First results with our own fabrics

Just out of the box and now it happened: two of those fabrics my husband and I designed now are actual garments!

Well, it did not just happen… I did some thinking, and draping the fabrics in different ways to find what kind of garment to make. Plus I had only ordered a yard each for a start, so that further limited my choices of what to make. With those bigger sized patterns, I knew I wanted some drape or pleats to add movement to the pattern. The fabrics are cotton sateen and cotton poplin, somewhat more on the stiffer side, which made me go for cutting on the bias, which always adds softness and drape to any fabric.

  

For sewing with fabrics cut on the bias (in a 45° angle to the actual weave direction of the fabric), I’ve made the experience that it is very helpful to staystitch the whole pattern-piece all around.  Staystitching means sewing along the edge within the seam allowance, in order to stabilize the fabric and keep it from stretching, which it is more prone to do when cut on the bias.
Especially for the side seams the staystitch helps when sewing the front piece that was cut on the bias to the back piece, which I did not cut on the bias. I used to only staystitch the armhole edges, and then it was quite fidgety to fit the side seams. Ones staystiched this is so much easier! For the hem edge it is not as necessary to stay stitch, but if sewn to a block stripe which was not cut on the bias, like with the yellow stripe in the dress, it also is helpful to staystitch the the bottom edge.

Looking back: these are the original watercolor dots now used in the fabric for the top

That’s it for today. I hope my experience with staystitching for fabric cut on the bias is helpful!