Learning about machine embroidery

Nightgowns are an awesome project for practicing my machine embroidery. So, when my SIL mentioned that my niece Emma was growing out of her PJs, I quick made her up a nightgown. Emma has an obsession with Batman, but most Batman clothing is made for boys. There is definitely a lack of dresses and nightgowns with a Batman theme.

We'll just take care of that, shall we? Girlie batman nightgown? Check. I used an applique design from Etsy. You can find it here. I was pleased with the design itself. I scaled it up 130%, and it performed well and was easy to stitch out. I added Emma's name to the design, just for fun.

The nightgown itself is straightforward. It's from the 06/2009 issue of Ottobre and I've made it for both Myra and Emma before, so I know it's a winner. Mostly, this post is to talk about the machine embroidery/applique. I did some dumb things that I don't want to forget...

Here is a close up of the final stitch out. The design is very simple - just a two layer applique, surrounded with heavy satin stitching. The name stitches out last, so it's only one thread change. Easy peasy. I even did a test stitch for some practice and discovered that you want to get REALLY close to the basting stitches when you trim the applique. Here was my big oopsie though - see the lower point assymetry? It's not obvious unless I point it out, so I'm not stressing it, but here is how it happened. For this, I used a medium weight tear away stabilizer in the hoop, with the fabric glue basted to the stabilizer but not hooped. This worked great for the practice stitch out, and I love how easy it is to get the knit fabric smooth and flat without bubbling. The problem here was that all the stitching (two rounds of basting plus the satin stitching) caused the tearaway stabilizer to separate, which made the fabric shift since it wasn't hooped. Fortunately, I caught it quickly and was able to spray baste the fabric back onto the stabilizer, so no harm done. But I think for the future I'll either stick with cut-away, or make sure that sucker is really glued down.

Tearaway stabilizer does give a very neat look on the reverse though. And I like that the finished item retains the flexibility of the knit.

It's not perfect, but I do think it turned out ridiculously cute and I know Emma will love it. I learned a ton making it, so overall - win! So, all you veteran embroiderers out there - any advice? What do you wish someone had told you when you first started out?

Ottobre 06/2009-36 nightgowns

A couple of weeks ago, Myra was looking over my shoulder as I was browsing on the Nature's Fabrics website. Y'all know where this story is going, don't you...

She saw this fabric - pink interlock with crazy penguins on it - and insisted that she needed a new nightgown, and so did her beloved cousin, Emma.

She was right. The pattern I used is Ottobre 06/2009-36, which is a very basic raglan sleeved nightgown. When I showed it to Myra, she insisted that it needed a ruffle so that it would "touch the ground like a princess". I think it makes her look more like a mermaid.

I had so much trouble gathering this thick interlock for Myra's gown, that I gave Emma's gown pleats instead. I actually like them a little better than the ruffle.

Although the ruffle is pretty cute, too.

I used bright yellow for the neck and sleeve bands, to coordinate with the scarves and capes that the penguins are sporting.

Myra loves her nightgown and wants to wear it every night. And all day too. I think it's a win. I can't wait to see Emma in a few days and give her her gown!

Ottobre 06/2009-7 & 03/2010-23

After the sewing of the Rapunzel dress, I was really looking forward to putting together this little man shirt made from easy to tame cotton.

This is Logan's Woody costume. He'll wear this with RTW jeans and a purchased cowboy hat. The  vest is from the 06/2009 issue of Ottobre. It's actually a baby pattern and not graded up to Logan's size, but I just added a couple of inches to the length and an inch to the width at center back, and it is perfect. I actually traced, altered, cut and sewed the entire vest at Sewing Summit in the BabyLock sewing room. It was so fun!

The outer fabric is quilting cotton and I lined the vest with flannel for warmth, and bound the front edges with bias strips. In the cartoon, it looks like Woody's vest has a rope-like trim, but I thought this striped fabric on the bias would approximate that look well and give me a nice clean and easy finish.
The shirt is from the 03/2010 issue of Ottobre. I've made it before here.This time I chose a flannel back homespun purchased at Cottonwood Fabrics in Sandy. (Thanks to Sewing Geek for recommending them!) The reason I chose this particular shirt pattern was two fold. I really like the slim fit that it has, particularly for wear under a vest. I also appreciate that it is a seriously simplified version of a man shirt.

The collar does not have a separate stand, rather is shaped to approximate one, and the button bands are cut on and folded over.  Even though this is a costume, I used Pam's shirt crisp interfacing for the collar and cuffs. It is so wonderful to work with, and particularly with this one piece collar, I needed the flexible stability it gives.

The cuffs are one piece fold-over, and the placket is a continuous lap. I did cut the lap binding on the bias, which the pattern didn't call for. I always like a little give in my continuous lap binding. I think it make for easier sewing.
So, true confessions time. When I cut out this shirt, I THOUGHT I had carefully aligned the dominant stripe in the plaid so that I could match it.

But I didn't. And it threw the whole shirt off grain. See how it looks like the back is sloping upwards? Yeah, off grain. So, one side seam is perfectly matched and the other is totally off. I'm so glad this is a subtle plaid, or I would be remaking this shirt. As it is, I'm just going to be unhappy with it. And naturally, he'll decide this is his favorite shirt and wear it every day. Sigh. Just a costume, right? At least the vest covers the back.

New Look 6793 & Ottobre 06/2009-3

Baby showers are such a great excuse to sew up something quick and fun. This was a nice palate cleanser after my dress.

