I am almost finished my #sewtogetherforsummer Wrap dress, which you might have read about last week. Due to some careful pattern/stripe matching I am happy with how things are turning out.
This Sewaholic pattern, the Yaletown, has been a joy to work with. This is my second Yaltetown, my first one was made with a woven fabric, not a knit. So second time around, sewing it up has gone pretty smoothly. The only changes I made to this pattern, just like the first time it was made, was to make the bodice slightly larger as I love the loose, comfortable feel of it. I also lengthened the bodice just an inch.
I’m not sure how it happened but I did manage to have a closely matching thread in my stash!
Before getting into the nitty gritty of sewing, I did a few test runs on this knit fabric with a stretch needle in my sewing machine and various widths of my zig zag stitch – until I got the perfect skinny zig zag stitch. I know my Janome has a stretch stitch, but I’ve never been interested in it!
I remembered to reinforce my shoulder seams with twill tape to prevent any excess stretching.
The only thing left was hemming it up. So I hung it in the closet to hang out for a day. Relax those fibres. Chill, so to say!
Then I got distracted … as I sometimes do … on the Designin’ December Facebook Group page. I was curious and asked the question “… sometimes I have minor changes to a pattern floating around in my head, sometimes I have major ideas for a project – HOW DO YOU RECORD THESE PLANS? Pencil on paper? a computer program? What do you use?” There was a common answer … a notepad full of Croquis to sketch your ideas on. These are just some of the books being used by other creative sewists. I found a dozen more for sale on-line.
Then I got to wondering if there was something I could use on my iPad to draw my ideas. I have a long commute to work and back and I certainly don’t like to waste that time, but the internet connection is not always strong during my commute and sometimes it can be a bumpy ride and with a shaky hand! Also, since I was only wanting to give computer designing a try, something FREE would be preferable. Searching on my Apps gave me dozens of choices. Reading reviews made me want to give this one a shot!
Have you tried something like this yet? This App is a bit more complicated than a pencil on paper or a Croquis sketchbook but I’m looking forward to learning a vector App. One advantage, besides planning and saving my projects digitally, is if I really learn how to run this App or something similar on my laptop, I can design using proper scale and specific measurements. It seems that I’ve only just begun!
So tell me, how do you record your sewing ideas? pencil and paper? Croquis sketchbook? A computer program or App? Which one? Have you any reviews you can share?
Happy Sewing!
STASH BUSTING WITH THIS PROJECT? 0 metres! But all that’s left is the hemming! (139.7 metres remaining!)
Interesting! I actually do the back of the envelope thing. It’s not really good for keeping a record of ideas, as all those scrappy sketches get lost, but it does momentarily satisfy the need to put the thought down somewhere. I think using the app on a long commute sounds perfect.
I’ve made notes on the envelope before too. So has my sister and when she gave me a couple of boxes of her vintage patterns, when she was no longer sewing, I noticed her notes on there. Ideas from a previous owner! I’ve also picked up a vintage pattern or too with interesting notes on the envelope or inside from the previous owner. It’s quite interesting!
I wrote on the back of my favorite patterns because I knew I would make them again and never remember how I changed it. As I never had a dressmaker’s dummy it used to drive me crazy trying things on for adjustments. That plus the fact that the top of me and the bottom of me could never agree in what sìze we were. Your fabric is beautiful, by the way, but where is the photo of the finished dress?
Oh the finished dress is almost done, just needs some hemming. Soon!
I use whatever scrap of paper is near by, and the put it in a folder. A digital method sounds much more organized!
That works too. I am sort of in between methods and not sure which way I will end up going, so I’m a mix of bits of paper and digital!
The app seems like a good idea. I might have a look for an Android version though tbh there are a lot of much more basic things I could do to organise myself!
There are lots of paper ways to organize yourself. I think there are dozens of digital ways too. We have to find something we are happy with and stick with it!
I am hopeless at recording ideas. I used to sketch a bit but mostly things are just in my head. Nice idea to use and app to record stuff and your iPad. Long commutes are mind-numbing but this would be a really fun way to pass the time. Xx
My head is getting too old to hold any more information! 😂 and this App definitely entertains me!
Interesting app Linda. I’ll be following along to see how you get on with it. As for me, I’ve always sketch ideas, but will check out apps now as it sounds fascinating
There are so many to choose from, it’s worth a try!
Wow, an app is a lovely idea! I usually just grab paper and pencil, but I love the idea of a well-designed app making life a bit easier and the sketch more…uniform? Going to have to check that out. Can’t wait to see the finished dress…
I found plenty of Apps to help us out – guess you could easily pick one to suit your tastes! The dress is almost finished … and just in time as the sun has come out!
I’m hopeless at keeping records of my changes, and I tend to just carry a little notebook about with me and drawing (badly) what I want to do. I’m not sure I want another app!
My bad drawings were defeating me. I couldn’t figure out what I had drawn after time. I find with things I self draft that an app is the only way to keep track but I’m sure an actual pattern drawing course would achieve the same thing!