I've Tied the Knot - with the Peony Vest!

Yes, the courtship is complete, and how appropriate that the last step did indeed involve a knot!

This one, to be precise (more on that bit of the ceremony later):

The head scratching moments I had towards the end, while trying to get the jagged, wavy hemline to lie flat after all of the fitting adjustments I made (in spite of a muslin that I thought fit well...::shrug::) was definitely a lesson or seven around making sure that your lining - including grainline - matches the outer piece(s) perfectly!

Which mine, clearly, did not.  With all of the odd-shaped pieces, and a slippery silk habotai lining, and multiple side seam adjustments along with even more hemline adjustments.... well, by the time I was actually matching the lining pieces to the hemline I had more unmatched edges than I thought possible!  Have I mentioned that there was no room for error at the hemline?  That the lining pieces were just supposed to be exactly the same length and angle as each of the pieces of the vest?  What planet was I sewing on when I thought THAT would magically happen after all of the alterations I made???

I finally managed to get the hemline lying (relatively) flat and smooth, but on the last panel....well....a picture is worth a thousand words.   This is not one of my proudest sewing moments:

The good news is that you can't see the ugliness from the outside, 

and all of the other segments actually turned out quite well.   

In comparison anyway.  

And with a lot of handstitching.

Oh yeah, I had a bit of an "aha" moment - when I was trying to figure out how to get as many of the lining seams sewn by machine as possible (I'd long since given up on trying to follow the pattern directions), I ended up with something that looked an awful like like a bag full of fabric - is this why they call it a bagged lining?   Of course, I may be way off on that (oh, the pages I could fill with what I don't yet know about linings!), but it made sense to me...

A note on the knots - the very last step!   I had some bits of bias strips made from the charmeuse print, and I wanted to make some sort of non-button buttony things to place here & there.  I was making some rather unsuccessful rolls, when serendipity knocked on my bloggy door & took me over to this tutorial at Handmade by Carolyn.  PERFECT!   I whipped up a few knotty buttons - super easy by following her excellent instructions.   The only thing I did differently was to use a large, very blunt needle to pull my bias strip through itself, and I just made several knots on one strand before cutting them  (that's the frugal me who doesn't want to waste any of that precious fabric!).

Finished "button",  on an an evenly hanging hem!   *whew*

The only "real" button on the vest - 

it's a wannabe leather look - actually plastic, but a perfect match, I thought!

A few more closeups:

The next step in our journey is expanding our group of friends to play with.  Initially, I actually thought the Peony was going to play well with things like blue jeans & boots, but, well.....not so much.   I did find a few combos in my closet that were happy to go out & play with us, but I'll be keeping my eye out for some new potential playmates as well.

Here are some of the options:

 I only have one top that I feel really works with the vest (white would be OK, but, well....who has NO white tops in their closet???  That would be me....  Well, I do have a couple of summer blouses, but nothing with any actual substance, that could be worn under an Autumn vest....)  So with only one top (this Citron silk blouse...which I love - when I was still buying RTW, I was definitely a Citron addict....) my bottom layer was a bit limited.   These RTW pants worked well though.

I also like it with this Decades of Style Arches skirt 

The color looks a bit odd in this photo,
but it's a perfect match for the green in the charmeuse print:

Add my yummy new Harlequin Feltworks scarf,  and I love the look!

And then there's the slightly Bohemian bent.
This look reminds me that a bright, colorful piece actually pairs well with a solid neutral look to coordinate.  I've never really been that much of a matchy-matchy person, but as I try to refine my style I'm  beginning to understand how matchy matchy can be a very good thing, in some circumstances.

The bottom line?   Someone needs new boots and shoes.   And fabric for some more tops.  Must budget for that......

All in all, the journey's been a fun one!   It went slowly mostly because of other life 'stuff' - I'm noticing that I'm becoming a much more patient sewist when I take missteps...they're all learning opportunities, and I prefer the slow and steady aspect of the journey, especially when I'm working on something "special".

