two-piece menswear-style waistband

I've got a thing for a good ol' 2-piece menswear-style waistband, even for kids. By two-piece, I mean seamed at the top with an outer piece and a facing, and for extra credit, binding on the edge of the facing. Sure it would be easier to throw some elastic in a casing and call it a day, but sometimes something more tailored is called for. I've started doing a 2-piece waist on my recycled shirt skirts and tablecloth skirts.

I noticed my daughter's twill uniform pants from Lands' End have this treatment. The twill is thick, so they did the facing out of pink oxford cloth and the pocket linings out of pink stripe oxford shirting instead of self fabric or plain white, even though I'm sure it cost them more to do. I love the idea of haberdashery details on the inside even if none of it shows from the outside. You just know it's there when you're wearing it. It's a psychological thing, mostly, but it does make for a nice flat waistband, even with button elastic in the back of it.

If your pattern is designed to be a 1-piece foldover waistband, you can make it into 2 pieces by cutting in half lengthwise and adding seam allowance onto the edges. I trim 1/8" to 1/4" off the facing piece because it will be overhanging the waist seam on the inside just a tad too much if I don't. If it's a fixed waistband, but you want to add button elastic, just add 2-3" worth of ease to the length of the pattern piece. I lightly interface both pieces with fusible interfacing. I cut the interfacing pieces minus seam allowance so I'm not bulking up the seams.

I cut a 1" strip of cute coordinating fabric to be used for binding. It can be cut on the straight grain instead of the bias because it won't need any stretch to finish the straight facing piece. I run it through my handy dandy 1/2" bias tape maker to get a nice perfect piece of binding.

It looks super professional if you sew the binding onto the waist facing piece using a bias binding foot. They are not universal- you have to get one for your specific machine.  The one I got for my Babylock is adjustable to handle different widths of binding.

 

Otherwise, just be really careful to be straight with your stitching or even baste the binding on by hand first.

Next, I sew the top edge of the facing to the top edge of the waistband (right sides together), going straight across and not turning the corners at the ends. I press the seam flat toward the facing piece and trim the seam allowance in graduated layers. After that I backstitch the seam allowance down onto the facing side, close to the seam. This ensures that the seam rolls perfectly and firmly to the inside of the waist. Important, especially if you wanted to get fancy and make your whole facing out of a contrast color.

If you are using button elastic, mark 3/4" buttonholes centered in your facing about 1 1/2" away (toward the back) from the side seam markings. This keeps the elastic & buttons  toward the back where any bulk won't be visible. I always have such paranoia when it comes to slashing open the buttonholes. I'm afraid I'll overshoot the end of the buttonhole and ruin my almost-finished garment, so I put a pin at the end to stop the seam ripper if it decides to keep going. attach buttons 1/2" away from the buttonhole, toward the front.

When attaching to the body of the garment, allow the waistband to extend enough past the body to account for seam allowances and any extensions the waistband has (like for a button). Then flip the waistband inside out the close up the ends. Trim the corners and seam allowances on those edges. Flip right side out and press the daylights out of it.

Then comes my favorite part- "crack-stitching" or "stitching in the ditch". I didn't photgraph this part, but I've blogged about it in the past here. Pin your facing flat with the corners tucked in like above. Turn the garment right side out. To close the waist you will stitch in the seam crack where the body meets the waistband. You won't even see the stitches on the outside when you're through. An edge joining foot makes it easier, but it's not difficult to aim your needle right into the crack. Finally, feed your elastic through the waist through the buttonholes.

Not your average run-of-the-mill waistband!

delaware etsy finds

I can count on one hand the number of people I've mentioned Etsy to in Delaware who actually know what it is. Happily, I manage to get them interested and some have even gotten accounts and started exploring all the unique wares.

I recently joined The Delaware Etsy Street Team created to pool resources to promote Delaware-based Etsy sellers. I already know a few DE sellers, but it was great fun to find even more through the "shop local" tool that Etsy has. I made this treasury today featuring only Delaware Etsians. Great finds, no?

new appliquéd onesies!

