When Last Week's Episode Ended...

April 25, 2025

Lest we forget where we were....

OMG - I cringe when I see this.  It's so awful.  And we were dealing with the shoulders that were a mess.  

The truth is that this shoulder alteration is enormously hard to make because it needs to be done on the model.  Fortunately, I have a mannequin.  Unfortunately, it is no longer available, so I can't teach the class or help anyone else.  This drives me nuts.  This is a perfectly great product that is impossible to get anymore.  I'm sure a few of these are hanging around in some storeroom, but either they've been lost in the point-of-sale inventory or forgotten.  This does point out the advantages of having a mannequin - for one, I can pin exactly where the shoulder needs to be without having to try it on and off about a gazillion times.  

There's always one side that turns out better than the other and never sure why, but in this one the left side is right on point.  But I don't really worry about this.  Because knit is so forgiving, it's as hard as it would be on a woven.  What I need to do is get the top of the sleeve head lined up on the shoulder of the bodice - MY SHOULDER.  And then sew away.  

Here's a closer look and you can see that I've bunched up a lot of fabric on the sleeve head, just to make sure that I have that great "puff" on the top of the sleeve.  

The finished look is great for me.  There were a few more problems I had to work on,but the basis - the hand from the shoulder and the flare at the hips that are great. 

This makes the point really well.  But there's one last problem here.  If you take these two fabrics, the one that is the dominant is the houndstooth check, while the stripe is not as showy.  However the stripe is the lighter color than the houndstooth.  The problem of the stripe direction became an issue when I realized I didn't have enough fabric to make the side pieces.

Had I had just a bit more, the outfit would really work.  These are some of the problems that arise when you are doing your own design.  I wear it, and in the meantime, I have scraps in my bag to pick out two more hopefully turquoise prints to put together for another top.  

Here's the finished piece again.  And often dressmakers can look at this and think - something's wrong - it has to be my technique or I got a seam wrong, but something's not right.

Most of the time we are right on point.  If you think something's wrong, usually there is something wrong, but it may not necessarily be the technique.  The seams here are well put together, and everything "technically" is correct.  It's not the technique that is the problem, it's the design.  

So how can you tell the difference?  Before you start ripping out seams and disparaging yourself, look closely at the design.  And this goes for commercial patterns too.  

For this design here are the problems

• The contrast stripe that should give direction is also the lighter fabric and will project out.  That's a problem cause that means the stripe should have had two functions 1.) directing the eye in the direction of the stripe, and 2.) be a receding shape.  The stripe did the eye direction thing fine, but is NOT receding and therefore didn't perform it's function.
• The shape in the middle, the houndstooth pattern, should be the shape that projects and doesn't have any other function.  Unfortunately, this shape recedes compared to the lighter colored turquoise.  This chart shows the receding and projecting colors, with the most projecting on top and the least on the bottom.  Yellow is considered the most projecting color (Yellow warning signs on the streets and highways), even more than white.  Purple is the most receding color of all.  Notice how the cool side of the color wheel is receding and the warm side is projecting.  Nothing important about other than one is one way and the other is the other way.  

• Additionally because the side panel isn't wide enough, the direction of the stripe loses its effect on the whole garment.  For me this is the biggest problem.  The others are minor, but the biggest problem is the lack of width on those side pieces.  

Even though there are some mistakes here, because this is my core pattern, I'll wear this, or at least until I get another two turquoise fabrics.  

And one day later, here we go.... from a local fabric shop - I carry color really well, and love this floral and swooshy-tiger print.  AND there is a definite receding and projecting with these two prints.

And perusing around on some of my fav sites, this is soon to appear ab my door...

The nice thing about ording this from EmmaOneSock.com is that they list Pantone colors, and I can immediately tell that the stripe on the left is going to be a very close match to the pants, and the one on the right will make a nice contrast.  Again one is definitely receding and the other projecting so I won't be making the same mistake again.  

Also, I'm going to be a little less symmetrical—something one-off—so that I still have a nice vision of projecting and receding. At the same time, it will not be the same on each side. But sketching this will answer a lot of questions and solve a lot of problems.  