Like, you know, a long-term relationship.

Welcoming the Wales! 111111 (Corduroy Appreciation Day)

Surely you've heard by now?  It's 111111 - National Corduroy Appreciation Day!   Yes, really.  The Corduroy Club claims all days with lots of 11's, and this one is the Mother of them all!  (Will we still be wearing corduroy in 2111/11/11?)

Life has sidetracked me from blogging & sewing much lately, but I did hope to whip up a pair of Linda pants (in corduroy, but of course!) last night, but I didn't quite get finished in time for a photo this morning - maybe later today....   I'm doing my part for the Corduroy Lovers of the World!

I leave you with a few cord shots, and hope you are showing some appreciation for the cords, and cord wannabes, in your world today :)

And of course, Corduroy:

P.S.  I had a little trip down memory lane while I was sewing up my Linda Pants (still no pic...but I did finish them before midnight!)  Years ago, I remember making a corduroy robe for my BF, with velvet collar and cuffs (yes, it was that many years ago).  I think it was a Christmas gift, and he wore that thing to death.  Probably the last time I sewed with corduroy....but I know I'll be making more...I'm loving these pants already!

A Side Trip Down Easy Street - Kwik Sew Bed(?) Jacket

Well, it was supposed to be a bed jacket...but I like it so much I think I'll be wearing this one out & about!

On those mornings when I don't need to jump out of bed, I enjoy a few minutes of sitting up in bed and "beditating". On those chilly winter mornings, however, this usually means crawling out of bed to put the fuzzy warm robe on, & then crawling back in bed with the ungainly robe, and it doesn't even cover those cold ears anyway!   The solution?  A warm, fleecey, hooded bed jacket!

I meant to make this Kwik Sew last year, but never got around to it.  A couple of recent below freezing (OK, ok, maybe below 55, but still....COLD for these tropical-loving old bones!) mornings convinced me that it was time to whip this puppy up soon.

After a session with the Peony Vest that involved a few too many trials and errors figuring out the hem/lining details,  I decided it was time for a quick & easy side trip to rejuvenate the mojo - the bed jacket was just the ticket!

I dug into my fleece stash & selected this nice, thick, soothing green Polartec 200, traced off a Small, and cut out the 2 pattern pieces w/ no alterations, looked through the instructions, & decided this was probably about 30 minutes of needle time.  Including sewing on a button!

Well.....almost it was.

I serged the first 3 (out of 4) seams, & decided that the serged seams were entirely too bulky for this thick fleece.   So I finger pressed the seams to one side & sewed over them with a decorative stitch to flatten them.  The last seam (underarms & sides) I just sewed with a straight stitch.

I also had an issue sewing the corner where the hood attached to the back - going over clipped corners with the serger is not a technique I've figured out yet.

If you look closely, you can sort of see the clipped corners
 - on the wrong side of the serging
- this was definitely a case where the sewing machine is preferable, at least for me!

The small ended up being a tad on the too small side, so instead of making a buttonhole & button, I braided 3 thin strips of the fleece together to make  a button loop - this allowed the front to be a little bit looser.   Then I did a decorative stitch around all of the edges (the pattern calls for hand sewing a blanket stitch around the edges, but for a one hour top?  I think not....)

Here's a close up of the deco stitching & buttons:

Can a project be too easy & still produce results that are this much fun?  I'm happy to add a few more sewing projects like this to my repertoire!

I love that the collar can lay flat, or sit up....lots of options!

Being all warm & cozy

The collar as it fell when I pulled the hood down - fun!

Materials: 1.5 yards of Polartec 200 Fleece, 2 vintage pleather buttons from stash, thread.
Time:  About 3 hours, from pattern tracing through button sewing.
Rating:  Two Thumbs Up!

I'll definitely make another variation (or two) of this one!

