after washing out the stabilizer, drying it then pressing it.  I was intrigued  because this is what it looked like after I removed all the stitching and pearl cotton.  I liked the impression better than what it was with the stitching in, but, alas it wouldn't hold up to washing and drying, so I re used this fabric for test #3.

                               

Below is the second test.  Instead of twin needle stitching, I wondered if it might be better if I just used a satin stitch and embroidery hoop.  Not only was it a pain, the loops were still terribly uneven, and worse, the stabilizer with the Sharpie marker I used to trace my design just would not go away.  This is stitched with pink embroidery thread, but the green marker made it dark.  

So, on to test #3 which is the point I started to document this little fiasco.  Starting from the beginning.  Just because......

I use wash out stabilizer a lot.  I draw all over it in Sharpie marker, follow my lines, and then it all goes away.

Usually =( 

 I've tried pen (the oils stay and stain) and pencil (hard to see, tears stabilizer), and found that Sharpies, with their soft tips and solvent based ink (not water soluble!) mean they show well and, until now, have not transferred to my fabric.  This embellishment method, using the twin needle and going over itself created folds which hung onto the marker.  Ugh.  Lesson Learned; use water soluble pencil for this technique.  Not as easy to draw with, but will definitely produce a better result

Because I wanted a symmetrical design, first I marked the center line and folded the paper, then I only drew half.  Just like in grade school, I flipped it over and copied the design.  It doesn't show, but I like to use pencil so I can change things.   Tracing paper is a real bonus, here. The bleed through from the green Sharpie shows on my design since I had already traced this twice.

This is the unfolded design (top of photo, below) and the traced image in Sharpie on water soluble stabilizer (bottom of photo, below).  I just happened to grab the green Sharpie.  The color doesn't matter.

First, pin the stabilizer down (the grain of the fabric matters, make it straight on grain, and only pin near the edges for delicate silks), then the stabilizer gets basted down.  If this were a delicate fabric or any kind of silk, I would baste, by hand with large stitches, right along the design line.  Pin holes will be less noticeable, here.  But, not only is this a test, it is also polyester bridal satin which does not keep holes.  Life is good.

This shows my machine basting, with contrasting (yellow) thread which makes it easier to see and remove later.  At the top left is the two pink machine embroidery threads and at the top right is the twin needle (130/705H ZWI, 4,0/80) which is one of the wider set ones, and the cording foot.  The wide set twin needle combined with the cording foot and a really short stitch length makes the highest tuck.  I'm thinking I need a slightly lower tuck, so will be trying a slightly longer stitch length.  The top tension will need to be loosened, also, but how much will depend on your machine.  Hence the test.

The most thread breakage I get is with the twin needle and embroidery thread.  Sewers Aid, a silicone lubricant, applied to the guides above the needle solves this for me.  Some people have a hook as a guide so you might have to find a higher guide or even put a line on the spool of thread.  No matter where it is placed, it needs to be done more than once.  This stuff is getting hard to find =(

Sometimes my nicely drawn lines didn't line up after the first pass.  This design has two passes.  Continuing on smoothly produced a good result.

Note to self; keep basting stitches away from where embellishment stitching runs parallel and away from crossovers.  Those basting stitches were hard to remove.

Once the stitching was finished and basting stitches removed, it was time to get rid of the stabilizer.  It's faster to cut away what you can than to dissolve everything, so first I cut, then, it got run under really warm water and rubbed to remove the gummy bits and, especially, the bits with marker on them.  This is the point I discovered that the Sharpie was not coming out of the folds at the cross overs.   A teaspoon of chlorine bleach and a 15 minute soak got a lot of it out, but not all.  I'm so glad this was a test!  Then into the dryer, because I like to know how my work is going to behave before I put it on a dress and sell it to someone.

Here is what it looked like right out of the dryer.  Having done similar things before, I know a gentle press will make this look a whole lot better.

Much better!  More practice will get me to the point where I can use it on the dress I'm currently making, but I know the technique works, I know to use a water soluble pencil for the wash out stabilizer, and I know that this really is the effect I'm going for.

Just to show what a geek I am here is my thread collection.  When I saw I needed four silverware trays to hold most of my thread I was shocked.  People just give me thread.  I hardly ever buy it =D (oh, and that garbage about old thread being weak?  Older thread was so much better quality that even old it's still better than the stuff commonly available new.  Except Madera and Mettler metrosene.  When I need thread, this is what I buy (and, no, I don't get $ for saying that)).

Happy Sewing!

