It is time to sew up a sheer holiday jacket using your Tabula Rasa Jacket Pattern(TRJ). Now that you know how it goes together, you can try out a challenging fabric or seam technique, both of which are featured in this sample. It is made from 3 fabrics: a geometric…
Category: Technique
What Is a Clean Finish?
Clean finish is a term we use in the construction section of the Eureka! Pants that Fit pattern. It refers to any place where there is a raw edge that needs to be finished, such as a waistband, facing, seam or hem area. Recently a student, who was making pants at home,…
Inserting an Exposed Separating Zipper
Another post, another zipper! We are finishing out this series of zipper posts in advance of the Zipper Sampler class I am teaching at the Schaumburg Original Sewing and Quilt Expo (OSQE), and the Zipper Sampler stage presentation I will be leading at the Fredericksburg OSQE. Exposed zippers continue to…
Samples For Threads
When designing and constructing jackets that will illustrate a magazine article, there is a certain level of anxiety that accompanies the project. Most of my days in the studio are spent designing and testing new patterns or sewing up new clothes to hang in the booth and write about on…
Knit Tee Hems
Sewing hems in knits always involves a machine finish. I am not sure I have ever put a successful hand-hem into a contemporary knit garment. Machine hemming is part of the process of taming your knits to look effortless and insuring they will live a long life. So, let’s take…
Dots and Notches
Flat pattern notations are like a special language. If you have sewn for a long time using commercial American flat patterns, you probably speak the language fluently. If you are new to sewing, it might seem like a foreign language. We are busy finishing up the details of a new pattern variation,…
Batik Butik Vest
I am getting ready for a 2 week trip with my husband to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We are going to be in the city and in the country with weather ranging from the 40’s to the 70’s, give or take, so I need a wide range of garments…
Hoods and Seams – The Final Spectacle
A detachable hood is the perfect accent for a spring coat like the It’s a Spectacle Jacket we have been considering for the last two weeks. (Week one was about designing the jacket, week two took a close look at the zipper and collar details.) It’s easy to see the…
It’s a Spectacle Construction Tips
Let’s continue our close look at the multi-fabric Spectacle Jacket. Last week we reviewed the design process. This week we will consider a few construction tips that make this Rain or Shine Variation (RSV) of the Tabula Rasa Jacket (TRJ) a winner. The Rain or Shine direction book has plenty…
Invisible Zipper in Pants
A few months ago, we published a blog post with step-by-step instructions for inserting a lapped zipper in Eureka! Pants that Fit. Being equal opportunity sewists, this month we are featuring step-by-step instructions for inserting an invisible zipper into your Eureka! Pants.* An invisible zipper is an elegant finish to…