Finished Seams

Thursday, January 27, 2022

A Quilted Vest

Many many years ago, I saw a quilted outerwear vest in the most gorgeous shade of mustard yellow displayed in an Anthropologie store. I couldn’t bring myself to buy it because of the price tag and thankfully it sold out and my obsession flew away with it. Fast forward to latter of of last year when quilted outerwear seemed to be everywhere. I fell in love with a quilted jacket from Uniqlo that featured wavy quilts instead of the popular horizontal or vertical ones. I vowed to create something akin to that and the opportunity arose with this month’s “Corduroy Sew-Along” at Pattern Review

Armed with a fun polka dotted fine wale corduroy from Marcy Tilton and a black ultrasuede which is the oldest fabric in my stash, I decided to make my own quilted vest using Simplicity 1499.

This pattern features three options for a vest with variations in collar, front opening and pockets.
I made view A which uses quilted fabric. For a detailed review of the pattern itself including fitting adjustments and construction techniques, kindly check out my review at PatternReview.com

Since I decided to quilt my own fabric, this post will largely focus on that process.

Fabrics:

The vest is designed with side panels in both front and back--a perfect opportunity to for color or print blocking.

Top layer: 100% Japanese cotton corduroy for the center front and back.

Top layer: Black ultra suede for side panels.

Backing layer: 100% woven cotton for inner layer of quilt

Middle Layer: cotton/poly mid loft batting.

Quilting Process:

Only the outer main fabric was cut following the pattern pieces for the vest. The middle and backing layer were not cut to shape. I made sure they were at least 2" larger than the main fabric along all edges. I also made sure to cut the backing layer following the pattern's grainlines.

To hold the three layers together, one can use pins, fabric glue or basting spray but I opted for hand basting.

Shown here are the front center pieces basted to the other layers.

A closer look at the basted fabric. I had to make sure the backing layer was flat and smooth.

I used stitch no. 66 in my Juki HZL F600 sewing machine to create the quilting lines. I set it to the widest and longest stitches.

To ensure my quilting lines were uniform in distance and straight across the grain line, I used Quilter's masking tape, making sure not to press too hard to make it easier to pull off without harming the fabric.

Here is the back center piece ready for quilting.

A walking foot was essential for this step. I aligned the edge of one sole with the edge of the masking tape and set the needle position all the way to that side.

Instead of pulling the masking tape off from one end, I loosened it with the aid of a seam ripper before gently pulling it away. This helped prevent fraying of the raw edges of the corduroy fabric.

For the black ultrasuede, I didn't use the masking tape as it left some mark on the fabric. I had to rely on a 1" template I made from cardboard. I didn't use heat erasable marking pen either because after testing it, I found that heat didn't totally erase the marking in spite of the claims.

It's a little bit hard to see but I used diagonal lines instead of wavy quilting lines. Not only was it a design choice, it also saved me the trouble of having to align the waves at the adjoining seams.

I zigzagged the edges before trimming the batting and backing layers.

Here are the quilted front and back pieces.

Here are the quilted side panels.

And here is the quilted inner layer.

Vest Construction:

Sewing the vest itself was pretty simple and straightforward. The fiddly part was finishing all the raw edges both inside and outside. The pattern itself did not offer any instructions on how to handle the raw edges of the seam allowances so I opted for HongKong binding then topstitching to hold the seams down.

This photo shows topstitching being done on both sides of the seam that joins the side panel to the main panel.

To finish the front edges, collar edges, hems and armholes, the pattern called for bias tape binding. I made my own bias tape using a wider width to account for the turn of cloth caused by the thick quilted fabric.

I cut an 18" square fabric to make continuous bias loop and it was enough to cover all the edges in my vest. But take into consideration the fact that using size 6, I also shortened the pattern by a total of 3" and made some adjustment on the armhole.

This Clover bias tape maker made it easier to make my own bias tape.

A closer view of the armhole binding from the inside.

A view of the finished vest.

Special Feature:

I wanted to have the option of using a removable faux fur collar so I tried on one that came with an RTW down vest of mine. It had elastic loops along the edges and I just needed to add some buttons to the inside of my collar.

I added a 3/4" wide strip (plus 5/8" seam allowance) of ultrasuede to the lower part of the inner collar before attaching the collar to the neckline.