Rosette/Peony Chiffon Flower both On The Straight and Bias Cut

So, I'm taking a break from the zipper tutorial.  A lot has gotten done, it just didn't get photographed.  One of the things I got accomplished was a lovely little white dress that is made of embroidered satin.  I was going to put rosettes at the waist and went hunting for rosette tutorials.  I even got some chiffon strips cut out in the color I wanted, but I was not happy.  My thought was to have them look like small explosions and everything I saw was a variation on a spiral.  Nice, but not what I wanted.  Then, I realized that the search term might have been what was sinking me, but about that time this idea came to me;

Some of the flower tutorials I saw used a base so that seemed to be a good place to start.  Starting at the small dot at the top and going around right at the edge, I would spiral around twice, once on the edge and once slightly in a bit, and then do a back and forth/zig zaggy pattern in the middle.  When making my first one I decided that going through the 'center' into the back would be a good idea and that is marked with the large dot in the middle of the diagram.

On the left is the felt base, a bit over an inch in diameter, and on the right is a finished rosette.

Here is a tube of chiffon cut on the straight.  It is a left over from failed attempts; making a tube is unnecessary

I've gone all around the edge and am starting the second spiral layer using a zigzag stitch.

After completing the second spiral I backtack and get ready to do the back and forth/zig zag part.  I tacked this by hand.

On the left the zig zag becomes visible.  Next I go around, following the spiral a bit to do the second side of zigzagging.

Using a seam ripper I make a hole in the center to put the end through.

Showing the center hole more clearly (sorry about the pink)

I cram in one more zig zag (on the right) and then use tweezers to stuff the end through the hole.

This is the back with the end pulled through.

I check the top to adjust it to make the rosette as nice as possible.

On the back the end gets tacked down and snipped off.  I make sturdy rosettes that can go through the washer and dryer.

Here are four rosettes crammed together and pinned to a piece of felt.  Don't worry if each flower isn't perfect.  They look great in a crowd!

Ok, I wanted to see exactly what difference a rosette done with the same base, the same pattern, but cut on the bias would do.  Like the strip cut on the straight, this strip is 2" wide.  The felt round is a bit over an inch in diameter.

The bias strip was folded in half and run through the sewing machine to gather it up. 

Since I had been somewhat unhappy with the way the previous flower behaved when I just put the end under the base, this time I wrapped the hanging threads from the gathering stitch around the end.  This will be the starting end.

Going the same direction, doing the same thing, I sewed with a zigzag stitch first around the very edge, and then coming in for a second layer/spiral

Here the fabric is folded back on itself to form the first back and forth petal.

At the bottom you can see the fabric folded over.  The seam ripper gives good control for making a small hole/slit.  It only needs to be big enough to stuff the end of the chiffon through.

This is a shot of going around the back of the hole, following the machine sewn spiral to start the second side of back and forth/zig zagged fabric folding.  Each layer is tacked down separately.

This is the end shoved through to check the look.  It seems a little open on the near side.

A little horizontal tacking brings the open 'petals' closer together for a nicer look.  There are no rules!

Tacking down the end on the back.

The formed bias rosette.

What a difference cutting on the bias vs cutting on the straight makes!

Fly Zipper With Facing

Avoiding Zipper Hell Part VI

This time I'm starting with the finished product.  I grabbed this pair of trousers out of my closet so you could see how flat the front lays.  Yes, it's a fabric that can hide things, but in real life, this is really what these look like.  Zoom in as close as you like--it's that tidy.

This zipper application is appropriate for: shorts, trousers, purses and handbags, as a design element on the front of a top, sleeves.

This zipper is not appropriate for: a zipper on the very edge of a fold, like a duvet or pillow cover.

Sewing Tip #1: It matter less that you do it 'right' and more that you do it consistently.  That way, you know what you did and can make workable changes when things don't turn out quite the way you wanted them to.

Sewing Tip #2: Check - Your - Work.  It's better to spend 2 seconds checking that you are happy with the step you just completed than to discover at the end that you are unhappy with the work done at step 2.  In zippers there are plenty of little steps.

Sewing Tip #3:  Be aware of your material, perhaps test a scrap.  In this case I mean that pins play a big part of how I put in zippers and not all materials can be pinned without consequence.  The biggest one that comes to mind is leather.  Included in this class, though, is Ultrasuede and vinyl.  Every hole is permanent.  Silk charmeuse also shows every hole.  Pins need to remain in the seam allowances for any silk and most satins.  So, for silk charmeuse, I would recommend an invisible zipper or a different kind of closure, completely.

Sewing tip #4:  A brand new needle will fix most stitch problems.  Most of the remaining problems can be fixed by re-threading the machine.  Do it this way when you are having troubles: snip the thread near the spool.  Then, reach down near the needle (or lack of needle =D ) and pull the thread out of the machine  in this direction.  This keeps little lint balls from being dragged into even more difficult places.  The goal is too keep your machine out of the shop ($$).

Onward and upward!

First off, I did find, and learn from, a wonderful video done by Threads magazine.  Before going farther, I highly recommend watching this.  I do a slight variation on her process, but if you want to stop with her information, be my guest.  This is about a 5 1/2 minute video.

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper

What I do differently is that I like to face my zippers.  It's a classy thing to do, and it keeps things out of the zipper coil.  If one is using a metal toothed zipper, a facing is a must.  

