Day 6: Finishing touches....

Oh my stars!! Good golly Miss. Molly.

Can you believe how fast these days have just flew on by?? Be sure to stay with me one last post after this for some extra tid bits of juicy information that will help further you in your sewing.

Supplies needed for this post:

• Your nearly completed Katy or Mac
• Neckband {Already cut to the proper LxW in the pattern}
• Sewing Machine
• Serger
• Iron & Ironing board
• Thread

Lets begin shall we....

For this I'm showing the Katy first!

 

 

 



 

{Lay your piece flat with right sides together pin the side seam.}

 

 

{As you are pinning make sure you put your sleeve seams going down and your bodice seam is up.}

 

 

{As I stated earlier in the sew along.... I like to stitch then serge.}

 

 

{Finishing my side seam with a serge edge. If you don't have one you can use a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine to do all your seam finishing. Once you get to the sleeve slightly straighten the sleeve as you are sewing/serge. I like to start from the bottom and work my way to the sleeve. If you like to do sleeve to hem be my guest! }

 

 

{Serger Tails: There is a lot of ways you finish your tails. I love to take my tails flip them over and zig-zag stitch them. You can take care of your serger tails by your serger. I can demonstrate that in my bonus post and some other ways I've seen.}

 

 

{Close up. Then I just cut my threads.}

 

 

{This is optional for the sleeve and hem. You can sew a small straight stitch along the edge of your serge seams to keep the seam from being floppy.}

 

 

{Sleeve: Folding my seam to the right side.}

 

 

{Sewing a small straight stitch to have a more professional finish.}

 

 

{Front View: Sides all sew.}

 

 

{Side View}

 

 

{Back View: Yay... the cape turned out cute :) }

 

 

{Next is the neck binding. For the neck binding Nicole recommends ribbing but, I've opted to use another knit material. Please test the recovery with your knit if you choose to move away from ribbing. Make sure the stretch is good and the recovery of the knit is good before choosing it to finish your Katy or Mac. Lay your neckband flat right side facing up.}

 

 

{Fold the neckband in half with right sides together.}

 

 

{Sew your seam allowance with a straight stitch.}

 

 

{Finished seam.}

 

 

{Open up your seam and press flat. I finger pressed but, you can hope over to your ironing board and steam the seam open.}

 

 

{Next, fold your neckband in half wrong sides together. This will create your neckband tube.}

 

 

 

{You now have a nice tube. I've marked the seam with a clip but, if you don't have clips use pins. You will now begin to find the 4 centers in your neckband. Please do not skip these next steps!! }

 

 

{My clip shows the first center being the seam. The fold on the right with be my next center.}

 

 

 

{Mark with a pin! }

 

 

{Now match up your 2 center and you will see the next 2 centers on the left and right sides. Pin or clip the 2 centers. }

 

 

 

{Now that you have your 4 centers found. Put to the side and grab your nearly finished Katy or Mac.}

 

 

 

{You will do the same process with the neckband on your Katy or Mac. Using the shoulder seams as your first 2 centers. Pin in place. }

 

 

 

{Next, match up the shoulder seams. Clip the left and right side creating the last 2 center points on your Katy or Mac.}

 

 

 

{Showing the 4 centers.}

 

 

{Moving on.... Almost there :) Take the seam and place that on the back center marking on the Mac or Katy. I use the seam on all my neckbands at the back so if I'm lazy and don't put my tags in I know which is front and back. Not that you couldn't tell because the front neckline is much different than your back.}

 

 

{Continue to match all the center points on the neckband with the center points on your Katy or Mac.}

 

 

{Yay everyone joined together in perfect harmony! You are so close hang in... Only a few more photos... I know I get all crazy with so many photos! I'm sure your sounding like my girls saying, "Are we done yet!!" I get that phrase every time I'm in Joann ;) }

 

 

{I'm pretty confident with just my serger here. I was also a bit lazy and tired and I skipped it. Plus it saved you on seeing a picture or two. I like to sew from the inside. }

 

 

 

