#make it with wool

[professorpski]

Threads Magazine, Winter 2022

This issue offers a lot of special items for fancy occasions, but it also offers coverage of more common sewing projects.

It begins with a seasonal dress-up fabric, velveteen, see the rich purple jacket on the cover. Sandra Betzina offers advice on using this fabric, and that jacket which is BurdaStyle 6661, offers a clever embellishment with golden beads and buttons shooting like comets. The Up Close feature on the back of this issue is a jacket with a doubled peplum which Kenneth D. King explains how to copy. In between we get an an article by Katherine Seeburger on her “opera dress,” which you see in the floral brocade, a special occasion dress which she planned and created with the help of King and Susan Khalje. And we get the winners of the Make It With Wool contest which includes this felted white wool coat, embroidered and embellished, by Kim Vogley which comes with a dress.

Duane MacLeod offers a technical article on sewing welt pockets which I am ready to try, and Linda Lee offers advice on creating a capsule wardrobe, an old idea of coordinating colors and shapes which is always worth reviving to my mind. There is also a gift section suggesting everything from a new machine to a trip to France. All this plus reviews of new patterns, and interviews including one with Natalie Chanin known for the Alabama Chanin company and its striking but simple embellishments.

You can find it at your local fabric store, newsstand or online here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

[professorpski]

Threads, January 2021

The gorgeous coat and dress on the latest cover of Threads magazine is part of the annual Make It With Wool contest and I could hardly get through the winners without thinking of the wool I had on hand. The ensemble on the cover is the work of Charlotte Waldron.

Sarah McFarland designed the playful, fur jacket in grey based on one she spotted in ready to wear and she explains how to draft such a pattern and use heavy-duty snaps to close it. My preference with furs is a loop and button closure. With snaps you need press them shut and that can get awkward when you can’t get your hands on both sides of them easily. If you are curious about how to felt, read about the making of the white jacket with felted motifs by Ellen W. Miller.  The pattern is Tabula Rasa Jacket by Fit For Art Patterns.

The pattern refitting for the pants is explained by Vanessa Nirode who offers up full explanations on how to measure the body and then mark and slash the pattern. There is another technical article on fitting a blouse pattern as well. Plus Judith Neukam explains how to create the velvet bands over sheet matching fabric which she found on that velvet evening gown from 1939. It’s an embellishment that makes the most of self-trim.

There is much more: upcycling sweaters, understanding the mechanics of your sewing machine, the annual gift guide, as well as columns on pattern reviews and beaded embellishment.

Find it at your local bookstore, newsstand, or here online: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

For the jacket pattern, go here: https://fitforartpatterns.com/product/tabula-rasa-jacket/

[professorpski]

Threads, January 2010

As you can see from the close-up cover shot, Threads has holiday bling on the mind. Mary Funt’s article on crystal clusters explains the different kind of gems you can use on and the different ways they are attached from prong-set and sew-on to heat-set and glue-on. I’d opt for the first two myself. She also explains how to create a sewn applique. If you have any cardigans or tops that might be up to a holiday embellishment, take a look. Judith Neukam does her usual excellent job of examining and then explaining a vintage technique from the past as you see in this ivory silk gown from 1929. It is a version of the robe de style with the flared skirts that were the alternative to the strictly tubular silhouette which dominated in the 1920s.  Bias bands of silk taffeta are attached to the tulle creating a semi-transparent set of layers. Not something I had seen before.

Similarly, I learned something new from Sarah Veblen’s article on using a shoulder yoke to create shape. Of course, fitting darting at the neck and shoulder were a common feature on dresses and blouses through the 1960s. Here, Veblen is pivoting darts from necklines and armholes in order to create a better fit and then having them flow into a shaped yoke as you see in the hot pink blouse.

The flared wool coat is one of the winners from the Make It With Wool annual competition whose works are all featured in this issue. Hannah Drumm designed and made the coat based on the idea of Little Red Riding Hood all grown up. The other winners are just as inspiring.

This issue has the regular columns including pattern reviews, tips, and questions, and the seasonal sewing gifts section includes everything from tools to tables to books. You can find it at your local bookstore or newsstand or online here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

[professorpski]

Vogue Patterns Magazine, August-September 2018

Yes, the fall patterns are out and Vogue Patterns has them featured in their new issue. These are photos and illustrations of the patterns–not the pattern themselves inside. To inspire us for the coming season, you can dip into the article from the Make-It-With-Wool Competition. You see on the cover here the jacket from an Anne Klein suit, Vogue 1597 which comes with full-legged trousers, a nice change from all those leggings. Julio Cesar designed the jacket Vogue 9341 which uses 4 fabrics and gives you lots of room to play with them. (You get a similar set of options with the men’s shirt, done here by Koos van den Akker in blues, Vogue 1599). That jacket is an advanced pattern, so if you want something that will go quicker, see the cream-colored pullover with the stand collar which reminds me of the astronaut neckline you see in the 1960s, Very Easy Very Vogue 9330. They did this in a ponte knit, but you can imagine a much softer silhouette and collar if you did it in a sweater knit. The dark blue knit dress is by Badgley Mischka, Vogue 1595, would be good for both work and for evening.

You are bound to get at least one useful tip out of the 4+ page technical article on stabilizers by Linda Turner Griepentrog. There are far more kinds than I imagined, plus I spotted a solution to a problem I’ve faced with a tricky 1930s pattern and a seam on the bias: wash-away stabilizer.  Kathryn Brenne also offers an article on the buttonhole stitch–not to be confused with the blanket stitch–and how it can cover a hook and eye, serve as a lingerie strap, as well as work a buttonhole.  

You can find it in your local bookstore news stand or here: https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/current-issue