The question still remains:   will I be wearing my bedclothes out on the street, or will I be wearing street clothes in bed?   And does it matter?

May your dreams be pleasant, and your mornings be full of promise :)

I Said "Yes" :) (to the Peony Vest)

We had to take a little break for awhile...sometimes relationships are like that, you know?  "It's me, not you" I told the Peony, and this was true.  After some required R&R, I feel centered & ready to enter the relationship arena (aka sewing room) again, and we're getting along better than ever!

I suppose this step was the equivalent of a ring - a nice little bound buttonhole* (my first! at least in memory....I may have done some in my previous sewing life, but I don't remember ever being successful....).    Once the leather had been cut, there was no going back, and even though I've known I wanted to commit for some time, this pretty well sealed the deal :)
*CORRECTION!  sdBev asked if this buttonhole was going to have lips, and I realized this is NOT a bound buttonhole; since it doesn't have the inside lips...I'm still searching for what the formal name (if there is one) of this sort of buttonhole is - anyone?  
UPDATE:  gloria suggested Spanish Snap buttonhole (which looks like a pretty cool technique), and Lynne concurs, so I'll go along with that.  Although, since it seems to be a variation of the Spanish Snap, I think I'll just call it the  "Koos Buttonhole" :)

I bought Koos Van den Akker's Vogue 1213 (aka the Stegosaurus Coat) after seeing sham's version, along with her recommendation to get the pattern for the buttonholes, if nothing else.   She was right!  I LOVE his buttonholes!   Well, I love a lot of what he does, but that's another post.   So I borrowed his buttonhole idea, with a few alterations, and I'll be using it again!  And again, I'm sure!

Here's the simplified process (not really a tutorial, just a brief explanation):

Cut a square (or circle, or whatever) of fabric & lining, & sew RS together along the edges, leaving an opening to turn.   Turn, slipstitch the opening, & baste along your buttonhole edges to mark the placement.  Baste two "v's", which will be folded & stitched later.   And there's lots of room for other creative folding & stitching options once you have this figured out!  Too much fun!

Place the buttonhole piece, RS against the inside of your garment.
Stitch along the basted buttonhole edges.
Slice the center of the buttonhole; cut v's at each end, (as you would do in any welt opening)
and pull the buttonhole fabric through to the RS of the garment.

Fabric pulled through.  
After this, you fold along the basted lines that form the v's,
& topstitch along the foldline, the outside edges, and the buttonhole.
Done!

I also (finally!) made a decision about the spaghetti tube.   Here's the front:

The end of the tubing, towards the top, isn't sewn down yet,
but I think it will extend into the gold fabric, kind of as shown.

I added some pigskin strips to the back side panels, echoing the lines of the strips on the front side panels.  The only embellishment left now is to add some more of the spaghetti tubing onto the back piece.  I'm planning on just adding some simple, curvy lines, as on the front piece.

All that's left after that is sewing up the sides,  finalizing the hem placement, and  sewing up the lining seams (some, if not most, of that will be done by hand).

Oh, and the button.  I have a cool button :)

I hope you all are taking the time to keep yourselves healthy and happy, in order to keep your relationships happy and healthy :)

Here's to Joy, Abundance, and Well Being.......

Coming Together (Peony Vest)

It's my birthday and I'll sew if I want to
Sew if I want to
Sew if I want to...

If you got the musical reference, that means you're probably as old as I am ;-D

I was even wearing my hair in a Lesley Gore-type flip back then!
(Note:  this is Lesley - not me!  I was cuter)
:::looks at ceiling, whistles:::

I'm spending the day sewing as much as I can, and plan to breathe in blessings with every breath I take, and breathe out a smile of gratitude - if I can remember to do that all day, then I could not possibly hope for a better day :)

And the peony vest is cooperating!  :)  (mostly) We've been getting along famously well, with a bit of back-tracking here & there, but I'm carrying on, slowly, and calmly, with plenty of forgiveness for any mistakes made....it's amazing what a difference a patient attitude can make in forging a solid relationship.  ;-)

