Fabric
You can use just about any woven fabric for an unlined version, but a sturdy fabric will likely hold up to the pattern construction best. You can even make one from a nylon or oilcloth for a nice raincoat. You can use different fabrics for the different panels of the coat. The front and back are cut as one piece, but you can add seam allowances and sew them together at the shoulder, if you want. The Front/Back panel is a great one to use for any kind of special fabric you have. You need at least 2.75 yards of fabric to make a full-length version for just the front and back panel. And it will need to be at least 18" wide for the largest size (up to an 1.5" narrower for the smallest size and wider if you want to make a larger size). The side panels, gussets, cuffs, and borders (and sleeves) are great pieces to use that smaller bit of special fabric you have been saving. The hem borders don't use a lot of fabric and you can cut them on the cross grain if you need to. Don't forget that you will need to cut linings for all the border and cuff pieces. So again, you can use your main fabric or special fabric or just use some scrap fabric you have on hand that will work. The bottom borders won't show and you will only get glimpses of the cuff and hem borders if they aren't turned up. And of course, you can use the same fabric for all parts of the coat if you want!
To make this coat, I used a section of printed Japanese cotton for main parts of the coat and a black raw silk for smaller panels and the linings of the borders.
Sizing and Cutting Out the Pattern
Do read our blog post on sizing and sizing up this pattern. It is easy to size this pattern up - you just need to add width to the side seams of the Front/Back.
If you are going to lengthen or shorten the Front/Back, be sure to also lengthen or shorten the front border H (1 and 2) by the same amount.
You will cut out all the same pieces of the coat, but you will NOT cut out a lining for the Front/Back, Sleeve, Side Panel, and Gusset. You will only cut these from the main fabric.
You will need to cut lining pieces for all your borders (and the welt if you are using that piece - I did not for this coat). But, don't cut these pieces out until later in the coat making session. You will be instructed by the pattern how long to make each piece.
Sewing the Unlined Coat
You will, in general, follow the instructions provided in the pattern, but ignore any instructions referring to batting and lining.
You will also need to decide how you want to finish your seams. Since the coat is unlined, the seams will be exposed on the inside. I chose to serge the seams in this coat as it is simple and quick and fairly neat. But you could also turn under the seam allowances and stitch them, do a bound seam, or another seam finish.
First, you sew the gussets to the top of the side panels, matching notches. The straight edges of each piece are the same side; and the slanted edges are on the other.
Then, sew the slanted edges of two side panel sections together, with right sides together.
Now sew each sleeve together from the wrist just to the dot on the pattern; and clip both seams to the dot.
Sleeve is pinned with right sides together and I am pointing at the dot where you stop sewing (and backstitch to secure).
Clip both seams to the dot. This will help with matching the sleeve to the gusset/side panel.
Sew the underarm of the sleeve to the side panel gussets, matching the seams. You will need to open the unsewn section of the sleeve to match the side panel/gusset. Be careful around the sleeve seam, sewing close to the dot on the sleeve, but not catching extra fabric in the stitching. Press seams open.
Sleeve (black) underarm seam matched to the gusset (printed) seam.
Sleeve (top) is sewn to the gusset/side panel section. The seams match at the underarm.
This shows the inside of the sleeve attached to the gusset/side panel section, with the seams finished and pressed open.
Next, you will sew on the front extension pieces to the front panel. Then sew the sleeve/side panel to the front/back section. I found matching the stars first, and pinning the sleeve to the front/back first made it easier to put these pieces together. Press the seams open. If you are wanting to add an in-seam pocket to this coat, this is the time to do it (before you sew this seam completely). See our blog post here about adding an in-seam pocket to a garment.
Front extension is pinned the the front body, matching notches (chalked notches).
Matching the star on side section to star on front/back.
Follow the instructions for finishing the sleeve and adding the cuff. I cut off 1/2" (13mm) at the sleeve wrist, which made my sleeve opening 15.25". So following the pattern instructions, the notched edge of my sleeve cuff should be 16.5" long. I had to add 1/4" to the sleeve cuff. I cut 4 sleeve cuffs; 2 for outer and 2 for lining. I sewed them, right sides together on three sides and trimmed the corners and seams.
Cutting off 1/2" at wrist of sleeve
I added a 1/4" to the sleeve cuff. I used chalk to make markings for this pattern and it worked really well.
My four cuff pieces - 2 outer, 2 lining. The cuff is one place where you might want your lining to be a fabric that would be seen because you can turn the cuff up to show the lining side.
Cuff pieces pinned together to be sewn on three sides.
Next, you sew one open side of your cuff to the right side of your sleeve wrist. The cuff should meet at the underarm seam. Press the seam to the cuff. Then turn under 1/2" on the cuff lining and slip stitch it over the seam.
Here is the finished cuff.
Finished cuff turned back.
Borders
I am going to do a whole section on the borders because it can get a little confusing (not quite just like a normal sewing pattern), but if you follow the instructions, you should have no problems.
You can now cut out your border pieces, I and J and H. Piece I and J have a left and right side, but you can use one piece, just make sure the markings transfer correctly to the proper side. You might want to label the front and backs and left and right sides as well as make sure you get the markings done properly. It is important to measure the coat as the pattern instructs for cutting the border pieces the proper size. If you made changes to the width of length of the coat, you will need to take that into account (measuring is the best option for getting this correct). Finally, even though you cut these pieces larger (or smaller) than the pattern, be sure the transfer your marks by the ends of the pieces; i.e. move the pattern pieces to the end of your fabric piece to transfer those marks. Also note that you will probably ignore the notches - they will not likely match to anything if you changed your sizing at all, but they are helpful for knowing which side to attach to the body of the coat.
Here I have moved the pattern piece to the end of my fabric so I can transfer the markings correctly.
You will sew the main and lining pieces of Back Hem J together like you did the cuff - on three sides. Trim corners and seams and turn. Attach the Back Hem to the back as instructed, and turn under the lining by 1/2" and whip stitch to the inside over the seam.
To put front border to front hem border, you will work with the notched edges to the inside (straight sides go to the outside for H). Put Pieces H and I together with right sides together at the bottom corner and stitch from edge to dot. Do this for the outer pieces on both sides and for the lining pieces on both sides. This puts the front and bottom borders together.
I have pieces H an I lined up ready to go together. The markings on each line up with each other.
Pinned together at the corners. I stitched from the outer edge to the dot.
Do the same for the lining pieces.
Now, you will stitch the outer pieces to the lining pieces of this border - from the short end of the front hem border, around to the long side of the front hem border, around the corner you created by putting H and I together, and up the front border. Trim the seam, turn and press. Do this for the left and right side.
Lining and outer fabrics for front borders pinned together on the outer edge.
Clip the seam at the corner to the dot. Now sew the outer border to the right side of the body of the coat to about 3 inches to the center back. You will turn the corner at the front and stitch up the front. I stitched the front hem border first, then stitched up the front to within 3" of the center back (basically to the stars). Follow the instructions for finishing the back neck. And finish stitching the border to the coat. Press the seam toward the border. You will then turn the open border linings to the inside by 1/2" and whipstitch the lining over the seam line for the front hem and front border.
Corner of borders clipped.
Front hem border stitched to bottom of coat. Border lining is free from stitching and will have 1/2" edge turned under later and stitched.
Border attached to body of coat.
This shows the front border pinned to the body of the coat on a dress form.
And where I stopped stitching in the back. The border and the neck is stitched together at the center back, then attached to the body of the coat.
Finally, all the border linings are turned under and whip stitched to the inside of the coat, over the seams. This really doesn't take too long and is quite easy. I do like to pin or baste my border linings in place so they don't get distorted while I stitch.
You coat is completed! The 106 Turkish Coat is a great pattern for doing so much, and this unlined version still allows for so much artistic creation and inspiration!
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First, we only had a week (really, with travel times, less than a week) to explore so I decided to pick one place and venture out from there. I chose Panajachel on Lake Atitlan due to the beauty of the area, ability to make day trips out, and it has a lot of textiles to explore. It is also a great place for young people - there are young backpackers, nomadic workers, etc. everywhere and it was easy for my daughter to connect with other young travelers. If I had to do this trip again, I would spend a few days in Antigua instead of the whole time in Panajachel. But, now I have an excuse to go back. There are lots of places to explore in Guatemala!
I highly recommend the book A Textile Traveler's Guide to Guatemala by Deborah Chandler. I bought it over a year ago and it was helpful to plan this trip and understand what I was seeing. This book came out right before (or maybe during) the pandemic, so some things have changed since then, but for the most part, it was a great resource, especially if you are coming to Guatemala for the textiles.
As I said, my daughter and I stayed in Panajachel which is a small town located on the shores of Lake Atitlan, a large and beautiful lake, about 4 hours drive west from Guatemala City. The lake is surrounded by mountains and dormant volcanoes. And there are small towns around the lake, each one with its own feel (or vibe) and its own textile scene. We explored a few of these towns, but not all.
Panajachel
Panajachel seemed like the busiest, and perhaps grittiest, of the towns. It is a central place for tourists to come before going on to another village or town around Lake Atitlan. It is the largest town on the lake, busy with workers, businesses, and traffic. But it is still very small. The main street, Calle Santander, is lined with shops and restaurants, going from the edge of the lake (where there is a beautiful view) back about .75 miles. We really enjoyed walking up and down this street, and "window" shopping. There were very few windows as almost every store and restaurant is open-air, and the shops ranged from trinket shops with cheap souvenirs to high end shops with beautifully made one-of-a-kind garments and bags. There is a small "market" that goes away from the main street in a U shape and is lined with textiles from rugs to huipils to bags and belts and cheap t-shirts. This was a fun place to look through and the sellers are quite pushy. I am not a great bargainer, but we did get a few deals without meaning to and I bought a few items that I am sure were overpriced (but still felt like a fair price to me). The wool rugs in this market were beautiful and there were lots household items.
Wearing my 121 Guatemalan Gabacha at the market stalls in Panajachel.
More market stalls in Panajachel.
Some of the pretty rugs in Panajachel market stalls.
There are also some good restaurants along Calle Santander as well as some popular street food stalls that pop up after dark.
Panajachel is also a good place to get on a boat to just about any town on the lake. There are several public boat docks that have boats leaving every 10-15 minutes to the other villages.
Finally, there is a small textile market that happens at the fire station (Bomberos) every Tuesday and Friday morning. I walked to it on Friday morning and saw about 10 women selling huipils (traditional shirts), cortas (traditional skirts that is a large tube made of cloth), tablecloths (or things for the table) and a few other items. These were mostly older textiles, which I found out are highly sought after by many textile enthusiasts. These are always handspun, hand dyed, handwoven (usually on a back strap loom), and hand embroidered. They are very beautiful and exquisitely made, though sometimes their age shows with stains or faded colors. You can see in the photos below the front and back of hand embroidered band on a corte and how good the back side of the embroidery looks! The women who make these textiles are truly artists.
And, I heard (and saw) that most of the textiles in Guatemala are still handmade. There are some factory made, but most are still woven in homes all over. They are often now using factory spun and dyed threads, but the weaving still happens in the homes. Many of them are woven on back strap looms, but some on larger looms. Each village has their own type, or specialty, of textile - whether it is in the color scheme, pattern, or way of weaving. There is a type of ikat dyeing and weaving that is done in Guatemala, called jaspe, and it has different forms and colors. Some of it is very intricate and used on finely woven cloth and some is simpler and used in more coarsely woven or heavy cloth.
Santa Catarina Palopó
We took a boat over to the village of Santa Catarina one morning. From Panajachel, you should probably just walk (1.5 miles) or take a tuktuk (small taxi on 3 wheels). But, I didn't know, or think things through very well, and we took a private boat and it was actually a very beautiful ride over. Santa Catarina is a tiny town and is most know for its blue painted walls and the blue/aqua/teal weavings that the women in the village produce. From the docks we walked through a pretty avenue where women were selling textiles, and weaving them.
The street coming up from the lake in Santa Catarina.
Weaving at a stall in Santa Catarina.
There was also a small textile cooperative that was beside the school. The profits from this coop go to support this local school. I found some very pretty things there and they were very willing to sell me yardages of fabric also.
We wandered through the village on the many steep and windy foot paths and admired the walls and views. We came across a small "house museum" where there was a little bit of information about the village, weaving, and the lake. It took about 10 minutes to see everything, but it was interesting. Red used to be the traditional color of Santa Caterina's weavings and huipils, but in the 1940s someone told the women that blue would be better, to match the color of the lake and to create some interest in their textiles from tourists. So they changed their main color! And the whole village embraced it.
The blue walls of buildings of Santa Catarina.
San Juan
On another day, we took a boat across the lake and explored San Juan. In the morning we did a big hike and the hike ended in the village of San Juan. San Juan is a pretty little town with a nice church, good views of the lake, and some interesting small attractions. One of which is a small bee farm and museum. We got a small tour (no photos allowed) of the Mayan bees and their hives as well as a honey tasting. Very interesting.
Lake Atitlan from a point overlooking San Juan (on the right).
There is also a wonderful women's weaving cooperative in San Juan, Casa del Tejido y Tours. We stopped by and got a personal tour of the process - from ginning cotton by hand (pulling out the seed and processing the fiber), to spinning, to dyeing, to weaving. Many of the colors they use are natural dyes, made with the plants and insects (cochineal, for example) that they have in the area. They use banana stem charcoal for mordant. It was a beautiful stop and inspiring. The shop was also impressive, and not cheap, but after you see all the work that goes into making one item, you can understand the cost.
Being shown how to process cotton for making thread (all the colors in the background!).
Demonstration of spinning the cotton on a drop spindle. She could do this very quickly to make a uniform, fine thread.
Anne got to try her hand at spinning cotton on a spindle!
Small dye vats with banana stem charcoal as mordant. You can see some of the dye materials in the background.
And finally, the backstrap loom weaving. This loom is low-tech, yet intricate, and the weaving is fine. In the background, you can see the stool where the thread is wound and overdyed to make the jaspe, or ikats.
Chichicastenango
The largest Mayan market in Guatemala happens in Chichicastenango every Thursday and Sunday. We took a shuttle from Panajachel on Thursday to Chichi for the market -- only 14 miles, but it took an hour of winding over steep mountains to get there.
As suggested in the book, A Textile Traveler's Guide, I hired a guide right when we got off the shuttle at the beginning of the market. Carlos took us through the market, the churches, the cemetery, the Mayan sacred sites, and to his mother's stall who was selling old woven textiles. Again, you are supposed to be able to get amazing deals on textiles at this market. I am sure you are, but I am not a great bargainer and the older textiles, tablecloths, huipils, etc. are more expensive than the more recently made garments and cloth. They are antiques and are treated as nicer quality.
