Wednesday, August 10, 2011

It's What I've Been Working on Wednesday




Well, I said I wasn't going to post about the camper this week and get back to wool. How about campers on wool? Does that count :)? I wasn't thrilled with how the first camper pillow turned out, so I made another. This one I liked, so I made a few more to sell at my fall shows. I love how the lavender cashmere one looks!

This is the one I made for our camper.

I didn't center it, so there was too much room at the top. I embroidered "Happy" above the camper to fill the space, but it looks sloppy. I think i'll seam rip out the embroidery & use applique letters instead.

I had an email from a reader last week, asking me how to avoid waviness, especially with serging. I don't have a serger, so I am not familiar with it, but when I use a tight zig-zag stitch, I get plenty of waves! One of the things I do is steam iron it. I thought i'd post an example, so everyone can see the difference.

Here's the before ironing...


...and after ironing...


Big difference, in my opinion! Anyone else have any anti-wave tips?


This is not wool, but my son outgrew a favorite t-shirt last year. I would have passed it on to a friend, but it had some stains on the bottom of it. Since my son loved it so much, I incorporated it into a new shirt.

I cut out the rectangle that the graphic was on, cut a slightly smaller rectangle out of the front of a bigger shirt (picked it up for 40 cents at the thrift store!), and sewed it on the inside. It looks cooler now that I washed it, with the edges curling, but here it is...

My son's really happy with it :).

10 comments:

Karen Meyers said...

The technique I use when appliquéing on wool or any other fabric is to simply put a piece of paper underneath while zig zagging. They sell paper for this purpose, but I just use any old sheet of notebook paper I have handy. When you are done, just tear the paper away. Little bits of it will stay underneath the stitching, but if you do this on a T-shirt, they will dissolve after a few washings. It works great!

Resweater said...

Thanks, Karen! Do you put the paper between the applique & the item, or underneath both?

Karen Meyers said...

put the paper underneath both, in other words on top of the feed dogs on your machine.

Archie and Melissa said...

hi kris!
oh my gosh!
i LOVE your pillow and your son's new shirt!
you are so inspiring!
xoxox
melissa & archie

Resweater said...

Thanks, Karen! I can't wait to try it!

Thanks, Melissa!

Jeff D said...

Your trailers are marvelous! Love, love, love them. Gave me a great big smile! Amy

Celeste said...

I've done that with a couple of my son's shirts. They sure get attached to some clothes.

Denim Diva 2day said...

I use the paper method also.

Another benefit of the paper method when appliqueing on lighter fabric. The paper provides body so enough thread feeds out to prevent tunneling. You know when the stitching puckers up into a hump.

If you want more lasting stability you can use a light weight fabric and leave it in place when you are done.

Jody Bishel said...

The camper pillows rock! I bet they'll sell quickly. My so just went through his t shirts and gave me a bunch that he's outgrown but still likes. I'm sewing them into a bedspread for him.

Unknown said...

Such a good way to recycle kid's shirts! It's my favorite way to revamp t-shirts!