TOOL HEAVEN

I'm having a hard time deciding which of my two new tools has me more blissed out. One of them is new only in the sense that it now "lives" in my shop. The other is going to be old news to a lot of people, but my oh my, do I love it!

Here's the first:



Spot Welder

Now, is that sweet sweet sweet, or what?!

Yeah. I know. That probably isn't a reaction I'm going to get, but this is what I use to weld the backs of my China Blossoms, and for years the spot welder has been located about five miles from home, in the garage of a friend. If I wanted to make the China Blossom backs, I had to make sure my friend was home, and drive over, and sometimes inconvenience him.

It is sheer, pure, bliss to know I can walk out to my shop and throw together fifty, or ten, or a hundred backs, or even just one, anytime the notion takes me. If you were here right now, you'd be hearing a very happy sigh.

Probably, more people will be able to identify with me on the second tool. It's one I noticed several years ago, but I'd look at it and think, That couldn't possibly work as well as the package says it will. pfft. Scissors have been around for hundreds of years, and everybody knows they work just fine.

Well, I was wandering around Joann Fabrics the other day with a 40% off coupon in my hand, and no pressing need for anything to spend it on, sooooo...I bought this:



Rotary Cutting Kit

I brought it home and set it in a chair by the dining table, and left it there for a couple of days. After all, it wasn't going to work worth beans, right? I don't know why I even bought that, I'd think. But after a couple of days, curiosity got the best of me and I opened the package.
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Blatant digression: I just realized "curiosity" is a word made by adding "sity" to "curio". Huh. Had never looked at it like that before. And now that I do, DH thinks I'm a tad crazy.
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So anyway, I opened the package, put the cutting mat on the floor, read the directions on the cutter, which were easy as falling asleep after Thanksgiving dinner, picked up a fabric scrap, and...

It worked! It really worked!

What a great tool this is:



The Dritz rotary cutter itself, and a pinking blade from Olfa

By the way, this is what happens when you get your photos from the net, instead of taking them yourself. The blade does not, in fact, dwarf the cutting tool. They're, like, out of proportion, you know?

I got the pinking blade at Michael's the next day. The cutter is a Dritz, and the blade is an Olfa, but the manufacturers seem to have done the intelligent thing and standardized the blades, so you can mix and match.

A couple of details now: There's a safety feature on the cutter, a cover that keeps the blade's edge so it isn't exposed until you press the cover's rim against something solid. Also, when you aren't using the tool, you can lock the cover, so you don't accidentally press it, and the now-exposed blade against something you'll regret, like maybe your hand.

Using it is as easy as it looks. Place the fabric on the mat and smooth it down. For a good, straight, cut put the ruler on top and just draw or push the wheel along it's edge.

Wow. This is going to make creating my new fabric gift bags so much easier!

Funny, too. I was enthusing to my Mom about the cutter, and she said, "Yeah. That's what your Aunt Jewel used, to cut the strips for those rugs she made. Your Uncle Walt would sit at the table with the cutter and cut all the strips Jewel needed." And I never knew that. It gives me a fresh, cozy image of Uncle Walt and Auntie Jewel, two people I already adored.

Coming soon: Actual photos of the new gift bags. I'm really proud and excited about them.

EASY-PEASY: DRESS BECOMES CORSET

The two problems with corset, as I see it, are the usually high price, and the difficulty of getting into and out of them. Laces! They look great, and they give you a certain degree of size flexibility, but they're a pain when it comes to getting dressed and undressed.

I was a little tired of my old corsets anyway, and wanted a new one for the Pirate Festival this past weekend.

What you'll need:

• A dress with simple lines, sleeveless
• Loopy braid trim to coordinate with the dress
• Lacing cord or ribbon
  

Here's what I did:

Start with a dress that fits reasonably well, and has simple lines. A Princess-line is ideal. You might have one in your closet already, or you might need to buy one. It's tempting to get one that's a little small, or a little big. Resist the temptation. If it isn't at least close to your size, you'll have to make adjustments in the back and/or shoulders.

