Dental floss - more than one use....

I seldom sew for others but a special friend asked me to make the flower girl dresses for her daughter's wedding this September. So you know what I've been working on all summer! They had to be as perfect as possible and many a night in bed I went over the construction in my mind working out the order of construction.

The bride saw dresses in an old Australian Smocking and Embroidery magazine - sleeveless, smocked from shoulder to waist and a huge full skirt with three layers of netting on top of the skirt. Oh, yes it was all done in silk dupionni. 

When we discussed the fabrics I said yes to the silk dupionni - a fabulous choice but in place of the layers of netting, why not one layer of silk organza - a much classier choice. And I knew the store I was sending mom to would have it to match. 

The children were ages 2 and 5. The gowns were to be full length and both girls were long waisted and likely to grow before the wedding. All big considerations.

To make this long story short I will skip to the gathering of the skirts. 

Both the fabrics were 60" wide, thank goodness, so I didn't have to cut either to join multiple panels. Dupionni ravels terribly and after pulling threads to make sure everything was perfectly on straight grain, with the selvedges removed, all edges had to be overcast to maintain the proper size. I prepared each layer of the skirt - side seams and plackets then layered them to gather to the bodice. The ratio was at least 4 to 1 and it was going to be quite a job to get it all gathered in to fit the bodice. 

Dental floss, 1/4" foot and black latch bobbin case

I needed something very strong and regular thread was out of the question. I considered using a cord and zig zaging over it as I've read about many times before. But I wanted much more control. Then a thought struck me - dental floss! I've used it forever for the tops and bottoms of Christmas balls. It doesn't break no matter how hard you pull on it and better still, I had a package of unwaxed floss in the notions drawer.

So I wound it on a separate bobbin and loaded it into my 'black latch" bobbin case just in case I had to fool around with the tension. Then did a test to see if I could gather it all up as I planned. All worked perfectly.

Test stitching

I set the machine for stitch length of 3 and the upper tension at 4 (normal on this machine is 5). The seam allowance was at 3/8" so three rows of gathering stitching were run: the first at 1/8" from the edge, second at 1/4" and the third at 1/2". When everything was gathered up it would be easy to stitch at 3/8" - it would be right in the middle of the second and third row of gathers!

Fold  in half and pin

Pin - note ratios!

The skirt sections were each divided into four as were the bodice sections, and then into eight. To go further was going to be too tight to get a finger in for manipulation. Fortunately the silk held a finger-pressed fold so that the centre of each section found, pressed and matched up with a pin. 

I learned this technique in tailoring (a different lifetime ago when I was at Ryerson.). We learned to set in a wool suit jacket sleeve with pins only, by breaking down the space this way until you couldn't fit another pin in (no gathering threads!) and stitching very carefully. When we were  finished there wouldn't be a single pucker and a good bath of steam finished the job. Well, this was silk and no amount of steam would touch this dress!

Pulling up gathers

Stitching seam

 Next was to pull up the gathering threads, all three, at the same time. This was easy at first but got harder the further I went. It was essential to work from each end to the center. Almost no adjustment was necessary when completed as the fabric gathered in perfectly. Next step was stitching the waist seam. 

When the stitching was done, the gathering thread in the skirt was removed - with great care. I left the top two rows in place to keep the fullness under control in the seam allowance. 

From the right side; gathering threads in place

Gathering thread removed

Layers separated

The two skirt layers were perfect on the right side of the dress. To make them look fuller, it was easy to separate and fluff them up by the waist. They looked just a full as all those layers of netting!

Hope this has inspired you to make a princess dress for someone special.

So till next time.....

Quick and Easy Baby Socks for Giving

Babies are 'popping up' all over!

New babies call for gifts and if you haven't planned ahead and really want to give something hand made these take only an evening of hand work to create. They are so cute tied to a store-bought gift in place of a bow.

Someone I know is pregnant and although rumor has it she is having a wee baby girl, I really prefer to wait and be sure. So I went shopping for some baby socks - the kind with the ribbed, turn-down cuff. These are perfect for decorating and I can make a little dress later to match. If she does by chance have a boy the flowers can be cut off should they offend daddy.