I sewed some buttons to the strip I added.

The faux fur collar was then attached to the collar via those buttons.

Zipper Tips:

I used size #5 plastic mirror separating zipper from Zprz.com. To avoid having to shorten zipper, I measured the finished length of my garment before purchasing the zipper. Mine was 18" long compared to the 20" suggested by the pattern envelope. Important to note that the zipper is attached with 1/4" allowance between the teeth and the front edge. Depending on the size of the teeth, one will be adding a few inches to the total width of the front, something to consider during fitting.

Finished Vest

And now for some modeling shots!

Friday, November 26, 2021

Celebrating Pattern Review's 20th Anniversary

PatternReview is turning 20 this November 28 and as a long-time member I am so excited to celebrate with the rest of the global community!

For this contest, participants are asked to make a top/shirt/blouse/tunic or dress inspired by Pattern Review. My so-called "milestone" top is inspired by all things related to the Pattern Review website. I decided the best way to show this was by designing my own fabric.

Presenting my designer top with a touch of whimsy!

If you have been reading my blog or checking out my pattern reviews, then you probably already recognize the pattern I used for this top. That's right, it's Vogue 1693 by Issey Miyake.

I first made this pattern in May of this year and in a span of six months I have sewn six versions! Can we say TNT (tried and tested) pattern?

I thought the pattern was the perfect canvass for embellishment and personalization.

If you notice, the right and left bodice of the top are vastly different. I am crazy about calligraphy and maps on fabrics so this was my chance to combine my two favorite design elements and do it in a very personalized way.

For the right side, I printed words and phrases on the base fabric (linen blend) and all the words were taken off the Pattern Review website. So upon closer inspection, you will see the names of the different contests, the forum topics, site features and more.

For the left side, I embellished a black handkerchief linen with outlines of the states where PR weekends were held in different years like Texas, LA, Oregon, NY, etc. I added an applique of a thread spool and stitched a thread coming from it to loop through all the different state outlines, sort of representing "the thread that binds the sewing community."

So if you are interested in the creative process behind these designs, just read on.

Printing on Fabric:

1. Word Document. On Microsoft Word, I created a document of several pages consisting of random words and phrases taken from the PR website. I experimented with different fonts and sizes and eliminated punctuation marks and margins. I initially printed on paper to see how it would look.

2. Fabric Prep. The fabric had to be treated with a special solution called Bubble Jet Set 2000 for HP (since my printer is Hewlett Packard). This is readily available at Amazon, Jenkins or Dharma Trading. There is also a solution specifically for Epson printers and a solution for all other printer brands.

I precut my fabric into same size as my printer paper then soaked the pieces in the solution for 5 minutes after which I let them air dry.

3. Fabric printing. After fabric pieces were dry, I ironed freezer paper shiny side to the wrong side of the fabric then fed them individually to the printer to avoid paper jam.

Printer in action!

4. Fabric piecing. After ink was dry, I sewed the fabric pieces together until I had enough yardage to accommodate the pattern piece I was cutting.

Fabric pieces sewn together.

Wrong side showing how the seams were finished with zigzag stitches.

Right bodice pattern laid out on the fabric.

Right bodice cut.

To ensure the print stays on fabric, it is recommended to use Bubble Jet Rinse for washing.

Embellishing on Fabric

1. Word Document. I copied and pasted free online images of my chosen state map outlines, printed them on paper, cut then traced them to my fabric using heat erasable pen.

2. Sewing. I used Totally Stable stabilizer underneath the fabric before sewing on the embellishment. For thread I used Sulky polyester embroidery thread for the top and Gutermann all purpose polyester for the bobbin. I used long triple stitches to make the stitches stand out.

I won this set of gorgeous embroidery threads for Sewing Bee 2019.

3. Applique. For the spool of thread applique, I traced the shape on a black piece of linen fabric that was backed by a stabilizer, cut and sewed on it then used applique machine stitches around the shape to attach it to the main bodice.

So there you have it, the process behind the fabric design. For the back of the top and the front band, I used leftover linen (Nani Iro At Random).

Unlike my past versions, I totally eliminated the use of buttons and buttonholes and opted for sew on snaps. I added a decorative nonfunctional statement button to the front.