The typical colors of textiles in Chichicastenango are red and orange in zig-zag patterns on the huipils and black cortes with bright red/orange crosses embroidered in. And bright belts, or fajas. There were many stalls full of these garments and they were gorgeous!
The churches and cemetery were also good places to visit on market day and we learned a lot about Mayan traditions and ceremonies and how the Catholic church and traditional Mayan beliefs exist hand in hand here. I found the church and the offerings very moving.
We ended up at a fiesta for one of the town's minor saints (San Sebastian), where we drank atole and were blessed by a Mayan shaman (for a small fee). Atole is a thick corn masa and water drink. I've heard it is sweet and often flavored with cinnamon, but I think ours was just masa and water, served in a small gourd. That was another special moment and so very interesting.
My impressions of Chichicastenango were that it was a lot smaller than I expected. It may be the largest market in the country, but the market in Accra, Ghana was maybe larger than the whole of Chichi. I think it is a function of population (Ghana's population is much larger) and geography (Chichi is situated in the middle of steep and rugged mountains). I loved the colors, the activity, the churches, and the people. It was an interesting visit and we learned a lot. I would highly recommend a guide - it made the visit so much more interesting and informative. And they are not expensive.
The church of Saint Tomas in Chichicastenango with a Mayan alter in front (lower right).
Part of the Chichi market - inside with lots of vegetable, fruit, and herb/medicine booths.
Lots of fajas, or belts, hand embroidered and handwoven. The zigzag, or chevron, design is common in Chichi.
Rows and rows of the traditional cortes in this part of the market - dyed black with the bright red/pink/orange crosses embroidered on.
Old (antique) huipils in the Chichicastenango market.
A seller of backstrap looms (and all the pieces for one) at the Chichi market, right outside the main church. She was carving the loom pieces right here!
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed this trip! I highly recommend Guatemala if you are interested in textiles. There are several tour groups that organize textile-based tours, and I nearly booked our own itinerary with Anywhere Guatemala which came up with a trip for us which was customized (and I felt it was at a decent price). Again, I would also visit Antigua if I went again. I heard lots of great things about Antigua from its beauty to great restaurants to amazing textiles.
The weather was really wonderful - it was warm during the day (you need sunscreen) and it was cool at night (you need a jacket). But the afternoons got hazy, and one guide told us that is typical of this time of year. December through February it stays very clear, and May through July/August is rainy. The food was great, and very fresh. People were nice and friendly. And, there were interesting views everywhere! While we focused on textiles during this trip, we also did a wonderful long hike, did yoga most days in front of the lake, danced salsa one night, and had one day of rest by the pool (interspersed with the "window" shopping mentioned above).
And if you have more questions about this trip, let me know in the comments! If you have been to Guatemala, also feel free to leave suggestions in the comments also!
]]>This skirt pattern is a circle skirt which you can make very simply, or embellish with embroidery, applique, etc. (check out the amazing RBG skirt that one or our employees made). First, this skirt is really only fitted at the waist. Your hip measurement is not really important for this skirt (though you may want to make sure the zipper opening is large enough to pull over your hips -- double check to be sure, and install a longer zipper with a little more room for the zipper if needed). Your hips will definitely fit in the skirt if you fit it at the waist.
The skirt is only graded for a 22" waist to a 34" waist. For this example, I am going to show you how to grade up one to two sizes. However, you can keep going with this technique to just about any size you need. You can also use this same technique to grade down a size or two. If grading down more than that, you can probably use the child's sizes also provided in the pattern.
Start with the Skirt Front/back
The skirt is cut on the fold: one front, one back. The waist of the skirt is graded at 5/16" between each size. So, to grade up one size, you will add 5/16" to the largest size, and increase in 5/16" increments for each size larger you wish to make.
I marked 5/16" from size 34, all the way around the waist to make size 36 using a regular measuring tape and marking between the 1/8" increments on the tape. You could use metric measurements/rulers for even more accuracy.
Then I connected all my marks with a curved ruler to make the cutting line for size 36.
If you want to make size 38, add 5/8" (5/16"+5/16") to the size 34. To make larger sizes, just keep adding 5/16" for every size up you wish to make the skirt.
Then, because we have taken away fabric at the top of the skirt, you want to add it to the bottom of the skirt (unless, of course, you want a shorter skirt!). Again, add 5/16" for each size up you are grading, marking along the curved edge and connecting with a line to create the new size.
You can see the new pattern line at the bottom for new size 36.
Close up of the new size line (for 36). I used a clear plastic curved ruler to help connect the markings.
This is also a great place to adjust the length of the skirt. If you want a shorter skirt, measure up from the cutting line for your size to however much shorter you want the skirt. For instance, if you want to make the skirt 4" shorter, measure up from the cutting line by 4" all the way around the hem curve, marking, then connecting the marks with a line.
The last thing to do on the skirt is to mark new a new notch for the bottom of the zipper. Mark 5/16" down from size 34 for each size up you are grading.
Waistband
You will also need to adjust the waistband of the skirt. The waistband is straight which makes it very easy to adjust, and you only need to adjust one side of the waistband, plus the notches. You'll only add length to one side of the waist band because the other side has the overlap. The waistband is graded 2" between each size. So, to make a size 36" waistband, add 2 inches to the graded end of the waistband. To make a size 38" waistband, add 4 inches to the graded end of the waistband. A clear plastic rectangular ruler is helpful here to keep right angles and make measuring easy. I taped some Swedish tracing fabric to the pattern to have enough room to add the extra inches to my waistband end.
A clear plastic ruler can help you see the lines underneath when measuring straight lines and adding to the waistband end.
You probably also want to adjust the notches on the pattern. The square notches are set 1" apart for each size and are for marking where the side seams of the skirt connect to the waistband. Just mark notches for the new size by going up 1" for each size up you are grading up.
The triangle notches are graded at 1.5" between each notch and mark the center front and center back of the skirt. So mark new triangle notches 1.5" from the notch for size 34 for each size up you are going.
That is all there is to it! Just a few adjustments to make to get this skirt made into larger sizes. This pattern is an easy sewing project and a fabulous canvas for your creativity!
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The pattern also stays true to the original sizing, which is labeled as "slender", "average", and "large". These aren't very precise sizing labels and I think that is exactly what the pattern designers had in mind. There is a lot of ease in this coat as it is meant to go over clothes, even outerwear, as a final outer layer. I recently went back to this pattern and calculated the approximate finished measurements as well as assigned sizing labels for the size chart to the original sizes (slender, average, and large). This gives an idea of how large the coat is and can help you decide what size you want to make.
We occasionally get requests to size this pattern up as we have done with many other patterns we have in our collection. However, this one is difficult, not because of the actual pattern pieces that need to be graded, but because of the designs and traditional nature of the pattern. It is not as straightforward as some of our vintage patterns that have regular sizing and grading; and would change the instructions and detailing in complicated ways that a simple tutorial doesn't do. Plus, this pattern is extremely easy to make in larger sizes due to the simple geometric shapes of the pattern pieces. And really only one part needs to sized up to get to most sizes that would be desired.
So in this blog post I am going to show you how to easily increase the sizing of the 106 Turkish Coat.
Front and Back
First, the front and back of this pattern are cut as one piece. You tape them together so the shoulder seams meet. And then lay them out as one piece on your fabric.
If you have a directional print or napped fabric, you can cut the front and back separately, but be sure to add in the 1/2" seam allowance (it is included on the pattern piece). It will take likely take more fabric than the pattern calls for.
This Front/Back piece is the only piece you really need to make larger to expand the sizing of the whole coat.
The finished measurements for the largest size is approximately 57-1/4" (not including the borders and overlap section). This provides approximately 12"-13" of ease at the hips. So if we were to go up to a 52" hip (our current grade rule size of 2XL), you would want the coat to finish at 64" at the hip (52" hip + 12" ease = 64"). So we would want to add about 7 more inches to the pattern to get the desired width (I am disregarding the 1/4" on the finished measurement for these calculations); 57" (current finished largest size) +7" = 64". So we need to divide 7" by 4 because we are going to add width to each side of the front and back to get to 7". So, we are going to add 1.75" to each front and back side. To do this, you just need to draw a line 1.75" wider than the largest pattern size on each side of the Front/Back.
For this example, I am going up to XL, adding 5" to get a finished measurement of 53" (finished largest size)+5"=58" (48" hip + 12" ease) finished hip. So I am going to add 1.25" to each side. You can use these calculations to get whatever size and fit you want. If you want more ease, add more width to the sides of the Front/Back pattern piece.
I use a straight clear ruler to do this, but you can use any kind of ruler to mark the new cutting lines.
You can see here that I am laying this pattern out with the front and back taped together at the shoulders. I am using a Japanese cotton with a fun print. I have centered the Front/Back over the center printed part of the design. My fabric is slightly shorter than the pattern pieces, so I am going to make the coat a little shorter than the pattern calls for. It is easy to shorten or lengthen this coat, but it important to note how much you are shortening the coat so that when you cut the front borders, you cut the correct length.
Marking 1.25" on each side of the Front/Back pattern piece.
Be sure to put in the notches and dots where they are on the pattern, just transposed to the new seam allowance that you have drawn in.
You will need to do this for the main fabric, lining fabric, and batting. And if you are expanding the sizing of this pattern, you may need more fabric than what the pattern calls for. Be sure to have extra fabric. For this coat, we made it as an unlined coat so did not need to cut out the lining or batting.
Borders
As the pattern instructs, do not cut out the border pieces until you are instructed. You will follow the directions in the pattern to get the border pieces that will fit your new Front/Back. Be sure NOT to cut out the border pieces until you are instructed, and follow the instructions in the pattern. You will need to a measuring tape to take a few measurements on the coat once the main body has been put together.
When I cut out the border pieces, I had to add some length to each of them (except the front borders), and I added the length to the side of the pattern piece that had markings.
Also, you basically don't use the notches on the borders for placement of any of these pieces. They are mainly there to tell you which side is going to go against the main body of the coat. So it does help to have them, just don't bother trying to line them up with anything, especially if you have changed the sizing of the coat.
Finally . . .
We also highly recommend making a muslin for any pattern that you are adjusting. This with help you know if you need to make further adjustments before cutting out your garment fabric. A muslin for this coat would not need the borders or cuffs to make sure the fit is what you want.
This is pretty much all there is to expanding the size of this pattern. There is a lot of ease at the shoulders due to the underarm gusset (which adds 4") and the side panels). The sleeve itself also has a lot of ease. But, if you are wanting to make the sleeve larger, add the extra you want to expand it by to each side of the underarm of the sleeve. Then you will also need to adjust the dots on the Front/Back that indicate where to attach the sleeves by the length you increased one side of the sleeve width. Your side panel may be slightly longer than the Front/Back, but you will just trim off the extra at the end of body construction and before you add the borders to the coat.
I hope this has helped you figure out how to easily expand the sizing of this coat to fit you. It is simple! And the 106 Turkish Coat is so fabulous!
]]>This coat originated in Central Asia, where it is made in brilliant silks and floral cottons. It is often made with handwoven and hand-dyed ikat fabrics as well. The borders and cuffs are often made from different fabrics than the body and even the lining or inner borders in different fabrics so there is a beautiful combination of inventive and coordinating fabric throughout the coat. The pattern creates a coat that is boot-length and reversible. Perfect for cool weather of the Central Asian plains.
The coat hangs closed in the front without fastenings (though you could add buttons, toggles, frog-and-loop, or ties), and it features a quilted or trapunto border at the hem, neckline, and front opening. The border finish is typically echoed in the cuffs and welts over hand slits, which are common in traditional Turkish outerwear instead of pockets. They are for keeping hands warm, not storing things as pockets would do. The sleeves are roomy and slightly tapered and the coat has underarm gussets and side panels.
Included in this pattern are detailed instructions for trapunto and hand or machine quilting, as well as the designs for all borders and for a decorative square patch at the side hemline (which can be extended over the entire coat if desired). The body of the coat can also be hand or machine quilted.
You can see the quilting in the front borders of this coat.
The pattern also includes a lovely simple-sew version of the coat that can be made with pre-quilted fabric. You can even make it as an unlined coat using any kind of fabric with border facings. It would make a fantastic raincoat! And I will show you how to make an unlined version of this coat with some fabulous fabric I found in our stash next week!
Also note that there is no shoulder seam on the coat - the front and back pieces are cut as one. However, if you have a napped fabric or one-directional fabric, you can put in a shoulder seam for the front and back panels and add 1/2" seam allowance.
Flat drawings of the front and back of the 106 Turkish Coat. You can see here the different panels that make up the coat - perfect for different fabrics.
The sizing for this pattern is basically small, medium, and large. On the pattern pieces, the sizes are called "slender", "average", and "large". As one of Folkwear's oldest patterns (and similar to other early-Folkwear patterns), the sizing is not conventional since it is based on a traditional garment. There is no sizing chart; there is only a yardage chart. So, I recently made a sizing chart just for this pattern along with the finished measurements (also pictured below). One of the most common requests we get for this pattern is to size it up. However, the original drafting (based on original garments) and instructions does not lend itself to sizing up as we have done for our more recent patterns (such as vintage patterns). The traditional aspect of the pattern pieces and construction of the coat are simple enough to expand sizing on your own. In other words, there are not any curves or odd shaped pieces that need to be graded by a professional to get a larger sized coat. And I will have a tutorial in the next few days to show how to easily increase the size on the coat.
Sizing and Finished measurements chart:
As for fabric, as mentioned before, this is a great coat to use a mix of fabrics. Medium weight fabrics that are soft, such as broadcloth, silk, linen, or a lightweight wool, are all great choices. And, this pattern is great for using special pieces of fabric in the panels, borders, cuffs, etc. Use vintage pieces, handwoven pieces, or those special scraps you've been saving. There are a lot of places to make advantage of creativity in fabric choice.
You can see here all the different fabrics that make up this quilted 106 Tukish Coat.
Our 106 Turkish Coat is an incredible pattern - full of detail, full of options, and ready for your creativity! Tell us if you have made this pattern before and what you loved about it (bonus for telling us about the fabric you used and how you made it!).
]]>If you read my previous blog post, I wrote about the sizing adjustments I made for my own 209 Walking Skirt. I also wrote a tutorial on how to make the back placket of this skirt, since plackets can be tricky. In today's post I am going to show you what other modifications I made to my skirt as well as some things you can do when making your own Walking Skirt. I added a zipper and a decorative hem flounce. Again I think this skirt would be flattering on everyone, and we always love to see what you make from Folkwear so please share when you can (social media or review a pattern).
