Saturday, July 4, 2015

DIY: Artsy Sew Along 1, Pattern Cutting/Pocket Making

 
Super cute sewing fabric from fabric.com.

Hey, my stitches! I hope all y'all are doing swell and, if you are stateside, having a lovely holiday weekend! It's been a rainy one here so I doubt there will be much of a fireworks-y celebration in my neck o' the woods. To that I say, c'est la vie and pass me my cuttin' scissors. I've got a skirt to stitch!
The pattern we're using: Simplicity #2226.

If y'all have joined the Artsy Sew Along, hurray! I'd love to see the fabric you are stitching with. Please post away on that page or share on Instagram #artsysewalong. Since many of you have mentioned that you are new to garment sewing, I thought some videos might be of some help to y'all. Granted, these are my videos, so take my tips and tricks with a big ole grain of salt. In fact, invest in a salt lick, ermkay? 

 In this post, I'll chat with y'all about:
* How to prepare your fabric and your pattern pieces for cutting.
* Just how to go about cutting your fabric properly and making sure to get all of your markings correct.
* How to stitch those super cute pockets onto the skirt!
If all goes well, this post should help you get this far! You'll notice I opted for a contrasting fabric for the pockets...y'all know me, I'm totes tacky and love to play with patterns. By the way, I'll also be throwing in some of my fave sewing fabrics with links for some sewing-inspo in this here post! 
This clip is all about preparing your fabric and your pattern. It's super important to read through all the pre-stitching notes in your pattern as they are chuck full of sound advice. Don't just listen to this clip featuring my lovely voice. Which, by the way, sounds like angels singing. While chewing on broken glass.
Just incase you missed my clip about finding your correct size according to the pattern envelope, here you go!
I love the colors in these prints. Rulers and spools
 
If you're new to sewing then I know how overwhelming those pattern pieces can be. Lemme help ya navigate that territory, kay?
 I really enjoyed this beginning process of skirt making. I love when a project is simple and gives immediate results: yay, pockets! If you have any probs at all, please drop me a line in the comments, on the Artsy Sew Along page or on my Instagram (where I've been annoyingly popping up photos of the skirt progress).
Now, I will say, that I've been reading what some other sewists have said about this pattern and I'm a lil concerned. Many have mentioned that the waistband is too big. What I plan to do is create a muslin of the waistband (this is practice sewing, following the same pattern, but with inexpensive fabrics). This way I can do a little trouble shooting for y'all. I hope to be back with the second portion of stitching -- adding that waistband -- soon. 

Until then, be sure to share what you're up to and drop me a line about your progress, y'all! 
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13 comments:

  1. I am sewing skirt C, which view do I cut?
    I noticed you are doing skirt A, but cutting view D. I am a bit confused how do you know what view to cut.
    Thanks for all your help and doing this tutorial!!!

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    1. Hey Rebekah! I know, it's confusing, isn't it? Because you are sewing skirt C, you'll be cutting view C and following those directions as well. If you look at the directions, you'll see it says to follow the steps FOR ALL VIEWS...not until after you sew the pockets on does it switch to different views in the directions. View C and D are the same (the only diff being that view D has a border design at the bottom...mine does not...so technically I am doing view C as well!). So just follow along with me and you SHOULD be fine ;) Thank you for sewing along!

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  2. Anonymous7/05/2015

    You are such a brilliant teacher. Just listened to your preparation blog. I never wash my fabric. Or cut outside the line. If I was one of your students you would tear your hair out. Slapdash city. Lol. I am off on hols shortly and not doing the sewalong however am off to modge podge glitter dust a pair of canvas shoes for it taking inspiration/ripping off your earlier posts. Best blog on the blogosphere Cassie. Selina

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    1. Aw, Selina, you sure do know how to make a girl's day! Thank you for your kind words. Slapdash City is my middle name, sistah! I'm just lying for the camera ;) I bet your sparkly shoes are gonna be amazing!

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  3. Anonymous7/05/2015

    What kind of sewing machine do you have? Any recommendations?

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    Replies
    1. I have a Brother machine that I love. They are the same ones I use with my students in art class...they always seem to work and I rarely have issues with them. I picked mine up at Walmart for $150-ish. Janome are also great machines but a little $$. I've used Singers before...but they don't make them like they used to, I'll just say that :)

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  4. I wish this came in Plus Size :( I wanted to sew along

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    1. Anonymous10/11/2015

      Make a skirt for a family member or friend!

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  5. Boo! I wanted you to sew along as well! Sorry, buddy. Next time I'll do my homework better before picking a pattern :)

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  6. Cassie, I usually wear a size 8 off the rack, but according to the pattern I should cut the 16-18---could this be right?

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    1. Yes, but go with the smaller size 16. I usually wear a 4-6 and most of my patterns are a 12-14. Just think of it like being an IQ number, the higher, the better ;) I have been doing a little homework...and folks that have made this skirt in the past have been saying that it runs a little big. So don't cut your out waistband yet. I'm going to do a couple test runs and see if I can work out the kinks on that. But what you see here, you can go ahead and do. So glad you are joining the fun!

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  7. Ashley J9/07/2015

    Hi Cassie, just ran across your blog tonight. I am way new to sewing & I saw in a previous comment that you have students. How do I find out more about that? I'm also in the N'ville area :)

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Thank you so much for your comments. I appreciate each and every one :)

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