Thursday 21 August 2014

the paisley no-longer-UFO shirt, and more robot

Last night I whined far too much about hand sewing buttons onto this shirt, but it was worth it as today I got 2 compliments on my new blouse.

I realised why the facing was too short - the facing is the original length of the shirt I drafted this from, but I cut the blouse longer. Silly me!

Something that maybe not everyone does is sew a spare button to a side seam or bustdart.

The reason I sew it into the seam is so that it has the same laundering processes and wear as the other buttons. I've always bought at least 1 spare button, and one time when I got it out of the button box to use I was shocked by the contrast to the other washed & worn buttons. Considering I can have a shirt or blouse last 4-7 years or more that can be multiple washes that affect non-shell buttons.

The other finished item in this post is a hot water bottle cover - a gift for a friend. It's 3 layers of cotton flannelette (2 inner layers of stash!), bound with grey satin binding (stash!) and then folded into an envelope and stitched next to the binding. The elastic is there to hold the cover in place - I've never used that on my previous covers but this is a gift and I had matching elastic, so it doesn't need to be stretched, just able to stretch up over the top section.

I self drafted this by drawing around a hot water bottle and guestimating how much ease I'd need once there was water in it. Snug but not tight. And I got it right first go. :D so I simply copy it each time.

As a sidepoint to why I was confused at losing the buttons for the paisley blouse, I usually keep all parts of a project in a ziplock bag. cut out pieces, pattern, thread, zip/buttons etc.

Thanks to the missing buttons (which turned out to be in the drawer on my sewing table {hits forehead}) I decided to put the thread/bobbin/buttons in to a micro ziplock bag, inside the bigger bag.

4 comments:

  1. Good idea re: sewing the spare button on the inside - I've never thought about how the buttons fare during washing to be honest! Great work on getting another UFO done, I always find them supremely satisfying to get done

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    1. I didn't think about it either, until I had one look enough different that I replaced them all instead. For all I know that was the only button that it ever happened with, but I don't risk it for the sake of a few stitches.

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  2. Lovely blouse - the print really suits the style.

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    1. Thanks, for some reason the blouse lost it's mojo half way through being sewn up. I think I went off the collar I'd drafted but I like it now that it's done. I may even use it again.

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