So, I dug around in my lace stash and found some narrow edging that would do the trick.

 

You will need twice the stretched out length of the cuff edge and just enough for joining the ends. 

 

With a needle and length of thread, I stretched out the cuff as far as it would go over my index finger and placed the lace face down on the cuff edge. There is no need to pre-gather the lace as when the cuff relaxes the lace will be gathered up.

Whip the edges together - just catching the lace heading and the elastic edge. Keep the stitches spaced no further that an eighth of an inch apart. It was a bit awkward at first but once I got it going, it was much easier to handle. 

It won't take but a few minutes to do this by hand but you could also do it on your sewing machine. Just be sure that you keep the cuff stretched out as far as it will go while you zig zag the lace onto it. 

Whip the ends together to complete the job.

Now if you want to add a bit more, you can use the courses of the knit (the ribs) as pleats and smock your way around. You will want to use waves or very stretchy stitches like Van Dyke. Use your fading marker to draw a couple of lines on the ribs to represent gathering threads if you have trouble visualizing uniform spacing. You can add a few little figures of stacked cables on the side or front. I used little flowers.

Job done - all while I watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics!

Tips for a machine Rolled Hem

There are two types of rolled hem that we see made by machine - the rolled hem we use in Heirloom Sewing and a machine rolled hem that we make with a special machine foot.

Three sizes shown here for each for a different weight of fabric.

Some machine brands only offer one size but if you are lucky you will find that your machine has the option of more than one. The largest is for heavy weight fabrics or wider hems. The medium sizes is for fabrics like broadcloth.  And the skinny one on the left is for very light weight fabrics like organdy. The best thing to do is experiment. 

Starting a rolled hem so you have a beautiful, even beginning has always been the toughest part. Here is a little trick that will hopefully give you success.

Cut yourself a piece of waste fabric - it can be interfacing or scrap fabric but should be straight on two sides and about 6 inches long and 1- 2 inches wide.

The fabric you are going to hem should be trimmed of all the little threads left from tearing or raveling. These will just make the job harder.

Butt these edges of the waste fabric to your garment fabric. Now join these with a zigzag stitch or preferably a bridging stitch if you have one on your machine.

Here you can see my waste fabric attached with a bridging stitch. I've used coloured thread to make it easier for you to see what is happening.

Thread up your machine and bring the threads to the surface so you can put them behind the foot. Slide the waste fabric into the foot so it curls within the foot. Begin your stitching a couple of inches from the end of the waste fabric so you can get a good roll going. Stitch at an even medium speed even if you are tempted to rush through - it is not worth it to make an error!

While you are working on the waste fabric, check to be sure your stitching is to the left edge of the roll. This is the time to make any adjustments of this type.

Once this is checked you will want to watch the fabric feeding into the foot. This needs to be constant and the right amount of fabric. Not enough and there will be no roll. Too much and the raw edge will peek out of the roll.

Too little fabric

Too much fabric

       

Just right!

Note how the fabric just rolls over my index finger.

When the stitching is finished, you can simply cut off the waste fabric, pick out any stray threads from the bridge stitching and voila you have a perfect rolled hem!

From the wrong side

From the right side

If anyone is interested, there is a neat way to finish a sleeve edge using a rolled hem so you don't have raw ends of seams exposed. Just let me know....

In the mean time, keep on stitching.....

Taking the mystery out of the Bullion Knot...

Bullion Knots are best worked with a lovely long milliners' needle sometimes called a Straw Needle. Both names refer back to the days of hat making when long needles were used and thin needles didn't break or punch big holes into or break straw hats forms .

In this type of needle the eye of the needle is the same size as the shaft allowing wraps to pass off the needle without getting stuck. Many of us smock with embroidery/crewel needles in which the eye is long, wider and flatter than the shaft to make it easier to thread. Unfortunately this wider eye make it very difficult to make any kind of knot that involves wrapping the needle.