Diane Ericson's instructions continues to create some confusion, and I've found that the best solution is to read them through & figure them out as best I can....then muddle through in my own way.    One thing to be aware of is that she bounces forward & backward with construction steps.   A couple of examples:

The instructions to pull the lining piece out of the way of the pocket comes in the step AFTER she has you start to sew the pocket on.
Instructions about sewing the lining on to the side pieces come in the step AFTER you sew the side piece on to the front piece.
The illustrations sometimes show pieces sewn together; sometimes they're separate....even though they might already be sewn together.

I unpicked one entire seam just because I had blithely sewn it up while trying to figure out just how the lining was supposed to work......and then realized I had meant to install piping in that seam.   My bad, but the confusion about the construction process led me astray.  A more experienced sewist than I probably would have been able to envision everything at the beginning.  Even though the construction bones are really close to being done on my vest, I'm STILL figuring out the details of what to do when!

One thing I've learned is that I have a LOT to learn about linings!  How to choose the best fabric match, how & when to install it, remembering to stay stitch fray-prone bits (especially when it gets handled and fussed over as much as I tend to do!)

However, I've definitely improved my piping installation technique.  Here's how I'm doing it at this stage:

Add a strip of Steam-A-Seam to the edge of the leather,
lay the piping on top, measuring the stitch line (5/8" in this case)

I didn't want to run the piping over the shoulder seam,
so I cut  it just before the seam, pulled out a bit of the cord & snipped it off.

Pulled the piping over to the edge,
so that it will be sewn into the seam.  
The piping on the left (between the gold fabric & the pigskin) shows the resulting look.

After laying the abutting fabric on top of the piping,
I sewed close to the piping with a zipper foot.
(I don't have a cording foot....I'll look into that)
The unpicker is only in the shot to show how I'm sewing
with the zipper foot as close as possible to the piping. 

Where we're at right now

I'm very happy with the way everything's coming together.....wish me luck at keeping it going!  And I hope your relationships are sailing smoothly as well...

Slow and steady......

Relationship Time Out - to accept an Award!

The amazing Lynne, of Sewing Cafe, has named my blog to receive The Versatile Blogger award!  How delightful is that?!  (and what a nice break from all this relationship business!) ;-D

I still remember when I first discovered Lynne's blog, as she was working on gloves for a Batman costume.  I was so impressed with her detailed work, & couldn't wait to see the finished product.  Here's her post on The Cape, and she now even has patterns for Batman and Robin costumes.   As a former costume-maker in the movie industry, her work holds high standards, and I am honored to be recognized by her.  ::blush::  Thank you Lynne!


The award comes with a few obligations, as follows:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.
• Share seven things about yourself on your blog.
• Pass this award along to recently discovered blogs.

Seven things?  Gosh, I dunno......  I've managed to keep my private life sort of kind of private here, but things just start leaking out anyway, so here goes:

1.  This won't be news to many of you, but I've curtailed work a lot recently in order to be my Mother's (who is 96!) caregiver.  She not only taught me to sew when I was a kidlet, but being home so much now (I moved her in with me), combined with the need to alter and adapt her clothes for her changing needs, was the major impetus for finding my way (so happily!) back into the sewing world in January of last year.

2.  When I do work, it is one of two businesses. My passion is my Feng Shui/Space Clearing practitioner work - a journey that has changed my life.  BE-ing aware of how we interact with our environment, and each other, is a daily life practice for me, and has given me a sense of heart-based non-judgment that affects everything I do, whether consciously or subconsciously.   Not that I don't ever get lost in chaotic confusion & other majorly challenging emotional states - hey, I AM human!  ;-D  I just try to remember that I have the tools  to find my way back "home" :)  And a lot of amazing, healing, friends :)

3.  Some form of a creative outlet has always been a part of my life - from building fantasy communities out of popsicle sticks and plastic horses as a child, through playing various musical instruments (flute, bassoon, piano, guitar, piccolo) throughout school, to dance, jewelry-making, home & garden design, flower arranging, pendulum-making....and of course, sewing!