Adding a Zipper
The back placket of 209 Walking Skirt is perfect for medium to heavy weight fabrics and fabrics with some structure, but I wanted to make my skirt from a lightweight rayon. This floral rayon did not have the structure to hold up to a simple placket and stay closed. I loved the feel of this fabric and the colors work really together in my opinion. I really wanted to use this fabric for this pattern, however I decided that for a fabric like this, a zipper would work much better as a closure. I made a sample placket on the skirt to test it, but, as expected, it turned out to be floppy and didn't keep closed even with a hook and eye closure secured at the top. So even if you have the placket, it is easy to add a zipper closing in the placket placement. It is basically a lapped zipper.
I unpicked the waistband seams about 3 inches on both the left and right side of the skirt (it's always a drag to have to unpick your seams).
Starting with the lefthand side of the back of the skirt (as you wear it), I unpicked the folded over edge of the facing that I topstitched to the right side of the back and pressed it out. The length of my placket was 9" (22.9cm) long. I purchased a zipper slightly longer than that just in case I needed more room. Once I decided I only needed 9", I made a couple of large zig-zag stitches to make a new zipper stop about 9" (22.9cm) down from the top of the zipper.
I drew a line 5/8" (1.6cm) away from the seamline of the facing and the skirt back and a line 1/2" (1.3cm) from the top short edge of the facing (lefthand side of skirt).
I placed the right side of the zipper tape onto the right side of the facing. The top of the zipper should be right below the 1/2" (1.3cm) line and center of zipper teeth should be right next to the line I just drew that is 5/8" (1.6cm) from the seamline. I sewed the zipper to the facing using a zipper foot. I stitched twice - once close to the zipper teeth then again close to the edge of the zipper tape.
Then I pressed under 1/2" (1.6cm) of the raw edge. And I pressed the facing to the wrong side of the skirt along the facing and skirt seamline. I topstitched on the folded edge through all layers.
Next I sewed the left side of the zipper to the placket on the righthand side (as you wear it) of back skirt. First, I zipped up the zipper and see where the edge of the left side of the zipper tape would meet the placket and drew a line to indicate where I would sew this side of the zipper.
I put the zipper stop 1/2" (1.6cm) below the top of the placket before stitching the zipper down.
I then attached the waistband and added hook and eye to secure the waistband. You could add a button or snap instead.
It looks like a zipper that you would see on a pair of pants - similar to a fly, but much simpler.
You could also eliminate the placket all together and sew in an invisible or lapped zipper, cutting the skirt back straight at the center back and eliminating the placket and facing pieces. Or, you can add the zipper into the placket while you are making the skirt!
Decorative Hem
I also added a decorative hem flounce to my skirt. The fabric I chose moves so beautifully, it's bouncy and flows really nicely, and the decorative hem I made adds to its character even more. The extra weight at the hem adds great movement.
I wanted my decorative hem flounce to be 4" (10.2cm) wide, and to end 2" (5.1cm) above the main skirt hem.
My hem flounce pattern piece would need to be 4" wide, but also needs 1/2" (1.6cm) at the top to fold over and be topstitched to the skirt. And, the flounce would also need an extra 1" (2.5cm) at the bottom edge so that it could be hemmed (turned under 1/2" twice - same as the hem of the main skirt).
I used the same 209 Walking Skirt pattern pieces to make my hem flounce pattern pieces so that it would match the skirt. Basically cutting a strip from each skirt gore pattern piece to make the flounce so it fit the skirt. First, on the skirt pattern pieces I marked a line 2" (5.1cm) above the bottom cut line of the skirt pattern pieces. This is where my flounce piece would end before it is hemmed. Then I marked a line that was 5.5" (14cm) above that (4" for flounce, plus 1" for the hem and 1/2" for the seam allowance).
Measuring up 2" (5.1cm) from the cutting line of the skirt hem takes into account the skirt hem will be 1" (2.5cm), and the flounce hem will be 1" (2.5cm) so it will still finish at 2" (5.1cm) above the finished skirt hem.
I did that for all the skirt pieces, making sure to add the notches (or label the pieces) to know what part of the skirt gores they match to. I cut the pieces out as I did for the main skirt and sewed them together in the same way - sewing them end to end.
I hemmed the bottom of the hem flounce by folding under 1/2" (13mm) and another 1/2" (13mm) and stitching near the fold. I serged the top raw edge of the hem flounce because the fabric frayed a bit, and then I folded under 1/2" (13mm) to the wrong side at the top of the flounce.
I drew a continuous line 6" (15.2cm) above the hem of the main skirt around the whole skirt for my placement line (4" for width of flounce and 2" above the skirt hem line). I topstitched the flounce to the skirt at its top edge with the wrong side toward the skirt.
Folkwear's pattern for this month of February is the 209 Walking Skirt. I really appreciate the shape of this skirt and I personally think it would be flattering on anyone. When we decided we would feature this pattern, I knew I wanted to make a skirt for myself. And, I made some alterations to this skirt to fit my style more. I'm always altering my sewing patterns, and you should too if that means you'll wear what you make more often.
For the Walking Skirt, the gathers in the back of the skirt gives a slight fullness in the back that is reference to the overlapping of the Victorian and Edwardian era and the S-curve shape that was popular then. The skirt is finished with a buttoned placket. However, I did not want the gathers in the back (I have a nice bum and don't need extra fabric there, nor was I wanting to go for the period look).
I took out the gathers in the back of the skirt, and added a zipper to the placket. I also added a decorative hem flounce similar to the hem on the skirt in the 216 Schoolmistress' Shirtwaist & Skirt pattern. I thought the fabric I used (a rayon challis) suited these alterations. In my next blog post I will show you how I added the zipper and the decorative hem flounce. But today I am going to show you how I took out the gathers and adjusted for my size.
Note that in the photos below I am mostly using our Swedish tracing fabric to make my pattern adjustments. I usually trace my pattern, then make adjustments to the tracing fabric. I can write on this sturdy fabric/paper as well as fold it, tape it, and even sew it. Since this fabric/paper is not cheap (but it's not terribly expensive either) and we hate to waste things at the Folkwear office, we often tape used pieces of this paper fabric together from past projects to get enough to have whole pattern pieces. So that is what you are seeing in the photos below! Find this Swedish tracing fabric here.
Taking the gathers out was a little confusing for me, but this is how I figured it out. I measured from my cutting line to the square for my size on the Waistband. This square signifies where the Back piece B and Side piece C meet. For me, this was 5 inches.
Then, I took that measurement and measured from the side of the back B pieces toward the center back, and I drew a line to show where I would fold out the pattern to eliminate the gathers. So, 5 inches from the cut line on my Back pieces, I drew a line to show how much I wanted to take out from the Back.
I folded the Back pattern piece lengthwise along this line.
Then I folded the Back again to create a pleat so that the 1/2" (13mm) seamline (and mark where the dots are) lands just outside of the first fold I made.
This is what my piece looked like after I made this adjustment. This does take some of the width of the skirt at the hips and bottom out, but for me, this was not an issue. You could make a dart on the skirt back instead. Or just fold out a dart at the waist of the skirt pattern piece.
I'm in between Folkwear sizes Small and Medium, so I wanted to graded the pieces a bit to fit my body. I drew a gradual line from the size small at the waist to the size medium about 3 inches down from the waist. I did this to all the skirt pieces after I took out the gathering for the back piece B above, which maybe I should have done before, but I wanted a flat pattern piece to make the rest of my fit adjustments.
Plackets serve important functions in the history of garment making, they provide a neat and finished look to the garment, as well as making it easier to put on and take off clothing. They occur at necklines, wrists, waists, and occasionally at ankles. A fastener, such as a button or snap, is often used to secure a placket closed. Not only functional, but they can also be incorporated as a decorative design on your garment. They can be designed in various ways, such as hidden plackets, exposed plackets, or decorative plackets with contrasting fabrics or unique stitching patterns. These design elements can enhance the overall look of the garment, making it more visually appealing and fashionable, as well as functional. Some Folkwear's patterns that exemplify the differences and similarities of plackets are 212 Five Frontier Shirts, 204 Missouri River Boatman's Shirt, 206 Quilted Prairie Skirt, 102 French Cheesemaker's Smock, 116 Shirts of Russia & Ukraine and of course the featured pattern this month February, the 209 Walking Skirt.
Today we are providing you with a tutorial on making the buttoned placket for this pattern, 209 Walking Skirt. This tutorial will show you exactly how to manage sewing this particular placket. Plackets can be tricky at times, but making sure you line the pieces up exactly and in the correct way makes a huge difference.
For this tutorial, I've labeled all the pieces required for assembling the placket and I've cut the back skirt pieces so that you just see the top center backs (so that you can easily see how the placket goes together). You will need the left and right Skirt Back pieces B, Facing D, and Placket E. Be sure the Skirt Back pieces are cut out at their designated cutting lines that are indicated on the pattern piece (the left side extends further out than the right side). NOTE: on some versions of the pattern, Facing D should be cut with the printed part of the piece face down on the fabric. If your fabric is the same on front and back, this does not matter. But if you have a wrong and right side of the fabric, you will need to flip this pattern piece over when cutting to get the notches to line up correctly.
Also make sure you transfer the dots, stars, and top stitching lines onto the pattern pieces. It also is a good idea to label the left and right side of the Skirt Back pieces just to make it easier.
In general aprons are very adjustable. They don't close in the back so you have usually have ample room for different sized bodies. The pinafore version of this apron does close in the back with buttons. So if you are making the pinafore, in particular, you will want to make sure the waist fits your body. The other parts of the apron that might need adjustment are the skirt and the bib. By design, the bib is fairly small, so a larger bust might want a little more coverage. However, it is up to you! The final adjustment that might need to be made would be for the straps. If you have large shoulders or back, you may want to make the straps a little longer.
This blog post will show you how to make all these adjustments. Plus, we have a video that shows how to make the adjustments on the pattern as well!
Waistband
The waistband is sized by waist size. You can choose the size closest to your waist measurement. There is about 1.75" (4.4cm) of ease at the waist, however if you are going to have a closed back apron/pinafore, you will take up about at least 1" (2.5cm) of this ease with a button and overlap. So keep that in mind.
Each size up for the waistband adds 1/2" (12.5mm) to each end of the waistband. So if you want to make a waistband for a 31" waist, you would add 1/2" (12.5mm) to each end of the waistband. If you want a waistband for 32" waist, add 1" (2.5cm) to each end of the waistband, and continue that pattern for each size up you want to go.
You can see there is a 1/2" (12.5mm) between each waistband size.
Mark 1/2" increments for each size up you want to make the waistband larger.
Be sure to do this to both sides of the waistband!
Apron Skirt
You may or may not need to adjust the apron skirt. The top of the skirt is gathered into the waistband, so especially if you are making an open-back apron, you may be able to just cut the largest size skirt for women and be done. But, if you want it to button in the back (like a pinafore), you may want a little extra room. The largest size of skirt finishes at about 53" (135cm) at the hip, but you will loose an inch or so if you are adding buttons to the back. So if you want to add more room in the skirt, you can just add to the folded edge of the Front and Back of the apron skirt and even amount.
For any Skirt and Waistband adjustments, be sure to gather the skirt evenly into the waistband. You may need to adjust the marks on the waistband for the sides seams (or ignore them) and just make your skirt gathers evenly all the way around the waistband.
Apron Bib
The apron bib is fairly narrow, but also fairly tall. You probably won't need to make adjustments for height on the bib, but if you do, you can draw a lengthen/shorten line above the notch on the bib and lengthen it as needed. Be sure to adjust the star notch on the straps (or ignore it) when you got to put the strap on the bib if you adjust for height.
To make the bib wider, you can add to the center at the fold. Add the extra width you need, and be sure to remember that whatever you add there will double. So if you add an extra inch to the center fold line, you are adding 2" to the width of the bib.
Here I am adding a 1/2" (12.5mm) to the center of the bib pattern piece. This will add 1" (2.5cm) to the center of the bib and to the width of the whole piece.
The bib is gathered at its bottom and top. To add a little extra width, you can also not gather it as much as indicated by the notches on the waistband (and by the bib stay, but we'll get to that in a minute). Again, either ignore the notches on the waistband or adjust them to the width you desire. However, do line up the center of the bib (notch 6) with the center notch on the waistband so everything comes out evenly.
If you are making the bib wider (or just not gathering it in as much), you will also need to adjust the Bib Stay. This is a small rectangle of fabric that goes over the gathers at the top of the bib to create a ruffle at the top of the bib.
The Bib Stay is a simple rectangle. You can add 1/4" (6mm) to each side for each size up you want to go. OR, add the extra length you need to get the size you desire.
Here I used my ruler to add 1/4" (6mm) to one end of the Bib Stay to make it a size larger. You can add as much as you need to get the width you want for this.
Be sure to add the same amount to the other side of the bib stay as well!
Straps
Your straps may or may not need to be adjusted, but if you have large shoulders or back, you may want to add some length to them. The longest straps are 33" (84cm) and cross in the back. There is a little extra length built into them so you already have some adjustment room. But, you can easily add length to the front and back of the strap. Again, use your ruler to add the same size increment to create larger sizes for the straps. Do this to the front and back of the straps.
Back of the strap with markings for adding larger sizes (just as the waistband).
Front of the strap with length added for larger sizes. Be sure to add to both sizes.
Another thing to note about the straps, is that adding length to the straps will make the notches on the bib and strap not match. You can adjust your notch on the strap by the same amount you added to the strap front, or just match the pieces together and ignore the notches.
If you lengthened the straps, you may or may not need to adjust the Strap Ruffle. If you didn't add much length to the straps, you may not need to adjust the ruffle since it is gathered and will easily gather into the strap. If you don't adjust the ruffle and you added a lot of length to the strap, your ruffle just may not be quite a full as normal. However, if you want to, you can adjust the ruffle by adding length to the ends or at the shoulder. Just extend the ends by the amount you want to add. But if you want to add more than a 1/2" (12.5mm), you can add to the shoulder. Just cut the pattern piece at the shoulder line and spread apart the pattern by the same amount that you increased the straps (or as much as you want to add), then tape a piece of paper in place to keep the new length. This will also keep the ruffle very full.
Ends of strap ruffle. You can add a bit to these ends to make the ruffle longer.
Or . . .
Add length to the Strap Ruffle at this shoulder line. Spread the tissue apart here to add length.
