Pfaff air threading and a Tesselate Tee!

There’s a lot going on in this post because I’m offering you my thoughts on not one product but three! 

So, a bit of background first…I used to be a keen runner but various injuries forced me to stop and then I never quite got started again. Fast forward at least 3 years and I’d gained weight which I wasn’t happy about, I felt sluggish and lacking in energy, I wanted to lose the weight for the good of my health and mental wellbeing. So, coming up to date, the return to running is going well (if cautiously…) and I’m losing some weight which in turn has inspired me to try making some of my own activewear. Fortunately for me Melissa Fehr of Fehrtrade has become a sewing friend of mine since first meeting her at the Sewing Weekender a few years ago and she generously offered me a copy of her Tesselate Tee pattern to try. I’d helped test her Rouleur leggings last year so I already had that pattern. Part of the beauty of Melissa’s patterns is that she gives you really comprehensive instructions to be able to sew activewear using just a regular sewing machine if you don’t own an overlocker. I’m in the fortunate position at the moment to be a Pfaff Brand Ambassador and I have their air-threading Admire Air 5000 on loan, along with a Coverlock 3.0 as well so this all seemed like the perfect opportunity to make some new running kit. 

Suitable activewear fabric is not something I have in my stash other than the scraps left from testing the Rouleur leggings so I had a little online search and came across Frumble fabrics. They have a good range of activewear fabrics at competitive prices as well as an impressive selection of suitable elastics and other trims or haberdashery you might need for this sort of project. I bought a metre of plain navy fabric and a metre of navy camouflage print, along with navy soft waistband elastic, some navy fold-over elastic and, finally, silicone grip elastic. [One point I should add here is that I decided not to pre-wash the fabric, this was based on my own knowledge and belief that synthetic fabrics are usually more colour-fast than natural fibres. I was wrong. The navy came off on my hands as I was making it up so as soon as I finished both garments they have been through the wash after all. I have alerted Frumble so I’m not saying anything here that I haven’t already fed back to them. Overall I’m pleased with the fabric quality and I learned my lesson-prewash even if you think it doesn’t need it!]

I opted to go for a medium size Tesselate top, Melissa has recently layered the pattern so now you only need to print off the size or sizes that you want, I wavered between small and medium according to my measurements. The small probably would have been fine but the medium gives me a little more room without the constant thought that I should be sucking in my wobbly bits! One of Melissa’s USP’s with her patterns is interesting seam lines which means, as well as striking designs, you can often use up small pieces or remnants of suitable fabrics. The Tesselate has a variety of options including short or long sleeves, thumb cuffs, a hood (with ponytail hole!) and back zipped pocket. 

I cut the leggings a mixture between small and medium and I’m happy with the fit of the end result. I had enough fabric for long sleeves on my Tesselate and, although there’s a pattern for the back pocket, rather than print it off I made my own. 

I opted to put the pocket in the back left diagonal seam because I decided I could reach it comfortably behind me and use the zip easily whilst moving if necessary. I drew onto the pattern how big it needed to be to accommodate the essentials.

I placed spot and cross paper over the top and traced off the shape, adding 1cm seam allowance to it.

a new pocket bag labelled and ready

I played around with the fabrics until I was happy with their placement, I had enough of the blue spotty fabric for the back and front side panels, everything else I divided between the two navy fabrics.

Because I was going to be sewing a fair bit of the garments together directly with the overlocker I join the pieces with the pins at least 2-3cms away from, and parallel to, the cut edge. Then it’s safe to sew without the pins being anywhere near the blade.

I’ve made another little video to demonstrate how the air threading works on the Pfaff, you’ll need to bear in mind that it might seem like it takes a while to thread and so where is the advantage in air threading but that’s because I’m trying to explain as I go and I was sitting at a funny angle behind the camera whilst I did it.

