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Testing Fabric For Shrinkage Part 2

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | Sep 20, 2015 | Sewing

Why Test Fabric Shrinkage?

You may recall that I began testing some new fabric for shrinkage. For fabrics that might shrink dramatically, I do this to make sure that (1) the completed garment won’t shrink when washed (or if I have to dry clean it instead), and (2) if I will have enough of the pre-treated fabric to sew the garment that I intend to sew. If I wash and dry a swatch of the fabric and the swatch shrinks dramatically, I will have to NOT pre-wash the fabric (otherwise I probably wouldn’t have enough of it) and dry clean the completed garment (so that it won’t shrink later).

I must admit, I don’t do this for all of the fabric that I plan to sew. I generally just go ahead and pre-wash and dry all cotton and linen fabrics (unless I want to maintain the finish of the unwashed linen) with out testing a swatch. That is because, after many years of sewing, I know that these fabrics tend to not shrink much. I simply purchase an extra 1/8th yard of fabric to allow for shrinkage, and pre-wash and dry the fabric as usual.

How I Test Fabric For Shrinkage

I began testing my fabric for shrinkage by tracing around a large swatch of the fabric, on a piece of paper (Step 1). Then, since this garment is to be washed on cold and hang-dried, I put the swatch into a “delicates” bag, washed it on cold, and then laid it out flat to dry (Step 2).

I am now to Step 3, comparing the size of my washed and dried swatch to the traced outline. Here is how that looks.

Pre-washed Fabric

As you can see, the swatch is smaller than the outline that I traced last week. Thus, I know that this fabric shrank quite a bit. Now I am concerned that it might shrink even more if I continue to wash the fabric. Further, if I wash the entire cut, I might not have enough fabric to make the garment. AAAk!

To find out if the fabric will shrink even more, I am repeating steps 1 and 2. Below, you can see what the new outline of the swatch looks like compared to the original outline.

First And Second Outlines

If this swatch shrinks even more, I think I will go the dry cleaning route. I don’t want to, but I also want to make sure that I have enough fabric to make my blouse.

Sep 20, 2015

Testing Fabric For Shrinkage

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | Sep 14, 2015 | Sewing

Is That Fabric Washable?

Dry cleaning is expensive and bad for the environment, so I avoid it as much as possible. To avoid dry cleaning my clothes, I try to sew with only washable fabrics (except for wool). It turns out that many of the fabrics that I would like to sew might or might not be washable. This means that if I washed the fabric, something bad might happen to it, such as shrinking or changing the finish.

Since it would be a shame to put in all of the work (not to mention expense) necessary to make a fabulous custom-made garment and then ruin it in the wash, I test wash all of my washable and possibly washable fabrics. Here is my preferred method. I am using a fabric that I purchased from Emma One Sock. You can see it on my Pinterest board here or purchase it from Linda here. This fabric is a drapey 100% viscose-rayon crepe, so it might shrink a bunch. If it does shrink, I will need to dry clean the finished garment, which will be a blouse for work.

Step 1: I cut out a swatch of the fabric. I prefer fairly large swatches, such as at least 4 or 5 inches square. If there is enough fabric, I will test an even larger swatch. The larger the swatch, the more accurate I will be when determining how much the fabric shrinks.

Tracing Around Fabric Swatch With Pencil

I then place the swatch on a sheet of paper and trace around it with a pen or pencil. When I am finished tracing the fabric, it looks something like this (below). Notice the little pencil tic lines around the edges of the swatch.

Cut Out Fabric Swatch

When I pick up the swatch, I have an outline of the swatch before washing. I save the outline for later.

Pre-Washing Swatch Outline

Step 2: I wash the swatch using the method I plan on using to clean the finished garment. I would like to wash this garment on cold and then line dry. So, that’s what I will do tonight. To keep from losing it in a load of laundry, I put the swatch into a mesh bag, such as you might use for washing delicates.

