{"id":310,"date":"2014-11-16T19:56:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T03:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/?p=310"},"modified":"2014-11-18T19:43:57","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T03:43:57","slug":"sew-along-part-1-tools-and-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/?p=310","title":{"rendered":"Sew Along Part 1: Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, it’s time to start talking about sewing. \u00a0I’ve been doing more and more of this lately because I can only weave so many dishtowels and scarves and I really love having the ability to make clothes that fit and flatter. \u00a0Even better that they’re made from cloth I’ve woven myself. \u00a0As my friends have watched my progress, some have also gotten the sewing bug and I wanted to pass on some of the help that a good friend<\/a> has given me. \u00a0A “sew-along” seemed like a good way to do this both for accessibility (not everyone is on Ravelry) and also to ensure the information would be around for anyone not wanting to start at the same time. \u00a0And here we are. \u00a0On with the show!<\/p>\n

The first thing I want to talk about is tools – or what’s often thought of as “notions”. \u00a0Sewing machines are a whole different beast, and I’m not going to cover that at all (either you already have one or you can simply hand sew your pieces) but there are some small things to get that will make your life easier when it comes to cutting, assembling, and sewing your project.<\/p>\n

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Some handy tools<\/p><\/div>\n

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Pictured above are (clockwise, starting from upper right) a clapper, 8″ angled dress shears, seam ripper, point turner, tailor’s chalk (two kinds), pins, sleeve pressing roll, and a tailor’s ham. \u00a0Underneath is a see-through ruler that has both a grid and standard measurements. \u00a0You can find most of these things at your local fabric store, like a JoAnn’s, or you can get them from mail-order places like Sew True Supply (no affiliation, just a super happy customer). \u00a0The shears, pins and seam-ripper are mandatory – all the others are “nice to have” but you’ll quickly find that the ability to properly press your garment makes a HUGE difference when seaming or finishing. \u00a0They’re not expensive and they’ll also help improve your everyday pressing. \u00a0Two things that didn’t make the picture are pattern weights<\/a> and a sewing gauge<\/a>\u00a0– again, both readily available at JoAnn’s or other fabric store.<\/p>\n

Dress shears longer than 8″ can be difficult to get around corners – for long straight cuts, you may want to go with a rotary cutter\/mat set (often used for quilting). \u00a0But, regardless of size, make sure the shears you buy\u00a0have an angled handle so that the blades run parallel with your cutting surface. \u00a0As for pins vs. pattern weights – I prefer the latter. \u00a0I find that it’s easier to cut out pieces and I get less distortion. \u00a0Whatever works best for you is what you should use. \u00a0But, if you are going the weight route, you’ll want at least eight of them if you’re cutting out garment-sized pieces.<\/p>\n

Finally, the other thing you need is a good iron. \u00a0It should have multiple temperature settings so that it can deal with multiple fabric types and also the ability to both work as a dry or steam iron. \u00a0And, that steam should not only be hot, but there should be a lot of it. \u00a0Heavy irons mean less effort for you when pressing, so don’t think “lightweight.” \u00a0I finally got my dream iron – a Consew<\/a>\u00a0from AllBrands. \u00a0This thing makes me look like a hero. \u00a0I took some flack when I got it (you bought a WHAT?!?) but, the first time my husband needed to iron a dress shirt, he was a convert. \u00a0The downside of this iron is that I needed to put hooks in the ceiling to hang the reservoir, but there are ironing boards that include a mounting point for the tank. \u00a0Regardless, sewing is as much about pressing as it is about making stitches – so don’t skimp.<\/p>\n

Ok, first post done. \u00a0The next one will\u00a0cover looking at and navigating a pattern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, it’s time to start talking about sewing. \u00a0I’ve been doing more and more of this lately because I can only weave so many dishtowels and scarves and I really love having the ability to make clothes that fit and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[34,35,36],"class_list":["post-310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sewing","tag-sew-along","tag-sewing-2","tag-tools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.schafenfreude.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}