If you want pictures, scroll way, way down! I'm going to recap first!
Hi! It's been a really, really long time since I've written a blog post. Honestly I don't know why I have one. Do people honestly care about where I am with sewing? I'm not really teaching anyone anything. I'm just sharing what I've done. Maybe I'm just doing this for my own 15 minutes of fame.
Recently I took down my facebook acount. I did not just deactivate it; I permanently deleted it. I chose to do this because facebook was literally taking over my life. I wasted so much time trying to create a personality that's not even real! The good thing about this move is that I'll discover who my real friends are. The unfortunate thing is that I can't share this blog with 600+ people. This really makes me question whether I need a blog.
I'll keep this blog for now because it gives me an incentive to continue making things.
This brings me to where I've been for the past 4-ish months. Well, I've been at UW-Madison. I finally decided that I'm going to do economics for my major. I feel really comfortable with the subject because there's a lot of material on the concepts and it is easy to prove a point (graphs baby). The only thing that worries me now is the math. I've got the algebra on my side. However, I'm not keen with calculus, and this heavily worries me.
Being an econ major is does not put a lot of pressure on me. I enjoy learning about people's choices. THough I'm really struggling with the requirements of the school. Technically I have enough credits to be on track with 4 year graduation. The one thing that's really creeping on me is the "liberal arts" credits. These credits are tagged with a "C." If I need to graduate I need to take 15 "C" credits per semester. Unfortunately classes like Print and Dye do not fall into the "C" category. They are "T" for technical or something like that. Ultimately, I know that this is a problem because I am going to take Print and Dye. I also want to take more designing classes. I also know I'm going to take them. So basically, I'll probably be at Madison another year. Yealck.
Well, onto the designing part. I didn't do anything this past semester. Shock. I wan't in any sidigning classes and unfortunately my other classes were way too demanding to do my own stuff. BUT I promised one of my cousins that I would make pants by the end of January, and by golly I'm going to make pants by the end of this month!
Okay. So while researching how to make pants I learned that making skirts were the first step. I think the general process is to make an A-line skirt and then go to a culotte. The information is presented that way because a skirt has the hip measurements darts and everything. All that's really left is the crotch extension.
I have made a skirt in the past. It was princess seam pencil skirt with a yoke. Unfortunately, that was during the semester when I first started sewing, so I did not have any idea what I was doing! I object of the project was fit and lapped zipper. Unfortunately, I did not know how to measure and the pattern I chose was not appropriate (even though I was allowed to chose it). The end result looked cool... when I just held it. On my fierce model (Abby), the skirt did not look so hot. I really should have chosen a simple skirt pattern so that I could get the basics.
Ever since that skirt experience, I've vowed to make a great pencil skirt. Well, if a pencil skirt is the target, then vents are a must! The girls HAVE to be able to walk. Because of this I've researched how to make vent. Lemme tell you, it wasn't easy. Remember my past post about how finding information was difficult? Well this was no exception. In the beginning, I thought "vents" were equivalent to "slits." So I googled phrases like "how to make skirt slits." Google did not really give me what I was looking for. The best I came up with was:
http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/slit-facing
After that, I kind of gave up. Then I discovered the my library has a really good sewing section. It even had Christian Siriano's Fierce Style book! So I looked through all the books and found a book that talking about skirt techniques. And I found the thing that changed my life: the word "vent." I kid you not. All i did was substitute the word "slit" for "vent" and I got all of the resources I've been looking for. It's AMAZING how a change one word can make the difference. Because of one word I now know how to make vents with and with out linings. Credit goes to the youtube videos below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBBogXizYM
(the only thing I have against this video is that he doesn't use concrete seam allowances. He says things like "go about a centimeter in" which is frustrating if you need exact measurements. For that I suggest choosing a constant seam allowance. This will specially help when doing the "Z" part. Do not simply estimate, my friends. Nonetheless this video is really helpful)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRMRaUejBA
(this one has a very "catchy" tune in the background. warning that the tune may get stuck in your head)
Here are my products:
The vent with lining is the blue sample, and the vent with out lining is the tan sample.
This is a picture of the backs.
Notice the "Z" shape that forms in the back. This is caused from a cut out.
This picture makes me really happy. <-- And because of that i feel like a combination of a geek and an old lady! Oh well!
I also googled how to make a front fly zipper. The best resource is this one:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper
It's SO easy once you try it. The only difference is that the zipper isn't exactly in the center, and it doesn't teach you how to add a fly shield. DON'T FORGET THE FLY SHIELD! Especially if you're making pants for boys....
But because of the sheer easiness of the video/process, you can easily add one. Honestly, it's a fantastic video. If you want to know how to add a fly shield to this process just watch this video, which is a great supplement:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper
Basically this Sandra Betzina method is how I'm going to do my fly front zippers. It's so easy (did I say that enough?)
