It’s Sew Easy – Lights, Camera, Action!

24 Jul It’s Sew Easy – Lights, Camera, Action!

The hardest part of filming for television is the preparation. Several days ago I traveled to Cleveland and completed three episodes for the PBS show, It’s Sew Easy. TV is a lot of fun but it’s not so easy 😉

My segments featured ribbon skirts, petal skirts and tunics.

One of the things I truly love about traveling is learning from others. In April, Julie and I spent four days in the Tampa area presenting trunk shows and conducting Tunic Bible Workshops.

In one of the workshops this lovely lady wanted to embellish her tunic with mini green pom-poms. Easy enough around the placket but when it came to the sleeves, she wanted just the pom-poms to show – no tape. 

She and Julie eventually created a facing for the sleeve, which concealed the tape and gave her the look she wanted. I loved this.

I loved this so much it became the topic for one of the It’s Sew Easy segments. The theme of the season focuses on resort wear and vacation sewing. I began by making a poolside tunic for myself with a Lilly Pulitzer cotton poplin I found on Etsy.

It’s true…..even colorful Lilly Pulitzer fabrics need embellishments!

After seeing a monogrammed tunic in a catalogue, I couldn’t resist and added a 5-inch monogram to the lower left front.

The photo below illustrates the result of adding a facing.

For subtle shaping, I added slight back darts which disappeared into the fabric’s design.

After completing my tunic, it was time to make the television tunic featuring bits, pieces and an almost completed tunic known as  ‘Step-Outs’.

I chose a coral embroidered cotton fabric from my stash for the demo.

I completed the monogram at home on the Creative Icon, and arrived at the studio with the stabilizers intact minus the magnets.

To create facings for your hems and sleeves:

1. Measure the width of the finished area.
2. Cut a 2 1/2″ inch strip of fashion fabric 1 inch longer that the width. (My sleeve is 12″ wide so I cut a 13″ strip)
3. Stitch ends together using a 1/2″ seam allowance
   
   
4. Turn under and press 1/2″ of the facing 
5. Mark the seam allowance on the right side of the facing.
6. Place pom-pom trim just under the marked seam allowance with the pom-poms facing away from the seam and towards the folded edge.
7. Baste pom-poms in place.
8. Pin right sides of the facing and garment together.
9. With a zipper foot, stitch closely to the pom-poms.
10. Press.
11. Turn.
12. Hem.

To up the cuteness factor, I couldn’t resist placing pom-poms in the center of some of the flowers. They provide an additional texture and create a 3-D element to the fabric……

Viola!

R I B B O N   S K I R T S

Julie and I say we met through skirts…. not ribbon skirts, but it was Julie who wrote the Ribbon Skirt Tutorial for my blog in 2013.

Ribbon skirts are so fun to plan and sew. They can be made in any color combination and 6 years after introducing the tutorial I found it was ready for prime-time….

In addition to the ones we made in 2013, I created two additional skirts for the show along with step-outs!

One for Summer……

and one for Fall.

Since the tutorial, I tweaked the tutorial just a bit to make it succinct for a television presentation. Below is a summary, and though a couple of changes have been made,  I encourage you to read the original tutorials HERE filled with photographs for the varying steps.

SUPPLIES

1. A SIMPLE skirt pattern –  pencil straight or A-line
2. 1 yard to 1 ½ yards of midweight prewashed cotton fabric for your skirt base
3. One 9” invisible zipper in a color to coordinate with your ribbon
4. Approximately 19 – 20 yards 1 ½” ribbon. (My skirts are a  finished length of  19”  and features 15  rows of ribbon, plus the ribbon used for the facing.) Add rows accordingly for additional length.
5.  Thread in colors to match your ribbon. Note – since the seam for each layer is hidden by the layer above, it’s not imperative to match each ribbon color exactly.

MARKING THE SKIRT BASE

1. Sew the darts and hem the base to your desired length. (front and back)
2.  Beginning ¾” above the hem, mark horizontal rows at 1 ¼” increments. This will provide a ¼” overhang for each row of ribbons  which will conceal the stitching line. I mark with a heat soluble pen which will disappear when touched by the iron.
3. After drawing the horizontal rows, number the rows starting at the bottom.

SEWING the RIBBONS

1. Starting at the bottom, pin the ribbon along the horizontal row.
2. Place the needle in the far left position to stitch as close to the top of the ribbon as possible.
3. Stitch – press from the back – then press from the front. Pressing as you go will keep your ribbons and base flat which is what you want.

1. If you’re using a heat soluble marker, remember to press from the bottom so you don’t erase the rows you’ve sew carefully marked.
2. Topstitch the upper ribbon at the lower edge

Note: Stitching two or three rows on the front skirt then two or three on the back skirt allows me to check on the accuracy and make sure the ribbons are matching.

ASSEMBLY

1. Finished the seam allowances with a serger. Covering the seam allowances with bias tape is an option as well as sewing with straight stitch and following with a zig-zag stitch. This step will bind the ribbons allowing you to treat the ribbon covered pattern piece as a single piece of fabric. This step will keep everything in place when you match the sides.
2. Insert an invisible zipper

 WAISTBAND and CLOSING

Using the ribbon as a facing provides a NEAT clean, simple finish and is easy to do

1. Cut a piece of ribbon slightly larger than the waistline.
2. Stitch at a 5/8” seam – trim the seam allowance, clip, turn and turn under the edges.  Below  you can see topstitching the upper row not only holds the ribbon in place but gives it the finished look of a waistband.
3. Slip-stitch the facing to the skirt base.

While there are many steps, it’s an easy sew, and No One will believe you made it!

Since Petal Skirts were the subject of the last post, I won’t elaborate other than to say I chose not to wear one so I’d have enough variety. Also I was behind a table for the entire episode.

It’s not easy reducing garment making into 10 minute presentations, but it can be done! I hope you’ll find the upcoming episodes helpful and somewhat entertaining. I’ll stay in touch about airtimes.

And now………. book sewing is over…….. book editing is at last over.……… sewing for television is completed….. it’s time to sew for  p u r e  p l e a s u r e  🙂

Until soon!