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With warmer weather upon us folks in the northern hemisphere, spring can be a great season to reflect at your current life & see which events, activities, and/or hobbies are helping you the most.
One hobby that I've set aside for a while is sewing. I've made a few garments (mostly shirts in a pattern that's all rectangles), and quite a few accessories.
At the moment, though, I don't have access to a sewing machine. This isn't a big issue, however, as I'm quite wary of sewing machines! I used to be terrible at the acceleration. I would step on it too hard & startle myself with how fast it worked. In the past, I borrowed someone's machine that needed a lot of up-keep in order to run smoothly, and would cause the threads to tangle often while stitching. Which is quite unfortunate!
So I've decided to combine my preference for hand sewing with my desire to make another garment.
Have you ever seen Howl's Moving Castle? In the movie, Howl is sometimes shown with a pink and blue diamond patterend jacket. And while pastels are not my colors... I have an idea to make an overshirt that has similar vibes!
However, the shape of diamonds I've chosen are actually quite difficult to sew. Let me explain.
Woven fabric is made by stringing long threads on a loom. Then, you weave the side to side threads back and forth. As such, there is little stretch along those lines (unless it's made with stretchy materials). While I could have chosen a diamond that's a square, which I could cut along that grain to reduce stretch, I've chosen a diamond shape that's quite long.
If I was doing this project with a machine, there's a way to do it using quilting techniques. You cut strips the width of the diamond & sew them together. Then, using rulers with built-in angles, you can cut those stripes into the correct shape & sew those together.
However, sewing beautifully straight and LONG seams by hand is tedious and boring.
If I was doing this project with a machine, there's a way to do it using quilting techniques. You cut strips the width of the diamond & sew them together. Then, using rulers with built-in angles, you can cut those stripes into the correct shape & sew those together.
However, sewing beautifully straight and LONG seams by hand is tedious and boring.
Which gets me to the thing I'm learning this spring... English paper piecing!
Essentially, instead of cutting the diamonds out & sewing them together (hoping they don't warp out of shape due to the stretch when cut on the bias), I'm using a cardstock weight piece of paper to form my diamonds around. You stitch the fabric around the cardstock shape, gather a bunch of those, and piece them together using a simple whip stitch.
If I can do them well, then I don't have to worry about overstretching some seams! The paper will keep me from pulling the diamonds out of shape. Plus, because you can make a bunch of diamonds, set them aside, and pick up the project much later, it's a good project for me.
Essentially, instead of cutting the diamonds out & sewing them together (hoping they don't warp out of shape due to the stretch when cut on the bias), I'm using a cardstock weight piece of paper to form my diamonds around. You stitch the fabric around the cardstock shape, gather a bunch of those, and piece them together using a simple whip stitch.
If I can do them well, then I don't have to worry about overstretching some seams! The paper will keep me from pulling the diamonds out of shape. Plus, because you can make a bunch of diamonds, set them aside, and pick up the project much later, it's a good project for me.
Sewing all day everyday wouldn't leave room for my other main hobby, which is drawing. And I have a ton of those projects I'd like to work on! (Including buttons & poster designs.)
I plan to work on this overshirt mostly while watching TV or similar activities. It'll help balance out the work, and hopefully give me something to do other than doomscroll on my phone.
I plan to work on this overshirt mostly while watching TV or similar activities. It'll help balance out the work, and hopefully give me something to do other than doomscroll on my phone.
I'll update you all on the outcome! :)
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