4.  I was an avid sea kayaker for many years, and spent a lot of time as a volunteer for a wonderful local organization, Environmental Traveling Companions, providing outdoor adventures for people with special needs.  I still own two boats, but I seriously should sell them, because they haven't gotten salty for several years now.  But then again, I keep hoping.....

5.  I lived my life sort of backwards in some ways.  I decided I wanted to travel, hike, & live a semi-retired life while I was in my 20's & had the vitality to do a lot of crazy things.  I lived on a shoestring much of the time, & figured I would do the career thing later.   It seemed like a good idea at the time..... ;D    While I would do many things differently "if I knew then what I know now....", I don't regret any of my experiences.   They have made me who I am.  :)

6.  I was a dog person most of my life, and didn't understand cats.   At all.   Until I lived with one for several years.   It took several years of those several years before I realized that cats were people too, and now I live with (and love) three of them.  =^oo^=  >^..^<  =^--^=

7.  I love to dig in the dirt and grow things.   Especially flowers.  My little urban garden is filled with fruit trees, dahlias, irises, tulips, poppies, passion flowers, roses, callas & various other lilies, mums, etc. etc. etc.    And lots of California native, drought-tolerant plants.   Everything is planted & watered with an awareness of environmental responsibility, which is another of my passions.

*whew*  enough, already, about me!

I've discovered several new (or new-to-me) blogs recently, and I'm delighted to share them here!  (actually, sharing other blogs gives me much more pleasure than sharing info about myself)

Margy at afool4fabric. represents the sewist I want to look like when I grow up!   It will never happen, because I just don't have the elegant beauty and classic bones that exude from her, but I am definitely inspired by her style!   She's a fairly new blogger, but a very experienced seamstress, and she has a fabulous ability to mix creative quirkiness with classic elegance.   Meeting her in person at the recent Artistry in Fashion event was a total delight!

I'm finding puu's door of time to be a wonderful place to hang out.  Her blog has been around for awhile, but is new to me.  She is funny, talented, and inspirational in the way she takes (mostly) vintage patterns and creates very modern pieces.   Her styling is unique-in-the-world; her pictures are always fun to look at, and she has some great educational posts as well :)


Another new(ish) blog belongs to Dixie, at With Needle and Brush.  Dixie's creative eye, and ability to instill magic on fabric with embellishments, is the best sort of eye candy!  I have a fantasy of spending time in her studio and soaking up tips and techniques from her (and wandering around Sawyer Brook Fabrics with her too, which is where she works - what a job, eh?)




I hope you visit these inspiring blogs & enjoy them as much as I have :) 

The Peony and I - Our First Fight (We need Help!)

Well, maybe more like a misunderstanding; hopefully just a little bump in the road.  We've both agreed to counseling, so any professional help (or unprofessional, or even totally from left field suggestions) are welcomed here.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to accept full responsibility for this mishap :(.

I clipped the seam allowances from the interfacing on the pigskin, to reduce bulk - in retrospect, this may have been my first mistake (more on this later....you don't always see it coming with your first innocent misstep.....).

Actually, yesterday was "one of those days" from the get-go.  My cat had a last minute vet visit (we're awaiting biopsy results) and I didn't get the cording for the piping until late afternoon, so the daytime sewing I was hoping for didn't happen.   Making the piping, though, went smoothly.

I basted it on to the leather, using a zipper foot.  (Note:  sewing the seams - leather to leather - was a breeze with a walking foot)  It was dragging a bit in places; my low-tech solution was to place some tissue paper from an old and never-to-be-used pattern.

