Adding Rhinestones as an Embellishment

Yesterday, everyone asked how did I attach rhinestones to the bolero jacket in the previous post?

My response:

I hand sewed the rhinestones on. The rhinestones come linked by very heavy white thread. Each link has space enough between to stitch. I use the same color thread as the garment or filament thread so it will easily blend in. At the ends, I pull a few rhinestone off the chain and fold back the thread then glue them to the back of the chain. Where the two ends meet, I try to secure as well as possible to the garment. I also try to put the joining ends in a place on the garment that isn't highly visible.



There are a variety of rhinestones trim that you can purchase. Some come with stiff netting attached that can be sewed between the dress and lining or facing. This type is more difficult to sew. It's hard to get close to the stones without breaking needles.

If anyone has more suggestions, please feel free to comment.

Thanks,
C

Maximizing Your Cutting Time

Like most of you who sew, life can sometimes cut into sewing time. My grandmother, Louise, often shared tips, techniques, stories about projects and making your "gift" work for you. Boy, do I miss those days. There was a time when my grandmother worked in a garment factory, and they cut multiples of a garment type at the same time. This is one of my favorite time savers.

Most of the time I wear pants to work due to the nature of my environment and occupation. My office (IT unit) is located in the basement of the administrative building and I do travel from campus to campus with an occasional trip to another state. Fitting my pants has been somewhat of a challenge. So after I find a pattern that I like and make the necessary adjustments, I cut multiple pairs at the same time.

Here is how:

When I completed the skirt for, M5597, I liked it even more. So I decided to make the pants as well. I selected three different fabrics (1 -rayon/linen blend and 2 stretch woven) that I wanted to make them up in.

The fabric cuts need to be the same width - this makes for easy cutting

Lay the fabric cuts evenly on top of one another

Pin the pattern pieces and cut



That's it!

Consideration - the weave of the fabric needs to be similar. The "give" of the fabric will play into the wearing ease of the garment. I sometimes make the outer seam allowances 1" instead of 5/8".

With cutting M5597 I could only cut two at the same time. The two stretch woven pieces were 60" wide and the other was 54" wide. A few inches can make a world on difference when cutting wide leg pants.

Happy Sewing!
C