I must be so in the mood for spring because all I can think about are birds and butterflies and flowers!

I prototyped a couple of new appliquéd onesies this week for chirp & bloom. I couldn't decide on one colorway, so I did 2 for each. I do get requests for boy onesies, so I think the grey & blue birdies fits the bill. I just don't have a feel for sports themes or trucks and they would look out of place in my shop anyway.

A lot of trial and error and time goes into prototyping. The original design for the birdies had 16 birds! What was I thinking? There were so many and they were so tiny. It takes me plenty long to applique the 9. Then I thought it would be cute to have the odd one off kilter at the end, pecking at some crumbs. Just makes it more interesting.

The other time-consumer: getting good photos. It's an ongoing challenge for me. I am basically an amateur. I know what looks good, but how to get there is the problem.  I recently invested in a studio flash with an umbrella to boost my light indoors without glare. I still prefer the natural light to be dominant though, so I wait for sunny days and turn the flash way down to use as fill light. I wind up doing lots of editing in Photoshop never the less.

original shot straight from the camera

I prefer to err on the side of underexposure with digital shots (the opposite of what you would do with film shots) so all the color information is there and not washed out. But BLECH! The light wasn't as good as I thought and the studio flash didn't seem to help much. I had it turned way down to look natural.

final shot heavily edited in Photoshop

After several Photoshop operations it's good enough to use in the shop:
- increase exposure (+.52 in this case, but I've been known to go higher)
- select background only using selection tool (select onesie & clips, then select the inverse)
- using selective color tool, remove black from whites, neutrals, and from black itself (fiddle with the percentages)
- sometimes I'll increase the color saturation on the item a little too but I didn't this time.
- on top of it all, I increased the brightness by a little bit and dodged the bottom edge
- then there's cropping. I've started cropping to the ratio that Etsy uses for main shop photos 794px x 1000px. That way I have better control of what the shot will look like in the shop rather than being left to the mercy of Etsy's cropping.

I still may go back to the attic on a better light day and see if I can do better.

***update***

Ok- the sun came out I found a better spot to hang my clothesline. I knew something still missing from the other onesie photos! Sparkle. Can't beat good natural light (and a foam core reflector). Much less photoshopping was needed for this new photo.

on a roll with appliqué

When my grandmother visited over the holidays, she was pretty tickled to see that my son has been using this quilt she made for one of my brothers in the 1970's. She made appliquéd quilts like this for each of her grandchildren. There are more than 30 of us, so that's nothing to sneeze at!

I asked her where she got her appliqué motifs and she revealed that they were adapted from coloring books! I thought that was simply brilliant and it made me like the quilt even more. The other thing I like about it is the naive quality of the color and fabric choices- not deliberate or matched, just using whatever scraps were on hand.

I love the whale. I might have to do a whale appliquéd something-or-other for the shop.

I made more than a few cardinal appliqué coin purses in December. I use a similar technique to Grandma's that doesn't involve turning under the edges of the applique. I cut the shapes to the exact size I want and apply to the background using double-sided iron-on adhesive called Heat 'N' Bond. I think Grandma just used pins though. Then I stitch around the edges with a blanket stitch, zig zag, or straight stitch. Grandma used button hole zig-zagging in black, just like the coloring book art.

The cardinals were popular enough, that I set up a mini assembly line to meet the demand.

 

Since people liked the cardinal purse, I thought it would be fun to do a bird for each season. Unlike Grandma, I work out the designs in Illustrator and tend to agonize over the fabric combinations. Even with my huge stash, I find myself running out to the fabric store for just the right thing. For appliques with small parts like these, the fabric patterns have to be low contrast, smaller scale patterns that read as one color.

