Megy and machine

  This was a fun little 30 min beginner project. List of things that would be needed:  - Nice fabric. I had some leftover cotton fabrics.  - Interlining. And that is it. 1. Cut interlining in a shape of a circle. I used a plate as a reference, but you can draw it with what you want. We are going to need two circles. 2. Put interlining on your fabric. You are going to need 4 pieces of fabric. If you are making basket in two colors (like I did), interlining goes on one of the pieces from each color. Size of the rectangles doesn't really matter, it is importante that interlining fits on it. Rest of the fabric will be cut of. Important note when working with interlining:   This interlining is the one that needs to be irond on. Be cerful with the way you do that. Always put some other fabric over the interlining when you iron so that it doesn't stick to the iron.  3.  Now we sew.  We need to sew all around interlining.  Don't forget to leave little op...

We are done!!!! Finally am done with a coat.  So many things to say about this coat. One, I look like blue Sherlock Holmes, or Fleur Delacour from Harry Potter. Two, it is so comfy.                     Let's start from the top of the coat and make our way down.  Hood and cape can be removed ( 3 bottons). After cape was finished I realized something. When I put the hood up there is a bit of fabric that bulks up right under the hood from the outside. That means that there is to much fabric and when cape was cut I didn't cut nice wide half circle, but some like oval shape. How about we go to the collar. Wool is really thick there. No mistakes were made there, but you can feel how much fabric is in that collar. And I did cut some of. Buttons, pockets and sleeves look and feel nice. They where easy to make this time. For a change I didn't struggle with buttons.  This tip helped me a lot.  Here is link to this site for...

Assembling Next step in making a coat is to put all the pieces together. I look a this part like a bit puzzle.  Step 1. Put interlining on the parts thet need it.  Let's use this as an example. In magazines like Burda there is step by step guide on how to make a garment. In that guide there is always a picture on how to cut the fabric (red squere). When making a coat, or any garment that requires interlining, on that picture will be shown (dark grey) parts on which interlining goes.  Most of the time interlining goes in both front parts and collar. Some other parts if necessary.  Interlining goes on parts that need some structure.  Step 2.  Sewing long seames I always start with front part and than any other long seame (red lines). My preffered method is to start sewing from top to bottom. If I make a mistake it will show on the bottom. One part will be longer, that means you have to go back and try to put it together again. Step 3.  Co...

Cutting out No matter how many times I do this mistakes are going to be made. Just like this time.  Let me show you first what I mean. Note to self: DO NOT CUT PATTERNS THIS WAY. Let me explain what I mean.  Each fabric has a direction in which it falls. (The best display for this is velvet.) It is therefore important that, when cutting parts of the pattern, each of them falls on the same side (preferably downwards). In this case, we have wool, so it shouldn't be noticable, but with other materials, this can be a drastic mistake that can't be corrected. DON'T DO WHAT I DID. For this coat I am using this blue wool and for lining this fancy looking cotton. Cotton is not normally used as lining, but I got bored of lining fabrics and for some reason there quality dropped. I have bought around 4m (4.37yd) wool and 3m (3.28yd) cotton. There is also around 1m (1yd) of red lining fabric for the cape and 1m (1yd) of interlining, 5 big red buttons, 3 red small buttons and red bias ...

Pattern When ever I start to search for a pattern first thing I do is go on Pinterest and try to find a picture which will help me with seam lines.  This is from McCalls M6800 Petite. Once you find what you like it's time for a hunt.  Sometimes buying a pattern is not an option, so trying to find one or draw one is the best way to go. If you are a beginner like me and you have never drew one only thing left is to find one.  Try asking around if anyone has sewing magazines like Burda or if they have old used sewing patterns. You can also find some free to dowenload patterns online. I have found this 116 Mantel (engl. coat) form Burda 11/2008. Once you have found your pattern my advice is to trace it on another paper in your size. You never know if you are going to need other sizes.  With patterns from Burda you have to do that. If you get pattern online you can just print it out and cut it like that. In this case I am making a coat and coats have a lot of parts....

Idea Most important thing to know when you start a project is to know what to make.  I start with the question ''What do I need?'' and go from there. This time it was a coat. Bunch of wool has accumulated in my fabric box and some of it needed to get out of there.  When you know what you want to make go a bit deeper and ask yourself ''How does it look like?''. I always make a list (in my head, but you can write it down).  My list would look something like this. Coat:  - 50s inspired           - Lolita            - hood           - knee long             - pelerine             - buttons all the way up           - fancy lining Once you have some sort of an idea of what you want go on Pinterest, Tumblr, Google and just start search for pictures. Try to find the closest model to what your idea i...