Trace Stitching Knowledge

2012-10-24T19:48:00.002-07:00

Meet Croqui

She is my friend, I like to dress her up or down and sometimes give her color and some fancy place to go.

This bare sketch with weird looking lines is called a croqui. This is a fashion figure-hence her disproportional body-it is used as a base for designing clothing. Croqui's are popular, everyone has one. More specifically every fashion designer has the croqui of their choice that they use when sketching for a client or new fashion line.

You might have seen those beautiful sketches of dresses that you wish you could wear or that looked that good in real life. Well this is where it all begins.

I am on a mission to design clothing through my croqui, lets call her.... Marta...Bertha...no... I've got it. Claire, Claire the Croqui.

Meet Claire.

Anchor Stitches

2011-05-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

Anchor stitches hold your threads down so they don't unravel. But you probably only know it as back stitching. Well back stitching is an anchor stitch but the proper name is "reverse stitch". A lot of people believe that you need 20 back stitches to hold down that seam but realistically you only need 2 stitches backward and then you can continue forward. The reverse stitch is the most common anchor stitch but there are many to choose from.

Trace Stitch:
   If you don't know this anchor stitch you might not understand the name of my blog. A trace stitch is just that tracing a stitch that was already there. Trace stitching requires you to sew directly over a previously sewn stitch. This is the STRONGEST anchor stitch. It is great stitch to uses in a sleeve or anyway that is seen by the outside and you don't want to show a large tack or a seam that has a lot of wear hence why it is great in a sleeve

Hand Tied Square Knot:
   This anchor stitch is when you leave your thread ends long and then tie a square knot in each end. You would use this seam in a light weight fabric that is delicate and you wouldn't want to use a back stitch in.

Shortened Stitch:
   When you begin and end your stitch you can simply turn down your stitch length and it will hold together and not come undone.

Machine /Feed-dog Knot:
   This is a time consuming anchor stitch but it strong and great in certain situations. When you begin your stitch lower your feed-dogs so your fabric doesn't move and then continue to sew. You machine will create a knot in your thread that will hold strong. Then after about 5 stitches, lift your feed-dogs and continue sewing.

Chain-off:
   This is a weak anchor seam because all you do is continue to sew off your fabric. This will create a chain in your thread but this could unravel with time

Sealant:
   This technique requires fray check or another sealant. Pour a few drops on your seam start and end to glue them to the fabric. Be careful when you use sealant because it can often dye your fabric a yellowish tint and it also crusts and is not very pleasant looking.

I will be showing samples of each of these hopefully soon. If you have any questions please let me know.

Me.

2011-05-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

My name is Kari Hardy. The past two years have been a whirlwind. I wanted to be a Governor of a state one day and here I am teaching sewing classes at a university. I took my first beginning sewing classes two years ago and now I teach that very class. I blog to not only teach my students but teach anyone who never would have thought they would love to sew. Never pass up unforeseen opportunities, and never say never.

Christmas break creations

2011-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have been MIA I was "busy" enjoying my christmas break at home. I hope everyone had an equally wonderful christmas break. For christmas my parents gave me a body form! I love it, Cameron calls it Kari 2 and threatens that when I am too busy juggling school and work this semester that he is going to hang out with her instead. But I have managed my time wisely so far for that not to happen.

I knew that once I started this new semester, which started this week, I wouldn't have much time for sewing. I am working part time and going to school full time. I am taking a sewing class this semester though so I am hoping that will allow for some sewing time. Although I wish I could jump ahead and get into a more advance sewing class but I have to take sewing 101 essentially before I can move on. But it will still be fun. We will be making a pillowcase, pajama pants, a skirt, and a button down shirt which I am excited for because I want to learn how to make a collar. But the class I am taking next semester we get to learn how to make jackets, ties, lining for clothes, and all sorts of other techniques and clothes.

So over the Christmas break I knew that I should get all the sewing I could in. So I made an outstanding 3 dresses and a skirt for me and a skirt for my sisters niece. It was so fun! I loved rummaging through my moms huge collection of fabric and patterns and got to work. I wanted to show all of you the things I made so here they are.

First, A simple and very comfy long sleeve dark blue dress.

The second is my favorite so far, very fitted oxford style wool dress. I work it this week to work with brown boots, dark blue tights, and a large brown woven belt and it was so comfy and so cute.

The third I have to thank my sister for because she and my mom purchased this fabric for a dress for her last year but one year later and she still hadn't made it, she gave the fabric to me. I love floral prints if you haven't noticed yet. I haven't worn this dress yet but I am excited to because it is soft, comfy, and very girly, or my type or girly :)

This is currently my favorite skirt I own. I dont think that the pictures do it justice because this is the more beautiful fabric I have found. My mom bought it for a down comforter in my bedroom at home, which I also LOVE. I got to use the extra fabric to make this pleated pencil skirt. While shopping over christmas break I found the perfect cardigan from Jcrew for it.

I hope you like my creations! Let me know if you want to know anything more about each dress like what patterns I used or where we got the fabric from.