You can always add extra buttons to the strap ends with a few inches between them so that you have an adjustable apron for different sizes. You can do this with both straps (instead of sewing one side to the skirt waist).
I hope this tutorial helps you to adjust the sizing of this apron. If you have questions, let us know at info@folkwear.com. Or drop a question in the comments below!
]]>Are you tired of your biscuits getting cold too quickly? There is a way to keep them warm and toasty for longer. Well, Folkwear has a solution to your biscuit woes: the biscuit cozy! From the 303 English Cottage Kitchen which has many kitchen accessories, this is my personal favorite. I love making sweet potato biscuits, and now that I can make a biscuit cozy (which I didn't know even existed), my biscuits can sit in the most darling looking cozy to keep them nice and warm when I take them to a potluck or to a breakfast table.
This project is also a good way to use scraps. However you should use sturdy fabric such as canvas or twill, and one that is easy to wash. If you don't have fabric that's sturdy on its own you can use interfacing as I will show you below.
I used interfacing for each layer because I wanted to use a linen we had and it was not very sturdy. So, I cut two fabric pieces instead of one for each layer as well, because I didn't want the interfacing to show on the wrong side. If you are using sturdy fabric and don't need interfacing, be sure to know that the wrong side of the fabric will show in this biscuit cozy.
Cutting one interfacing piece.
I applied the interfacing to the wrong side of one piece for the bottom.
Right sides together, I sewed the two pieces together for the bottom layer of the cozy, using a 1/8" (3mm) seam allowance. I also left enough room open to turn the piece right side out. Once turned right side out, I slipstitched the opening closed. This was now my bottom layer.
Do the same for the rest of the layers.
Next I sewed on the ribbons. As instructed, I cut ribbon (or twill tape) into three lengths: one 9 in. (23cm) and two 18 in. (46cm).
I pinned the shorter ribbon on one of the stitching lines for ties on the TOP LAYER and stitched along both long edges of ribbon.
I sewed the longer ribbon along two opposite stitching lines for the ties, pleating it at the center. Then I stitched the remaining long ribbon along the last stitching lines for the ribbon, covering the ribbon edges at the center.
Then, I stitched the wrong the side of MIDDLE LAYER to right side of BOTTOM LAYER from the center to each corner of the Middle Layer, matching stitching lines at the center.
Next I pinned the wrong side of the TOP LAYER to right side of the MIDDLE LAYER only. DO NOT catch in Bottom Layer. I stitched along the stitching lines from small dots to the corners of the Top Layer. This part was a little tricky. If you can't make it to the dot of the stitch line that's okay, just get as close as you can.
Look how cute!!! I love it, all I need are some biscuits!
Say goodbye to cold biscuits! I'm sure there are other ways to keep your biscuit warm, but this has been the best looking so far in my opinion. The next time you bake a batch of biscuits, don't let them go cold, give them the warmth and comfort they deserve with a beautiful biscuit cozy.
]]>We have just reprinted the 303 English Cottage Kitchen pattern again after many years of being out of print. And what I especially enjoy about this pattern is the authentic detailing, which gives tips and how-to's, on stenciling, quilting, embroidery, and how to make your own tatted lace. On the whole this pattern is perfect for tabletop accessories, napkins, placemats, tablecloths and more that just brighten your experience when eating your favorite meals and having a cozy time at home.
Are you looking for a fun and creative way to add a personal touch to your home decor? This blog post will focus on making a stencil out of the floral designs given in this pattern. You can add them to your linens, to your furniture, to your clothes! This post is helpful to refer to in addition to the pattern instructions on stencils.
The earliest evidence of stenciling can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where stencils were used to decorate the walls of tombs and temples. Stenciling techniques were also widely used in ancient China and Japan to create intricate designs on fabrics and ceramics. Its a great way to duplicate designs you want to use more than once.
You will need: Stencil paper, or something sturdy like carboard or cardstock , fabric paint, blade knife, and a cutting mat.
Before you begin stenciling, make sure your surface is clean and free of any dust or debris. You may want to use painter's tape to secure the stencil in place or you can use fabric weights.
Cutting the Stencil
I printed out the stencil and cut out the design. I then taped the design down on to the stencil paper and started cutting the design out.
Make sure your blade is sharp and go slow, try to cut as clean as possible.
I cleaned up the edges of the stencil.
We are very excited to bring this special pattern back into print! The 303 English Cottage Kitchen is a treasury of sewing patterns for lovely kitchen items that will make any kitchen feel like a sweet and cozy place to cook and eat and visit. This pattern has been out of print for many years, but was the very first Folkwear pattern I ever owned. It appealed to my sense of creating a home wherever I was. I could imagine making tea and scones, and sitting in a chair by a table with my tea pot covered by a tea cozy and set on a placemat. There would be a vase of peonies and a sweet little tea towel too. Ideally, I would have all this set in a garden or maybe a cozy kitchen overlooking a garden. But it was also perfect for whatever apartment or room I was temporarily renting - to give me that feeling of an idyllic, romantic cottage. Sometimes that is the power of sewing patterns - to help you envision a look, a life, you want. Or to just give your imagination some fun exercise.
We have brought this pattern back as a paper pattern for those who prefer a physical pattern and a PDF version for those eager to sew it as soon as possible. The PDF pattern has copy shop versions (A0 and 36"). There is a print at home file (with all the page numbers noted for printing the different items - so you don't have to print it all to get just the placemat, for instance). The A0 and print at home versions are layered for printing the kitchen items or the apron (and apron is layered by size). And for the first time, we have a projector file as well! Sewing instructions and detailing are also included, of course!
We loved this pattern so much that we even have a few items from this pattern that we have released as free patterns over the years, but 303 English Cottage Kitchen as a whole is exceptional. Not only do you get sewing patterns for a tea cozy, egg cozy, placemats, napkins, oven mitts, tablecloth, and an apron, but you also get all the instructions for adding designs to these items. The pattern provides 8 pages of instructions on stenciling, quilting, and embroidery as well as several interchangeable designs for flowers to stencil, quilt, or embroider onto the kitchen items. Or make up your own designs, and using the instructions provided, add them to the things you make! Plus there are instructions for tatting your own lace! It's not that hard. On a side note, my great grandmother (born in 1898) told me many years ago that tatting lace was her favorite handwork. After seeing this pattern, I can understand why. I thought it was impossible until I read through the instructions here.
Stencil design for 303 English Cottage Kitchen. We will have some tutorials soon about using this pattern.
Stenciling information is given for application to a floorcloth, as well as instructions for how to make a floorcloth. Floorcloths were used in the 1700s and 1800s to protect floors (and rugs) and to insulate rooms, but they were also decorative and often covered in stencil or painted designs.
I don't know what my favorite item in this pattern is, but I do love napkins. And they are a great way to use smaller sections of fabric. They also make wonderful gifts. I really enjoy the biscuit cozy as well. It is so cute and makes presenting biscuits (or scones or cookies) memorable.
Many of these patterns are perfect for using smaller sections and scraps of fabric. And, they make wonderful gifts.
I also find the apron to be romantic! The words Apron and Pinafore are often used interchangeably in this pattern, but I generally call the garment an apron. However, it can be a pinafore, especially if made for girls. The pattern is sized for women (SM-LG) and girls (2-10). We will have some tutorials for sizing the adult apron up very soon. The Pinafore apron pattern can be made so that the skirt buttons in the back and the bib straps are buttoned in the back. And, it can also be made like an apron, with the waistband ending in a large sash which is tied in the back (and apron is open in the back).
All this to say, we are thrilled to be re-releasing this pattern and re-introducing it to you! If you have any questions about this pattern, let us know! We are glad to talk more about it, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
]]>When we picked the 243 Rodeo Cowgirl Skirt sewing pattern to feature this month, we got excited about the possibilities. All the different yokes, hem treatments, fabrics, embellishments to choose from! It was almost overwhelming. We had a great time making a Pinterest board of inspiration, and narrowed down some possibilities in this blog post. Esi made a beautiful skirt with some lovely floral silk and Western flair hem applique.
I went a slightly different direction with my skirt. There was a version I saw where the almost one-toned leather skirt laced on the side and had a slightly darker very small yoke. I remembered I had a nice length of grey Ultrasuede that I thought would make a great Western-style skirt. I loved the way the fabric moved and the texture it had. I decided to make View B of the pattern. View B has a skirt that is cut a little bit shorter and has a flounce sewn to the bottom of the skirt. The flounce was a good fit for this fabric because of how well it moves. And I wanted it to lace with long laces on the side.
My Modifications
The Ultrasuede had a little bit of stretch to it, so I decided to cut a size smaller than I normally would. I fall between the Small and Medium in Folkwear's grade rule, so I decided to cut a Small for this pattern. I really didn't want a skirt that ended up being too big because of the stretch. The front and back skirt facings help stabilize any stretch also.
I also moved the back plackets to the left side of the skirt. These plackets are for the laced closing, but I wanted mine to be on the side. This meant that I treated the left side of the skirt as if it were the back in the instructions for the placket and laces. I sewed the back up with one seam instead of putting in any closures. I was a little worried that having the placket and lace on the left side of the skirt would interfere with the pockets, but it really did not. I just had to be careful of not catching the pocket/front yoke in the stitching when I stitched down the plackets. Of course, you can make this skirt with a zip closure (as Esi did and shows you how in her post).
Here you can see the placket I sewed onto the skirt on the left side of the front (it will be on the wearer's left, but here it is on the right side of the skirt piece).
For the front yoke pockets, I wanted my yoke to be one smooth arch, instead of scalloped as the pattern shows. I traced the pattern, used a curved ruler to make a new cutting line, and then had a new pattern piece to use.
Original front pocket yoke with scalloped edges traced on paper.
Here you can see where I connect the two peaks of the scallop with the curved ruler.
You can see the new line drawn with the hip curve ruler. This will be my new pattern piece.
I topstitched all the seams. On the side seams, I pressed the seams to one side and stitched (like a faux flat felled seam), and for the center seams at front and back, I pressed the seams open and topstitched on each side of the seam. I pressed the seams toward the skirt at the flounces and topstitched there. I trimmed the seam allowances for all seams. Since this fabric is a little thicker than a similar cotton or silk, I wanted to reduce bulk where I could. I also used a longer stitch length than normal when topstitching.
Close up of the topstitching at center front and at the flounces.
For the ties, or laces, I used long strips of fabric left over from cutting out my pattern. I used the lengthwise stretch (or "grainline) since it felt the most stable when pulled. If you are making this skirt with laces, I think a soft leather would be amazing, but you can also use twill tape (which comes in many colors) or make your own bias tape. I think bias would work better than a straight grain woven fabric to give some flow to the ties and string.
I did not hem this skirt! The Ultrasuede does not ravel at all, not does it roll. So I just trimmed it up to be completely even, using a curved ruler where I needed to.
Sewing Tips for this Pattern
First, a very important tip for View B that I would use next time for sure, would be to label your flounce pieces clearly. Label front and right and wrong side of fabric as well as center fronts and backs. I had to rip out nearly all of my flounces because I put them in backwards on each piece! That was a huge pain. The flounces have notches that indicate front and back and side. There is one notch for center front, two notches for sides, and 3 notches for center back. But if your fabric is the same on each side (as mine was), it is easy to switch them around. I would even caution that you should label your skirt front and back fabric pieces also. They look very similar and it is easy to confuse them.
The yokes call for a lining in this pattern. You can make and attach them, as Esi did, by folding in a hem and stitching down, but for the front pocket yoke, a fabric lining is best. You can use the same fabric you are using for the skirt or yoke, but if it is a thick fabric, it is not ideal and will add quite a bit more bulk at the seams. I used a Bemberg silk to line my pocket yoke and it worked really well and hardly added any bulk at all.
Also, when placing the yokes on this pattern (or even the hem applique), I would baste them by hand (or maybe by machine) to get them to lay even and flat when you are working. For this yoke, you can stitch from the center to the edge for each side. This technique is the best way to do the yoke. You could also use the sticky seam tape at the seams of the yoke and appliques so they don't shift while you are stitching.
Finally, I hand sewed my eyelet holes for the laces. At first I thought I would put in grommets, but I decided to try hand stitching the eyelets. I cut the holes in the fabric with a grommet punch tool which was by far easier than trying to cut with scissors or even making a hole with an awl. I needed the holes to be big enough to easily sew a blanket stitch around the edge. I also needed to get through several layers of fabric. The punch in the grommet tool was perfect. I punched where I'd marked the lace holes (from the pattern) and I used a tiny pair of scissors to trim any bit of the hole that did not get cut completely.
The tool I used to cut the holes for the laces.
Close up of the hand finished lace holes. This fabric is forgiving and my stitching is not nearly perfect, but you can't really see it!
I really like this skirt! It came out very much as I imagined. I loved finding a great pattern for this fabric. And I am glad to have another winter skirt! Here I am wearing it with my version of the 212 Five Frontier Shirts - and you can see the details of how I made this shirt here.
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I've been wanting to make this 243 Rodeo Cowgirl Skirt for some time now, so when Molly and I decided to get this pattern ready for re-print I was personally thrilled, however it took me a while to pick out fabric for this project. Molly and I joyfully looked through Pinterest to find some inspiration and there were some amazing options one could do with the shape of the yokes, contrasting fabrics, embroidery, bead and sequins applique, so much to choose from. Check out the inspiration post for 243 Rodeo Cowgirl Skirt here.
I decided to go with this floral silk cotton blend fabric we still have in stock. It is a deadstock Dolce & Gabbana fabric and it is lightweight and stunning! It is not super slick like a charmeuse - it is a bit more like a crepe. If working with silk or silk-like fabrics I recommend looking at this blog post Cynthia Anderson wrote on tips for sewing tricky fabrics.
I always think it is a good idea to use French seams when applicable with delicate fabrics. I used French seams for all the seams in this skirt, except when attaching the top yoke and bottom hem flounce. Here is another blog post you can refer to for how to make French seams.
Another small change I made to the pattern (though it is suggested in the pattern) was to sew in a zipper instead of lacing the back closed. I will show you how I did that below.
This pattern is very straightforward and not difficult at all. The hardest part for me was picking my fabric and deciding how I was going to change the yoke and hem appliques, or if I was going to use contrasting fabric. I'm still wondering if I should change it!
I decided to make up my own yoke by using the shaped yoke piece H and simplifying the yoke with a large scallop. I eliminated the pockets because I felt like the fabric was too delicate for something to be tugging at it from the inside.