Piping basted in place.  So far, so good:

Next step, add the lining.  Uh oh.  This is where the problems started.  Again, I was using the zipper foot, to get close to the piping seam.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had interfaced the leather because is was pretty stretchy.   Pigskin, apparently, does have a grainline.....sort of.... and I tried to cut accordingly, with the maximum stretch on the crossgrain.  As I was sewing the leather, piping, and lining, the skin was puckering in some areas, stretching in others, and creating a totally wonked out match with the lining.   Did I mention that the lining is silk?  A relatively thin silk?   Probably something like a thin habotai?  With no stretch at all?

Now, I've done this before - tried to marry a lining with minimal stretch to a fashion fabric with lots of stretch.  I made it work (because that's what I do, whenever possible), but I swore I wouldn't try that again.

Whoops.

I thought I had taken care of the leather stretch with the interfacing.   Nope.  Especially not (I think) when I removed the SA from the interfacing.   Here's what's happening at the bottom edge:

The rounded flap is designed to fold over.
Nothing is pressed, but even a good pressing won't solve the problem here

And here's the problem:  the bottom edge.
See how the leather is folded over the lining?
I've already unpicked everything along that bottom edge once,
 shortened the leather piece, & resewed, but it wasn't enough.

Here's a better look at how the leather is folded over the lining,
and see how MUCH lining fabric is extending out?
These pieces matched when I started!

Note that I had already removed the piping from the lower edge of the other side front - and I haven't sewn the lining to the leather on that edge.   So the problem here is that I have pieces that are designed to have the leather & the lining sewn together on all sides, but the leather & the fabric don't want to match up.  And I'm afraid the leather might continue to stretch.

Soooooo...... do I just undo the lining from the leather at the bottom edge & finish them separately?  In which case, how do I ensure that the area of the lining that shows on the folded over flap stays smooth & nice-looking over time?   Do I unpick this lining & use a more suitable fabric?   Frankly, the main reason I chose this lining was the color match - these were all fabrics from my stash, & it just didn't even occur to me that leather & silk weren't going to play well with each other (picture me rolling my eyes, and really truly swearing to remember this lesson!!!!).    I am willing to unpick everything & change out the lining if that's what it takes.  I can be tenacious that way.

I still think this relationship has good possibilities - the attraction is, shall we say, a strong one.  ;-)  And I'm willing to take responsibility for my lack of forethought - going for looks over practicality, as it were - and make some changes.  We're open to all suggestions!

Oh, & btw, while I was buying the cording I found the perfect button, and I have what I think is a fabulous idea for the buttonhole brewing in my brain.    I do have hopes.  :)

I'll leave you with the 'diamond in the rough' shot I took after laying out the cut pieces:

I hope your relationships are all moving along smoothly :)

***UPDATE***
Lynne was SO spot on with her analysis (in comments below).   Here's a shot of the rounded front lining piece after I unpicked it, & laid it on the pattern piece:

The curve on top, & the extra bit at the point, match the wonky bits after it was sewn on....go figure, eh?    A new piece has been cut & sewn on, (using Steam-a-seam lite) & we seem to be back on track :) :) :)  Thanks Lynne!!!

Growing the Relationship (Peony Vest)

I'm getting to know more about my new friend, and it's going well so far....lots to learn, but going well :)

Some General Pattern Notes ~ 

 If you look at the envelope renderings, you can see that the rounded front is on the left side of the top, the right side of the vest.  The pocket (should you choose to have one) is attached to the rounded front piece, so lay out & cut according to where you want the pocket.  I'm right-handed, so I wanted it on the right side.  There is no mention of this in the instructions.  Actually, there are a LOT of construction details that aren't mentioned in the instructions, but they are LOADED with creative ideas, suggestions, & helpful hints in the artistic/design end of things.

So, if you want your hand held with fitting & construction details, Diane's patterns are probably not a good fit for you.  If, however, you like the jump off a diving board into a lake full of unknown & fabulous possibilities, Diane's patterns just might be the perfect platform for you!

