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Does this make sense to do? (Moderated by Deepika)
Posted on: 3/7/15 5:47 PM ET
I have been lucky enough to win 3 cuts of beautiful Chanel Matelasse. Since my main machine broke months ago, I have sewn very little, so I decided that by summer I want to begin a hand sewn couture jacket with one of the cuts ( I will be drafting my own design, having already sketched out the look I want).
I also need to make a baby gift for my grand-nephew, since the unfinished bunting is probably outgrown, and it will (hopefully) be getting too warm for it, anyway. So I started a quilt today. I have little quilting experience, even less hand quilting, but I am finding it relaxing, and with each new block I feel like I am falling into a rhythm.
I am hoping that as my hand stitching improves, the chances of butchering my jacket decrease. Does this make sense? Will hand stitching a quilt be a practical way to sharpen up my hand stitching for the jacket? All comments and advice welcome!
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I also need to make a baby gift for my grand-nephew, since the unfinished bunting is probably outgrown, and it will (hopefully) be getting too warm for it, anyway. So I started a quilt today. I have little quilting experience, even less hand quilting, but I am finding it relaxing, and with each new block I feel like I am falling into a rhythm.
I am hoping that as my hand stitching improves, the chances of butchering my jacket decrease. Does this make sense? Will hand stitching a quilt be a practical way to sharpen up my hand stitching for the jacket? All comments and advice welcome!
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My decisions are based on my conscience, not my wallet.
Posted on: 3/7/15 7:52 PM ET
Yes, yes, yes! Besides relaxing you are training the fine motor skills in your hands. You are fine tuning your eyes to notice small differences. The delicate communication in your eye hand coordination is getting a work out. Aren't you a smarty for figuring all this out!
I believe in the olden days this how fine sewing was gradually taught. Girls started with small samplers and lap projects. They went on to quilts. Finally they made beautiful clothes.
From your fan,
~ Wendy ~
PS A new machine is in your future?
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I believe in the olden days this how fine sewing was gradually taught. Girls started with small samplers and lap projects. They went on to quilts. Finally they made beautiful clothes.
From your fan, ~ Wendy ~
PS A new machine is in your future?
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Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. Andy Rooney
Pfonzie- my honey Pfaff Creative Performance and Pfaff Passport, Bernina 930 and 830, Evolution and Enlighten sergers
Pfonzie- my honey Pfaff Creative Performance and Pfaff Passport, Bernina 930 and 830, Evolution and Enlighten sergers
Posted on: 3/8/15 9:56 AM ET
This sounds like a great plan. I should do the same thing as hand sewing is not my favorite thing.
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"This is the day that The Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!"
Building my stable one machine at a time: Viking circa 1975, Viking Sapphire 870, Bernina 930Record, Huskylock 905, Babylock: Sophia2, Evolve & Flourish(embroidery only), and finally TOL Viking Epic.
Most prized possession: Grandmother's Singer treadle machine with the drawers filled with her things, just like she left them.
Building my stable one machine at a time: Viking circa 1975, Viking Sapphire 870, Bernina 930Record, Huskylock 905, Babylock: Sophia2, Evolve & Flourish(embroidery only), and finally TOL Viking Epic.
Most prized possession: Grandmother's Singer treadle machine with the drawers filled with her things, just like she left them.
Posted on: 3/9/15 12:58 PM ET
I have been a needlewoman all my life, embroidering since the age of 5. But it was not until I hand-sewed an entire linen chemise with French seams in my 30s (including doing the entire side seam over, because I accidentally sewed it together backward... twice) that I felt like my hand-sewing was ANY kind of skillful or remotely up to my embroidery standards.
Doing ANYTHING repeatedly will make you better at it. There is so much muscle memory in hand stitching that you will get better with practice... and get better just as one session goes along. The piece I'm embroidering right now has a gazillion tiny little satin-stitched circles that are unbelievably fussy to stitch precisely. I am sitting down and doing many, many, many in one go... and it's pretty easy to spot the "first" ones from each session. They're all a little wonkier than their fellows. ;)
...I was just chatting about this very thing with the receptionist at our vets' office yesterday. She just read a study that found surgeons are more likely to make mistakes in surgery immediately after going on vacation, and the number of mistakes is proportional to how long the vacation was (longer break = more problems)! Apparently surgeons actually get *better* during long stretches of multiple surgeries during a day.
Soooo, yes. Quilt away and work those fingers out! :)
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Doing ANYTHING repeatedly will make you better at it. There is so much muscle memory in hand stitching that you will get better with practice... and get better just as one session goes along. The piece I'm embroidering right now has a gazillion tiny little satin-stitched circles that are unbelievably fussy to stitch precisely. I am sitting down and doing many, many, many in one go... and it's pretty easy to spot the "first" ones from each session. They're all a little wonkier than their fellows. ;)
...I was just chatting about this very thing with the receptionist at our vets' office yesterday. She just read a study that found surgeons are more likely to make mistakes in surgery immediately after going on vacation, and the number of mistakes is proportional to how long the vacation was (longer break = more problems)! Apparently surgeons actually get *better* during long stretches of multiple surgeries during a day.
Soooo, yes. Quilt away and work those fingers out! :)
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~Elizabeth in the prairie
More Plans than Sense
PR's Most Relentless Babbler 2024
More Plans than Sense
PR's Most Relentless Babbler 2024
Posted on: 3/10/15 9:17 PM ET
In reply to Changma
I would recommend investing in Claire Shaeffer's book, The Couture Jacket. You don't need to be making a classic Chanel jacket to glean tons of information from this book on sewing couture. One thing I learned from studying with Claire is that Chanel had many other gorgeous designs beside the classic we all know. The techniques in the book could be applied to any jacket you would like to make a la couture. Here's a link:
The Couture Jacket
No affiliation here. I just admire her work and teaching a lot.
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The Couture Jacket
No affiliation here. I just admire her work and teaching a lot.
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http://lasewist.blogspot.com/
Posted on: 3/11/15 8:29 PM ET
I have a couple of Claire Shaeffer's books- I just found my Couture Sewing and Couture Sewing-Tailoring Techniques, but I am pretty sure The Couture Jacket is floating around my apartment/"play area" somewhere. I am a reference junkie, among many other faults(?), and have a mini reference library, a multitude of Craftsy classes, Pinterest bits and pieces, and am now considering offering unpaid assistance to a new tailor in the area in exchange for tailoring tips. He is the ONLY tailor in the area not attached to a dry cleaning business, and seems to have established himself fairly well.
The piecework is going well with the quilt- I have planned out the quilt top and have been marking and stitching and cutting the charms at lunch and on weekends. I notice my stitches becoming more regular and I am able to stitch faster, though not fast, lol. Also refining my sketches and viewing the bodice sloper class again.
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The piecework is going well with the quilt- I have planned out the quilt top and have been marking and stitching and cutting the charms at lunch and on weekends. I notice my stitches becoming more regular and I am able to stitch faster, though not fast, lol. Also refining my sketches and viewing the bodice sloper class again.
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My decisions are based on my conscience, not my wallet.
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