The size if the needle will greatly influence the size of the knot. The finer the needle, the finer the knot will be. A #11 milliners' needle is great for a single strand of 'floss'. A #3 will work for a single strand of Pearle cotton. Fortunately milliners' needles come in a good range of sizes so you can match the needle to the fibre with which you are working.

The neatest knots are made with one or two strands of 'floss'. The needle should be slightly larger for two strands. Regardless of how many strands are used, they must not cross over one another on the needle but be wound in a smooth coil. Keep a pencil and piece of paper by your work to record the number of wraps you put on the needle so you can match a second knot to the same size as the one you have just created. If your floss begins to wear or look fuzzy, switch to a fresh piece.

Bullion knots can be created on flat fabric (skip the hoop if you use one) or on pleated fabric for  smocking embellishments. In smocking they are easier to do on the crest of a pleat, running lengthwise but they can be done in any direction. Just be prepared to work through the pleats when traveling from point B to point A. For this reason they are usually left to the end after the smocking has been let out to full size - they have no stretch and will restrict the pleats.

Pleated fabric or flat - come up at Point A, take stitch from B to A

Come to the surface at point A. Take a stitch from point B to point A but do not pass the needle all the way through the fabric. Leave it 'parked' in the fabric to wrap the needle.

With the floss that comes out of fabric at point A, wrap the needle travelling towards the point of the needle. Gently slide the wraps on the needle towards the fabric without disturbing their order. The number of wraps should be as long as the stitch. You can add a couple of extra to be safe. You can take wraps off but you can not add them. Record the number of wraps. 

On pleated fabric right handed

On flat fabric left handed

More wraps than length of stitch...

Hold the wraps, the needle and the fabric in your hand and grasp the needle between the finger and thumb of your other hand to pull the needle through the fabric and the wraps. Do not let go.

Keep pulling until you cannot pull any more. Now you can let go and gently pull the ‘core’ thread (the one that has passed through the wraps) towards point B. If there are too many wraps and the knot bulges too much, you can remove one wrap at a time by passing the needle under the wraps. Gently tighten the ‘core’ thread each time you do this and note the changes on your paper. “Groom” your knot and pass the needle to the back at point B to finish your knot.

Hold to pass needle

Pull until  you can pull no further

Gently pull into place and groom 

Take needle to back at Point B

Come up at Point A, Take stitch from B to A

Wrap as before

To do a second knot, repeat the process by coming up at A, taking a stitch from point B to point A. Usually one starts with one knot or a pair of knots in a dark colour for the centre. The knots around the centre get paler and larger with more curve as the flower builds outward.

Note: To make pairs, when you wrap clockwise the knot will want to curve in one direction. When you go to make its mate, wrap in the opposite direction. 

Note: When you are making a long bullion knot you may wish to anchor it to prevent it slipping out of place. When the knot is completed, come up on the inside with the floss and take a stitch as you would when making a lazy daisy stitch. Stroke the knot to work the stitch into the wraps. It will become invisible and your knot will stay put!

Note: If you are left handed, you work the knot exactly the same way only reverse the hand positions. 

Simple Bud - two bullions

Complex rose made up of several bullions

Tulips in a smocking design - Bullions are horizontal

There are so many configurations of knots and many excellent books out there. This is just to get you started.

So till next time, keep on stitching.....

Things finiished.....

Cheers to the lady who is a first time smocker who also tackled picking up dots by hand!! This is View C from "Pinafore and Sundress", a Grace L. Knott pattern. I added this view to the pattern when I did the update a few years ago.

Here is her second dress and her work is just as meticulous as in the first (lime green) dress. She wrote to say she hopes to make View A of the pattern, a yoked sundress with shoulder ruffles. Hope she will share this one as well....

Just a note about the "H2O Gone" fabric stabilizer that I used with the very stretchy knit fabric in the last post. The store where I purchased this stabilizer offered no information other than it was water soluble. 