I followed the instructions when applying the yoke and used the same fabric for the yoke lining. The yoke is not part of the construction of the skirt, but an overlay on top of it. For my skirt, since I didn't use a contrasting fabric, so gives a slight texture to the skirt as well as a little more body at the top of the skirt.
I made a yoke for the front and back of the skirt. For the yoke going on the back skirt pieces I left the back yoke open for the zipper and just basted the yoke's raw edges to each of their back pieces.
You can barely see the yoke, but since I wanted a little more weight and structure to the skirt on top especially if I used a heavier fabric of the bottom for the hem applique.
For the zipper you will need about an 8" (20.3cm) zipper, you can purchase a longer one if you'd like. If your zipper is longer then you need make a couple large zig-zag stitches over the zipper where your would like it to end. After you've sewn in the zipper your can cut off the excess.
I used a French seam when sewing the backs together to the large dot where the Back Placket would have gone if I was using the lacings.
I used a serger to finish the raw edges of the rest of the seam. Then basted the seam together using a 1/2"/13mm seam allowance.
I placed the center of the zipper teeth on the seam line, I think its helpful to baste the zipper in place before sewing it on. Then I turned to the right side of the skirt and stitched about 1/4 (6mm) away from the seam line on each side and squared off at the bottom right before the zipper stop.
To finish I folded under on the back waist facings 1/2" (13mm) and slipstitched the facing to the zipper like so.
I wanted to give my skirt a western look by using the bottom hem applique that is provided in the pattern. I found a large scrap of light weight brown twill, heavier then the silk of course, but it worked fine.
I didn't use lining for this applique; I just folded under 1/2" (13mm) on all the top edges of the hem applique, clipping at the curves to allow them to turn easily. Then I topstitched it to the skirt hem as instructed in the pattern.
Here is how it turned out. I really do love the look, it fits the western style I was going for. I just don't know if it is an everyday skirt for me, which I would like it to be. Maybe over time I will decide it suits my style. I could also take off the hem applique if I wanted to, or shorten the skirt. Lots of ideas and options!
I am wearing the skirt here with our 210 Armistice Blouse, and it really does make a pretty outfit!
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But, there are so many great ideas for western skirts, and this pattern really does provide a fantastic foundation for all of these. The yoke appliques are amazing and so versatile. Add fringe or lace, make with the ties or with a zipper, use various fabrics - there are so many options!
FRINGE
Make your own with leather or suede, or add some your purchase. Fringe is quintessential western wear and looks amazing on this skirt. Our pattern even teaches you how to make your own fringe. Or see how to make and apply it here.
This suede leather skirt has fringe just coming from the bottom hem, and has a small embroidery design above it. Pinterest link.
This cute outfit features the fringe hanging from the hem applique (similar to our pattern). There is also piping used in the waist yoke applique (also similar to our pattern). If you want a shirt or jacket to complete your outfit like this one, check out 212 Five Frontier Shirts and 242 Rodeo Cowgirl Jacket. Pinterest link.
Another similar skirt with fringe hanging from the hem applique. Piping is used on the applique also. Here paired with a western shirt. Pinterest link.
This leather skirt also has the fringe hanging from the hem applique. This skirt also has topstitching at the seams (and belt loops were added). Pinterest link.
FRINGE and APPLIQUE
Fringe and applique go so well together. We found lots of examples of extra fun appliqué on the yoke or hems of skirts, paired with great fringe. You can use the many appliqués in the pattern, or add more of your own to the sides of the skirts. Or, adjust the ones provided in the pattern to fit the look you want.
This one has two layers of fringe and some amazing reverse appliqué on a cotton skirt. Pinterest link.
This skirt has a simple straight hem appliqué with fringe, but also has a great appliqued rodeo scene on the skirt. Pinterest link.
This skirt has fringe on a shaped yoke and appliqué of beads. Pinterest link.
APPLIQUE and EMBROIDERY
The skirt (and shirt) below is stunning with the western themed applique and embroidery.
LAYERS OF FABRIC
Another option for this skirt is to use different fabrics for the appliqued yokes or even as part of the skirt. You could use lace for the yokes or hem appliques. You could use different colored leather or suede on a leather skirt. You could layer several lightweight skirts.
This skirt has a layer of darker leather with scroll work on top of this suede skirt. I also like the lace moved to the side of the skirt. Pinterest link.
This lightweight skirt has a top yoke with fringe and studs and layered with a lace up ribbon. A lace-up yoke is included in our pattern too! You could also use an eyelet fabric for a similar look. I like the fringe at the top of the yoke. Pinterest link.
This skirt shows how you could place lace as the yoke applique for a really interesting and romantic look for the cowgirl skirt. Add lace at the hem instead of fringe. Pinterest link.
Pair the 243 Rodeo Cowgirl Skirt with the Petticoat from 203 Edwardian Underthings for a romantically layered skirt. Add lace or eyelet to the side seams and lace or eyelet to the bottom hem. I love the layered look! Pinterest link.
Make the skirt from a tulle or shear fabric and layer it on top of a pair of shorts. Or make a two layered skirt! Perfect for showing off some pretty farbric! Pinterest link.
We hope this post provides some great inspiration for making your own western skirt. The possibilities are endless (and so fun!). And western wear is very much in right now. My family is always wanting to pair clothes with cowboy boots and Stetson hats, so we enjoy these western looks!
]]>While we plan for 2024, we always reflect on the past year and honor our accomplishments. We did a lot this past year, but mostly we enjoyed connecting with you over sewing and our patterns! We absolutely love seeing what you make with our patterns and hearing about your projects. Thank you for being loyal Folkwear customers! Check out the Customer Gallery here.
NEW PATTERNS
510 Passionflower Lingerie Top
262 Spectator Hats - Turban and Cloche
PATTERNS BROUGHT BACK INTO PRINT
224 Beautiful Dreamer (size up from original)
241 Fifties Fit and Flair (sized up from original)
PATTERNS RELEASED AS PDFS
204 Missouri River Boatman’s Shirt
237 Tango Dress (sized up)
253 Vintage Bathing Costume (sized up - also sized up the paper pattern)
241 Fifties Fit and Flair (sized up)
224 Beautiful Dreamer (sized up)
230 Model T Duster (sized up)
We have had a great year at Folkwear. While the sewing market seems to slow down a little bit each year (since Covid), we are grateful that we have a wonderful customer base and fabulous stockists. This year, we also picked up Joann’s as an online retailer of our patterns. And we loved collaborating with Sarah Pedlow of ThreadWritten for embroidery workshops with our patterns! Next workshop is January 20 on Romanian Blouse embroidery. We are looking forward to 2024! We plan to release a few patterns over the year, but our bigger goal for the past few years has been to continue to digitize all Folkwear patterns. We want to have all our patterns available as PDF patterns, and keep in print as many as we can (bringing back out-of-print patterns whenever we can). We plan to continue to work on these goals throughout 2024. We are also planning to release more tutorials for sewing tricky patterns and to cover techniques used in Folkwear patterns. If you have pattern suggestions or tutorial suggestions, leave them in the comments below!
]]>This cookie recipe is a variation on Cynthia’s family recipe. Her grandmother loved cordials and liqueurs, so the Grand Marnier was her secret. This cookie is sturdy enough to withstand icing, as well as additional ingredients such as nuts and dried fruit. It is not overly sweet, and so makes a great foundation recipe for changing up the flavors or being made plain.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of two oranges
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup or more of dried cherries or substitute cranberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh orange juice or 1/2 teaspoon Grand Marnier
For a variation, add 1/2 cup of pecans
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and orange zest together. In a separate bowl, cream butter, and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla extract, orange juice, and dried cherries, (and pecans if using) combine.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture until fully incorporated. Form dough into ball, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate overnight or at least few hours.
On a floured surface roll dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut using cookie cutter and place on lined cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until barely golden on the bottom. Transfer cookies to cooling rack to cool completely.
NOTE: You can also shape the dough into rolled logs about 1.5" to 2" (3.75-5cm) thick, chill, and slice into rounds to bake the same way. I used dried cranberries here, rather than dried cherries. I also find that I had to bake the cookies for 16-18 minutes to get them done with golden brown edges.
Happy Holidays from Folkwear!
These cookies make for great holiday gifting!
Last year's gift guide can be found here!
Plus here are some great links for extras of the things we recommend in the guide:
Materials Needed:
Suggested fabrics: Medium to lightweight cotton or linen is best; poplin, voile, percale. A solid color is good if you are planning to embroidery or paint, but patterns can be fun also. A holiday-themed fabric would also be fun; quilting cottons come in many holiday patterns.
Notions: Thread. If embroidering, you will need embroidery needles, embroidery floss (DMC or perle cotton #5 or #8) and waste canvas (if doing the cross-stitching). If using fabric paint, fabric paint in your color choice and small paint brushes.
Yardage Requirements
For four luncheon napkins (finish at 15”/38cm wide), you will need 7/8 yard (.8m) of 45” to 60” wide fabric (115-150cm).
For four tea napkins (finish at 10”/25.4cm wide), you will need 3/8 yard (.34m) of 45” to 60” wide fabric (115-150cm).
Cutting
Be sure to wash your fabric before cutting. This will insure that the fabric does not shrink, and you end up with smaller napkins than you expected. Also, if you are embroidering the fabric, you can end up with distorted embroidery if it is not washed first. Press fabric well before cutting.
Cut your napkins with your fabric spread flat. This way you will be most likely to cut on the grain and connect straight edges. Note: to find the true grain and to be sure you are cutting on the grain, pull a few threads from the fabric to show the grain and cut along pulled thread lines. Cut four napkins in the sizes below:
For luncheon napkins - Cut 16”x 16“ (40.6 x 40.6cm) square
For tea napkins - Cut 11”x 11“ (28 x 28cm) square
You can choose to make different napkin sizes. For a cocktail napkin, cut 7” (17.8cm) square, for a dinner napkin, cut 19” (48.3cm) square, for a formal dinner napkin, cut 25” (63.5cm) square. Or cut square napkins at the size you desire, adding 1” to the length and width to account for hem allowance. You will need to adjust your yardage required if you change the napkin size. You could also increase the hem allowance by up to 1/2” (13mm) if you want, for a 1” (2.5cm) hem. Be sure adjust yardage if you are making fewer or more napkins, or making them larger or smaller.
Sewing Instructions
These napkins have 1/2” (13mm) hem allowance on every side.
Press under 1/4” (6mm) along all raw edges of napkin. Turn again on 1/2” hem line and stitch along pressed edge by hand or machine. You can do square corners or mitered corners. For square corners, just press up each edge overlap corners with a square edge.
Square corner. Hem is sewn with contrasting red thread.
For mitered corners, only press under 1/4” hem to start, and place right sides of napkin together at the corners, forming a diagonal, matching folded edges. Stitch a line that is perpendicular to the folded edge of inside of the napkin and goes to the hem edge. Back stitch at beginning and end.
Fold down 1/4" (6mm) on all sides.
Fold napkin at corner so hemmed edges are together and stitch at 90 degrees to the folded edge (as shown here in red).
Stitching is shown here (90 degrees to folded edge), backstitched at each end.
Cut off the extra fabric, cutting at a 90 angle to the hemmed edge.
Clipped corner of napkin.
Open the napkin up, adjusting the corner fabric and press the mitered corner. Then press on all sides 1/4" more.
Do this to all corners and stitch close to the folded inner edge to secure the hem.
You can stitch around the hem with a contrasting colored thread for a festive look. Or, stick with a thread that matches the fabric. For sewing the mitered corners, I do recommend using matching thread.
Now you can embroider, paint, or stencil a design on napkin. And/or add lace, tatting, or other edging to napkin edges for a more Victorian vintage look. See our instructions below for cross stitch embroidery, embroidery, and fabric painting.
For Embroidery
Materials:
Pattern (from our Christmas embroidery pattern):
Cut scrim larger on all sides than design area. Pin scrim in place, matching the angle you want to stitch your design. It can be on grain or on the bias. Baste to the napkin.
Begin stitching
Start at the top, center of the design and work down and outward. Holes in scrim correspond to + on graph, as needle passes through the hole only, and must not catch threads of the scrim. Each graph square represents one Cross Stitch, 10 sts per inch = 10 holes per inch. Use a #10 crewel embroidery needle, and take great care not to catch threads of the canvas, but to pass through the fabric below. Pull stitches up snugly to compensate for removal of scrim. Begin and end threads by running 1”/2.5cm tails under completed stitches on wrong side of fabric.
Stitching
Cross Stitch as indicated on graphs on the design, starting at the center top of the design. It is important to cross the stitches in the same direction, however, you can see in mine that I don't always do that. So it's ok if you miss a direction. Unless someone is going to carefully study your napkin and understand that some stitches are crossed a different way (which they won't do), noone will notice! It is helpful to take each stitch so that on the back of the work so there are only vertical stitch lines (so just go up or down with stitches in the back of the work). This will keep the work neater on the wrong side, which is great for a napkin where the wrong side might be seen. But, again, not a huge deal.
You may work the first half of the stitch in vertical or horizontal rows, crossing on the return course. In small areas it is generally easier to cross each stitch individually (figures on left below).
Remove scrim
When the design is completed, remove basting and fray edges of the scrim so you can grasp the ends one at a time and carefully pull the threads straight out. Pull shorter edges first, holding embroidery near pulling place to avoid distortion. Any scrim threads which have been caught by embroidery must be delicately cut out.
Adding monograms to garments is quite an old tradition. It seems to have originally started as a way to identify things belonging to high ranking people and therefore was also a status symbol. However, eventually monograms also became more practical (though still often for the privileged). By the 16th century, when people sent their laundry off to be washed, having their initials monogramed on the garment allowed it to be easily identified and returned to the correct person. This was especially helpful for undergarments, like the chemise.
Our 223 A Lady's Chemise pattern includes an alphabet in Victorian script that you can use for adding a monogram to the chemise. Of course, you can add a monogram to nearly any fabric - tablecloths, napkins, handkerchiefs, shirts, quilts etc. Monograms can add a bit of elegance to these things. It also adds some personalization to your garments or items. And monograms can make a sweet addition to gifts (especially baby gifts). We have a free pattern and tutorial for a Victorian potpourri sachet, and it is perfect for adding a monogram to. Small and simple, and you can try out different lettering if you make a few of them. Monograms can also be used to sign a special garment or quilt, using simple stem stitch, to identify the maker of the work (of art!).