Some notes about the fitting process ~

I cut out a straight size Small, but made quite few alterations right off the bat, before sewing up the first (of two) muslins:

• Forward shoulder & sloping shoulder (usual adjustments for me, but I ended up doing both of these adjustments even more extremely on the second muslin)
• Some darts in the front side pieces, and nipping the waist in, for a bit more shaping.  (Note:  the description says "The top and vest are easily fitted with bust darts included in the front seamlines."  Since there is no further mention of bust darts anywhere in the pattern, I guess she means that YOU can include bust darts if you want to.   Which I did do.)
• Much shorter.  3-5" shorter.   Each of the pieces, back, side backs, side fronts, & 2 fronts, have creative room for varying the lengths & hem shapes - I made them all shorter, and played around with the hemline shapes a bit too.
• Cut the armscyes in by quite a bit, & rounded the top of the outer shoulder piece, to avoid the Gladiator Look.
• Rounded off the neckline of the side with the point.
• Made the pocket a bit smaller, in order to fit the shortened piece.

The Piping Process:

The first step was cutting out yards of bias strips from my silk charmeuse.  Diane includes instructions on making continuous strip bias - I've been wanting to do this, so I tried her instructions.   The slippery nature of the charmeuse presented some challenges, but I'm OK with what I ended up with; I'm sure it would be much easier with a more stable fabric.  These pictures show what I did, but since they're the only pics I took, it's not designed to be a detailed tutorial.  That said, my hint about using a smaller cutting mat may be helpful to some of you :)

Cut a rectangle of fabric, and fold the opposite corners over to meet in the middle.
Sew this seam up (RS together), creating a tube.  Note:  Since each end of this seam has one corner end of the fabric, and one straight edge, the seam end isn't a clean ending.   I didn't worry about it...the triangular ends of your fabric end up as scrap pieces anyway.  (Which the frugal me, of course, saves for future use!)

Diane's instructions say to use scissors, & basically, just keep cutting a strip of fabric, flipping your tube over & over. If I tried doing it this way, I would have ended up with a ridiculously wavy, uneven, strip of fabric that would need to be cut again in order to even it out!

I wanted to use rotary cutters and an edger, in order to get some semblance of an even strip.  Since you're only cutting one layer of fabric, but a tube automatically gives you two layers, my solution was to insert a small cutting mat inside the tube.   This way, I could use the rotary cutter, and I just kept adjusting the tube of fabric by setting the cut strip to the side, and rotating the tube to the top of the cutting mat, evening up the cut edge, placing a clear straight edge over the fabric, and cutting the next bit.   Hope that makes sense.

Here's where I'm at with the Piping Process, so far:

The 2 left samples are the seams between the pigskin & the silk/cotton.  On the left is a sample with unfilled bias strip.  The seam allowance is pressed to one side (the silk/cotton side) & topstitched.

The center is filled piping (filled with a nylon cording...I need to get some proper cotton welt/filler cord - any suggestions about brands, suppliers [JoAnn's, which is close to me...?], etc?)

What I know I'll do with these is:

• Remove the interfacing from the SA on the pigskin.
• Press the SA to the silk/cotton side.
• Grade the SA

What I think I want to do is get some proper filler for the piping & use the filled piping option, even though it makes for a bulkier seam, but I'm open to suggestions/opinions from any of y'all....?


The right side sample shows filled piping on the edge of the pigskin.  I understitched this, & graded the SA.  I like this option for the front edges & neckline; don't know yet if I'll carry this through to the bottom hem.  I could topstitch this edge as well, but I think I'll wait to decide on that.

I'm definitely committed to this relationship; I still think it has great possibilities, and I'm determined to do all I can to not muck it up!   So far, my date is being very cooperative; that's always a good sign!  :)

Any relationship advice is welcome......

Oh, btw, here is a link to some inspiration pieces from Diane's website - enjoy!