Tuesdays with Gertie: Cutting the Fashion Fabric – Finally!
This year I’m sewing along with Gertie from Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing. A bunch of other talented seamsters and I have joined up through the Craftsy online community to make her Starlet Suit. Here’s a reflection on my efforts to sew well.
I’m finally back to the watching the Sew Retro: The Starlet Suit Jacket videos. This week was simply cutting the fashion fabric. I laid out my chosen pattern, Vogue V8333, on my linen-wool fashion fabric from FineFabrics.com (everything over there is still on sale!) and held my breath. After I traced everything, I removed the pattern paper and cut the fabric. I then pinned the pattern paper back on each pair of fabric pieces so that I can mark all of the pattern markings with tailor’s tacks following Claire Shaeffer’s directions.
It was fun to get back to watching Gertie do her thing, but I have to say that I was disappointed watching her cut paper with her sewing scissors. I feel like she should set the very best example for her students at the expense of the short cuts she might normally take. To each their own, I guess.
That’s going to be one lovely jacket! And indeed… never use your posh scissors on paper!
Gosh, I don’t think I’ll ever take up tailoring. I just don’t think I’m meticulous enough to take the time to get good results! Can I just live vicariously through your tailoring experience? I’m so excited to see how the jacket turns out!
I’m with you! I am not anywhere near careful enough…I’m pretty sure cutting into that fabric would cause me to break out in hives.
Agreed, I’m just too impatient. Or I will get halfway through and forget what I was doing. I think there are a lot of people living vicariously through Amy on this one.
agreed again. I am very interested to watch your process Amy – but at least at this point in my sewing life I want to get to a bunch of different things rather than spend heaps of time with one. Congrats on cutting into your fashion fabric and good luck moving forward!!
doesn’t it feel great to finally cut the fabric! I’m at the same stage on a different and I can’t wait to finally get this project finished!
Well… cutting paper is not good for the sewing scissors, certainly, but on the other hand I think you actually get a more accurate cut having paper on both sides of the cut, rather than just the one. It stabilizes the fabric a bit. It’s certainly how I was taught to cut (mind you, that was with tissue, not printer paper).
Congratulations on cutting your fashion fabric! Always the scariest part, I think.
I guess it depends on how often she wants to get her scissors sharpened. I’m a pattern tracer myself, I always expect that my pattern adjustments will go so far afield I’ll need to see what the heck it looked like originally and start again. Cutting certainly is the scariest part to me, I pause and take a breath before cutting too.
I can’t wait to see your results… I gave up on my starlet suit jacket. I chose a fabric that was too thick (kind of a denim-ish material) and then, when I put all of the fusible interfacing in, it got too stiff to deal with. I gave up. Thanks for posting yours!
Isn’t it nice to have everything all folded up and ready? I love the cutting part!