Creative articles about sewing

Mood blazer, handy sewing tips and must-haves

Mood blazer, handy sewing tips and must-haves

Coming up with the colour palette for the Time to Shine! capsule wardrobe, these fabrics played the leading role. In this blog, I’m making my second blazer for the capsule wardrobe on the BERNINA 590 Crystal Edition, sharing handy sewing tips and must-haves for every sewist.

Image of BERNINA 590 Crystal Edition.

BERNINA 590 Crystal Edition

It’s your time to shine! Experience the beauty of the B 590 Crystal Edition. With an incredible inspiration kit including dazzling Swarovski® crystals, extra feet and exclusive embroidery designs, this limited edition will let your artistic side shine. The handy trolley set and embroidery module make this Crystal Edition complete!

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Klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie

Combined with the boiler suit

Fabric and pattern

The blazer is made of white cotton with a little stretch and beautiful line drawings of faces. The fabric is from Mood fabrics. (Perhaps you know that from Project Runway.) At this New York fabric store, I was allowed to select a number of fabrics online as the second prize of the #sewunconventional challenge. I often saw this fabric on Instagram and so it was a must have. Thank you Mood!

The pattern for the blazer is one that I have used many times. Now I went for a more classic version; a tuxedo jacket. One of the examples of the jacket in Knipmode has the same colour scheme. So in addition to the beautiful Mood fabric, the lapels and the welt pockets were made with leftover black imitation leather from an previous project.

Mood fabric and pattern

Lovely corner

Handy sewing tips and must-haves

For a number of years I have been collecting sewing tips and handy must-have gadgets to sew smarter. I will share the sewing tips and must-haves here based on the process of making the blazer.

Transfer the pattern

Transferring a pattern to the fabric can be done in different ways. The most time consuming is basting the pattern. If I can’t prevent it, I make sure I have contrasting basting thread. Do not baste with long threads, because they get tangled up faster (And now I hear what my mother was taught: Long threads equals lazy seamstresses ;-)). Make the loops big, then it will stay in place better if you have separated the pattern pieces and cut the basting threads.

 

Contrast

When the fabric allows, you can mark the contours of your pattern with a tracing wheel. With this cotton it goes excellent, with viscose or silk fabrics you have to be careful that the fabric is not damaged. It is best to test it on a piece beforehand and see what it does. Is it possible to iron out the holes that arise again, for example. If no holes remain visible in the fabric after you have gone over it with the wheel, you will still have to baste or work with a disappearing marker. With the latter, testing first is also useful. You want to make sure that the marker does not remain visible.

 

Use cardboard, not a cutting mat

On pattern pieces that needs to be interfaced, you can also this to transfer the pattern. Therefore you cut the interfacing to exactly the same size as the pattern piece.

Transfer with interfacing

Other than pins

Before you sew pattern pieces, the most commonly used must-haves are pins (duhhh…), but what if pins don’t work, for example if you damage the fabric with it or it is too thick to pin. Then use wonder clips. The imitation leather used here is very flexible and pinning is possible, but it is very handy to use the clips for the seams.

A very handy sewing tip that I often use is masking tape. With this you can easily attach labels, loops or buttons before sewing without it shifting again. But it is also useful when making the welt pockets in this Mood blazer.

Masking tape easily rips off

Small pieces of masking tapes will do the trick

You can easily tape pattern parts together before sewing the side piece

Handy sewing feet

By now I have collected quite a few BERNINA sewing feet and this makes sewing even more fun. I share a number of feet that I use very often and as far as I’m concerned are definite must haves on your wish list.

3A

Not sure if this comes standard with every BERNINA machine, but the Buttonhole foot with slide #3A  has helped me get over my buttonhole fear.

Image of Buttonhole Foot with Slide #3A.

Buttonhole Foot with Slide #3A

Sewing any number of buttonholes of exactly the same length ✓  Flexible choice of buttonhole length up to 30 mm ✓  With or without cording ✓  For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓ 

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This blazer has buttons on the sleeve and a half-open sleeve slit. Something I hadn’t ventured into in the previous versions, but now confidently and fairly quickly created 6 buttonholes.

18

Button-sew-on foot # 18 is super handy for sewing on buttons and also the loop in this Mood blazer. You select the foot in the menu and then select the button icon between the buttonholes stitch options. There you set the stitch width. I always test whether it goes well by manually moving the needle from one hole in the button to the other hole. If this goes well you can start. The machine will stop automatically after a few stitches. Usually I start again after that, so that the button is sewn on tight.

Image of Button Sew-On Foot #18.

Button Sew-On Foot #18

For sewing on buttons and hooks ✓  The rubberized sole holds the button firmly in place ✓  For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓ 

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Not only for buttons

Assembly line

Chuffed

Secure

52

If you work a lot with ‘sticky’ fabrics, then a Zigzag foot with non-stick sole # 52 is a must have a.k.a. good investment. Before I use the welt in the pocket, I sew it wrong sides together along the pattern piece. This sewing tip makes it easy to sew it on at the correct width.

Image of Zigzag Foot with Non-Stick Sole #52.

Zigzag Foot with Non-Stick Sole #52

For all utility and decorative stitches ✓  Non-stick coating on the sole ensures it slides smoothly ✓  For plastic, vinyl, leather, etc. ✓  For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓ 

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5

The last must-have foot is  Blindstitch foot # 5  and not only because you can sew a blind seam with it… Sewing tip: This foot is also useful if you want to easily topstitch nicely on the side.

Image of Blindstitch Foot #5.

Blindstitch Foot #5

For sewing invisible hems ✓  Barely visible stitching on the front ✓  For 5.5 mm and 9 mm machines ✓ 

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In this blazer, the hem is stitched using this foot. You choose stitch 9 and after the hem is secured, the lining is applied by hand.

Blindstitch foot 5

Stitch 9

On the inside

Lining folded in

Thread in the colour of the lining

Mindful job

With the help of the sewing tips described above and the must-have gadgets and feet, the Mood blazer is ready. I like him soooo much!! And it can be combined very well with items from the capsule wardrobe and with existing items in my closet.

Time to Shine! capsule wardrobe

With jeans

Semi circle skirt

Megan blouse

Finally

Must haves for the shopping list

  • masking tape
  • wonder clips
  • tracing wheel
  • disappearing marker
  • contrasting basting thread

And for the coming birthdays and Christmasses you know what’s on your wish list: Feet!

Love,

 

Marlies

@madebyLIESL

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