These are two of my baby favorites, New Look 6793 and Ottobre 06/2009-3. All the fabrics are from my stash, and all but the polka dot cotton are left over from other projects. 

Isn't the big button fun!? After I finished it, I thought it needed something. I considered making a fabric flower out of the interlock, but then I found this great vintage button in the stash. It's nice and big (therefore not a choking hazard) and it's actually a perfect color match for the tee IRL. Love it.

As I was putting on the band, I thought the contrast between the polka dots and the stripes was a little too stark. I hit up my trim box, thinking I would try to match the top, but I found this black jumbo rick rack and I knew it had to be. I'm usually not very good at that sort of extemporaneous embellishment, but all the stars aligned this time. I hope the new Mommy likes it. I don't really know her well, but there wasn't a shred of pink on either of her registries, so I thought this color scheme would be better. And I'll be honest - I love babies in black.

Ottobre 01/2009-5 and 06/2009-5

Now that Christmas has passed and presents are opened, I can finally share some of my creations with you!  This was the first thing I made for the holidays - way back in November.

It's an outfit for my nephew, who is 16 months old.

The top is Ottobre 01/2009-5.  Ottobre calls it the "Muksis" tee.  I love the fun kangaroo pocket, and all the bindings.  The envelope neckline allows for easy on and off.  I was afraid all those details would make this tricky to sew, but I should know Otto better!  This was a super quick and easy sew.

Here is a closer shot of the pocket and hem binding.  They are stitched down with a twin needle, so they look nice and are stretchy.  I love that the cuffs roll up to give the tee built in growing room.  And I'm very happy with how well the stripes came together, both across the pocket as well as sleeve and side seams.

The jeans are Ottobre 06/2009-5.  This is such a super pattern!!  The pants are lined - I used the same soft jersey as I did to make the tee.  The waistband is ribbing, which makes it soft.  The pattern calls for a drawstring, but I prefer to avoid those in baby clothes, as they can be a choking hazard.  I just ran elastic through it like a casing.  The jeans-style topstitching and faux fly are super touches.

From the back you can see the cute pockets and the yoke.  It doesn't actually provide any shaping, but gives a more authentic jeans look.  I did all of the topstitching on my Singer.  It was so nice to have a dedicated topstitching machine, or I'd have been changing thread and needles constantly.  As you can see, the cuffs are rolled up to show the lining.  More room to grow!

I also knitted a little cap to go with the whole look.  Ravelry notes are here.  Little B is going to be one well dressed little dude!

Simplicity 2290 and Ottobre 03/2004-19 (and Otto 06/2009-3)

My sewing group at church just started working on PJ pants.  We're using Simplicity 2290, which is a part of their Learn To Sew line.  Thanks to Beth for recommending this pattern to me.  It is really great for learning the basics!  The instructions are very complete and clear, and the diagrams are bigger and easier to understand.  For this one pattern piece pants pattern there are 6 pages of instructions!  The pattern comes with all sizes from child size 4-5 up to adult XL in one envelope, which is nice.  I had this cute duckie flannel that was calling to be PJ pants for Logan.

Naturally, I couldn't stop at just pants.  Those duckies are too cute!  So I traced off Ottobre 03/2004-19, which is a basic sweatshirt pattern with bands at neckline and wrists and a stitched hem.

Ottobre appliqued their version with a fish motif, but I went with an octogon.  Logan has a bit of an obsession with polygons right now.  I used self fabric for the neck and wrist bands, partly because matching this particular shade of red was impossible, but also because the fleece is so soft and snuggly.

The fabric is more of the Black Friday fleece from Hancock.  Logan chose this dark red and told me he wanted me to make a shirt.  My turnaround time with this fleece purchase has been really fast!!  I haven't even had a chance to put it in the closet yet and already have made 3 garments from it!

Because of course, the Wee Professor needed a mini version to match his big brother!  For the wee one I reused Ottobre 06/2009-3.  Instead of binding the neckline, I just added an allowance and did a turned and stitched hem.  The fleece is already so bulky, I didn't want to add more layers of ribbing.  I'll be working on the mini PJ pants at sewing group on Tuesday!

Ottobre 06/2009-3 and McCalls 6223

I know, more baby sets, but I had to show you this tee!  The pants aren't very exciting.

But first, a brief rant...  I made the pants on a whim. I had totally forgotten about this fabric, and when I saw it, had to make it into pants instantly.  You know how it is...  Anyway, while the background looks white, it is actually a very pale cream, so a white top looks strange with it.  I went looking for a black baby onesie/tee.  It's Halloween!  Surely someone has black baby clothes!!  Nope.  Seriously, are parents who don't sew just doomed to have babies wearing pastels until the age of 2???  So, I needed to make a black tee.
The pattern is Ottobre 06/2009-3, which is actually for a full jumpsuit, but I cut it off to make a tee.  A BLACK tee!!

I added a paw print applique.  I'm so pleased with the neckline binding on this top.  Instead of stitching it to the right side and then flipping it over and stitching it down, I stitched it to the wrong side, folded it to the right side and tucked under the raw edge.  Then I top stitched with a twin needle.  I know black is hard to see, so you'll just have to take my word that it looks amazing!

Oh, and the pants are McCall's 6223, which is a good basic baby layette pattern.  As with all Big 4 baby patterns, it's gigantic, but otherwise fine.  Apparently it has been recently reissued with a new number.  My copy is labelled number 3665.

I hope all who are celebrating have a Happy Halloween!!!