July 2011 Lesson of the Month

Design Checklist

When you are stumped about what to do on a quilt that is not working and you can't figure out why, try this checklist:

 * How's the value? Is there enough contrast to be able to see the design, or is it mush from a distance?

*  How is the color? Does it achieve the effect you want? Would a review of color schemes help you add a richer accent? Were you after clear color;  grayed color (or tones?); a combination?

* How's the balance?  Is it balanced?  Does your eye find a path to follow in the quilt that keeps it from going out of the picture plane?

*  What about scale? Do you have a variety of sizes of spaces in the quilt or is everything the same size?

* Is it unified?  Are there too many disparate elements that have nothing to do with each other?

The check list works as a reminder about these lessons if you have already learned them.  If this is all Greek to you, take a class on Design or read a book - or several - on the subject.  (Perhaps my Design books could help!  See them in the Books category of the Online Store in the menu.)

July 2011 Lesson of the Month

When you are stumped about what to do on a quilt that is not working and you can't figure out why, try this checklist:

 * How's the value? Is there enough contrast to be able to see the design, or is it mush from a distance?

*  How is the color? Does it achieve the effect you want? Would a review of color schemes help you add a richer accent? Were you after clear color;  grayed color (or tones?); a combination?

* How's the balance?  Is it balanced?  Does your eye find a path to follow in the quilt that keeps it from going out of the picture plane?

*  What about scale? Do you have a variety of sizes of spaces in the quilt or is everything the same size?

* Is it unified?  Are there too many disparate elements that have nothing to do with each other?

The check list works as a reminder about these lessons if you have already learned them.  If this is all Greek to you, take a class on Design or read a book - or several - on the subject.  (Perhaps my Design books could help!  See them in the Books category of the Online Store in the menu.)

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March 2011 Lesson of the Month

Collar Know-How

Collars can be the icing on the cake in a garment or can expose you as an inexperienced
home sewer.  Here are some useful tips to help you sew the best collary possible:

        *   Shirt collars turn over more smoothly if the Top Collar and the Under Collar are two
           separate pattern pieces. The Under Collar pattern will be about 1/8" narrower so
           that the Top Collar can turn over it and the seam at the collar's edge will be able to
           roll under the collar slightly. The extra 1/8" of the Top Collar is taken up as it rolls
           over the Under Collar at the top roll line of the collar and around the seamed edge
           at the bottom of the collar.
        
        *   Collars usually need interfacing to stabilize them and give them the extra body
             they need to maintain their shape. Iron fusible interfacing onto the Under
             Collar in most cases. If the collar fabric is very flimsy and droopy, it may be
             necessary to interface both parts of the collar.

        *  A common mistake I see when troubleshooting collars with students, is that the
           outside edge of the collar is sewn to the neck edge of the shirt or blouse instead of
           the collar edge meant to be sewn to the neck edge. Pay close attention to the
           markings on the collar edges and the neck edges. If you eliminate these markings,
           it may be hard to tell which side is to be sewn to the neck. Often you will see dot
           markings on one edge of the collar that are meant to match to the shoulder seam
           of the garment at the neck edge. This is not the edge to sew to the other piece of
           the collar!

         * After you sew the Top Collar to the Under Collar at the correct edges, it is a good
            idea to grade the seam so the bulk of the seam allowance does not end all at the
            same place. Grading the seam means to trim one seam allowance slightly
            narrower than it was originally and to trim the other seam allowance even
            narrower. For instance, if your pattern's seam allowances are 1/2", trim one
            seam allowance to 3/8" and the other one to 1/4".

          *  Trim the point of the collar by first clipping across the point to within 1/8" of the
              stitching, then trimming each side of the point starting at the seam allowance edge
              about an inch away from the point and cutting diagonally to about 1/8" away from
              the point. This will decrease all the bulk of the seam allowances inside the Collar
              point when you turn the point right side out. Push the point out with a point turner
              or a knitting needle.
             


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August 2010 Lesson of the Month
 

When you sign up to take a quilting class or a garment related class, it's important to go into it with the right mind set. If your goal in taking the class is to set aside time to get something done that you can enter in a quilt show, and you were hoping to have the teacher's tutelage and influence in producing it, think again. Class work done with the guidance and influence of an instructor or even other students is not appropriate as an entry in a judged and juried show. And, you might be disappointed if your work isn't what you were hoping for or expecting.

If you goal is simply to learn something that will improve your work later, regardless of the quality of the class product, then you're in the right place.

