Trying Simplicity 8143 again, and not begrudging the fact that part of the usable fabric was narrower (and shorter) than even the smallest size of the pattern wanted, and that I would have to cut the ribbing bands significantly shorter than I had in the previous version. These limitations made me remove more than I probably would have on my own, and the resulting item fits much better than the first try.
The bit that need improvisation was completely unrelated.
Continuing the patchwork adventures with the die cutter and the scrap bins, this time with the goal of making a vest front.
I've made two versions of New Look 6514 using woven cotton patches made from 2" squares that I cut by hand, choosing to cut the squares at 2" because I have a ruler that width. I later made Simplicity 9630 from heavier fabric patches, cut at a larger size. Now that I have the die cutter, I wanted to try...smaller.
I chose the 35mm square die, with the idea that the finished squares would be around 1". Roughly.
I had spent time (happily) poking through the scrap bins and sorting out groups of coordinating fabrics. This one was built around some Very 1970s green and orange prints, contrasted with black and white. I originally assumed I would use it for doll clothes, but this project required more fabric. A lot more.
I pulled some from other scrap assortments, the small yardage stash, and a little bit from the large yardage, too. I don't generally have a lot of orange or yellow, so that need, plus a variety of black and white, meant I called in a few Halloween prints. There are no pumpkins, so the Halloween touches may be subtle. It's fine either way.
So. I had gotten to the point where most of the remaining apple print was in the form of unavoidable odd scraps left from all of the other things I'd made.
What do you I do with odd scraps? ...well, normally, my answer is "squirrel them away for later," but my small piece knit fabric drawer was very very full, so I decided to grab other pinks and greens from there and make something from patchwork.
Now, while I do very much like the patchwork cardigan I made from knit fabrics last year, I felt like the fact that I have already made a cardigan (two, if you count the not-so-successful first attempt), a motorcycle jacket, and a vest from the apple print meant I had plenty of apple print options for the upper body, and the two skirts were literally good coverage for the lower, so it wasn't time for another patchwork skirt.
I eventually remembered the Very 1990s bag pattern I'd gotten from the craft thrift store, McCall's 8705
The messenger bag in view C was the whole reason I'd picked this pattern--yes, I can and have figured out how to make messenger bags without anything but my own imagination, but sometimes it's nice not to have to think so much.
Especially when I was going to add the over-complication of patchwork to the project.
And that's when I discovered that whoever had owned this pattern before had not put the pieces for view A back in the envelope, nor had they returned the first page of the instructions, which is where the yardage requirements are (the back of the envelope has full color photos of the bags in different fabrics than the front views.) (There were also pieces from a completely different bag pattern in there.) The missing yardage requirements (or anything relating to view A) weren't a problem for this project, because the whole thing about making patchwork specifically to make other things is that you only need to assemble as much as you need to cover the pattern pieces.
I did later find a listing for the pattern with a picture of the yardage requirements, and noted them for the messenger bag, which is, honestly, the only one of these I'll probably ever make. Beyond the added labor of the patchwork (and issues caused by the bulk of medium weight knit patchwork), this was a fairly easy thing to make.
The big kind, usually used for leather, with the lever and the springs and the individual metal dies. There is a learning curve to using it, and I have a lot of other projects I want to sew besides patchwork.
Still, I took some time today to try proof-of-concept with the 30mm square die to cut patchwork for doll scale
The act of cutting was fun, as was figuring out how to fold and stack the fabric to get a lot cut at once. I do still need to work on getting things aligned with the grain.
I didn't use a stitch length short enough to cut through (without it unraveling), so it became a skirt on a doll dress.
That's a custom-made 4½" square die in the upper left corner of the first photo. I have some technical issues to work out with that (because I got what I now realize is a somewhat under-size die press--I can make it work, but I will again refer back to that learning curve) before I can go wild cutting large patchwork squares for more clothes. The 60mm die works nicely as things are, though. I can work with that...just...not at the moment. I made a list of things I want to make, and I made that list before I convinced myself to order the die press and associated supplies. I'll get to it.