And now, to catch up on some news after the electricians were here to put in another plug for my iron.  In case you're new to this, when I remodeled my first home ages ago, I told the contractor to put in an electrical sub-station in the studio room because I would be plugging in tons of electrical items.  If I had a plug every two feet from the other, it wouldn't be too many, and I wanted one specifically for my iron.  My contractor was good for his promise to do this, and I had only one plug for my iron, which meant I had a good amount of electricity coming to my semi-commercial iron.  As a result, I had iron last around twenty years there.  I spent almost 40 years in that home and had two irons.

Jump forward in our tale, and we move into the one-level dream home, probably about 15 years older than the remodeled home.  Personally, I like older homes.  I was raised in a home built in 1924, and no, my family wasn't the first owners, and no, it wasn't built for me.  There's a constant charm and almost patina to an older home, and they are so much better built that it's hard for me to find fault with them.  If there isn't a little leak in the toilet or a cold spot in the AC, then there's something wrong, so little problems are just that...little and not to be worried about.  This new home is one of those MCM homes and is extremely well-built.  When I close the front door, there's a solid who-o-o-osh that you know there's a seal against the elements just outside that door.  But it is old.

I've been through about six irons in this home, and it never occurred to me that there could be something wrong with the electricity, even though I knew to ask for it in my first home.  It suddenly occurred to me about three weeks ago, with the brand new spitting iron, that I had lived in the dream home for 25% of the time I lived in my first home, and I'd been through 3 times as many irons in that 25% time I've lived here.  Yikes.  That's not a good average, and there's got to be something else.  Enter the electricians.  I now have a dedicated one plug for the iron, which runs off one circuit in the fuse box.  Nothing else is drawing on that circuit except my iron.  I had the nicest electricians in the world, and if you live in central Oklahoma and would like to have the name of a fantastic electrician, respond to this email, and I will pass his name on.  They were reasonably priced, and they did exactly what I wanted. Guess what?  News Flash:  MY IRON DOESN'T SPIT ANYMORE!  Hallelujah!!!!

I'm absolutely elated.  It took the iron a couple of hours to adjust and figure out that nothing else would draw on that circuit..  But the more I've used the iron, the better it's been.  

Just as pertinent to this story is that I've done my judging of the local design college, and my two criticisms which seem endemic to the students are:  1.) NO HANGING THREADS (and yes, I am channeling Faye Dunaway, "No More Wire Hangers!").  One of the simplest things students can do is cut off those hanging threads on their finished garments.  2.)  The other is pressing.  Someone at university needs to teach Pressing 101!!!!  Sometimes clothes can look like a mess, and then they are pressed and look couture!  But it's something that the kids will have to learn.  

While I was there judging, I went by the pressing station to look at the equipment, and sure enough - a plug for every iron.  They are most likely on separate circuits as well, but just seeing the abundance of plugs at the pressing station convinced me I was doing the right thing at home. 

After the pressure of not having an iron and then having a great iron return, I'm a little upset that I didn't even think of this sooner.  But I try not to be too hard on myself, cause the iron is working magnificently now.  

A 220 plug is probably improper here because the iron shouldn't need more than 110 for even commercial use, which is 6 hours or more a day.  The dryer, and maybe some other appliance, perhaps the HVAC, are 220; a typical home shouldn't need more than one or two per home.  Even talking with the electricians about this, they didn't seem to think that a 220  would be required, no matter how many hours a day I had the iron on.  But having this plug on one circuit would be plenty for the iron to work well.  And it is.  

I'm not saying that a standard plug wouldn't work well, even in an old home, for most people's pressing needs, a 110 will work, even if it's shared for a short time. But when you start adding a couple of charging stations, my external hard drives, one of my two monitors, the computer speakers, and the two sewing machines, all running off one outlet, that's not going to give enough juice to run the iron without spitting and causing problems.  My current situation is perfect, and I'm glad I can go on and worry about other things now, and not if the iron was/is going to spit.

So, if you have a spitting iron, are in an old home, and use more than one appliance on the same plug as the iron, think seriously about updating to a one-plug, one-circuit situation. For me, it's saved my insanity and my pocketbook.       

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

Look for future classes coming in 2024
The Core Pattern Shirt, (one of my favorites for woven core pattern that you can make into a myriad of different garments), 
Basic Knit Top (core pattern class for knit basic tops, shells, tees, dresses, and tunics)
 

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