Check back later this week for Step 3, when I compare the washed and dried swatch to the pre-washing swatch outline (for shrinkage) and the unwashed fabric (for changes in hand, texture).

Sep 14, 2015

Good Muslin Versus Bad

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | May 17, 2015 | Sewing

If you fit your garments, you are probably in the habit of sewing test garments known as “muslins.” Many people make these test garments out of a sturdy plain weave cotton fabric known as muslin. Thus the name “muslin” for the test garment. In the U.S., muslin is generally undyed, though one could use any plain weave fabric, such as quilting fabric, for this purpose.

I have tried a few types of muslin. As a cost savings, I used to use the cheapest muslin available at Joann’s. However, that didn’t turn out to be very satisfactory. That cheap muslin was very thin (almost tissue weight) and usually off grain. Since it is a good idea to test-drive your garment using (1) a fabric of similar weight to the fashion fabric and (2) a fabric with a straight grain, my muslins have been limp and a bit catty-wumpus.

Recently, I discovered that Emma One Sock sells a medium weight muslin. (I’m sure that other companies sell this muslin. I just haven’t looked yet.) This muslin is a dream to work with. It has a good hand and sufficient body. I love how it feels. The grain is always straight and I can easily tell if my test garment is hanging correctly. The selvedge (a.k.a., selvage or selvege) of this muslin are tightly woven, which I just plain enjoy.

Woven Selvedge Of Muslin

Tip: Good quality selvedges make terrific twill tape. To make the twill tape, tear the selvedges off of the large/long muslin scraps, put them in a lingerie bag and then pre-shrink them by machine washing and drying. If you give the selvedge strips a good press and then wind them around a card or spool, then the twill tape will be ready to go when you need it.

This good quality muslin is easy to tear and tears cleanly, so that you have crisp, straight on-grain edges for aligning the fabric on the cross-grain.

Aligning The Torn Edges

I like that this muslin makes a crisp fold when finger-pressed. Making a crisp fold can be useful when laying out a pattern (see below).

Laying Out A Pattern For Fitting With Muslin Fabric

Since I can go through several fittings, I use a lot of muslin. I am contemplating buying a bolt of this muslin. Maybe I can get a bit of a price break.

BTW, did you notice how the fabric is not hanging off the end of my table? Allowing the fabric to do that would make it pull and mess up the fitting. So, instead of letting the fabric hang off of the end of the table, I prefer to fold the fabric so that it is out of my way. It is fine to do this after you have pinned the pattern to the fabric.

May 17, 2015

Dreaming Of Sobretto Tops

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | May 2, 2015 | Sewing

Sobretto Tank, by Colette Patterns

After giving is a try, I found that I really like Colette’s Sobretto Tank. You can read my review here and here. The Sobretto is a free pdf pattern that you can download here. It is really great blouse to wear under a suit jacket (with a few modifications) and would be terrific for the upcomming hot Summer weather.

Lately, I have found myself contemplating new Sobretto Tanks. I am interviewing for jobs right now, and need some white or blue tops to go under my suit jacket. Here are some of the possible Sobrettos that I might make, using fabric from Emma One Sock.

The first possibility is a Sobretto using this shimmery blue knit. I think this would be really elegant.

Emma One Sock royal/silver metallic rayon jersey 4-way #47723

Shimmery Blue Sobretto

The next blue Sobretto top uses this terrific 100% cotton with tea cups and tea pots. I would make this one with the front pleat and blue or white bias binding at the neckline and arm holes. Alternatively, it would be terrific to finish the edges with a dark blue satin piping. Just charming!

Emma One Sock ‘tea party’ in blue print cotton shirting #47608

Tea Cup Sobretto

Now for some white Sobrettos. Those would go with anything, especially my spring blue tweed suit from Talbots.

Obviously, a white lace Sobretto would be perfect. This 100% cotton bright white lace would be my choice, with a pale blue blue batiste enderlining. I would skip the pleat and clean finish the neckline and arm holes, possibly with a white rayon or silk lining. And of course, since this lace has a scallop edge, that would need to be at the bottom. Finally, I might consider some subtle beading near the neckline. For example, you could put a bead at the center of each of the flowers in the lace pattern.

