Fabric finish

The fabric finishing process adds color, hand, and other characteristics to the woven goods (grey or greige goods) at the end of the manufacturing process.   The finishing process may include scouring, bleaching, mercerising, singeing fibers, raising fibers, calendering, shrinking, dyeing, and/or printing.   According to the finishing processes actually used on each fabric, the same greige goods can come out looking, feeling, and behaving entirely differently.  

Cotton fabric

Cotton fabric has been made for the past 5000 years and still remains the most popular fabric for home decor and clothing. It is a versatile fabric made from the staple, soft, fluffy fibers surrounding the seeds of the plant's seed pod called a boll. The fiber is almost pure cellulose and makes a lightweight fiber that dyes readily. It makes a cool, breathable, absorbent fabric that is comfortable to wear, durable, and washable or dry cleanable. Cotton fabric does wrinkle easily and cotton blends are popular because of this.

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Search alternate sections of the fabric store for interesting cotton fabrics for vestment construction.  Home decor offers polished cottons that have a finish that can be shiny and damasks have beautiful weave patterns.  In the quilting section batiks have tone-on-tone color palettes that look striking on vestments or altar appointments.  

Rayon thread

Rayon  thread is a natural fiber thread with a natural, light-reflecting sheen.   It is a popular embroidery thread that absorbs dye easily resulting in a wide range of vibrant colors.   It is not generally colorfast and care must be taken to avoid bleach during laundering, including colorfast bleach products.

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Rayon thread makes a great choice for decorative work on liturgical vestments.   It is easy to work with and performs well in high speed sewing and embroidery machines.   It it available in a many colors, blends, and even metallic shades.   Because of its luster it shows up well in low light situations.  

Glossary of Sewing Terms

The language of sewing can often be intimidating.  And, sewing liturgical vestments can be even more so.   The specialty fabrics sometimes require special handling or techniques. Look at "pressing" versus "ironing". How are they different? How are they the same? Does it matter? Why?
When learning or improving a skill, learning to speak the language is a great first step. I offer this day-by-day glossary as an easy way to improve your sewing skills in 2012. Just to be impish, the terms will not be introduced in strict alphabetical order. I have randomized the list to keep things interesting.

According to Webster's dictionary a glossary is "a list of difficult, technical, or foreign terms with definitions or translations, as for some particular author, field of knowledge, etc."
Just getting this list together has become a labor of love.  While the terms defined each day will mirror my sewing/art blog at http://www.kathybagioni.com/, an eye toward the special niche of liturgical sewing will be considered.  Special notes will be included whenever necessary.   I've learned a lot and I hope you do, too.

So, meet me back here tomorrow for the first Sewing Word of the Day for 2012.

And, let me know if there is a specific term you would like to discuss. I love learning new things together with you.

2011 Connecticut Quilt Shop Hop

Fabric choices for my latest baby quilt. 
Most came from my stash!

I am in desperate need of a creative jolt. As such, I am looking forward to the September Connecticut Quilt Shop Hop.

Do I NEED more fabric? Of course, not!
Do I NEED more projects? Of course, not!
Do I NEED to travel hither and yon checking out yet undiscovered quilt shops? Of course, . . . I DO, I DO, I DO!

A Quilt Shop Hop is so much more than buying fabric and oohing and ahhhing over new fabrics and fabric collections and quilt projects. It’s about traveling with friends, and making new friends, and bouncing ideas around.

It’s a creative jolt! It’s seeing your stash as the backbone of a new project or a twist* on an old one. It’s finding just the right bit of fabric to make that UFO come alive, and out of the sewing basket.

So check out the links to the 16 stores below. They are participating in the September 8th to 18th Connecticut Quilt Shop Hop. You can register now.

Sixteen stores will participate: Close to Home stores in Glastonbury, Orange, and Southington, Colchester Mill Fabrics (Colchester), Dot’s Quilt Shop (Prospect), Fabric Tree (Danbury), Lisa’s Clover Hill Quilts (Berlin), Quilter’s Corner (New Milford), Quilter’s Cove (Durham), Quilter’s Dream (Willimantic), Quilting by the Yard (Vernon), Sew Inspired Quilt Shop (Simsbury), the Fabric Bug (Thomaston), the Quilter’s Alley (Ridgefield), the Yankee Quilter (Oxford) and Yankee Cloth (Wallingford). Click on each name for more information about the shop.

*Speaking of twists, I am working on a little table runner made with my new Twister ruler. I will post my product review in a few days. This little ruler has made a difficult block so easy to make.

Check back soon.

Sewing Room Organization

I'd rather be sewing, on just about anything, rather than organizing and tidying up. But January was the month for reorganization.

I have sadly come to the conclusion that there are many well-intentioned projects that I will never complete. You can find the listings in my Artfire store

at reduced pricing.

I hope that some of these projects will excite someone else's creative spark. Check back often as I continue to empty my sewing closet.

Enjoy!

Quick tips to sewing hems on jeans

An excellent tutorial on how to sew hems on jeans is available here.

I would like to add several suggestions.

In this photo regular default stitching is on the left, slightly elongated stitching is in the center, and triple stitching is shown on the right.

Denim needles or at the very least 90/14 needles are a must. Denim is a tightly woven fabric and hard to sew through with lightweight needles. When you reach very dense areas, such as, the multiple layers found at the seams you will need to slow down. Rotating the handwheel of your machine to pierce the fabric will save your sewing machine's motor, your needles, and your nerves. You may need to advance the machine stitch by stitch across this very dense area. After you pass it you can continue sewing as normal.

Denim needles are also available as double needles. The caveat about slowing down goes double for these needles. :):)

Thread color is easily matched to the topstitching thread on the existing pants. But beware. Each pair of jeans is slightly different. Even the same manufacturer can have slightly different thread colors. Just check it out with each new pair of jeans. Normal sewing thread is just fine to use.

Select a slightly longer stitch length than the normal default. This allows you to more closely approximate the existing stitching.

Even better, use the triple stitch function on your machine. Most machines have this stitch under "utility stitches". It also can be elongated slightly. This combination of matching thread color + elongated stitch length + utility stitch makes a very effective hemstitch on your altered jeans.

Finally, sewing over thick seams is always a problem. If the presser foot is not kept parallel to the bed of the machine you can risk breaking a needle. I can verify this by experience all too well. :( There is a little accessory called a Button Clearance Foot. Look for Husqvarna Part No. 41 11 732 01 or 41 31 056 01. Most sewing machine stores can get this for you. It slips under the presser foot before or after it reaches the seam and raises the foot. This allows the machine to continue sewing safely and with the same stitch length. It's one of the handiest little tools in my sewing drawer.


View the tutorial I mentioned here and consider the additional comments I have posted. In no time you will turn out hemmed jeans that even the fussiest person will be happy to wear.