There are many options for how you make a monogram. You can make your own design (as monarchs of old did) with your initials, combining them or overlaying them with your own special flourish. You can make very plain, simple letters in a straight stitch or embellish them in fancy fonts. Fonts can be romantic and Victorian with lots of scrolling or it can be block script or Art Deco style fonts. You can cross stitch your letters - using waste canvas or free-handing the letters. You could couch stitches so that the thread looks like handwriting. I learned shadow work at a ThreadWritten monogram workshop which was very interesting and simple. On a side note, I highly recommend Sarah's workshops at ThreadWritten, and her monogram workshop is fun and informative.
Medieval monograms from Byzantine empire - these were made of stone and used to press lead.
Royal monogram on metal from the 1700s in Europe. These combined letters (and a number) into a monogram to identify the royal.
White on white embroidered monogram in block letters with chainstitch and knotted embroidery around it. Pinterest link.
A simple block letter monogram made with satin stitch. Pinterest link.
At deco style lettering that can be used for embroidered monograms. Pinterest link.
A fancy script, cross stitched monogram. Cross stitch can also be used to make very simple letters. Pinterest link.
This is a handkerchief that I have that has been in the family a long time. The H is embroidered in scroll and with a nice satin stitch.
This is on the other side of the same handkerchief. Most likely commemorating a marriage with the year of the marriage. The letters are a bit fancier and much smaller and also done in satin stitch. Note the threadwork hem also. I think the letters are MAS and OGH.
Monogramming Your Garment
Monograms don't have to be perfect. They can be playful; and the imperfections are beautiful also.
Most traditional monograms are made with satin stitch over an outline of backstitch or split stitch, as you can see in many above. You can also do lines of stitching in chain stitch or stem stitch.
If you don't know these stitches, we have several of them shown on our blogs or YouTube channel. Many of these stitches are also taught in our Mexican embroidery pattern.
Starting the Monogram
First, you usually add a monogram to a garment after it is made. You can draw the monogram design freehand on your garment or you can trace it. For more information on transferring embroidery designs, find our blog post about it here. I often use a fine, water soluble marker to draw my designs for monograming. Sometimes I'll even use a sharp pencil on a light-colored fabric (as I did below), knowing I will stitch over the markings.
Thread for monograms is usually perle cotton or 2-4 strands of DMC floss. I often use DMC floss, but perle cotton gives a little bit of a different feel and look. Often undergarments (and handkerchiefs, etc.) were monogramed in the same color as the fabric - usually white. But, you can use any color you want. Variegated floss is very pretty and contrasting thread will stand out more. Multicolored monograms are fun. It is up to you to decide the look you want.
I also like to use a hoop for monogramming. I don't always use one when embroidering, but the hoop keeps the fabric taut and makes it easier to see the outline of the letter. It also helps me with tension when I am doing satin stitching (it is not my strongest skill).
The Stitches
I am going to show you how I did monogram similar in design to the ones in our 223 A Lady's Chemise pattern, using a Victorian script and satin stitch over a straight stitch (back stitch) with stem stitch when the design gets narrow and curved. I am using a contrasting thread so you can see the design and stitches easily.
I started by drawing a letter in pencil that shows where the wider part of the letter would be. I could have made this whole letter with stem or back stitch and kept the letter the same width all through, but I wanted to experiment with the satin stitch also.
I started my monogram with a knot at the end of my thread, but there are other ways to secure your thread, including making a few small stitches inside where the satin stitches will go.
Below are the stitches I used for this monogram.
Stem Stitch. I started with a stem stitch. This stitch gives a little more depth to the lines and helps make a pretty curve, in my opinion. Work stem stitch with a simple forwards and backwards motion, always keeping the working thread to the same side of the needle with each stitch (usually below the line, or to the outside of the curve).
Bring thread up through fabric and take one stitch about 1/4 inch (6mm) up.
Bring thread back up for the next stitch about 1/4" (6mm), and go down about half-way back on the first stitch, staying to one side of the thread.
Continue this way, staying on the same side of the thread each time and keeping working thread to the same side).
Backstitch. This simple stitch produces a straight uninterrupted line. I transitioned to the backstitch in the areas that would be covered with stem stitch. This is a good stitch to outline the area to be covered with satin stitch. It also provides a bit more relief to the design when covered in satin stitch.
Bring needle up slightly ahead of starting point (1/4" (6mm) or less) and take it back down into the fabric at the starting point. Bring the thread back up again one stitch length (1/4" (6mm) or less) ahead of the first stich and take it back down, meeting the first stitch, as you can see below.
I continued the backstitch on each side of the wider parts of my monogram.
Satin Stitch. These are simple straight stitches worked closely side by side to cover an area. Bring the needle up on one line, then down on the other one. Bring thread up again next to the first stitch and work second stitch beside the first, and repeat, filling the area and adjusting stitch length as needed.
To End the Monogram (or your strand of floss)
You can thread the last bit of your thread through the stitches that you've already made in the back of the monogram. This is an easy way to secure your thread. Then clip any remainder floss.
And that is about all there is to hand embroidering a monogram. These are handmade touches to your garments or linens that are special and commemorative. And they can be fun, fancy, plain and simple, and sometimes wonky - and that is part of their beauty. Have you hand sewn monograms? What have you added monograms to? We love to know!
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We ordered several colors of these stunning wool/linen woolsey fabrics from Merchant & Mills. I've been eyeing them for years and now that they will soon be discontinued, we decided to wait no longer to get them in stock. These fabrics would look amazing for long skirts, light weight jackets, shirts, pants, or simple dresses. They are soft with a nice drape, and have different colors on each side of the fabric. I can imagine this used for 216 Schoolmistress Skirt, 148 Black Forest Smock, Basics Overcoat, or a pair of pants or overalls from 240 Rosie the Riveter. Both sides having pretty color would also make it a wonderful fabric for the 271 Sunset Wrap (which also makes a great gift). These woolseys would also be beautiful in 270 Metro Middy Blouse, 209 Walking Skirt, or 233 Glamour Girl Dress. And for pants, these patterns would be great: 119 Sarouelles, Basics Pants, 250 Hollywood Pants, 112 Japanese Field Clothing.
This fabric also comes in a dark burgundy, teal and a dark brown color.
Woolsey Wool Linen blend - Black Coffee
Wool Linen blend Woolsey - Oxblood
We still have some beautiful Italian Wool in stock. This Italian Yarn Dyed Wool is very soft and lightweight (like a suiting weight) with a beautiful glow of muted warm colors. Use it for 256 At The Hop, 209 Walking Skirt, 233 Glamour Girl Dress, 222 Vintage Vests, 132 Moroccan Burnoose. I think it would be really cute for 251 Varsity Jacket and for 123 Austrian Dirndl as a warmer dress.
I really missed having lots of sanded twill options in our collection, so we ordered more! Our new stock is bright, fun, and rich in color. Get ready for this bright orangey-red color called Chore Red!
I think these colors are fantastic, and I think sanded twill is the best! I really want someone to make 231 Big Sky Riding Skirt out of these twills or even something from 240 Rosie the Riveter, 229 Sailor Pants, 126 Vests from Greece and Poland, 270 Metro Middy Blouse, or the Basics Pinafore Dress.
I am definitely buying some of this green sanded twill fabric during our sale. It would be classic for 130 Australian Bush Outfit. I would love it for 230 Model T Duster and 231 Big Sky Riding Skirt. This slightly heavier twill would work nicely for 133 Belgian Military Chef's Jacket, 242 Rodeo Cowgirl Jacket or 243 Rodeo Cowgirl Skirt - PDF.
Also, any of the twills would be great as cushion covers, durable and easy to clean, try it with 305 A Japanese Interior.
Cotton Sanded Twill - Chore Red
Sanded Twill - Otto Green (12oz)
Cotton Sanded Twill - Prussian Blue
We also got in quite a few Jacquard Cottons from Merchant & Mills, including some new ones. These jacquard fabrics are made up of layers of cotton, with a jacquard weave that gives it a quilted look and feel. They are actually quite warm. I've made a pair of sweatpants from a grey Jacquard we have and wear them on really cold days. These fabrics below would fit well with 305 A Japanese Interior, 206 Quilted Prairie Skirt - PDF, 106 Turkish Coat, 138 Child's Australian Drover's Coat. Molly made the 137 Australian Drover's Coat for herself out of our quilt-like Jacquard, check the blog post here. You can also see the 206 Quilted Prairie Skirt she made from one of the jacquards in this post as well. These fabrics are great for bedding as well - Molly has a beautiful blanket she made with a length of this fabric - bound on each end with a pretty binding she made with scraps of Liberty of London lawn.
This layered cotton has a jacquard weave, with fine cotton on top, no batting in the middle of this cloth, the inside is made up of a series of thicker yarns and the reverse is a gauzy cotton.
Marine Blue Jacquard Cotton - Merchant & Mills
We also have these two Viscose Challis vintage floral print fabric. They are very soft and lightweight. They would be perfect for vintage inspired garments like the 252 Beach Pyjamas, 510 Passionflower Lingerie, 241 Fifties' Fit and Flair, 247 Lindy Shirtdress, or 205 Gibson Girl Blouse.
Viscose Challis - Vintage Teal Floral Print
Viscose Challis - Olive Vintage Floral Print
These are only a few of our new fabrics, so go ahead and get shop our fabric while it is on sale! Christmas is coming up so it would be a good time to get some handmade gifts ready! Check out our gift guides from years past: last year's gift guide, gifts to be sewn, and 2021 gift guide.
Enjoy shopping and have a wonderful time with your loved ones!
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Hello! I hope you saw Folkwear's blog post I wrote about making the 223 A Lady's Chemise into a blouse. If you have not read it you can check it out here. Recently, I made another chemise to add to the Folkwear sample collection. We wanted a sample that was made of an organic white cotton voile -- a more authentic, or traditional/historic, version. We used View A, which is a bit off the shoulders (though can also be worn wide on the shoulders). Traditionally, the chemise was an undergarment made of light to medium weight cotton or linen and was often white. The lace and eyelet/beading was used to finish the neckline and sleeves openings and add a bit of a romantic touch. For this chemise, I used an eyelet lace that we already had in our stash, and the voile from our fabric collection.
Our eyelet lace already had the ruffle attached (it was eyelet/beading and lace in one!), so I had to modify the instructions to finish this chemise. The instructions have the neckline and sleeves finished with a bias binding, eyelet or beading, and a lace edging - all of which come together to provide a clean and romantic finish. We imagine that often times, you use the notions, like lace or eyelet, that you have in your stash (or have inherited). So when you go to make a garment like this one, you look at what you already have, especially if it is inherited or heirloom pieces. And this means that what you have on hand might not be exactly what the pattern is calling for. As in this case. So, you have to modify how the neckline and sleeves are finished so that you get the look you want with the pieces you have. I will show you how I assembled this eyelet lace to the neckline, and maybe that can help you in a similar situation.
Close up of the eyelet (beading) lace used.
The cotton voile I used is very lightweight so I finished all the seams with French seams. This seam finish is authentic, and it also looks more professional in my opinion. It also really gives the garment an heirloom-quality feel. French seams are also good to use with delicate fabrics like this voile. Here is a blog post on our site you can refer to if you don't know what and how to use a French seam: How to Sew a French Seam.
Adding the Lace
Instead of first sewing on the eyelet lace (which is also called beading in the instructions), I first sewed on the bias binding like the instructions say. The eyelet I use is finished on each side with lace, so I did not need to "sandwich" it with the binding and lace edging.
I trimmed the seam allowance and pressed the binding away from the bodice, and turned it to the inside. Then I topstitched the pressed edge of the binding through all layers. This finishes the raw edge of the bodice. I did the same to the sleeves.
I pinned the eyelet lace so that the inside edge of the lace (where the eyelet changes to lace edging) was about 1/8" (3mm) from the top edge of the bias binding. I stitched the lace down on that line. And I did the same for the sleeves.
Inside the chemise. You can see the stitching line about 1/8" from the top of the bias binding where the eyelet lace is stitched down.
VOILA! Finished!
You can purchase ribbon to weave through the eyelet or make your own using a binding tape maker and fine fabric. I used a satin store-bought ribbon for this sample. I finished the ends of the ribbon by turning them under twice by 1/4" (6mm) and stitching.
I have a few more pictures of the finished 223 A Lady's Chemise (View A) below. This was a fun project and I enjoyed looking through our lace collection to find something that worked for this chemise.
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I have been wanting to make a pair of wide leg pants for a year now, ever since I bought a pair I loved at a boutique in Asheville last winter. They were so comfortable and easy and fun to wear, that I knew I needed to make another pair for myself. I also knew that we had the perfect pattern in Folkwear's collection. Our 240 Rosie the Riveter has a great pair of wide leg trousers that have plenty of room, nice pleats, and back darts. I really love this 240 Rosie the Riveter pattern. The overalls are very cute, the shirt is wonderful (just make it a size or two smaller than you might think), and I also really love the dress that can be made from the overalls pattern, which is taught in the blog post and not actually part of the pattern. But, I hadn't made the pants yet. So two weeks ago, I made myself a pair of pants!
For fabric, I was first interested in a Tencel twill in a dark color, but the only Tencel twill we had in stock was an aqua. But, I also really like our sanded twills and we had quite a bit of a khaki green color, so I decided to use that. We now have several more colors of sanded twills, and if you are interested you can see them here.
For sizing, I am between the Folkwear sizes Small and Medium for waist and hips. I measured the waistband and felt that the medium size would be most comfortable and fit just right at my waist. There is little to no ease in the waist, but plenty of ease in the hips. I made a muslin to decide if I wanted to make any other adjustments.
There is a lot of room in the crotch of these pants. The crotch is very low and this allows plenty of room in the seat area for moving, squatting, and sitting (as you might be doing if you were working putting together tanks in a factory in the early 1940s). But, I didn't feel I needed or wanted quite so much room. So I raised the crotch in the front and back by 1/2" (13mm). That isn't a lot and I could have done a little bit more, but it was perfectly fine for me and made the fit better. I used our tracing fabric for tracing the pattern and making adjustments, as you an see below.
I also shaved off a little (maybe 1/4"-1/2" (6-13mm)) at the side seams near the hip. I also know that I usually need to increase the length of the legs of our patterns for myself, so I added 1" in length to the leg. These pants have a very straight leg (pattern was folded below, so it looks a little wonky, but it truly is straight!), so lengthening and shortening can be done at the bottom of the leg.
The only thing that was really different from the ready-to-wear pair I bought was that the Rosie pants have a back zip and button rather than a front fly. Since I don't love making a front fly, especially if I have to draft it myself, I decided the back zip was perfectly fine for my own pants. And honestly, I think I like it better! The front is flat and comfortable. Instead of a button in the back as the pattern indicates, I used a hook-and-eye closure, which I also liked better and found it easier to use.