{You will have a slight gap with the neckband and neckline of the Katy or Mac. You will slightly pull your neckband to pick up any slack or excess fabric with the neckline of the shirt/dress. Remember to only do the slight pulling with the neckband. If you stretch on the shirt/dress you will stretch out the neckline and you could end up with a wonky or uneven seam. Or it will have overstretch to were the recovery of the knit has been compromised and the neckline won't fit your child and you will have to get out your ripper and recut you a new neckband. Go slow and steady the neckline is super important to the proper finishing of your Katy and Mac.}

 

 

 

{To cast off from your neckline I start to slightly move my fabric to the left so I can just serge off.}

 

 

{Pulling my fabric to the left and then I just keep my serger going and create my tail. }

 

 

 

{Showing the end of my casting off...}

 

 

 

{Optional: Top stitching your seam. I didn't I normally don't on knits. You will see 50 shades of cray cray on my wovens but, I'm more relaxed with my knits. }

 

 

{My finished Katy princess style!}

 

 

{I am just in love with this and Clara Mae will be too :) }

 

 

 

Showing the steps for the Up-cycle Mac!!

 

 

 

{I didn't mention this above but, I will here. Since I choose to finish my seams before I sew up my side seams. To ensure my finished hem stitching will match up. I take my clips or pins and will pin at the hem.}

 

 

{I then open it up and see if I need to adjust any before moving onto sewing. I do the same process with the sleeve. Following the steps about... Sew up your side seam, make sure you finish your tails if you serge! Then you are free to move onto the neckline. Find the 4 centers in the neckband after you sew your seam and then create your tube. Then find the 4 centers in your shirt, match them up and finish off your neckline.}

 

 

 

{Finish views of the up-cycle appliqued Mac.}

 

 

I truly hoped you enjoyed my style of writing along this sew along. I hoped I've inspired you all to try new techniques, project, and spark your sewjo! I can't wait to see all your hard work pay off and see the creative Katy and Mac's you make. Be sure to give Nicole and Beth a huge thank you for sharing their passion and joy for sewing with all of us. Please check back one last time with me on Wednesday or Thursday when my huge bonus post will air. I will also answer all the questions you might have between now and then. It has truly been a great blessing to share my advice,  {not sure how awesome I was with advice giving!} passion, and love for sewing with you. Thank you Nicole for allowing me to help you out with our very first sew along!

 

Until next time......

 

xoxo,

Nicole

 

Day 5: Sleeve insert & hems.... oh my!!

Yay.... 1 more sew day and we are done! Can you believe that?!!

Like Day 4 this is another easy day for sewing. I have decided to do a bonus post for this sew along. I will include some things I haven't touched on so far. In the bonus I will show dolly dress with other options with the applique.

Some of you may have struggled with the machine applique so I will introduce you to iron on vinyl, glitter vinyl, using your cricket or other machine similar to cut out stencils, use freezer paper, and fabric paint to create designs. I will also touch on double needles and other fun stuff so I hope you will enjoy this bonus and will try your hand at some of the things I speak on.

Well moving on to the nitty gritty!

Supplies needed for this post:

• Fabric shirt or dress
• Sleeves
• Hem tape
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Scissors
• Serger
• Pins or clips
• Chocolate

For this first portion I will be showing everything on the Katy.

{Start by finding your sleeves. My are facing wrong side up.}

{Grab your dress or top pieces you sewn so nicely in Day 4.}

{Fold your sleeve in half right sides together.}

{Find your center and mark with pin or in my case wonder clips.}

{You will push your shoulder seam to the back side of your dress or top.}

{You will start from the center and work your way to the edges. Least that is how I pin.}

{Little photo showing what the sleeve looks like once you have it all pinned in place.}

{Hemming of the sleeve. You will grab your hem tape. It comes in sewable and no sew. Make sure if you plan on stitching anything you get the sewable adhesive. If you get the no sew and try and sew, you will be saying sweet mother of pearl and your sailor side will come out. The adhesive on the no sew will gum up your needle and machine and your stitching will be a hot mess. Please take it from me and learn from my faults. Ain't nobody got time for going through multiple needle replacement during sewing time. Nicole recommends you use 5/8"  http://www.joann.com/5%2F8x10-yd-heat-n-bond-lite-adh/13143615.html }