Now that I've done them as purses, I can see them as pillows or hoop art too. Ah, well. Moving on to some new onesie designs.

valentine's day gift guide

I do a lot of Etsy treasuries these days now that I've joined the Curation Nation treasury team. It's an even more addictive pursuit now that I'm part of a team. It's almost like a sport. This week I experienced a phenomenon with my innocent little Valentine's Day gift guide. Being on the team, treasuries tend to get more views because we all make a point to visit each others treasuries. But this one made its way to page 1 and then all the way to the #2 slot where it stayed for several hours. 5,000 views later it made it's way back down and retired itself to oblivion. I'm afraid the views are mostly from other curators rather than buyers, though. I really think these are good, reasonable gifts for people to consider BUYING.... have a peek!

overdue baby gifts

Finally! Those overdue baby gifts are done!

I rationalize that the gifts are for when the child is older, so I take my time. I want the child to get some wear out of whatever I make, so I rarely make anything smaller than 18 months size for my gifting. I picture them wearing the stuff when they are old enough to walk and go places and not spit up on themselves every 5 minutes. Although that spit-up age is so very precious, I think a boatload of bodysuits is more useful then.

I made this appliquéd dress for my cousin's little Gwenyth. I actually got inspired by this card I bought over a year ago from Sugar Paperie at one of the indie shows. Baby girls get so overloaded with pink. Why not yellow for a change?

This one is for my friend's baby Lillie. I just love these old-fashioned names! This friend appreciates vintage textiles, so I thought the vintage pillowcase dress would go over well. This type of pillowcase dress that I invented with permanent ties and elastic instead of a drawstring fits the little ones so much better. Now that I know how to make padded hangers, I include one with every gift dress to give that extra boutiquey oomph.

Now I'm warmed up for spring...

1 year etsyversary!

Today marks the day one year ago that I got my Etsy shop up and running.  I just took a look back at the screen shot I took that day and had a little chuckle. I knew at the time that it wasn't perfect, but you have to start somewhere. I read some advice once that you shouldn't open a half-assed Etsy store "just because you can", yet you shouldn't wait until everything feels "perfect" either because then you'll never get there.

Here's what the shop looks like today. Over the course of the year Etsy made a few changes to the width of the page & the shop announcement section which I think are an improvement. I've been changing out the banner seasonally and I have more variety of products now. I still see plenty of room for improvement in my photos & thier overall consistency. I'm not sure they look like they're all from the same shop, and I'd like the color to flow more smoothly also. Still far from "perfect", but I think it's better, no?

how to make padded hangers

Ah, January. That time of year when all you want to do is restore order.

Pottery Barn Kids

This is when I fantasize about having organized, coordinated closets that are so beautiful you can keep the doors open. My closets don't look this nice, but the one thing I've managed to do is get matching hangers.

It was in this spirit that I decided to road test Martha Stewart's tutorial for making padded hangers. I often access her archive of instructions and wish they had more pictures, so I've documented the process step-by-step here.

I agree with her supply list, but the awl is definitely overkill and 3/8" ribbon works just as well as the recommended 5/8". Unable to find wooden kid-size hangers locally, I resorted to ordering some online from Only Hangers.

The batting will be layered and wrapped in one piece around the hanger. To get the length of your strips measure the hanger as shown above. Martha recommends 4 layers of batting in 3 1/2" widths. I only needed 3 layers that were 2 1/2" wide. Since battings vary, you may have to experiment.

Stack the batting layers, find the center and cut a slit through all the layers. This is where the hanger hook will poke through. Scissors work fine- you don't need an awl!

Wrap around like so, and staple gun at the bottom just where the pieces meet.

With a needle & thread, tuck batting edges over each other and baste shut with large stitches. It doesn't have to be pretty. Now measure the circumference without squeezing.

And measure the length from hook to edge.

Your cover will be made up of 4 pieces for which a pattern needs to be made. To get the length of the pattern piece, take the length you just measured and add 1" for seam allowances (I've never liked 5/8" allowances). For the width, take half of the circumference measurement and add 1" for allowances. Take the corners off with a nice curve. Cut 4 pieces out of your preferred fabric. The fabric usage is quite small, so this could be a way to use up precious scraps. I'm starting to envision my tablecloth scraps or thrifted men's shirts cut up...