I really like these pants! They will be a wardrobe staple this fall and winter. Note, the shirt I am wearing here is made from our white handkerchief linen and is made with the 212 Five Frontier Shirts (classic view without the decorative yokes). Now I want to make another pair, maybe in a fabric with a little more flow (like a Tencel twill).
]]>When it comes to lingerie, there are countless options to choose from. And Folkwear has been exploring our own designs of lingerie this year in particular, with our new 1950s-inspired patterns 510 Passion Flower and 511 Juliette's Dream. We also have the Edwardian 226 Princess Slip which makes great nighttime wear but could also be made for a more formal outing in my opinion. I've been thinking about making it recently into an everyday dress, so maybe I'll tackle that project soon. And lots of other vintage lingerie, undergarments, and nighwear patterns can also be great modern day daywear. However, this blog post will show you how I made another one of Folkwear's undergarment patterns into a blouse from the 223 A Lady's Chemise.
Folkwear's 223 A Lady's Chemise pattern is based on chemises that were worn in the mid- to late-1800s. Chemises were originally worn right next to the skin as a simple, practical garment to protect outer clothing (including corsets and stays) from sweat and body oils. However, over time, they evolved into a fashionable and seductive lingerie item. This vintage dress still resonates in style today, with baby doll style dresses, tops and lingerie with beautiful lace and bows.
Our chemise is a loose-fitting undergarment that can be made into a blouse or a dress, falling to whatever length you desire. It makes a great nightdress or a dress for everyday wear. I made a blouse and will show you the changes I made so that you can do it too!
Typically, the chemise was made from lightweight and breathable fabrics such as cotton lawn, voile, silks, lightweight muslin, and linen. For our pattern, you also need eyelet beading, lace or eyelet ruffles to finish and embellish the neckline and sleeves.
Folkwear suggests using silks, like crepe de chine and charmeuse, which would give it such a beautiful and luxurious look and feel (I don't know who doesn't love silk). Satin, cotton, or rayon challis and other lightweight fabrics such as batiste, lawn, voile, gauze, eyelet, and handkerchief linen would also work well. We recently have been loving our new cotton/linen blends from Merchant and Mills, its a great substitute for linen or cotton that would work really well. Our cotton voiles and Indian cotton are also light and breathable and would suit this garment as well. For this shirt, I used our cotton/linen blend in Blackberry. It is a bit hard to tell on the screen, but this fabric is woven like a chambray and looks different at different angles. It is very pretty! Check out or fabric collection, I am super proud of it right now, we have so many options and I just want to buy everything for myself.
Now to show you how I made this pattern into a shirt for myself. Not only did I shorten the pattern to make a blouse, I made some design changes as I went that were fun and gave me a look I was really pleased with. I love using my creativity when sewing to take a fabulous pattern and make it perfect for me (and you should too!). Lets begin!
Cutting the Pattern and Tracing the Pleats
First, I traced the pattern in a size small. I wanted to make a shirt-length top, not a dress-length garment, so I shortened the front and back by cutting the pattern about 18.5" (47cm) from the top of the center front/back on the pattern piece (I did not use the lengthen/shorten lines, but you could!). The other thing to know about this pattern when starting, is that the front and back are cut and pleated, and then they are cut again after pleating to make the neckline (after the pleats are basted). This is to make the tiny pleats easier to manage. But it also gives you some flexibility about where you want your neckline to fall.
There are a LOT of pleat lines, but don't let that discourage you! The easiest way to transfer these markings to your fabric is to use tracing paper and a tracing wheel. If you don't have these tools, they are indispensable and last a very long time.
I used a double tracing wheel here because I could set it to trace several lines at the same time.
With wrong sides together, I folded along all the pleat lines lines with dots; bringing folds to meet the second line, in the direction of the arrows. I pin-basted the pleats lengthwise from the top edge to bottom dots. This will helped keep everything together. The pleats fall away from Center Back and Center Front.
This pattern has clever ways of covering the seams around the sleeves and neckline.
Folkwear has just gotten new fabrics in from Merchant & Mills, and already had a great collection of some fine wools -- all that are perfect for fall sewing. Molly and I are super thrilled about these fabrics that Folkwear just purchased. The colors blend so well together and compliment the beautiful hues of fall. I just had to show off some of Folkwear's fall fabric collection in a blog post!
I hope these inspire you to make something beautiful for yourself or a loved one. It's always exciting getting new fabric!
First is this soft cotton and linen blend in a teal and tan gingham. A versatile cloth that is a great alternative to linen. This fabric would be gorgeous for pattern such as 121 Guatemalan Gabacha, 123 Austrian Dirndl, 142 Old Mexico Dress, 210 Armistice Blouse and others.
Then, we have a lovely sky blue and peachy-orange gingham. This Indian cotton is very soft and lightweight and would work great for tops, shirts, and dresses. 271 Sunset Wrap, 117 Croatian Shirt, 107 Afghan Dress, 212 Five Frontier Shirts, 121 Guatemalan Gabacha and more.
We love this fine organic cotton twill that has a soft sanded finish on one side; in a beautiful classic Ecru color. Perfect for patterns like 229 Sailor Pants, 240 Rosie the Riveter, 231 Big Sky Riding Skirt, 230 Model T Duster as well as other pants, skirts and lighter weight coats and jackets. We also have this fabric in two darker shades (Sand and Tan) as well as Brick.
This is a beautiful plaid Indian Cotton in a sweet orange and pale sour blue. This would suit patterns like 131 Tibetan Chupa, 119 Sarouelles, 107 Afghan Dress, 112 Japanese Field Clothing, and 201 Prairie Dress.
I think this great black and white check cotton fabric fits the fall theme of plaid prints in a deep hue. Use it for patterns like 121 Guatemalan Gabacha, 270 Metro Middy, Basics Pinafore, 117 Croatian Shirt, and 222 Vintage Vests.
I love this cotton/linen blend and I can't wait to make a dress from it. It is a soft fabric in a medium to light weight with navy blue and white skinny stripes. A versatile cloth that is a great alternative to linen. It would look beautiful for 102 French Cheesemaker's Smock, Basics Pinafore, 112 Japanese Field Clothing, 123 Austrian Dirndl, 210 Armistice Blouse, 203 Edwardian underthings, and would be suitable for other dresses, tops, shirts, skirts, and loose fitting pants.
The cloche hat became popular in the 1920s. It was originally designed in France a decade or so early by milliner Caroline Reboux, and is named with the French word for "bell" because of its typical shape. The cloche generally features a small brim or no brim and was perfect for the new short women's hair styles of the early 1920s. It's popularity surged in the 1920s with new fashions and freedoms. The hat was a huge departure from the wide-brimmed hats that were popular in the previous era, and reflected the changing fashion trends and newfound liberation of women. The cloche hat continues to be a symbol of femininity, style, and the bold spirit of the 1920s.
Folkwear's 262 Spectator Cloche hat comes from the 262 Spectator Coat pattern, and features a wide cuff that is perfect to embellish with embroidery, applique, or other trims. It can also be made from a separate coordinating or contrasting fabric or left off entirely. We recently released this hat as its own PDF pattern!
In this blog post, I am going to show you how I made the basic cloche hat. I also made a fabric flower to trim the hat and will share some tips for making one yourself. You can find instructions for making a fabric flower in this blog post.
Choosing Fabric
We have made three cloche hats in this office in the last several weeks, and each one was made with a different fabric. In general, you want to use a medium to heavy weight fabric to make a hat that holds its shape. I made the one for this post with a navy heavy weight wool blend from our collection (top photo). This fabric was perfect for a warm hat that is also sturdy. Esi made one with a cotton canvas and several layers of voile, which you can see in this post about making the 262 Spectator Coat.
And I made another that I hope to show off soon out of a lighter weight wool that we also have in stock - this vicuna wool. The photos below show the hat while I was working on it. I made the hat without the cuff and added a band of fabric that I added a ruching style to (from 123 Austrian Dirndl) and had pinned onto the hat to see how it looked. You can see the hat without the cuff, then with just a band of fabric, then with the ruched fabric. Which do you like best??
The possibilities for this hat are almost endless!
For the lining, a soft lightweight fabric is best. Think Bemberg, silk, satin, charmeuse, rayon, cotton voile. I used a navy cotton voile for the lining of this hat. Esi used a rayon/linen blend, and I used a scrap of silk charmeuse for my other hat. All were great!
Sizing
The hat comes in sizes XS to XL, which finish at 22½” (57.2cm) to 24-1/2" (62.2cm), respectively (measurements are in the pattern). However, this hat is cut on the bias which means that there is some movement or stretch that is built into the hat. You can adjust the inside ribbon band to make the hat larger or smaller by about 1/2" in either direction for whatever size you choose. So pick the size that you think works best for your head size (measure around the crown of your head), and adjust at the end of the hat making, if needed. I made my hats in size small and they fit great and did not need any adjustments. Esi made her hat size large to have more room for her hair and she was happy with that size also.
Cutting out the Pattern
For the cloche, you will need to cut one hat cuff, one hat front, and two hat backs from the main fabric and from the lining fabric. Be sure to cut the two back pieces so that they are opposites (i.e. if cutting one layer of fabric, be sure to flip the pattern piece print side down to cut the second one).
Sewing the Cloche
It is important to note that this hat pattern has a 3/8" seam allowance. This is to reduce bulk in the hat seams.
First, it is important to transfer the pattern marks to your fabric. For my wool blend hat, I decided tailor tacks would be the best way to mark the pattern. These are easy to remove and do not leave any marks that I have to wash out. Also my fabric was dark so I would have needed a white or light colored marking tool. I did not want to scrub or brush chalk out. Anyway, tailor tacks were perfect. To make tailor tacks, I used white thread and with a needle pulled the thread through the fabric at the mark on the pattern. I clipped the thread so that it marked on my fabric where the dots were located.
On the front pattern piece, I made the darts indicated on the pattern, sewing from the top dot to the dot at the bottom of the dart, with right sides of the fabric together. At the bottom of the dart, I sewed right off the fabric, cut the threads long and tied them by hand so I did not have backstitching at that point. At the top of the dart (top of hat), I backstitched to secure the thread. I matched the dots (not squares) at the top of the pattern, which I marked in the photo below with red dots so you could see it clearly. The other thread in the photo indicates the square at the top of the crown that we sew in the next step. This is important to note and make sure you sew the correct parts to make the darts. I sewed both darts on the hat front in this same way.
Now I sewed between the dot and the square, which I marked with a tailor tack - so I sewed the remaining seam at the top of the hat from my stitching (also marked by a tailor tack in the photo) to the other tailor tack. You can see how it is marked in the photo below.
Next, I sewed the same type of dart at the top of the back hat pieces. And, then sewed the small dart on the center back of each back piece. I marked the smaller dart line with red in the photo below so you could easily see where it goes. This one is a little tricky because it is so small, but it just needs to be marked clearly. I marked the start of the dart with a pin and sewed to the tailor tack.
Once the darts are in the hat back pieces, I sewed both back pieces together at the center back seam, with right sides together. I made sure to match the two dart seams that come together at the center back.
Now I was able to sew the front and back of the hat together. At the top of the hat, several seams come together to create some bulk, but you can a seam jumper to help you get over the fabric hump. My seam jumper is just some plastic pieces that you use under the presser foot to keep the foot level even when it is going over bulky seams. You can barely see my seam jumper below just behind my presser food.
Front and back of hat pinned together.
I did all the same steps for sewing my lining pieces as I did for my main fabric pieces. I have a little tip for sewing the lining darts, or really starting any seam on very fine fabric like like fine cotton voile or silk. I use a scrap of tracing fabric under the seam. This gives the fabric stability and keeps the fine fabric from getting pulled into the feed. After the seam in sewn, I just rip the tracing fabric off and I'm left with a nice seam.
Starting my seam with a scrap of tracing fabric under my lining fabric to keep the fine lining from getting pulled into the feed.
Main fabric and lining ready to be put together.
Next I sewed the cuff of the hat by sewing the center back together on the main fabric and lining. Then I put the cuff lining and main fabric together with right sides together and matching notches and center back seam.
I turned the lining to the inside and pressed it so that the outer fabric was about 1/4" to the inside (so the lining would not show on the right side).
And then placed the lining inside the main part of the hat with wrong sides together. I basted the open edges together so they could be sewn without shifting.
Back of cloche on a hat form.
Cloche hat on me. It is quite warm!
Now, what hat are you going to make? What trim would you add to it? What other questions do you have about this hat? There are so many options! We would love to see what you make with this pattern!
]]>I have had a vision of making the 117 Croatian Shirt pattern into a dress for several years. I even bought the fabric I wanted to make it in and cut out the pattern. I just didn't get around to it until this summer. Sometimes I have to stop what I feel like is important work, like making new patterns, and work on what I want to work on, which might be doing something creative for myself. I also think it is important to focus on the amazing and wonderful old patterns that Folkwear has in its collection. These are truly unique and interesting patterns and I love working with them to make something new.
This summer I was cleaning out fabric and found this beautiful European linen I had bought from Merchant and Mills. It is a linen similar to this one, but mine was an autumn orange-brown. And I remembered I had bought it for making the Croatian Shirt which I wanted to be long enough to wear in the fall as a dress. I stopped what I was doing and started on the dress. The shirt pattern actually has two lengths marked on the pattern - one to make a shirt and one to make a mid-calf length dress. I shortened the dress-length to hit a little above my knee after it was hemmed, and cut out the pattern.
I was a little intimidated by the pintucks in this pattern, but slow and steady, as they say, and they came out fine (but not perfect). There are also a lot of pleats in this pattern - at the shoulders, neck, and cuffs - but giving each a little clip, as the pattern indicates, makes them very easy to manage. I also noticed that the number of pleats at the shoulder was incorrect in my paper pattern and I adjusted them to seven and centered them (this correction has been made in the PDF pattern).
I would not suggest using a linen of the type I used if you are wanting crisp pintucks and pleats. The linen relaxes and does not stay crisp. It also doesn't love to stay perfectly straight for making pintucks. But it was exactly the look I wanted.
I had finished making the pintucks on the front of my shirt piece when I headed off to drive to Canada with my children. So I decided to use some of my travel time riding in the car (my oldest drove some of the way), making the honeycomb on the pintucks. This technique was easy and interesting and went fairly quickly. I got one side done in an hour or so riding in the car on the way to Canada, and the other side done on the way riding home. I used a slightly contrasting dark brown buttonhole thread to make the stitches. I liked using a thread that could be seen but was not as thick as perle cotton, and liked the contrasting color rather than using a matching color.
