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Imagine the Possibilities – December 2018

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The Possibilities...

December 2018

Sawyer Brook Distinctive Fabrics Sewing Pattern SBP101!

In this issue of Imagine the Possibilities, we focus on two sample tops we made with LeZag and Forest Falls fabrics using the new and first Sawyer Brook Distinctive Fabrics Pattern, SPB101!

Sewing Pattern SBP101

SBP101 is a sewing pattern for a very easy, very simple, very loose-fitting, fun to wear, unlined top. Sleeveless with fold back lapels, seamed only at the shoulders. Falls below the hip line at the center back with a semi-circular hem line that rises at the sides, reaching 3 to 5 inches below the waistline at the center front. Wear it open in the front or closed with the use of an accent pin.

SBP101

Sample 1: Forest Falls

Sample 2: LeZag

Sample 1 – Materials Used:

  • SBP101 Size M
  • 1 yard of the self-contrasting Forest Falls wool blend fabric for the Back-And-Front Piece
  • 1/4 yard of the Pontey – Burgundy knit fabric for the contrasting binding and shoulders seam cover.

Sample 2 – Materials Used:

  • SBP101 Size XS
  • 1 3/8 yard of LeZag wool blend fabric for the Back-And-Front Piece
  • 1/4 yard of the JerseyWool – Black knit fabric for the contrasting binding and shoulders seam cover.
  • Spirale shawl pin for closure

The Making of Sample 1: SBP101 Made With The Forest Falls Fabric

The Forest Falls fabric is a self-contrasting fabric printed on the front only. This fabric is 60″ wide which meets this pattern width requirements.

Illustration 1

Illustration 2

Placement & Cutting

The Back-And-Front, pattern piece 1, was aligned with the grain of the Forest Falls fabric and cut on the fold (Illustration 1).

The binding, pattern pieces 3A, 3N, 3L, 3R, 3C, and two of the optional pattern piece 4 were aligned with the cross-grain and cut, without the seam allowance, over a single layer of the Pontey – Burgundy knit fabric (Illustration 2).  This is to create a single-fold binding that can be attached using a zigzag stitch. The zigzag stitch firmly secures the binding to the Forest Falls edges and, at the same time, provides a nice finish to the edges of the Pontey – Burgundy binding without the need for a fold-under.

Illustration 3

Illustration 5

Illustration 4

Illustration 6

Stitching & Finishing The Shoulder Seams

We chose to use the method described below to cover the seam at the shoulders for: 1) having the option to wear the top on either sides of the fabric, and 2) added accent and style.

Close the shoulder seams using a regular seam (Illustration 3). Trim down the seam allowance to 1/4” to reduce the bulk (Illustration 4). Open the seams and press.

Place the Shoulder Seam Cover strip (Piece 4) over the shoulder seam (Illustrations 5- 6) and top stitch both sides of the strip using a zigzag stitch (3.6mm wide and 1.5mm long). Use a top thread to match the Pontey – Burgundy fabric with the bottom thread to match the Forest Falls fabric.

Illustration 7

Illustration 8

Armholes Binding

Stitch the ends of each of the Armhole Binding Strips 3A (Illustration 7). Trim the seam allowance down to 1/8″. Press the seams open. Fold lengthwise and press to form two separate binding loops (Illustration 8).

Insert the edge of the fabric at the armholes all the way between the folds of the binding. Baste stitch the armhole bindings to the Back-And-Front armholes. Sew in place using a zigzag stitch 3.6mm wide and 1.5mm long.

Illustration 9

Illustration 11

Illustration 13

Illustration 10

Illustration 12

Illustration 14

Binding The Neck & Contour

Connect the Neck Binding Strip 3N to the Contour Binding Strips 3L and 3R (Illustration 9) matching the letters marked at the ends of each binding strip. Press the seams open. Turn inside out to form a 90-degree angle corner (Illustration 10).

Connect this newly-formed binding to the remaining Contour Binding strip 3C matching the letters marked at the ends of each strip. Press the seams open. Trim any excess seam allowance. Fold lengthwise to form a 1/2” wide continuous, single-fold, binding loop for both the neck and contour (Illustration 11).

To connect the binding, start at each of the lapel corners inserting them all the way inside the 90-degree corners of the binding (Illustrations 12 – 13). Pin or baste stitch to secure in place. First, attach the binding at the neck (between the two lapel corners) by inserting the edge of the fabric all the way inside the fold of the binding. Pin or baste stitch to secure in place.

Starting again at the lapel corners, insert the contour edge inside the fold of the binding (Illustration 12-13). Pin or baste stitch as you go to secure the binding in place. Work starting at the left lapel corner and stopping 2 to 3 inches before reaching the center back. Repeat starting at the right lapel corner and stopping again near the center back. Make any required adjustments to the binding length at the center back. Zigzag stitch in place (Illustration 14).

The Making of Sample 2: SBP101 Made With LeZag Fabric

LeZag fabric is a wool jacquard fabric featuring the Missoni classic zigzag pattern. In making the sample, we wanted to end up with a “V” shaped zigzag pattern at the center back and a horizontal zigzag pattern in the front. To achieve this, the Back-And-Front, pattern piece 1, was placed and cut twice on the bias.

Illustration 15

Illustration 17

Illustration 16

Important: The center back bottom corners of each half were placed at identical starting point in the zigzag pattern. A 5/8″ seam allowance was added at the center back of each half piece. 

Placement & Cutting

Note that the Back-And-Front pattern, Piece 1, is marked for placement both along the grain, or on the bias. To cut the first half, the pattern was placed face up – alining the bias placement mark with the zigzag pattern (Illustration 15). To cut the second half, the pattern was placed face down and placed at 90 degrees with the first half – aligning the bias placement mark with the zigzag pattern (Illustration 16).

Stitch the two halves together (Illustration 17) at the center back using your preferred stitch type. We recommend basting or hand stitching to perfectly align the “V” pattern prior to machine stitching.

Proceed to stitch the shoulders and covering the seams as described in “The Making of Sample 1” above.

Binding

The binding, pattern pieces 3A, 3N, 3L, 3R, 3C, and two of the optional pattern piece 4 were aligned with the cross-grain and cut over a single layer of the JerseyWool – Black knit fabric (Illustration 2 above).  This is to create a double-fold binding that can be sewed on using a straight stitch.

The JerseyWool – Black is a very lightweight jersey knit fabric. We recommend reinforcing it with a lightweight fusible interfacing (ex: Sof-Knit – Black) to stabilize it and minimize the increased stretch factor when its is cut into narrow strips. 

Follow the same methods described in “The Making of Sample 1” above to apply the double-fold binding at the armholes, neck, and contour – except that you may chose to top stitch this double-fold binding using a straight stitch.

Alternative single-fold binding fabrics are the Pontey – Black or the PonteLight -Black that can be cut and applied as described above for the Pontey – Burgundy binding under “The Making of Sample 1”

Recommended Fabrics & Contrasting Binding

If you end up giving any of these ideas a try, be sure to send us a photo of your beautiful creations to receive a $5.00 Sawyer Brook coupon!

As always, your feedback and suggestions are most appreciated. Let us know what fabrics you would like us to carry and how we can make your Sawyer Brook shopping experience more enjoyable.