The best way to deal with lined pants and a zipper is to just treat the lining and the fabric like one piece.  I've done all kinds of fancy things to get a more polished look inside, but so far, it's just a lot of work.  That means that these instructions, both the video and mine, would be exactly the same for a lined or unlined pair of trousers.  Just FYI, lining helps keeps knees from bagging, makes the pants last longer and provide warmth.  It's worth it for winter (or white!) trousers.  No one needs to know if you have pink hearts on your underwear.  In fact, they don't WANT to know.

Here are my front pattern pieces.  If you don't have a facing pattern, it is pretty much just the fly area + 2".  See the next photo, for more. It makes life easier if the curves match.

Here I've pinned the zipper facing to the pattern, matching the curve and it extends about 1" beyond what will be the center of the trousers.  The exact amount does not matter.

In this photo I have the facing pattern folded in half in order to get the interfacing the size and shape I want it.  Cut two, just like a regular pattern.  I like the interfacing to extend into the lap of the zipper to help make sure things do not stretch as I'm sewing them down.

The unfolded facing pattern is used to cut the facing itself.  If the facing fabric is really flimsy, like poly charmeuse, use very light interfacing and cut this same way to give it some body.  A flimsy facing will just get caught in the zipper, becoming pointless.  I do tend to use loud facing fabric.  It makes me smile when I pull on my trousers.  Classy is not necessarily boring.

As per my usual, I have rounded the inner corner of the interfacing to help it not show on the right side.  Now is the time to fuse the interfacing to the zipper fly flap.

 Here I show several steps.  Starting at the left, you  see the zipper is longer than my fly. This way I don't have to deal with the tab.  In the middle, the zipper fly has been tacked to the circle, backtacked and then sewn with a regular stitch half way down the curved seam.  I like to do my crotch seam in the round. so leave the ends loose.  Crotch seams done this way lay better.  The top half of the curved area below the fly also is already serged or finished.  Later it will be impossible to get to this area.  On the right is the zipper fly facing folded and ironed in half, with the bottom and a bit up the curve serged.

 

On the non lap side, in this case the right side, as I am right handed (there are no rules here, if you are left handed, do this the opposite way =D), I have trimmed the interfacing right at the seam.  It would just be bulky, here.

Naturally, gently press the seam open.

On the lap side, finish the edge.  Sometimes this needs firm pressing to get rid of ripples.  It is better to do that as a single layer rather than risk creating a visible ironed in bump on the other side.

Now it's time to line up the zipper.  I centered this one, but a little off to the non lap side is even better as the lap will cover more of the stitching lines.  Another way to do this is to set the needle position well inside the zipper foot.  As always, only sew about 1" at a time and reline up your coil with the center seam as you go.

This just shows that the needle is in a ways into the zipper foot.  I wish I had gone farther, but it all worked out just fine.

 If  you've been reading along with the lap zipper, this will look familiar.  Sew along this little roll to make the zipper lay flat.  If you are feeling really adventurous, you can do this at the end.  I'll show you.

The double check to make sure nothing got caught in those seams shows me all is well.

 It is time to attach the free side of the zipper.  The only things that should be on the right side are the lap facing and the free edge of the zipper.  Every thing else is on the other side.  There is more room in a fly zipper than a lap zipper, so I have not pinned everything out of the way as I've not had trouble with bits of fabric getting caught.  It doesn't matter where you sew on this pinned side of the zipper.  It isn't going to show.  I tend toward the outer edge, but it's not required.  This is slithery peachskin fabric, so I've pinned the zipper down.  Pins need to be removed before sewing over them to keep things from moving around.

With everything opened up flat, put a pin at the bottom of the zipper above the stop.  Go all the way through all the layers.

On the right side, mark where that bottom stop pin was, remove it, and pin the lap side down. 

Mark where the stitching line will be.  These marks are 3/4" from the center seam line.  Wider is fine.  If you want to go narrower, be sure you know where the coils of the zipper are (see lap zippers for this information).  Curve the line to meet the bottom stop line and the center seam.

Stitch along marks, removing pins before going over them. 

 Looking pretty good!  Next, open up the seam.

 I like tweezers for getting all the small threads and fuzzy bits with a minimum of fuss.

 Pin the fly facing on the non lap or unfinished side of the zipper.  Serge or zig zag as far as you can go without sewing into the zipper.

 Here is what it looks like once that edge is done.  Now it's time to flip it over.

Open the zipper and lay everything flat.  I've sewn the sipper down, here, but like I said above, you don't have to, because at this point, it's time to sew so that the facing lays nicely and doesn't flap around.

 The stitching line just done, above is visible from the back. Lastly, tack the bottom corner of the fly facing just to the lap facing on the other side so that it cannot fold back on itself when you put your pants on.

Here is the finished lap zipper, ready for the next step in sewing the trousers.  Once you've done a few, it won't take more than 20 minutes (and probably less!) to put one of these in.