Create: Amy Butler's weekender travel bag

2010-12-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

So I have been lusting over this bag for a couple months now and have been trying to find the pattern but it is so old that no one carried it anymore. Then finally amazon came to the rescue and I got it for $14. I was too excited to wait so I went and bought my fabric before the pattern had even arrived. (I got the yardage online) While I waited to searched the internet for other bloggers that had made this bag and there was a treasure trove of good information and tips out there and were very helpful. So the pattern came and I got to work. I worked non-stop on this till I was done. I wanted to take it on my thanksgiving break with me and show my mom when she came up a week and a half ago. I finally finished after about 3 days. and here it is my favorite piece of luggage I have ever owned, and I made it, me, girl who is learning how to sew! I just have to admit that I am pretty proud of myself. :)

ReCreate: Pullover into a Cardigan

2010-12-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back from Thanksgiving break which was great. We spent it with Cameron's family in Washington and it was fun to be a part of a big family for once. I have been busy working on several things but havent had time to post pictures yet. So here we go. This is a sweater that was..well I will just say it, super ugly. Well I guess not really ugly just boring. So I decided to spruce it up a bit. I have been loving floral patterns lately and so I found this great fall floral fabric and paired it with a great burgundy bias tape that I made.

So I just cut up the center like I did with the last sweater and then added the bias tape to the two cut edges and the the bottom of the sweater. Then I sewed on the bias tape to both sides of the panel of the floral fabric and then sewed the panels to the sweater. Then I sewed on these cute buttons that I found in a 5 cent bin at my local craft store.

I love this sweater, I wore it on thanksgiving and it was a hit. It was so easy to do and I got the anthropology look that I was going for. I wish I could take better pictures. I am getting a dressform for christmas and I CAN NOT wait!! I have always wanted one. It will not only make sewing easier but it will make taking pictures easier and make my clothing look better. But until then you get stuck with my lame pictures.

Here is the before picture, our ugly carpet makes the sweater look even worse.

ReCreate: Pullover into a Cardigan

2010-11-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

My recent inspiration is Grosgrain's embellishment month. For everyday in November she is recreating a cardigan that she purchases from a thrift store. I got excited when I saw her turn a pull over into a cardigan because I had several old ones that would be perfect for it. Check out her site and her embellishment ideas here.

Here is the original. I cut straight up the middle of the sweater

Folded it over twice to hide the raw edge and sewed it shut. I didnt use grosgrain ribbon or bias tape which added a cool little ripple but I suggest using it. I used it on a sweater I did the same thing to today and it looked much better. The ribbon makes the sweater material stay straight.

I added a fabric flower and some folded circles for a fun little effect

I really like it. I wore it today and it was great. I created a new one today that I like even better but I am still doing the finishing touches. I will post it tomorrow.

Create: Apron

2010-11-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Noelle and I made aprons this past Saturday and it was super fun. We finished them yesterday and here is what they look like!

Create: Laptop case

2010-11-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend I stumbled upon this super cute tutorial and immediately wanted my own! I had some left over fabric that I LOVE but it was too small to make anything substantial with so this craft was perfect. It only took me about an hour total and I use it everyday. It was super easy and fun.

I used a light blue fleece for the inside

and pink buttons

I LOVE it. Here is the link. Make one for yourself!

Create: Pumpkins

2010-10-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today Cameron and I carved our pumpkins! I was so excited cause he made me wait this long. we went to a pumpkin patch a week ago and got the best pumpkins they had. Ever since I have been browsing the internet and stalking martha stewart for some good pumpkin carving images. I could not find any that I liked until I stumbled upon a carved pumpkin that was a Death Star and one of Darth Vader but Cameron said "You are being more nerdy than I am now" and thats when I moved on.

Guess which one I chose?

Ha ha well mine is the Alien and Cameron's is the scary face. I love them both. It was a ton of fun but mine took about 2 hours!

Create: Baby Kimono

2010-10-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

I finished! and it was SUPER easy. I love it, it is SO cute. Other than the fact that I have nothing to do with it now ha ha I just love making clothes for little kids/babies. I got the tutorial from craft gossip but here is the link so try it out. I hope one of you have someone to give it to or have a baby yourself :)

Shirts! Shirts! Shirts!

2010-10-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

My shipment of shirts came in today!! I am so excited but now I am going to be BUSY BUSY BUSY! So I better get to work. I will let you know when the shirts become available to buy!

Create: Baby Kimono!

2010-10-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today I am working on a baby kimono that I saw on craft gossip and just fell in love. No I do not have a baby or will be having a baby soon but it was just too cute to pass up and super easy, so why not give it a try? plus it it helping me practice on my french seams. I will post pictures of the finished product soon. I just need to go buy bias tape which I am off to do right now! in the mean time check out the tutorial

Create: Skirt with big bow

2010-10-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have been obsessed with the pencil skirt that has an oversized bow on the waste line. Like this skirt, and this one, and this one. But this one is BY far my favorite! It is beautiful and just screams feminine, classic, and sophisticated. It is in my eyes, the perfect skirt. So of course I want it. Yesterday I was browsing fabric for a different project and spotted the perfect fabric for this skirt that I have been wanting to make! So I dropped all of my other fabric and walked out of the store with a yard and a half of my beautiful pencil skirt with a bow fabric.

