Designing Fabric

Sewing is my hobby and my day job of graphic design is how I (try to) pay for fabric. For a while now I've been thinking how fun it would be to design some fabric. I've finally taken the plunge, and wanted to share my very first fabric design.

This design is currently part of a competition run by Spoonflower, so if you feel like voting HERE that would be much appreciated :)

Voting is open until 28th May 2015 (I think.) And you don't have to sign up to cast your Vote.

Images of the Past Dunedin

The Historical Sewing Group I belong to "Images of the Past Dunedin" are looking for new members.

If you're located in the Otago region of New Zealand, like to sew & want to try something a bit different, that will also raise funds for the Children's Ward please visit their website http://bit.ly/1J0Z2Iv and share this message with friends who might be interested. Thanks!

HFS January 2015 Challenge: Foundations

When I became interested in sewing historical and steampunk garments the one item I was almost certain I would never make was a corset.

You know where this is going, right?

And being a slow sewer, a slower, if you will, gosh darn it, I'm not finished. Today the challenge is due, so better something than nothing I felt.

And actually this is a sewing milestone for me, not only my first corset, but the first time I've used a commercial pattern which I bought new (and not a vintage thrifty bargain or indie download) Simplicity 9769.

This pattern is a dream! I may just become a commercial convert. (Nooo!) The pieces lined up perfectly, I've only had to do a few minor fitting changes which even my intermediate sewing skills could handle. The whole thing was nowhere near as scary as I imagined it would be.

Full disclosure, this corset isn't intended as a historical replica. It's part of my investigation into corsets and back support. So the two main adjustments I've done is I've swap the busk with a zipper, and the grommets with fabric loops, both substitutions being to make it washing machine friendly.

One final apology, I'm having a little trouble uploading my photos today, and I just don't have the energy to fix it, so the rest will have to come later... *sigh*

Where to find Free PDF manuals for White sewing machines and Overlockers/Sergers

Tip for today: Where to find Free PDF manuals for White sewing machines and Overlockers/Sergers old and new...

Strange as it may seem, there are free White sewing machine and overlocker/serger manuals via the Singer website. The manuals include many 20th century and even a few 19th century models too, (which was good news for me when I bought a 1906 treadle. pictured above)

To find the manual you need, look under Singer's "Support and Resources" then select "Instruction manuals" , or follow this link.

On the Instructions Manual page you'll see it says "Find Your Manual - Step 1, Step 2 etc etc" and under that there's a search box that says "Model Number"

Into this search box just type "w"
(don't type white, because that doesn't work)

You'll be taken to a near incomprehensible results page,
A) if you have a 20th century model, try doing a find via Ctrl-F and enter in your machine's model number.

B) if you have a 19th century machine, unfortunately the method to finding the manual you need is a case of clicking and opening the PDFs.

However may I suggest a couple that may be of use:
"W7treadle"
- this is a manual of a White treadle with a boat style bobbin shuttle
"WRotary"
- this is a manual of a White treadle with a rotary style bobbin shuttle

Good luck, and I hope you find what you need :)
Kind regards
Kura

HSF 14 - Challenge # 22 - Gentlemen = Making an 18th century "Darcy" Shirt

Happy Jane Austen Day! 239 years ago today on the 16th of December 1775, Jane Austen was born.

Since today (nearly) co-insides with the Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014 challenge #22, I wanted to share a "Darcy" shirt I made.

18th century men's "Darcy" shirt - Front view

I made the shirt using instructions from "A Typical Eighteenth Century Military Shirt: A practical construction guide by Judith Wicker". The guide is very easy to follow, and I believe historically accurate. 

[You can find a copy of this pattern by doing a Google search, I 'm not posting the link because I couldn't find the original source, but I think it came via the NWTA. ]


Historical Sew Fortnightly 2014
The Challenge: # 22 - Gentlemen
Fabric: heavy cotton (old bedsheets)
Pattern: "A Typical Eighteenth Century Military Shirt: A practical construction guide by Judith Wicker".
Year: Eighteenth Century
Notions: buttons, thread
How historically accurate is it? Very. 80-90% originals might have been made in linen, I made slight mistake on the neck opening (explained below) and I did use the sewing machine...
Hours to complete: 6-8 hours across two days
First worn: Unworn
Total cost: under $10

Darcy shirt - side view

The only trouble I had with the pattern was the neck gussets, it doesn't specify they need to be gathered - in the middle but not the edges - as pictured below, to make the collar and neckline curve properly.

To ensure the neckline sits properly, gather centre of the shoulder gussets (green arrow), not the sides (red lines)

 
Also, I had a self-made boo-boo. I totally forgot to flip the front neck slit facing around to the back, and only realised it was on the wrong side after I had sewn the shoulder gussets. So I just added a ruffle under the facing, to make it look deliberate...

Pinning a ruffle under the facing which I forgot to flip through to the other side. Doh!

 I think it looks OK,

Neck ruffle and facing detail - not historically accurate...oopsy

 and I bet I'm not the only seamstress to make this mistake in the past 200 years!

Tutorial - Using Photoshop to make Historical Sewing Patterns which Fit

There are a lot of great old patterns out there that are free to download, via places like the Internet Archive, or possibly you've bought Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion series. Patterns which are scaleable, all drawn on helpful grids just waiting to be enlarged.  The problem is even once you scale these patterns, chances are it's not going to fit.

Well, I've come up with a method to solve this using Photoshop -- I used it to create my 1880s jacket -- and I'm sharing how I do it over in a series of tutorials on my graphic design blog, Part One and Two are live and I hope you'll check them out.

Dyeing Chicken Feathers with Food Colouring

Feathers dyed by microwaving with food colouring

At the start of the year my sister-in-law showed me socks knitted from wool dyed with food colouring. They were BRIGHT. I was sceptical. Food colouring is water soluble. Right?

Not so much when you microwave the heck out if it. I found an excellent tutorial on How To Dye Yarn with Food Colouring, over at Instructables

Knitting is not my thing, but when my chickens started moulting I wondered if the Food Colour Dyeing trick would work on feathers, why because then I could trim me some hats 'o plenty 19th century style for very little $$$

Long story short, yes, you can dye feathers with food colouring.

I followed the wool dyeing tutorial above with only two variations. Firstly I didn't really measure how much colouring I put it. Secondly after microwaving it the stated amount of time, I totally forgot about it and left it in the microwave over night. Did that extra time help the process? I can't say.
The main difference when doing the chicken feathers was the water didn't turn clear like it's meant to with the wool method.

But as you can see the colour took to the feathers quite well. Of course adding blue colouring to brown feathers has resulted in a greeny-blue, which I probably should have expected. I imagine if you use pure white chicken feathers the colours will be very true and BRIGHT.

Blue Food colouring dyed feathers on left, before dyeing natural brown on right

A word of warning, a little colour will come out of the feathers if you get them wet again, so I would be careful not to place them on white fabric.