Sewing Tools: Ruffler

 Once upon a time, I was lurking around in my local fabric and sewing notions shop and stumbled upon a weird looking gadget. "? What are you?" I wondered. Never before had I seen such a thing and I was instantly curious as to what it does. It automatically gathers and pleats all types of fabrics? I have been slightly underwhelmed by the standard  on my sewing machine as it is quite picky about how and what types of fabric it gathers so I decided to try out the ruffler. 

It looks like something out of a steampunk meets futuristic movie. And at first I thought it was quite intimidating with all of the moving parts, screws and setting. However after reading through the instructions and taking a quiet moment to get to know Ruffie(like I like to call him), I realized that he's a really awesome gadget and a must have in one's sewing arsenal.

You can gather/pleat(depending on the settings) simply one piece of fabric or gather/pleat one layer of fabric while you sew it to another layer of fabric that is not gathered/pleated. Which is great when you are making something where you have to gather a lot of pieces and then sew them onto regular fabric(for example if you're making pettiskirts)

Ruffie functions based on stitch length, gather/pleat depth and pleat/gather interval. There are four options for pleats. Pleat every stitch(interval 1), which creates gathers, pleat every 6th or 12th stitch(which creates pleats) and the forth setting is no pleating. The depth of the pleats can be manually regulated with the black screw in front of the foot. I made a few examples of each setting. The stitch length was 2,5 unless otherwise stated so you can see the difference the different settings make.

Interval: 1
Depth: 1
Stitch: 2,5

Interval:1
Depth: 1
Stitch 1,5

Interval: 1
Depth: 4

Interval: 6
Depth: 2

Interval: 6
Depth: 8

Interval:6
Depth:6

Interval: 6
Depth: 6

Interval: 12
Depth: 8

I love that the whole process is automated, all you have to worry about is keeping the sewing line straight. But as there are handy seam allowance guides on the foot, that's really easy. Also there's no risk of your gathers disappearing because you pulled the wrong thread or the thread breaking and having toi start all over or any other horrors as you face with gathering by hand  as the machine sews through the gather as it gathers so it's all set and ready to go. I used Ruffie to create the gathers on the sleeves of this dress and I was amazed on how even and neat the pleats were.

You can find the Ruffler/Ultimate Ruffler in Amazon/eBay or in your local sewing shop. There are cheaper and more expensive versions available. I paid around 30€ for mine but I think it was totally worth it.

Disclaimer. I was not asked or paid to write this post. I just wanted to share something I think is a great addition to one's sewing tool collection.

The Tour of Hopping Blogs.

Wait? What? That's not what it's called. Boo. This sounds more fun. Anyways. I was nominated by the lovely Nicoletta to answer a few questions in the Blog Hop Tour. It's a little game to get to know each other a little better and find new blogs you might not have heard of before and get some fresh blood in your blog feed. And who doesn't love new fresh content to read? So I thought about the questions and let's get crackin' on the answers! Yeee-haw

What are you currently working on?

This blog post. Har-har. Me so funny. Me make joke. Har-har. Actually I am currently working on a pair of Jedediah pants for Mr.Man. Hopefully they turn out great *fingers crossed*

Pockets

What makes your work different from the others?

What is the meaning of life? What makes you YOU? Well. I don't know. Okay-okay, I know there's a rumor that the meaning of life is 42, but whatever. This is actually something I have never thought about. I just work on whatever dumb idea pops up in my head, try to make it perfect and enjoy the process. I think everyone's work is different in some way and that is the magic of sewing. You can take two people, give them both the same pattern and fabric and still end up with different results and that is astounding. I think as long as you put a little piece of yourself in your work, enjoy it and don't try to be anyone else but you, your work will be special in its own little way. But I have no idea what it is exactly that makes what I do different from what others do. That's because I put a different side of me into my work with each project. And if you'd ask me what pieces of me I have poured into my work, I would look like a fish out of water because defining my thoughts and personality is one of the things I have always struggled with.

Why do you do what you do?

It's either deep passionate love for the art of sewing or the fact I am deeply disturbed and should be put into a white padded room. Or both. Why else would someone spend day after day poking themselves with tiny needles, stay up late at night thinking about what they could make next, spend enough money to buy a trip to the Bahamas on fabrics and notions but never use them, stab themselves with scissors, burn their fingers and I'm not even going to go to the dark corner of print matching. I think everyone who loves to sew are a little bit messed up in the head. But the heart wants what it wants and I want to sew. Even if sometimes I am so frustrated I want to cry. But in the end it is insanely rewarding and I wouldn't change it for the world.

