Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew (3 page)

Waist:
Find your waist by tilting your body to the side as if you were exercising. Put your right hand on your hip and your left hand up over your shoulder, creating an arc. Start bending toward the right. You will feel your body form a crease on the right-hand side. Repeat on your left side. The creases are your waistline. Wrap the tape measure around yourself comfortably and take the measurement.

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR HIP

Hip:
Finding your hips is much easier once you’ve found your waist. Take your tape measure and hold it at your waist, letting it drop to the floor. Your hip is usually about 7 to 9 inches down from your true waistline. Your hips are the fullest part between your waist and thigh. (You can find it when you look for where last night’s cheesecake, pizza, or chocolate brownies landed.) Once you’ve found your hips, wrap the tape measure around them comfortably. Now read your hip measurement

HOW TO MEASURE
YOUR BUSTLINE

Bust:
Wrap the tape measure around your shoulder blades and across the highest point of your bust. Be especially careful to keep the tape at an even height. Don’t let it slide down your back. Use a mirror to check that it’s even.

2.
Use the chart on the back of the pattern envelope to determine which size comes closest to your body measurements. Most patterns come with a range of sizes in the envelope. Make sure to buy a pattern that will be the same size or slightly bigger than your measurements. (Contrary to popular belief, patterns are not sized like clothes in the store. It will probably shock you to learn that in a sewing pattern your size will be at least two sizes bigger than your usual store-bought clothing size.)

3.
Examine the pattern picture very carefully, especially the back views. You may think you have a skirt with an elastic waistband, but it may be another style.

4.
Since you are a beginner, always start with a SIMPLE-TO-MAKE STYLE. Do not choose styles with collars, set-in sleeves, zippers, or close-to-the-body fit if you have never sewn before. To start, use the skirt pattern in this book.

5.
Your fabric choice will be 75 percent of your sewing success. If you buy a commercial pattern, on the back of the envelope will be a list of the best fabrics for the style. There will also be a list of all the sewing
notions
you will need to make the garment.

6.
Check to make sure that you are buying the amount of fabric needed for your project. The back of the pattern envelope has a yardage chart for each style. Note that fabric is measured in
yards,
not feet or meters.

7.
All major American pattern companies include % of an inch
seam allowance
in their patterns. The skirt pattern in this book does too. Seam allowance is the distance between the edge of the fabric and the sewing line. European patterns sometimes do not have seam allowances, so you must add them or your garment will be smaller and may not fit properly.

8.
Pull the instruction sheet out of the envelope. Look at the style you have chosen to sew and cut out only those pattern pieces.

Chapter 2

Fabric Has Personality:

BUYING THE RIGHT FABRIC FOR YOUR PROJECT

Choosing
fabric
can be one of the most exciting aspects of your sewing project. You will fall in love with so many different kinds that you won’t be able to buy just one. As you shop, the most important thing is to keep in mind the type of project you’re making. Consider the
drape,
touch, and feel of the fabric. Don’t be afraid to handle and play with fabric. It’s the only way you will gain more experience about how it drapes. Try draping fabric on your waist or leg to get an idea of what it would look like if you were wearing it. Boutiques or the designer department of any major store is the best resource for learning about clothes. Use a store like a museum or a research library. Look at clothing and examine how it is made and how it drapes. Also read the care label inside to see what the fabric content is. I always say “There’s No Fashion Police” to stop you from looking or even trying a garment on in the dressing room and taking notes. Some of the top designers in the fashion business admit to doing this themselves.

First of All, What Is Fabric?

Fabric is a covering that is either
woven, knit,
nonwoven, or skin (that is, leather or fur). Wovens, knits, and nonwovens are formed with
yarns
and
fibers.
Yarns are what most fabrics consist of. These yarns are put together either by the interlacing method of
weaving
or by the interlooping method of
knitting.

Fabric can also be made through nonwoven or nonknitted processes—for example, by braiding, felting, bonding, laminating, and “tanning” of skins from animals or reptiles for leather and fur. Remember when you studied about cavemen? They used skins to cover their bodies and keep themselves warm. Just think, we are still using skins today! But technology has so advanced that now we mass-produce fabrics that not only cover us but are specifically designed to hold in our body heat and form a skintight covering when we dance, ski, or work out.

Fabrics are mass-produced in big mills and made on either huge knitting machines or looms. Most fabrics are woven or knitted to widths of 45 or 60 inches (keep in mind that handmade fabrics, such as Guatemalan cotton or Chinese
tapestry
patterns, can be much narrower: 17 to 36 inches). You measure the length by increments of yards.

Fabric can be broken into different categories. These categories will help you get to know “fabric personality.” To weave or knit fabric, fibers are “spun” together with yarns. Yarn fibers are either natural, such as wool, silk, cotton, and linen, or
man-made,
such as micro fibers,
polyester, Lycra,
and nylon. Synthetics include Ultrasuede, vinyls such as plastic-coated fabrics, and rubberized fabrics such as neoprene for special-purpose clothing (gloves and wet suits).

Here are some fabric categories that will help you choose the right fabric for your project.

Sportswear Fabrics for Casual Wear

This is the biggest category of fabric since it includes knits and wovens or stretch wovens.

Cottons.
Fabrics woven in cotton fiber are great for just about anything—skirts, pillows, you name it. Plus, it’s sold in many different prints, from solids in every color of the rainbow to plaids and quirky designs.

Knits.
All types of polyester knits look great for elastic-waist skirts. Wool double knits are especially easy to sew and make beautiful elastic-waist skirts. (I had one student who made her whole winter wardrobe out of double knit elastic-waist skirts. Did she look chic! And her sewing skills improved so much by practicing the same style over and over again.)

Stretch wovens.
These are especially “in” right now. Some might be labeled Lycra.

Fabrics woven in linen.
A great summer fabric, but it wrinkles easily.

Denim.
Easy and wonderful to sew; nothing looks bad in cotton denim or stretch cotton denim.

Fake leathers such as Ultrasuede.
These are very sporty looking and not too difficult to sew. They are a good choice for tote bags.

Fabrics woven in wool flannels, tweeds, and twills.
These make beautiful elastic-waist skirts and tote bags, and even a fun pillow.

Corduroy.
It is sporty but it will look very bulky as an elastic-waist skirt. It will make a real cute tote bag. Also keep in mind that corduroy has a nap, which will be important to note at the cutting phase.

Glamorous Fabrics

Drapey and elegant.
Try satin charmeuse, silks, sheer georgettes, chiffons, and rayons for a touch of glamour. Rayons (chemically engineered from wood pulp) are an especially good choice and are always drapey and soft. These fabrics look so slinky in an elastic-waist skirt. Accent it with some beaded or sequin trim.

Glitzy.
Good choices are silks, bridal satins, taffetas, velvets, and lace. Knits that shine or have trims on them can look glamorous too. Fabrics trimmed with metallic threads, sequins, or rhinestones naturally look glitzy. But don’t feel that the fashion police are at your door; you can also wear these glamorous fabrics as day wear. You be your own designer. A glitzy skirt is always flattering. These fabrics make wonderful bags and pillows, too.