I got home and got straight to work. I didn’t want to mess this skirt up it had to be perfect. I decided to make a sample skirt to try out making the bow (which is located here) and I wanted to play around with the shape and design so I made a miniature skirt to model the skirt I wanted to make.

I made two pleats in the front because I liked the look of it and I added too darts in the back to make it more fitted. It turned out SO cute! I love it. It would look just adorable on a little girl although the measurements are quite off. Now I have to make my skirt. But I don’t have the time today I have swim practice and I am teaching a cooking class tonight. I am making Deer Valley Turkey Chili. It is SO yummy

For those of you who want this look but are intimidated about sewing your own skirt from scratch Kathleen Frances shows how to make this skirt from a skirt that would be too long or big for you. She features it here on her blog grosgrain fabulous in the section Thrifty Thursdays, one of my favorite blogs to read.

This is the back of the fabric, Cameron and I can't decide which side we like better. I think Cameron is still deciding if he likes it at all.

This is the fabric I fell in love with then I saw it.

Here is the sample of the skirt that I want to make out of the fabric above.

It might change though.

This is a sample for a skirt I am going to be making soon.

Sorry the picture's aren't that good of quality and my carpet is disgusting.

Create: A Halloween Twirly Skirt

2010-10-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Aren't my nieces SO cute! They are adorable. These are 3 skirts that I made for them for halloween, but really for them to wear the whole month of October. They are cute simple twirly skirts that are SUPER easy to make. I used this WONDERFUL tutorial to make them. I highly suggest it. She just ask's that you dont use this pattern for profit.

I picked three different fabrics and made a main skirt piece which was 3 inches shorter than their waste to knee length and double their waste size. I then sewed on a large hem which was 2 strips the length of the skirt and 3 1/2 inches wide. The I made a casing that was the length of the skirt and 2 inches wide. The casing is for a ribbon to tie it together but for these skirts I made a tie out of the fabric I was using. There are TONS of different ways to make this skirt just google Twirly Skirt and you will find tons, here's another cute one that has a great tutorial.

I love making clothes for these little girls, they are some how more fun and turn out super cute! Plus, they look cuter on them than they do on me :)

ReCreating: Your Old Winter Coat

2010-10-17T15:53:00.002-07:00

So I had an old winter coat in my closet that I hadn't worn in two season because I didnt like that it came down to my knee's. So one day while I was stumbling upon the blogs I follow I found this wonderful idea from www.grosgrainfabulous.com in her Thrifty Thursday section. I thought it was a wonderful idea so I set out to try it myself! All I did was cut the bottom of my coat off. I cut how long I wanted my ruffle and then sewed the lining back onto it so you couldn't see the ugly back of the fabric. I gathered it and then sewed it back on but this time to the front of my coat. I love it, it is super fun and look just like the coats that are for sale today that have this similar look. So go find a coat in your closet and try it yourself! you will be amazed at how simple it is to ReCreate something you already own.

ReCreating: The White T-Shirt

2010-10-17T15:53:00.001-07:00

I am happy to say that you can purchase this shirt at http://www.etsy.com/shop/KariHardy

This is a White T-Shirt that I had in my closet that I want to make look like some of my Jcrew shirts that are fun and different but still a comfy T-Shirt. I love the way you can make a simple white shirt look unique like this great one shoulder shirt

So I cut out some circles, folded them in all different ways and sewed them on to make this ruffle type effect. I used a Zig Zag stitch to sew them on tight. I LOVE this shirt, its so fun and comfy.

Newest ReCreation: About Me.

2010-10-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

My name is Kari Hardy and I am a student at Brigham Young University in boring Rexburg, Idaho. I just recently got married and now Rexburg is not that bad anymore. I have sewn with my mother growing up but mainly let her do it, watched, and got to do all the fun parts. Now that I am starting a new life together with my husband I decided to take up sewing on my own. I just got my first sewing machine and the creative juice's have been flowing ever since!

So here is a little about my creations.

I have always loved clothes and fashion. You could say that my style is Jcrew, Banana Republic, and a talbots kinda look. I have always loved the clothes that they create but since getting married I have realized that my budget from them had depreciated. So I set out to make or redesign clothes to make them look like I bought them at a high end store like anthropology. I havent gotten up the courage to sew my own clothing yet out side of clothes for babies and skirts with a pattern. So I started working with clothes I already owned. My first ReCreations were a T-Shirt that I just added some ruffle circle to and then an old coat that I cut off the bottom and added a ruffle to the top. I got the inspiration from grograinfabulous and her thrifty thursdays. I love following blogs and seeing what others are creating and I decided to start a blog myself. So here it goes. Post #1 down who knows how many to go :)