How does your creative process work?

What I think what happens is my brain thinks "Hey, let's make her go a little more insane with the next idea I have", then it feeds me an idea and I latch on to it and don't let go until I make it happen in real life. And that is pretty much what really does happen. I either get an idea lying in bed at night, browsing the internet or looking at some piece of fabric or find a pattern that makes my brain run with all sorts of different ideas. And once I get an idea I love, I'm not going to let it go. I'm not Elsa and I am going to keep that sucker in my brain until I have it on the table and later on my body. Because I am stubborn and don't know how to compromise with myself.

I guess that's it. Time to nominate three other bloggers who I would like to share what goes on in those pretty little heads.. I nominate

Duckndam ,

Kate from Thistle&Bean and

Cerian from Cerian's Creations

No pressure, ladies. Take your time :)

Sewvember roundup?

She's alive! I've been missing for a while, I know. This/last year the pre-Christmas and Christmas rush was brutal. I'm not gonna lie. For quite few times I thought about running into the woods and pretending I wasn't real til things calmed down. And if it hadn't been cold as f, I actually might have done that. But I survived and got the flu from Santa for Christmas. Can I get a sarcastic yay? *yaaaay*

Now that things are setting back into normal pace and I've gotten the chance to really sit down and focus myself on less than ten things at the same time, I realized that I never finished sharing my Sewvember journey with you guys. So before I head forward into shiny and new 2015, I'm going to take you back to November. This will be a long post, so bare with me.

10th of November

Week 2 (8th-14th)

8th of November

9th of November

11th of November

12th of November

13th of November

14th of November

8th of November : Signature style. My style is all over the place. I go from old t-shirts and tights one day to feminine dresses and high heels on the next. But if I look really hard at my wardrobe and think about it, I like clean lines and comfort. The most worn clothes are mixed of classical styles and something current to add a bit of pop to the outfit. I'm still looking for what exactly my style is but I think it's a mixture if feminine and boyish. I can be a classy lady and a tomboy at the same time, right?

9th of November : Next Project. At that time I was supposed to make a coat with the black wool and a Bruyére with the crazy paisley. Well.. I have not started the coat yet. The Bruyére is cut out and since then I've cut out and finished one Moneta, one pair of Ginger jeans and one Dahlia. Sorrynotsorry??

10th of November : Inspiration. If I had to choose one thing that inspires me the most, I would say the Universe. And technically I won't be cheating either. My ideas come from wherever. A dream, a picture from a magazine, a video game, blogs, etc. If you keep your mind open, there is SO much inspiration around us. All you have to do is look and breathe in the world in all of its glory (and ugliness)

11th of November : Early make. If someone had told me two years ago that I would be posting pictures of this dress for the internet to see, I would have seriously questioned their sanity. This is a dress I made for my high school graduation. Back then I was just a young girl who liked to sew, made up things as she went and hoped for the best. I literally sewed this thing onto my body. I cut out a rough bodice block based on a RTW shirt I had and then pinned away while trying on the bodice. For that time and the skills(or lack of) I had back then, it turned out great. But now I can't stand to look at it. I could spend days telling you what is wrong with that thing. Now after I've graduated the school I studied tailoring in and the two years I've spent on working as a tailor in the real world, I really see how far I've become in these last five years. Man, Throwback Thursday, much?

12th of November : Favorite Finish. What can I say, I love a good baby rolled hem. I finish most of my hems with either baby rolled hems or regular rolled hems when I'm sewing woven fabrics.

13th of November : View. This monster is what I see when I lift my eyes from behind the sewing machine. Though by now I've added another section to the thread wall. I love this beast. All the threads are right there and finding the right colour is so easy.

14th of November : UFO. Those were my UFO's aka corner of shame. A green Myrtle that was my very first version of that pattern and it was WAY TOO BIG. As in "I might show you my sweater puppies by accident" big. I had planned to take it apart and cut it into a smaller size but I gave it to Mr.Man's cousin on New Year's. It fit her better and at least she would wear it while I would just stare at the thing and think "One day" In the middle is the Hawthorn wearable doublesided muslin. I accidentally cut a hole in it and I was angry and put it into the corner. I finished it yesterday. Woopwoop. And third is a shirt I started in the end of July/beginning of August. All it needed was buttonholes and buttons. Yup. That's all. But I'm proud to say that I was good and did that yesterday. Hot damn, yesterday was a good day.