{You need to make sure when you are ironing you are doing the correct temp for your knit and for the adhesive on the heat n bond to stick. Iron it on, then you will pull back the white paper to show the adhesive.}

{Next you will fold up the hem and press in place. If you want to serge the seams before you even apply the heat n bond feel free to do so. I skipped that party I know lazy!!}

{Front View of the sleeve.}

{Next you will take the sleeve to the machine and sew the seam. This is now were you can choose the stitching you'd like. I did zig zag. You can even get out your double needle for a professional finish. If you have a cover-stitch machine I'm totally jealous finish your hem with that. Or if you went with the no sew option then you will skip this part.}

{You will see that sweet molasses my hem is all wonky and not straight and glorious what the heck?!!}

{To fix this go to your ironing board and hit the hemline with steam and like magic....}

{Tada!! It is pretty and lovely. I went with a zig zag stitch feel free to use any stitching you would like. Repeat the process on the other sleeve.}

{I like to hem my sleeves before I sew them into my items. To each their own. This works best for me. I'm working with less fabric when I'm hemming and I produce a better hem. Starting from the center and working to the outside I pin in place.}

{Once everything is nice and pinned you will either sew and then serge or you can choose to just sew and be done.}

{I like to sew with my machine then move and serge. I find I'm able to control the knit better this way. Then if I have issues its far easier to unpick stitching from my machine then my serge edges.}

{Now that I have my stitching I'm finishing my seam.}

{Remember when you serge and you have a curve to slightly stretch the curve straight.}

{Slightly stretching the curve while I serge.}

{Now take a look at your finished sleeve.}

{Taking such great shape and I'm excited to see this all finished.}

{Side view. My fabric choices I'm now second guessing and I'm worried :/ }

{Finishing the bottom hemline. For this you will need to purchase 7/8" heat n bond hem tape http://www.joann.com/7%2F8x10yds-heat-n-bond-lite-adh/13143623.html#q=heat+n+bond&start=1 }

{Again I prefer to sew my hem before stitching up the side. To each their own. I know Nicole stitches her sides first before doing this step. I'm backwards and will be sewing the side seams in Day 6 and showing the neckline finish. So if this confuses you and you prefer to do it how Nicole has stated and demonstrated in her lovely Mac and Katy tutorial please do so. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable in this sew along. What works for me... might now work for others and that is the wonderful thing about sewing! There are multiple ways to do things and I love finding out what works best for me.}

{You will do the same process for the bottom hem as you did for the sleeve. Take your iron and iron your hem tape to the edge. Again you can choose to serge the edge for a nicer finish or be a lazy bum like me and skip that.}

{Again, push the hem up like so ^^}

{Iron in place. }

{You've got yourself a nice finished edge. Remember if you went with the no sew option you are done at this point after you repeat the process on the other side. If you did the sewable then continue on.}

{I'm odd and I choose to sew from the wrong side up. At this time you can do any stitching you want for your finish. You can pull out your double needle and do a very professional finish. Or again if you have a cover-stitch machine finish your hem with that. I went with just a straight stitch this time.}

{I went with a metallic thread to pull in the silver from the knit. Again I have slight wave at the hem.}

{Grab your iron and steam your knit to straighten it out.}

{Front View: Eekk.. look at that dress. So adorable. Sorry for the side view and making you feel like Night at the Roxberry shaking your head.}

{Back View.}

Mac Up-cycle:

{So your up-cycle is pretty easy you just have to insert your sleeves into the shirt and tada your done!}

{Pin in place and sew, then serge.}

{Look how cute! Lovin' my applique Frankie!!}

{Side view.}

I hope you will continue on the journey. Tomorrow we will sew up the side seams and finish your Katy or Mac with the neckline. Then be on the look out for the bonus post :)

If you have any questions during this sewing please post in the group and I will try to help as best as I can or Nicole or Beth will have a lot more knowledge on aspects I might not have touched on.

XOXO,

~Nicole