Now consider these suggestions:

1. Come to class with the items the teacher put on the supply list.
2. If there was prep work to do before the class, make sure you get it done for the best class outcome.
3. Don't talk while the teacher is talking.
4. Try not to disrupt the class by butting in to what she is saying to tell her and the class a better way.
5. Avoid telling the teacher constantly how another teacher does what she's trying to teach you.
6. Try to follow the teacher's lessons, even if you don't want to do it her way or think you know better. It may turn out in the end that she does know what she's talking about. If, in the end, you see that your way might be better, do it that way at home. You have , at least, given the teacher your respect and the courtesy of trying her way. That's why you took the class. There are of course, many right ways to do everything. Don't close the door to learning by not giving the teacher a chance to give you her way.
7. Stick it out 'til the end. Even if you're not really "getting it," at the outset, it may all come together at the end and make sense to you if you if you give the teacher - and yourself - a chance.
8. You'd be surprised how often you pick up an invaluable tip or a gem of knowledge you weren't expecting.
9. Learn what you can from your teacher, without trying to clone her work. Sift through what lessons she offers for nuggets that can apply to any kind of work you do.
10. ...and, dear students, try to stay awake. You'll embarrass yourself by asking a question that she just answered with an explanation while you were dozing.

As Eric Liu, a mentor extraordinaire and co-author of Imagination First: Unlocking the Power of Possibility, writes, learn to "fail well." Make "failing well" a skill that empowers your learning process. Isn't it, after all, the word you misspell in the spelling bee, the one you never, ever forget after that?

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May 2010 Lesson of the Month

 

Using Heavy Thread to Decorate a Garment or Quilt

If you want to decorate a garment or quilt with a thread or cord that is too heavy to go through the eye of the sewing machine needle, two easy choices are bobbin work and couching. 

Bobbin Work – Hand wind your heavy thread or yarn on your machine bobbin. Do not run it through the tension control on the bobbin case.  Instead let it come out of the bobbin at the large opening on the side of the bobbin case. Put a matching color of all purpose thread in the top of the sewing machine. Stitch from the back of the fabric. Sometimes an interfacing or stabilizer helps to give enough body to the fabric to stitch it without distorting or puckering it.

 

Couching – Another solution for heavy threads or cords is to couch them to the fabric. This means using a different thread to sew the heavy threads to the surface.  You can do this by hand or by machine. Most machines have several feet that guide the cord, braid or heavy thread in place while the threads in your machine stitches it down. Check your machine feet and reference guides to see if you have one and don’t know about it. Or visit your machine dealer to find out which feet can couch heavy threads on your fabric. One of my favorite Bernina feet is the #43 foot. This is a free motion couching foot for heavy cord. For this foot, drop the feed dogs and thread the heavy cord through a hole guide on the side of the foot and then down through the center hole. Put matching thread in your machine and precede to move your fabric freely as you wish while the machine thread straight stitches through it.

 

All art forms need unity. In visual art we need visual unity: parts that look the same or similar. Repetition is one of the most common devices for achieving unity. Repeating an image, a shape, a color, or a fabric, for example, gives it more importance, creates a relationship, provides unity. We know that parts belong together if we see similarities among them.  Most often, repeated elements are more interesting if they are used with some variation. The simple pieced blocks below are the same Attic Windows design. We see them as a unified whole because they are identical. They become more interesting when something in each block varies, in this case, the color

To create unity through repetition, repeat a shape, but in different sizes or colors; repeat a pattern but in different fabrics; repeat a color, but in different values, intensities or shapes.*

*This, and more about Visual Unity can be found in Design Essentials: The Quilter’s Guide by Lorraine Torrence. Click here to find this book.

 

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December 2009 Lesson


The way you use value placement in a garment can create flattering illusions or draw attention to your worst figure flaws. Using lighter and brighter colors in the vertical center of a garment and darker values at the sides will create a narrower focus that slims and flatters you. Or you might try putting darker values at the bottom of a garment and gradually make them lighter and right as they approach the neck and shoulder area.
If a pattern has a hip band, such as the coat and jacket views of the Lorraine Torrence Designs pattern, City Wraps, choosing a value for the hip area that is not a great contrast from the top of the garment will not create a horizontal split that draws attention to the hips. Often the same color in a differ texture or pattern will differentiate the parts without creating contrast.
If you are tall and slim, perhaps you can get away with a big, high contrast pattern in a dress, but most of us benefit from a little less drama in our clothes. Remember that attention will be drawn to places where there is high contrast. Where do you want attention drawn? …or not drawn!?!
 

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November Lesson