Week 3 (15th-21st)

17th of November

15th of November 

16th of November

20th of November

18th of November

19th of November

21st of November

15th of November : Sewing Library. I don't have a lot of books in my Sewlabry. I've added a few books in the last year or so but the most valuable items are the materials on construction of patterns and sewing techniques I gathered while I was at school. Those are all my knowledge(and then some) I got while I got my tailoring edumacation and to me they are priceless. 16th of November : Organisation. I can be a bit really anal when it comes to organisation. This is my button collection. I've divided all of them into four groups: singles, blouses, pants/jackets and coats. Then I've sewed one of each button onto carton(while putting them into order by buttonhole numbers). Behind every button is written how many pieces of that I have in the stash. The stash is in thee boxes according to their type and each model is pieced into a bundle with thread. All the single buttons are all sewed onto the carton. It took me forever but now I have a good overview of what and how much I have when I need to find buttons for a project.17th of November : Planning. I generally don't plan my selfish sewing. Sure, I have a general idea of what I want to make sometime in the next few months but I don't go according to a specific plan. I often don't have a lot of time for selfish sewing so  I sew when I have time and go according to my current mood and what I need to add to my wardrobe based on my needs at that moment. Also what fabric is screaming at me the loudest is a huge factor.18th of November : Fun. I have a lot of fun when I make  handmade presents for the kids. It doesn't matter if it's for Christmas or their birthdays. For Christmas 2014 I made them all PJ Eaters. Minecraft inspired for boys and Hello Kitty inspired for girls. They were a big hit with the kids but someone forgot to take pictures in her fever induced brainfart. Have to sneak into their houses with a camera, hahahahaa.19th of November : Fit. A big issue for me is how to fit my selfish sewing into my life. There is SO much I want to do and not enough time. *sigh*20th of November : Notions. So I've covered my threads and buttons. So here are my zippers. I don't have a big selection at hand but I do try to keep most used zippers in my stash. The fabric shop where I get all of my zippers is two minutes away from my home, so I can get what I need pretty much any time I need it. Unless I'm an idiot and discover I need a zipper on Sunday when the lovely shopkeepers take a day off. Also I keep my regular zippers and invisible zippers in different containers because....organisation.21th of November : Crazy fabric. Don't ask me why I have these. Just accept that I do and that's that. 

Week 4 (22nd-28th)

24th of November

22nd of November

23rd of November

25th of November

27th of November

26th of November

28th of November

22nd of November : Tried and True. The pattern I keep coming back to. My TNT for when I NEED to have a new dress in an hour. The Moneta. My guilty pleasure. (Blogged versions one, two, thee, four and five)
23rd of November : Patterns. Last year same time, I had no patterns(okay, I had Burda magazines and self drafted patterns). But since REALLY getting into the online sewing world, I've discovered A LOT (much to my wallet's disdain). Now I have a whole box for only Colette patterns and two other boxes for other various indie patterns. Most of which I'm yet to make something out of. No regrets. Mostly
24th of November : Challenge. My biggest challenge is to stop working and taking time off. When you are self employed and your studio is right at your home next to your living room, it's so easy to go back and tweak something or sew just a few more seams. And that will result in sewing for hours when you are supposed to have a day off. Which in turn results in a burnout. I am a workaholic, I've been one all of my life and I can't help it. But I need to find a balance and take care of myself or it will come biting me in the ass when I'm older and it's too late.
25th of November : Complete. Something I started and finished in November. The Tate Top.(blogged here)

26th of November : Red Hot Mess. The ill fitting Myrtle. It's not a mess anymore cause it belongs to someone who has the right measurements to fill this thing. 

27th of November : Best Make. I like to believe my best work is still in the future and every item I finish is better than the last one. But I'm still really proud of this coat (blogged here)

28th of November : Hem. As someone who has worked as a seamstress/technologist in a company that specializes in knits for different time periods that sum up into a year, I have a close relationship with knits. They are easy to work with and usually result in a quick make. And nothing beats a hem finished with coverstitch or a twin needle when it comes to knits. Hot damn.

