Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Bias Apple Print Top is Done

It seems like the last couple days have just been overrun with "things having nothing to do with sewing or knitting." Just what I didn't want. So, I've been working when I could on the bias top to go with the lime pants I finished. It turned out to be kind of tricky. It's a rayon georgette, and very "schlimpsy" as we used to say, meaning it goes in every direction and has no body. Most of my problems were "own fault". I should have looked in my favorite sewing book "Sew the French Way" to see what she had to say about bias, because I think her method would have been great. She recommends cutting the pieces with 2"-3" seam allowances, and then either tacking them to a vertical surface with pins at the top of the piece and letting them hang out for 3-4 days, or steaming and ironing in the lengthwise direction of the pieces. Either way, the next thing you do is recut the pieces. It would have been a good idea to do this, as the fabric just seemed to keep stretching. The staystitching at the seams was semi-helpful, but of course the rest of the piece was still lengthening. It took quite a bit of fiddling to get the side-front seams fairly smooth. Hand basting was definitely my friend! Even the hem was tricky, as I decided a plain turned up hem was what I would do. I basted it about 1/2" above the fold, and cut it down to a 1 1/4" hem. I just used a supported catchstitch, taking one thread of the face fabric, but the weave was so open that I had to really watch that it didn't just pull a hole in it. It's finally all done, and looks pretty spiffy, I think.

The pattern calls for bias binding on the neckline and armholes, and I decided to be tricky and use a contrast fabric. I have some lime duppioni from a FabricMart silk bundle, which I washed a couple times so that it became somewhat matte, and that's what I used. It's pretty striking, but I think it turned out well. I have enough of the duppioni to make a skirt or something too. I'm thinking skirt, as I really don't need a bright lime jacket. Maybe a wrap would be nice, and different too. Well, it's not next on the list, so I have time to think.

It's much too late to take photos tonight, so I hope tomorrow will be a good picture day.

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