Sew the pieces to each other leaving the straight end open. Notch out the ends to alleviate bunching once turned inside out. Martha says to use pinking sheers to trim the seam allowances to reduce the bulk which helps too.

Turn inside out and slide covers onto each end. Pin tightly closed and hand stitch shut.

The best part- now you get to add the ribbon. Finally, a use for some of that fancy ribbon I got on one of my trips to the NYC garment district! I cut my 3/8" ribbon to 28" and wrapped the hanger exactly as Martha instructs: "Place a length of 5/8-inch ribbon around the hook to the front of the hanger, slightly overlapping, as if you were dressing it with a scarf. Pull both ends of the ribbon under the hanger, and back over the front on either side of the hook, and tie into a bow in front of hook." I find it easier to get a good bow if I face the hanger away from me like I'm tying a belt on myself. Ta da!

Now I have to make enough to fill my daughter's whole closet. Just kidding! I'm thinking it would be cool to make for one or two special dresses that could hang on a pretty hook on the outside of the closet door. Maybe I'll search out a vintage hook, or just pick one up at Anthropologie.

front page exposure!

What a week! A few days ago I had an item featured in a front page treasury on Etsy, then last night my treasury "storybookland" made it there. Both are firsts that have eluded me this first year in business on Etsy. Having items and treasuries you've curated make it to Etsy's home page is pretty much the holy grail of Etsy shop owners. Why? Besides being featured in a major publication or blog, it's the biggest way to drive traffic to your shop. Shoppers land on that opening page, see items, and start clicking.

Since these two events happened so close together, I was able to compare apples to apples to see what is better: and item feature or a treasury feature. Hands down, it's having an item featured. And being on the front page in any form beats renewing items often which is what I was doing a lot of in early to mid December. Click on the Google Analytics graph above to see what I mean.

Ironically though, it was the constant renewing in December that resulted in actual sales. That's December versus January for you!

marie claire idées: more eye candy

More from the November- December of the French magazine Marie Claire Idées...

It's basically a craft magazine, but in addition to how to's they also have travel features for inspiration. This one is to the town of Suzdal in the Vladimir region of Russia, northeast of Moscow.

Such pretty gingerbread!

Love the blues & greens with white.

Suzdal is famous for its many churches.

Picturesque but cold!

marie claire idées: babouchkas

I recently discovered that my local Borders Books now stocks the French magazine Marie Claire Idées!

I used to get it from a fashion newsstand in the NYC garment District years ago. Back then it only came out twice a year. Now it's every 2 months which makes me happy, but unfortunately the foreign magazines are so delayed getting here to the US. This spread is from the Nov-Dec issue which just arrived and I don't think I'd do any better with a subscription.

This Russian folkloric matryoshka doll theme reminds me of one of the stalls I photographed at the Union Square Holiday Market. I see a lot of fabrics (mostly Japanese) printed with the doll motif on Etsy as well, so it's not a brand-new trend.

I still think it's a fresh-looking take on folkloric which never seems to go away.

My high school French is just enough to get the gist of the articles.

But even if you didn't know any French, this magazine can be appreciated just as eye-candy.

Charming even with the taxidermy animals!

ins and outs 2011

Letterpress holiday card by DingbatPress

Happy New Year! I'm happy to report that I've already accomplished one resolution for the year which was to tweak the look and functioning of this blog. Thanks to Shalon of papermepretty, I have a new wider layout, a navigation bar (with a home button- I'm giddy!), a background pattern, and new headers. It's the little things! All I have to do now is complete the overdue baby gifts I've promised to friends and lose 20 lbs...

Now on to that quintessential New Year's Day pursuit: gorging on what's out and what's in lists!
from the Washington Post (the mother of all out & in lists)
from the Chicago Tribune
from the Portland Mercury
from George Mason High School (the kids are alright!)
from the Boston Herald
from Peta
from Shine
from Gatehouse News Service (is the Tea Party really "in" though?)
from Buddy TV
from Second City Style
from ABC News
from Global Post

Take care!