Garment Sewing???

There’s something about the hot days of the summer that makes me want to sew clothing.  I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I just have a hankering to pull out some patterns and piece up a new dress.

I’ve picked up these patterns recently and yes, my Halloween costume is already set in stone as the Princess from Super Mario 3D land, which I’ll modify from the Cinderella pattern on the right.

While I’m going to be a princess from a video game, I’m not exactly sure what my companions are going to be.  James keeps declaring he wants to be Mario (which would be super cute with my costume), but then changes his mind to be Darth Vader or a Stormtrooper.

Not exactly sure how that’s going to go, but we have several more months to argue about it between now and then!

As for fabric, some of these patterns call for knits, which can be very interesting to work with, especially if you’re used to working with only 100% cotton all the time.

Personally I’ve taken a tip from Lyric Kinard to heart: when working with any weird fabric, spend time torturing it first.

So all these pretty knits are going into the washer in HOT water, where they will be beaten mercilessly, then I’ll wash them again in cold water, then I’ll wash them all one last time in warm water just to make sure I’ve done the job properly.

Why all this washing at various temperatures?

Let’s be honest: in my house a quilt is treated with the reverence and respect it deserves.  Clothing, however, is not.

Anytime I piece a garment, I know it’s going to eventually end up thrown in the dirty laundry pile, where it might be sorted into a pile of similar colors…or it might not.  It might be washed at a optimal temperature and setting for the material’s delicate nature…or it might not.

Really all bets are off once this garment is finished, so it better be able to stand up to anything!

Another reason for systematic fabric torture is to remove any shrink to the fabric, and to also let it know who’s boss.  I’d rather it reveal its cards as a funky, finicky print with weird shrinking and sewing issues right now, rather than later after I’ve spent 5 hours piecing it into a pretty dress.

I’d also like to get ALL the excess dye out now because as a pretty red shirt, it may just be tossed in with a load of whites.  It sounds bad, but in my house, this happens all the time!

So after thoroughly torturing this fabric, I’m looking forward to creating some pretty new dresses and shirts for the summer.

Let’s go quilt!

Leah