After two years of owning the Quilt Ambition 2.0 (now discontinued) I’m used to the quality of Pfaff machines so it doesn’t surprise me that the Air Admire is sturdy (no shifting about on the table while you sew) and very speedy, with a superb quality of stitch. It doesn’t take long to get to grips with the air threading and, as I mention in the video, there’s an automatic threader for both needles too! I couldn’t get the hang of that at all to start with but it’s amazing what a difference it makes if you read the instructions and follow them! Of course, this is an expensive machine and I understand that not everyone will have that kind of budget but if you are considering an air threading overlocker (there are now a lot more models on the market than just market-leader Babylock with prices gradually coming down) then this one is most definitely worth thinking about.

I inserted the invisible zip on the sewing machine, then attached the pocket bag that way too. The T-shirt goes together pretty quickly considering the number of pieces-most pieces are cut singly because they are asymmetric-if you’re using the same fabric throughout it would be an idea to label your pieces in some way so you don’t get them mixed up.

I find it very useful having a variety of stitches to choose from especially when sewing with stretch fabrics, the 3-step zig zag was ideal when I was sewing the elastic into the waistband, I also have an ‘elastic’ stitch which is useful. A lot of machines, even quite simple ones, will probably have a stitch option which will enable you to sew activewear so why not try out a few of them to see exactly what they are, the instruction book should be helpful, or there’s so much information on the internet too.

The finished waistband on the leggings, elastic is completely enclosed in a seam at the top and then I’ve secured it further with a 3-step zig zag stitch

I’ve joined the elastic for the legs into loops which are then sewn to the right side of the fabric, matching the edge of the elastic to the cut edge of the fabric.

I used a small zig zag to stitch it in place. This then flips to the inside and I coverstitched it along the top edge.

To neaten the hems and around the neck I swapped over to the Coverlock 3.0 which I had on the coverstitch setting. Again, this is a very sturdy piece of kit with excellent stitch quality, I am finding there is a certain knack to using it and I’m by no means an expert yet but it certainly gives a very professional finish to knit, jersey or stretch garments.

The Rouleur leggings also have large side pockets which are perfect for holding your phone and/or keys etc (Betsy getting in on the act again too)

As always, I hope you’ve found this helpful, I always try to be honest about how I get on with a product whether or not I’ve been gifted, loaned or purchased it-all three in this case. If you’re tempted to have a go at activewear then Melissa is a good place to start-she’s even written a book on the subject so you’re in good hands!

Until next time, happy sewing

Sue

Dawson Coatigan by Thrifty Stitcher

I followed the progress of this pattern with interest on Instagram when it was originally released nearly two years, it was fascinating to see how Claire-Louise Hardie (the Thrifty Stitcher!) developed and finessed the various elements of it as she sampled it, up to the point that she was ready to release it for sale. It has attractive style lines with princess seams in the front which curve into hip pockets, the back also has princess seams and there’s a horizontal seam just below the natural waist. The collar curves up smoothly against the neck and the back collar has a ‘sunray’ of five darts spreading out towards the shoulder blades which I particularly like. The cuffs each have 3 similar darts, the details on this pattern has simple but so stylish.

My copy is a paper pattern but it’s now a PDF available from CL’s own website.

This post was originally published last year by Minerva who generously provided me with a nice firm Ponte Roma in a plain navy to make the Dawson in, it would also work very well in a boiled wool, felted wool, Melton, not a loose tweed though as they can start to fray and you’d lose the details too much in the weave. Anything fairly structured and stable would effectively show off the style lines. You could get some interesting effects with checks or stripes if you want a challenge! I’d wanted to make another version for a while because I’ve had really good use from the navy one, I hadn’t got around to finding any specific fabric for it but then I hit upon the idea of using a single old heavyweight cotton curtain that used to keep the drafts out by our front door. It had long been replaced for this task but I just had it folded up underneath the heat-reflective mat that I use on my cutting table. In order to maximise the fabric in the curtain I undid the deep hem and the sides, and removed the tabs at the top. I gave it a wash to clean it but also to, hopefully, stop it shrinking later on.