Hi! It's been a really, really long time since I've written a blog post. Honestly I don't know why I have one. Do people honestly care about where I am with sewing? I'm not really teaching anyone anything. I'm just sharing what I've done. Maybe I'm just doing this for my own 15 minutes of fame.
Recently I took down my facebook acount. I did not just deactivate it; I permanently deleted it. I chose to do this because facebook was literally taking over my life. I wasted so much time trying to create a personality that's not even real! The good thing about this move is that I'll discover who my real friends are. The unfortunate thing is that I can't share this blog with 600+ people. This really makes me question whether I need a blog.
I'll keep this blog for now because it gives me an incentive to continue making things.
This brings me to where I've been for the past 4-ish months. Well, I've been at UW-Madison. I finally decided that I'm going to do economics for my major. I feel really comfortable with the subject because there's a lot of material on the concepts and it is easy to prove a point (graphs baby). The only thing that worries me now is the math. I've got the algebra on my side. However, I'm not keen with calculus, and this heavily worries me.
Being an econ major is does not put a lot of pressure on me. I enjoy learning about people's choices. THough I'm really struggling with the requirements of the school. Technically I have enough credits to be on track with 4 year graduation. The one thing that's really creeping on me is the "liberal arts" credits. These credits are tagged with a "C." If I need to graduate I need to take 15 "C" credits per semester. Unfortunately classes like Print and Dye do not fall into the "C" category. They are "T" for technical or something like that. Ultimately, I know that this is a problem because I am going to take Print and Dye. I also want to take more designing classes. I also know I'm going to take them. So basically, I'll probably be at Madison another year. Yealck.
Well, onto the designing part. I didn't do anything this past semester. Shock. I wan't in any sidigning classes and unfortunately my other classes were way too demanding to do my own stuff. BUT I promised one of my cousins that I would make pants by the end of January, and by golly I'm going to make pants by the end of this month!
Okay. So while researching how to make pants I learned that making skirts were the first step. I think the general process is to make an A-line skirt and then go to a culotte. The information is presented that way because a skirt has the hip measurements darts and everything. All that's really left is the crotch extension.
I have made a skirt in the past. It was princess seam pencil skirt with a yoke. Unfortunately, that was during the semester when I first started sewing, so I did not have any idea what I was doing! I object of the project was fit and lapped zipper. Unfortunately, I did not know how to measure and the pattern I chose was not appropriate (even though I was allowed to chose it). The end result looked cool... when I just held it. On my fierce model (Abby), the skirt did not look so hot. I really should have chosen a simple skirt pattern so that I could get the basics.
Ever since that skirt experience, I've vowed to make a great pencil skirt. Well, if a pencil skirt is the target, then vents are a must! The girls HAVE to be able to walk. Because of this I've researched how to make vent. Lemme tell you, it wasn't easy. Remember my past post about how finding information was difficult? Well this was no exception. In the beginning, I thought "vents" were equivalent to "slits." So I googled phrases like "how to make skirt slits." Google did not really give me what I was looking for. The best I came up with was:
http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/slit-facing
After that, I kind of gave up. Then I discovered the my library has a really good sewing section. It even had Christian Siriano's Fierce Style book! So I looked through all the books and found a book that talking about skirt techniques. And I found the thing that changed my life: the word "vent." I kid you not. All i did was substitute the word "slit" for "vent" and I got all of the resources I've been looking for. It's AMAZING how a change one word can make the difference. Because of one word I now know how to make vents with and with out linings. Credit goes to the youtube videos below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBBogXizYM
(the only thing I have against this video is that he doesn't use concrete seam allowances. He says things like "go about a centimeter in" which is frustrating if you need exact measurements. For that I suggest choosing a constant seam allowance. This will specially help when doing the "Z" part. Do not simply estimate, my friends. Nonetheless this video is really helpful)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYRMRaUejBA
(this one has a very "catchy" tune in the background. warning that the tune may get stuck in your head)
Here are my products:
I also googled how to make a front fly zipper. The best resource is this one:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper
It's SO easy once you try it. The only difference is that the zipper isn't exactly in the center, and it doesn't teach you how to add a fly shield. DON'T FORGET THE FLY SHIELD! Especially if you're making pants for boys....
But because of the sheer easiness of the video/process, you can easily add one. Honestly, it's a fantastic video. If you want to know how to add a fly shield to this process just watch this video, which is a great supplement:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3831/video-an-easy-flat-fly-front-zipper
Basically this Sandra Betzina method is how I'm going to do my fly front zippers. It's so easy (did I say that enough?)