This one was half off at Goodwill, making it just $4.50:

Fold the dress exactly in half, lay it flat, and split it up the middle.




Make sure it's exactly halved, or the front edges will be skewed.

Turn under and stitch a narrow hem on the newly cut edges. If there's a facing at the top, open it out, and keep hemming.




Now you'll want to try the dress on, to see how much you'll need to turn under on the front edges to get the gap you want. I opted for about 2-2/15" (5.1-6.4cm) Press that much to the inside, and stitch close to the edge. You've just created a self-faced front opening.




Turn the corner sharply when you reach the bottom hem, and continue, to complete top-stitching detail.

Sew your loopy trim on, turning the top end to the inside, and adding a rosette to cover the bottom end.



You'll want the trim to extend over the garment edge, for ease in lacing:



Hope you can see what I mean!

Sew the folded-back top edge invisibly to secure it, and to hide the end of the braid:






Ready to lace up!


Add the laces, try on the corset, adjust, and tie with a bow. Unzip the back to remove!




Finished!

As you can see, I left the dress its full length, which gave me long panels over the red taffeta skirt. That's one option, but you might want to cut it off waist-length, or leave a bit of a peplum. It's all good.

I didn't get a good photo of me in the bodice. That would have happened the first day, when I didn't get a photo of me at all. Lame, I know. The second day, it turned cold and rained like a pig, and all I have is this one, with layers upon layers of clothing, the "wrong" blouse, and not standing up. Ah, well. Such is life, yes?




Layered and bedraggled, with fearsomely fun pirate comrade

The trim I needed for this project happened to be on sale when I went to Joann Fabrics. The entire thing cost me less than $10!

TURTLENECK TO VEE

A while back, someone gave DH a tie-dyed mock turtleneck shirt. He wasn't too thrilled with it, but I thought it was cool, and, lucky me! after a few washings it no longer fit DH, but was just my size.

The only thing was, the style wasn't really flattering. I decided to change it from a mock turtleneck to a vee-neck. Then, after I was all finished, I decided it might be nice to share the transformation. After it was finished. No process photos!

So I did the first part on another turtle, with photos, and took pictures of the last steps and finished shirt of the tie-dye.

Here's how:

Start by cutting the collar off a turtleneck shirt. Leave the serged edge on the shirt. That gives you a finished edge that won't fray, and isn't raw.



Cut Off the Collar


Now fold the shirt exactly in half, lengthwise, matching side and shoulder seams. You want to be very careful here, or your center cut will run off askew, and your new neckline along with it.

Figure out how deep (low) you want the vee to be. You could try the shirt on 5" (12.7cm) seemed right for me. Mark that point, then carefully cut straight down from the center of the old neckline to the mark.










Turn the shirt inside-out, and turn the edges of your downward cut back until you have a straight line on each side that ends at the shoulder seam.



Turn back the edges


Pin them in place and turn the shirt right side out. Embroider a running stitch near the edge of the vee with heavy coordinating floss, and add a couple of buttons to finish it off.



Gotta cut that label out, lol


That's it. You've converted a turtleneck shirt to a vee-neck.

Now, if you'd like to have some more fun, you can do the same with the sleeves. Truthfully, I'm scrambling to get ready for the Cracked Pots Garden Art Show at McMennamins Edgefield, with set-up happening tomorrow, so I didn't complete the sleeves, but I did get a good start.

If your shirt has sewn-on cuffs, you can cut them off just as you did the collar, again leaving the serged edge on. Decide where you want the sleeve to be slit. I decided on the outer arm, rather than at the top or bottom of the wrist, for instance. Create a vee just the way you did at the neckline, but not so deep, maybe 3" (7.6cm), turn back the flaps, embroider, and trim with a button.

Voila! You now have a vee-neck shirt with 3/4 length slashed sleeves!



Doing the same to the sleeves