Areas like the pocket edges and the neck need stabilising with some iron-on tape or strips of interfacing as per the instructions, especially if you use a knit fabric like Ponte. I would recommend stabilising the shoulders with seam tape or scraps of ribbon to prevent stretching too. I used a specific needle for stretch fabrics and you could use the ‘lightening’ stitch to sew with if your machine has it, or a very straightened out zigzag. If you do use boiled wool the layers could be quite thick, use a straight stitch but you may need to lengthen it a little more than usual.

The pattern comes in eight sizes which are not numbered in the conventional way, CL opts for letters instead, so you work from your own body measurements to choose which size should fit you. I cut and sewed a size F originally which was quite generous, for the newer version I’ve cut the next size down. I misjudged how generous the ease is in the garment so I usually wear the Ponte version layered up over jumpers or sweaters on warmer cool days if that makes sense. At the end of the day it’s intended as a casual coat so don’t make it too small as you’ll always be pulling it closed across you. The sleeves are nice and roomy too, I’ve noticed some coat/jacket patterns can be a bit snug around the bicep for me which is a bit dispiriting, I’m hardly a muscle-bound hulk! Just check before cutting out if you’re happy with the sleeve length too, I probably could have added just 3-4cms because it feels the tiniest bit short on me.

The pattern goes together beautifully and all that tweaking in the sampling stage is borne out in the final version. I found the instructions pretty clear, they are mostly photographs and there are some really useful hints and tips which will come in very handy if you aren’t that experienced in your dressmaking yet. Make sure you transfer your markings for the pocket pivot point for example so that you get a crisp finish for the corners.

You could top stitch all the darts down, possibly in a contrast thread if you like, but because the Ponte had a slight stretch I didn’t do this on mine. I did top stitch down the front facings though and caught them down in a couple of places on the inside to stop them flapping. 

For the ochre version I topstitched more of the seams, I confess that I was incredibly slovenly and used up various threads in my collection so not all the stitching is the same colour…oops! Incidentally I didn’t use top stitch thread, instead I used the triple straight stitch which looks very similar although it is quite thread-hungry (hence the non-matching!)

This time however I didn’t top stitch the front facings down, I adopted a different approach. As it’s an unlined coat so all the innards are visible I used some ribbon to anchor the facing down in a couple of places. I chose to do this because I know from experience that when you’re sewing through several thick layers the triple stitch (which is a set length on my Pfaff and not adjustable) it can lead to puckering which doesn’t look so nice. Try a sample before you go ahead if you aren’t sure, that’s a LOT of slow unpicking if you don’t like it after all.

ribbon tabs between the facing and the pocket bag stop the facing from flapping about too much

You can see from this shot where I’ve placed the ribbon anchors.

I finished the hem by hand using a herringbone stitch rather than machining it for the same reason that I didn’t top stitch the front facings.

I think the Dawson is a well-drafted and executed pattern from an independent designer (and CL’s art work features herself so it squeaks into the #so50visible category!) The Minerva Ponte Roma works well for the soft tailoring, using my old curtain gives the slightly cocoon-shape a little more definition. It shouldn’t be too difficult to do an FBA if you need to either. I’m much happier with the fit of the ochre one, but I love the navy and will still wear it regularly too.

cheer up love!

Because the Dawson is a loose cocoon shape it would make a beautiful evening coat in a glamorous brocade, to go over the top of your evening outfit, denim would look great too (Have a look at my Simple Sew Cocoon jacket in denim here)

I guess this was also a useful exercise in upcycling, the curtain was years old and not being used for it’s original purpose so I thought why not give this a try. If I found I wasn’t mad about wearing the colour after all I know it’s 100% cotton so it would dye, I might come unstuck with the polyester sewing thread though which would take up the colour differently-it’s hardly Saville Row standard though! The Dawson took barely two metres of fabric (the front facing is helpfully cut in two parts which helps reduce the fabric usage, and of course you could always use a contrast fabric anyway) it doesn’t instruct you to use interfacing on any of the collar or facing parts but I did, just to stabilise the fabric a bit.

Until next time, Happy sewing

Sue