Drop Your Scarf on Your Dinner Plate? There's an App for That!

Out at a dinner-meeting last night.  In my attempt to carefully fold my 60-inch long scarf/wrap and place it on my chair, I dropped it on my dinner plate.  Yes, the dinner plate contained food.  Not my ideal food fare but for a local Japanese Seafood Buffet I have to admit I was impressed. (For the record, Kumo Japanese Seafood Buffet.)

Yes, there was that moment of cringe as the wrap was no other than my newly sewn 'wrap of the season.' It was this GORGEOUS silk/wool blend teal print.  As soon as I saw the fabric I had to have it as it screamed "I am your next wrap." Now the wrap wears is dressed in my stir-fried, sauteed green beans.  Though unsure what the sauce was I am certain it was oil-based.

Like most, I grabbed my wrap and ran to the restroom to rinse with cold water. Always the remedy right?  Wrong!  I recalled a small app on my iPhone by Clorox.  Yes, folks, there IS an app to give you guidance on how to handle various stains - the Clorox myStain app.

If something oil-based drips on your garment DO NOT ADD WATER!

Here is the clever trick if you are on-the-go when this happens:
1) Blot off as much of the offender as possible with a clean napkin
2) Sprinkle some artificial sweetener on the stain - yes, you read that right and it's about the only good thing that pink packet is for
3) Let it sit then shake off the excess sweetener
4) When you get home, pre-treat with liquid laundry detergent or dish soap - I HIGHLY recommend Dawn dish detergent (the blue stuff)
5) Wash garment as you normally would - in the case of my wrap, I hand-washed in cold water with the Dawn dish soap
6) Do NOT dry the garment unless the stain is removed.  Drying it will set the stain

So far, so good as it looks like my wrap made it unscathed.  Thank you Clorox!

This is a nifty app to have on hand and also includes laundry advice.
     

Sew Versatile Denim

Denim is our fashion staple. As a sewist I have begun to embrace this fabric as one of my favorites (the other being wool).   Some history, denim was first made in France but came to America in 1492 with Columbus on the ship Santa Maria (source: All About Cotton by Julie Parker. see Rain City Publishing). Sew...when I wear denim, I like to think I am '"dressing like the French!"

From the runway to the farm to the assembly line, denim is everywhere and sewn into everything. I used large pieces of denim as a cover for my couch to protect it from my crazy dogs. It looked nice and resisted tears. Despite it's simplicity and ruggedness, sewing with denim can pose challenges especially knowing how to determine the correct denim fabric for the desired garment.

Denim is simply plain old cotton fibers woven into a twill weave.  In classic blue denim, the warp (lengthwise) yarns are dyed indigo blue and the weft (crosswise) fill yarns are white. These white and blue yarn fibers give denim its characteristic look. Any fiber woven into a twill fabric has the classic twill diagonal lines on the reverse side.

The steeper the diagonal lines the greater the number of warp yarns per inch. The steeper the diagonal, the higher the quality of the denim. This is a sign of a tight, compact weave that is resistant to tearing and wears well.

Denim comes in different weights (measured in ounces), which can create confusion unless one understands how to pair the proper weight denim with the garment design style when sewing.

DENIM WEIGHT RULES OF THUMB

Take it from me if you try to make a fitted pair of jeans from a lightweight, drapey denim or a drapey pair of trouser jeans from a heavier weight denim, you will be unhappy.  I've "been there, done that" a couple of times, which is how I taught myself to understand the significance of pairing the correct denim weight with the correct garment style.

Recommended non-stretch 'classic' jeans sewing patterns:

J Stern Designs 0037 Misses' and Women's Jeans available through Pattern Review

Silhouette Patterns 3300 Lana's Jean

Vogue Patterns 8774

For trouser jeans, try Colette Patterns 1024 Juniper

To Stretch or Not Too Stretch....

Stretch denim has jumped onto the fashion scene. Why? Because the fit is a bit more forgiving.  Everyone laments about not finding jeans that fit and struggling to fit themselves when sewing jeans (self included).  This is a topic for a later blog post. Here are a few understandings I have gathered on the subject of stretch denim. (And, it is possible that as I learn more, this may change.)

Choose Your Spandex Wisely

These are two different species of denim and I have observed many people using the term 'stretch denim' to mean denim with a little bit of stretch.  Here more than ever it is critically important to understand how to read a fiber content label and apply the right fabric with the pattern.

The wrong pattern paired with the wrong stretch fabric can lead to a garment that is either way too small or sags in all the wrong places.

Recommended jeans patterns for denim with 2-3% spandex:

Kwik Sew 3315 Stretch Jeans

Angela Wolf 4200 Angel Bootcut

Petite Plus Patterns Jeans

Recommended jeans patterns for denim with 4-5% spandex:

Jalie 2908 Stretch Jeans

Kwik Sew 3807 Stretch Pants

Stretch Pants from Kwik Sew 3807

The March, 2013 issue of Lucky Magazine offered this color-blocking style suggestion for denim. I suppose it's a good way to use up leftover pieces of denim from past projects.

Happy Denim!!

Corner Office Kudos to Stila

Sometime ago I was approached by two colleagues - two female colleagues. They stopped me in the hall outside my office.  "What are you doing?" they queried backing me into my office - the only space I thought I was safe until now. "Huh?"  was the best I could muster.  Again, they pressed "What are you doing? To your face? What are you doing to your skin?  Something is different you look wonderful."

I had to think for a moment. Only one thing was different. "Stila!" I exclaimed. Stila One-Step Correct. I had purchased it from Sephora only a couple of weeks prior to being accosted by my colleagues. A few days later, someone else asked me the same question.  I can't say enough good about this product.  It is worth every penny.  I used it almost every single day and the bottle lasted over 8 months.  I don't use any other foundation with it either. It's considered a primer but use it like you would make-up. It evens out skin tone using three different color corrects and includes some moisturizers to nourish the skin.  Plus, it's got that super cool helix look akin to good old DNA.

There are similar products manufactured by traditional drugstore cosmetic brands that cost less.  I haven't tried them so I can't compare.  I am very happy with this one and don't care to rock the boat.