I found some buttons in our stash at the office that worked quite well to finish the project. I also like the curved cuff (and collar) on this dress. These little details make it a special piece.
I love how this 117 Croatian Shirt dress turned out! It is exactly what I was hoping for - a perfect fall-colored, cool-weather dress that I can wear with boots for now and add leggings or tights as the weather cools further. It is comfortable and pretty, and I love wearing something that has some history behind it.
]]>In the 1920's coat fashion shifted towards loose, straight, and undefined waistlines. Coat details, such as cuffs, collars, and pockets, were enlarged with options for contrasting fabrics and decorative embellishments. View A of our 262 Spectator Coat, based on a coat from 1925, is very typical of this 20's style, featuring a sweeping cape collar, big sleeve cuffs, and large rectangular pockets.
In this post I will show you how I made a version of View A of the Spectator Coat. I made some modifications, mainly to the construction of the pattern, that is slightly different from the original construction. I made a more informal, less tailored, coat without shoulder pads, sleeve heads and interfacing. However I do think referring to the "Professional Tips for Sewing Success" that is included in the pattern is very helpful. These Tips teach how to make your own interfacing and shoulder pads from Hair Canvas is really interesting. Hair Canvas gives the garment a more structured shape but without the stiffness of interfacing we have now. Cotton batting, fleece, and flannel can also be used to make your own shoulder pads and sleeve heads. But I did not do any of this for the coat here.
I picked View A of this pattern because I love the dramatic collar -- it's like a cape and it feels empowering. 266 Greek Island Dress, 270 Metro Middy Blouse (which was the first Folkwear pattern I used), 211 Two Middies, and 150 Hungarian Szur all have large collars and I really like them all.
For me, making this coat was actually a very simple assembly process, not tricky at all. This pattern may look intimidating but it comes together quite easily. I hope this post helps you also find that this coat is not nearly as intimidating as it looks at first.
Lets talk about fabric options!
Medium to heavy weight fabrics are suggested for this coat. Silk and cotton velvet would look very luxurious, twill or wool for a more casual look. Boucle (fabric made from looped yarn) and corduroy (make sure you choose a layout with nap) would be great as well. And check out our fabric suggestion post for this coat.
I used a medium-weight, blue and cream French toile cotton canvas as the main fabric for my coat. It's not fabric designed to be very warm, but this jacket is meant to have layers worn underneath and I thought this fabric would be a lot of fun to use to make a coat from. It is perfect for the informal-looking coat that I had in mind. We actually have this fabric in our shop now!
For the lining, we suggest a medium to light weight fabric like silk, cotton, or rayon. If your main fabric is quite thick or heavy-weight, use something lighter such as a cotton voile, silk, or Bemberg. I used an off-white cotton linen blend for my lining. It complemented the cream in the toile of my main fabric, and it was a little lighter weight than the canvas of the main fabric. You can also find the fabric here in our shop.
For the cuffs, collar, and pockets, you can choose anything from contrasting fabrics to complimentary, or use your main fabric. Faux fur would be really fun and fitting for the 20's era for the collar and cuffs. Boiled wool, jacquard, satin brocade, suede, leather and medium weight silk are also great options for contrasting fabrics. Usually you want a fabric of similar weight as your main fabric for these details. However, we had a cotton voile in our fabric collection that matched perfectly the blue in the toile of my main fabric, so I went with that. It is lighter weight that you would normally want to use in these details, but it worked very well. I used this marine blue cotton voile.
Another thing to consider when planning this coat and choosing fabric is how you might want to embellish it. The collar, cuffs, and pockets of this view are particularly good canvases for embroidery, applique, and fabric painting. Here are previous blog posts that show how to do some embellishment techniques. Maybe checking these out will help you come up with your own to embellishments for this coat: Chinese Jacket Embellishment, Flapper Dress Embroidery, How To Transfer Embroidery Designs to Fabric, Sewing Designs onto Fabric.
Sizing
Pick your size using the yardage chart, and keep in mind that the coat is not fitted, but very loose. So if your want it to be a closer fit, think about making a smaller size. I made a size Small. View A measures 51"/129.5cm from center back neckline to hemline on all sizes. This is meant to hit about mid-calf, but was low-calf length on me. If you need to lengthen or shorten, do so before cutting your fabric. If you do want to lengthen or shorten, you may need to increase or decrease your yardage of fabric before purchasing and cutting your fabric.
Seam Finishes
Since this pattern has a lining, the only seam finishing you really need to do is press! However, if your fabric ravels, I would suggest that you finish the seams with some type of overcast stitch (serge, zigzag, etc.).
Make sure you press really well (there are tips for pressing in the pattern!). I used to never press while I sewed and now I can't stand it if my seams aren't pressed well at each step. It really makes a difference and the assembly process goes more smoothly.
This was my process!
First I traced by pattern and cut out my fabric. View A has softer lines and a less formal structure than View B. Since I used a canvas fabric, I didn't feel the need to have more structure in this garment. So I did not use interfacing that the pattern calls for.
To start, I marked darts on the wrong side of the front and back pattern pieces, I like to press my darts in place before I stitch. And I tie the darts at the tip rather than back stitching to secure in place.
I sewed the shoulders together.
Easy seam finishing, just press seams open.
If you are embellishing the collar with applique, decorative embroidery, or any other techniques (which I would love to see someone do) do so now on an interfaced Collar piece. The interfacing here for embellishments is important to provide stability for the fabric.
Since I used cotton voile as my contrasting fabric, I doubled my voile for more opacity (since the voile is semi sheer) and stability.
If you are using three layers, as I was, it is probably wise to baste the layers together along the outer edge before assembling, just to keep everything together and neat.
I trimmed the outer seam allowance and clipped into and cut notches out of the seam for a for the fabric to lay flat when turned right side out.
Then I basted the Collar neckline edges together.
I basted the collar to the coat neckline edge between the squares, with non-interfaced collar toward coat if you are using interfacing. I was not using interfacing, so I placed the outer fabric (not my contrasting fabric) toward the coat.
I did not have any trouble matching the notches on the collar to the coat Center Back and shoulder seams. Depending on your fabric stability, you may need to clip along the coat neckline as needed to fit collar smoothly. Another good tip is to hand baste the collar onto the coat before stitching with a machine. This allows you to adjust it and not worry about pins when you are sewing.
Next, I made button loops.
To make button loops, cut a bias strip of coat fabric 1-1/2” x 10” (4 x 25.5cm). To cut on the bias is to cut at a 45 degree angle from the selvage which is the grain direction of the fabric.
Fold strip in half lengthwise, and make sure to press. You want this piece to be pressed really well before sewing because it makes it much easier to sew. I used lightweight fabric for this, and it might have been a good idea to interface my bias binding to make them more sturdy.
With right sides together, stitch 3/8” (1cm) from raw edge and trim close to stitching. Turn right side out and press. Use a loop turner, bodkin, tube tuner, or even a safety pin and string could work.
Cut the strip in half.
Like folding a paper airplane!
To form loop, fold each piece in half, bringing seamed edges together. If your fabric has a mind of its own, do like the instructions say to maintain loop’s shaped end and make a few invisible hand stitches through seam edge at 1/2” (1.25cm) from end to ensure that folded end of loop protrudes beyond button.
If you already know the buttons you will be using, adjust the length of the loops to fit buttons and baste in place along seamline. I didn't know what buttons I was going to use, so I just adjusted the button positioning when I finally pick some out.
Again, I staystitched along the neckline edge of the coat facing.
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I also understitched the seam allowances to the facing to keep seamline from rolling to the outside. To understitch, always press the seam allowance toward the lining or facing and stich to about 1/16"-1/8" (1.6-3mm) from previous stitching, or seam line.
For the sleeves, if you want more structure, baste or fuse sleeve cap interfacing to the sleeve caps. Again, I didn't feel the need to do this with the soft, more gentle, look I was wanting from my coat.
I wanted the lining of my cuff to be my outer fabric and the solid blue to be the outer cuff. I used two layers of the cotton voile again for the outer fabric for the cuffs and pockets.
I like how the cuff is assembled to the sleeve. It makes the lining assembly look more professional. It was a good tip to turn up the cuff 1/2” (1.25cm) from seam so that seam is tucked inside sleeve. This seam was eventually covered by the coat lining.
I really like this fabric combination!
Pressing up the hem of this coat has can be difficult since it is so wide. I used a ruler and marked the hem length on the right side of the fabric so I could see the hem line easily when I pressed towards the wrong side. Here I measured up 3" (7.6cm) from the edge to create my hem for the outer fabric.
I followed the steps of the lining as instructed and finished the coat.
Lining of my coat inside out on the dress form.
This was a great project with very clear pattern instructions which were easy to follow. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I think this fabric combination is beautiful. I see that toile is making a comeback again as a trendy fabric to use in garments.
I also made the cloche hat that comes with this pattern! I used the doubled-up voile for the hat cuff and the toile for the main part of the hat, and lined the hat with the scraps from my coat lining. It was a quick project that took very little fabric.
We would love to see what you make with this 262 Spectator Coat pattern! Show us your rendition and fabric combo for this coat in either view.
Below are some of our current fabric suggestions for the 262 Spectator Coat. These fabrics are also great for the hats. And we just released the hats as their own separate PDF patterns - the cloche and the turban. You should also think about trims and embellishments or contrasting fabrics to use for the collars, cuffs, and hats when looking for fabric for these coats and hats.
This cream French toile print is a cotton canvas in our own shop. It has a plain-weave with a soft hand, durable and sturdy with a midweight feel. Perfect for a light weight coat for fall and spring - a bit of a statement print (and right on trend) for an informal coat. Love those chickens!
I like this Nara Homespun collection from Harts Fabric features thick cotton fibers woven together in an old-fashioned style to create a sturdy fabric with a stiff drape, which will add to the structure encouraged for the coat. This fabric has a beautiful chrysanthemum design and has a similar color scheme as the French toile above. I think this fabric is pretty and is definitely a statement. Again, great for a lighter weight, informal coat.
This light to medium-weight woven wool woven in a pretty vicuna (light brown with orange undertone) would be a great for the main fabric for one of the coats. The plaid Italian wool below would go really beautifully as a contrasting fabric giving it a casual and vintage look in my opinion. Both of these fabrics come from the Folkwear fabric collection.
Oak Fabrics has some beautiful wools, and this pink wool blend coating is similar to the fabric of our sample above. Add applique and embroidery like the sample or use a contrasting (or complimentary) fabric for the cuffs and collar. We love pink, so this one stood out, but Oak Fabrics has some great wools.
This navy wool blend (mostly wool) is heavy weight and perfect for a classic warm wool coat. This would also be a great canvas for applique or other embellishments, and would work well with contrasting fabrics. This wool comes from Folkwear's collection.
Check out all of Folkwear's wool options here.
Bolt Fabric Boutique has a great little selection of some fabulous felted wools. These fabrics are hard to find and I trust Bolt Fabric to provide high quality fabrics. This lime green felted wool would make a statement coat and would be a great canvas for any embellishments. They also have black for a classic coat, as well as several other colors (and one plaid).
Cotton velveteen makes a great trim for these coats and hats, but it is also priced well enough that the whole coat could be make with it for a luxurious feel and beautiful finished coat. This velveteen comes in several colors at Bolt Fabric.
For something truly decadent, this rayon/silk velvet from Mood Fabrics would be fabulous to make the cuffs and collar and hats of this pattern. You can use these very expensive fabrics for the pieces that don't use a lot of yardage to give your coat (or hat) a luxurious look and feel without breaking the bank. This fabric also gives a period feel to the coat. Of course, if your budget allows, you could make the coat body from this fabric instead. This fabric comes in several colors.
Brown Bronzed Foiled Faux Fur Fabric
For another decadent, and period look, a faux fur would be amazing for the trims on this coat and to make the hats. I liked this brown bronze foiled fur, also from Mood Fabric. There are a lot of faux furs on Mood's site, and I would choose one with a shorter pile for ease of sewing.
So, what fabric(s) would you want to make your Spectator Coat from? Stay tuned for a sew along for View A of this coat where we used one of the fabrics above for the coat!
]]>There is no denying that this Halloween will be atypical since we are still needing to maintain social distance due to COVID-19. I've been contemplating how to celebrate the season myself. I have always loved costuming and celebrating Halloween. So, I don't just want to give up on it entirely this year since there is not a social aspect to look forward to.
And, for the past year or two I've been in a between-phase with a young teen who is almost "too big" for trick or treating, but too young for missing out. We have gone back and forth with going out or staying in. Luckily, we live in an area where whole families participate and adults and kids alike fill the streets on All Hallows Eve. We have alternated between hosting friends (to watch scary movies, play games, and eat treats) and hitting the streets ourselves.
Reflecting on this I have been thinking about how to celebrate this year since gathering indoors doesn't seem like a great option and trick-or-treating is not a given either. It may just be a themed movie night at home this year! I can always enjoy the costumes I see on the screen.
Since we haven't been able to go out to see movies, plays, music, etc in a while; I have enjoyed quite a few movies and TV series at home. I though it would be fun to look at some popular shows and movies that I have enjoyed this year for some inspiration. I often find myself watching and noticing costumes that are "just like" some of the Folkwear Patterns.
I recently got really caught up in Masterpiece Theater's Poldark. The first garment that immediately screamed Folkwear was a cloak much like our 207 Kinsale Cloak! Later in the series the 215 Empire Dress continued to grace the screen.
Cloak image from Pinterest from Poldark
Empire Dress from Poldark on Pinterest
The Peaky Blinders 1920's style is an eyeful. Here is a coat that is so very similar to our 262 Spectator Coat. Gorgeous!
And don't forget the 202 Victorian Shirt, 222 Vintage Vest and 263 Countryside Frock Coat!
Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker features similar menswear mentioned above. There were multiple suits worn by Octavia Spencer as Madame CJ Walker that remind me of our 508 Traveling Suit. There were quite a few references to the 205 Gibson Girl in this film as well.
Also, the costuming of the movie Colette was gorgeous! The split skirt worn by Kiera Knightly when riding a bike and walking in the part is "just like" our 231 Big Sky Riding Skirt.
Split skirt (or riding skirt) which can be worn as pants or a skirt (buttons down the side) is such a clever design!
What are your Halloween plans? Are you dressing up? Do you love to make costumes? What films and shows inspire you?
Let us know!
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