You probably were not able to tell from my photo, but, the piece I pleated has some shaping to it as in my "Little Snowdrift" pattern. I have to say I had absolutely no problem with the pleating and shaping when there was sufficient basting done ahead. (Above is the right side of work - one side still has the basting in place.)

A friend uses this product frequently for her machine embroidery and she told me that contrary to most products removed by water, this one requires warm water, (about 80 degrees F). She suggested bringing a kettle to boil, pouring a large bowl of water and letting it sit for a few minutes - until you can put your hand into the water - then swishing the piece in the water to remove the stabilizer. 

This product is distributed by Marathon Threads of Winnipeg, Manitoba and I copied this information from their web site:

" Trim excess stabilizer. Too dissolve remaining stabilizer, submerge article in liberal amounts of warm water and apply a slight agitation, or run through a delicate wash cycle. Due to hard water conditions, it may be necessary to repeat this step."

Here is the Bumble Bee fabric all finished - in the same pattern in View A. Again a really, really good job done! If you go back a few segments in the blog you will see close-ups of the smocking design and how Marian managed to expand the design and choose the colours.

 

Marian also wants to dedicate a padded hanger to this dress when she gives it as a gift. She asked if she could use a snap to hold it in place. What a great idea! 

I suggested the female portion be attached to the dress so there would be no chance of skin irritation or scratching. Then she matched up the male portion on the 'shoulder' of the hanger and stitched it down. Now the little sundress won't fall off in the closet either!

So until next time, keep on stitching......

Pleating stretchy knits

Hello again! 

First I want to show you the green polka dot dress that our first time smocker made. I am so impressed and I think she is happy as well because she is starting another dress from the same pattern for her other granddaughter. 

Next on the list of things I wanted to show you is a series of samples I did up of a fine knit fabric which contained Lycra - so you know it was really stretchy - not just in the cross grain but also in the lengthwise grain! So there was no chance of pulling this fabric to keep it on grain as it was pleated. 

A lady from B.C. had written and asked if she could use a knit fabric to smock a nightgown for her daughter. The answer is yes if you take the proper care and precautions.

Here you see the knit fabric from the back with a piece of stabilizer quickly basted to it along all four edges. Remember this is only a test.

What you need to keep in mind is that the right side of a knit fabric of this type has courses running the length of the fabric. 

You can not straighten a knit fabric. You will have to work with it as it is as it has been heat set before leaving the factory and you can not tear it or pull a thread.

The stabilizer I am using is called "H2O-Gone". It is a non woven light weight product that came on a bolt and is used for machine embroidery. It is water soluble and shrinks noticeably if it comes in contact with steam! Do be careful; use a dry iron only.

So it went into the pleater beautifully and formed good neat pleats.

I could gently adjust the fabric if it started to go off but this had to be done carefully. However part way through I knew I was running into trouble. the layers were starting to feed at a different rate. When I was finished there was a bubble       which proved more basting was required to keep the layers together across the fabric. Below you can see bubbles that I pleated through at the end of the fabric.

For the next test I machine basted the two layers together at the top edge, and every inch below just to be sure. Here I have used a dark thread so it will show up in the photo and used a long stitch with the tension loosened so the stitching would pull out easily.

You can see in the photo first from the wrong side, how it looks with the pleats slightly flared as for a bishop and the basting threads are removed for half of the width. The second photo is the same piece but from the right side.

                                                                              

And how does it smock? Perfectly! The however is, no instructions came with the piece I purchased. I was simply to remove it with water. So I dipped it in tepid water and left it to dry. Not so great. It was so stiff and scratchy you would never put it on a child like that. So I poured another basin of tepid water and washed it. Much better but it would need machine washing or a lot more effort if done by hand. 

There must be many other water soluble stabilizers on the market that will pleat just as well and come out a little easier. I just wanted to try one of the new ones.

If I were doing this for a real garment I would remove as much of this stabilizer as possible before putting it in water. And, if I were sure it would not stretch, I would go back to one of the Sulky brand products.

If you have used one of these water soluble stabilizers, perhaps you would like to tell us the name of what you successfully used!

So until next time, keep stitching.....