Emma One Sock double-scalloped all-cotton lace – bright white #47406

White Lace Sobretto

I would love to sew a white linen Sobretto. I particularly love these two striped linen fabrics from Emma One Sock. I would use the white blue-striped fabric for the body and the accompanying blue white-striped fabric for the bias binding. This Sobretto would definitely need the front pleat. Linda also has these striped linen fabrics in a salt & pepper colorway.

Emma One Sock white/blue stripe linen woven shirting #45924

Emma One Sock blue/white stripe linen woven shirting #47305

Linen Sobretto

My favorite of all would be this floral Sobretto. I absolutely love this bright 100% cotton by Jams World. It would be great with or without the front pleat. At this point, I’m not sure if I would bind the edges or clean finish them with facings. Alternatively, I could make it with short sleeves. It is something to contemplate.

Emma One Sock Jams World colorful floral cotton woven #46871

Crayon Floral Sobretto

If you were going to make some Sobrettos for Summer, what would you do?

May 2, 2015

YouTube Sleeve and Skirt Vent Tutorials

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | Apr 26, 2015 | Sewing, Video

These days, there are many excellent video tutorials on YouTube. Many are of high quality and very professional. I find them particularly helpful, because it is possible to re-wind the video and watch particular portions repeatedly.

For example, when I wanted to learn how to knit two socks on one circular needle, I watched this tutorial by Staci of Very Pink Knits (here is her YouTube channel). I particularly like the format of Staci’s videos because much is filmed from above her hands, so that you can easily see what she is doing. The video is oriented so that it looks like it would if you were holding the needles. Further, each video is paired with a simple pattern, which allows you to follow along while watching the video.

While learning to knit two socks on one circular needle, I found one step to be particularly confusing. I must have re-watched that step about 15-times, before I understood it. Eventually I got it and now on my way to making many pairs of lovely hand knit socks. No second sock syndrome here!

This morning, my daughter called and asked me how to sew a lined sleeve vent. I thought “why re-invent the wheel?” and sent her links to three excellent tutorials, which you can watch below. I hope that you find the helpful too.

Here is Diane Deziel, with her video tutorial on tailoring a sleeve vent with lining.

Here are two videos by FashionSewingBlogTV.

Happy sewing!

Apr 26, 2015

Embellished Invisible Zipper

Sewing

by Eleanor McCarthy | Apr 25, 2015 | Sewing

While I haven’t had much time to work on my Vogue 9850 skirt, this afternoon, I was lucky enough to sew in and embellish the invisible zipper. I prefer to sew my invisible zippers in by hand, if the fashion fabric isn’t too heavy. If you would like to learn how to hand-sew in an invisible zipper, which is usually referred to as a hand-picked zipper, Laura Mae of Lilacs and Lace has a terrific tutorial here.

Prior to embellishing my hand-picked zipper, I sewed it in using the usual method. After the zipper was sewn in, I marked where I wanted my embellishment stitches to go. I decided that I wanted the stitches to be 1-cm apart and about 0.25-inches from the seam. I marked the stitch locations using a ruler and a blue disappearing ink pen.

I thought that I had a purchased a black zipper, but apparently not. The only zipper that I had turned out to be royal blue. Since the zipper was royal blue, I decided to use royal blue embroidery thread to make the embellishments. I embellished the first side of the zipper using 4-wrap French knots. I used four wraps of the thread, because I wanted the knots to be fairly large, so as to stand out from the busy pattern of the fashion fabric.

Stitching 4-Wrap French Knots

If you would like to learn how to sew French knots, Sublime Stitching has a great tutorial here.

It was really important that the French knots on both sides of the zipper line up horizontally. To make sure that the French knots on the second side of the zipper were properly aligned with the French knots on the first side of the zipper, I added pins to the blue pen marks, just to be doubly sure.