Week 5 (29th-30th)

29th of November

30th of November

29th of November : Learning. Life is a long journey of learning and becoming the best to your abilities. I try to learn as much as I can and the next chapter for me will be underwear. Which is why I got this book. It looks intimidating but I will embark on this journey and hopefully end up with a wardrobe of fitting handmade underwear.

30th of November : Top Tip. Mine would be "Sew with love" It shows when someone makes a dress with love. It also shows when you've been stressed while sewing. So if you can, take a step back when you feel overwhelmed. Take a walk, a nap or whatever relaxes you. Come back with fresh eyes and enjoy what you do.

***

So that was my Sewvember. I hope you are all well and had a nice Christmas(or whatever holiday you celebrate) and a fun New Year's. I've started my year with tackling that UFO pile and have worked on tying those loose ends. Not going to start with the new before the old are done. 

Self Drafted Linen Mens Blazer.

 This post is long overdue but better late than never, right? Riiiiiiiiiight???

Remember when I blogged about these Linen Dresspants and I mentioned that I would be making a matching blazer so that Mr.Suit would have an awesome suit? Well here's the blazer! Modeled for you by Mandy as his husband(fiance at the time) wasn't here yet. So please mind all the horrible fit issues as it's not really meant for Mandy. Oh yeah, Mandy got married to Randy, my new male dress form. We have a weird arrangement going on between me, Mr.Man, Mandy, Randy and Mini-Me. But it's all cool.

I drafted the pattern myself and it's a pretty classic style and shape. The only thing that did make me pull my hair out was the fact that Mr.Suit didn't want to have the classical horizontal pockets that mens blazers usually have and that's a bit of a problem. You see, for men the drafting process is a bit different and the pocket height is predetermined and drafted before fittings. It doubles as half of the breast dart and helps to shape the blazer. So it's cut right in the beginning. But now I didn't have the pocket. See my problem? After spending hours watching the pattern, and spending many hours at night thinking about what the heck I was going to do, I just decided to wing it, change the shape of the seam line a bit and hope for the best. And it worked! YAY!

Guess who forgot to take pictures of the whole back? THIS GIRL. Amateur.

The blazer has vertical pockets hidden in the side front seam, a single vent in the back, tiny vents in the bottom of the sleeves and one pocket on the inside of lining on both sides. To attach facing to the lining I used a method where the raw edge of the facing is finished with a bias tape and the whole thing is topstitched to the lining.

Look at that tiny sleeve vent! JUSTLOOKATIT! That pesky little thing is so annoying to make, but it sure does look nice.

Pocket on the inside of the lining sewn through the front facing and lining. This might just be my favorite kind of pockets. No joke.

I can already feel the confusion. Where are the inside shots? Where are the explanations on what really goes on in menswear blazers? I know, I know. I promised that I would try but here's the thing. Menswear blazers and coats have a lot of pesky little details and steps and weird things going on. Which take time. And photographing  them takes also a lot of time. And time isn't something I have a lot lying around when I'm on a deadline. Which is always when I'm working on customer projects. So I had an idea that started to brew when I was making this blazer and that keeps popping into my head when I'm working on a coat I'm making(if you are following me on instagram you have already seen a few sneak peaks).

I was thinking about making a series of posts on things and steps I do in mens blazers/coats. I mean everything from shaping, pressing and support to pockets. So if you guys would be interested in something like that, I could make that happen and without the pressure of getting a whole blazer done withing 50 hours, it seems an achievable goal. So let me know if you are interested in the series.

Patterns: To self draft or not to self draft?

Due to some wonky business with my beloved computer crashing and not being handle any sort of photo editing for now, I decided to approach a topic that has been on my mind for a while now. When I was in school studying tailoring I noticed an attitude among "oldschool" tailors. I probably don't even know enough numbers to count all the times when I heard "A true tailor NEVER uses pre-drafted or commercial patterns." It seemed odd for me. "Why the hell not?" Thought Past Fooniks but I left it like that, never approaching the topic and keeping the fact that even then I occasionally used commercial patterns *collective gasp* I know, blasphemy. Well..Pish posh.

Now a few years have passed and I've discovered this super supportive and amazing sewing community and the list of indie pattern makers seems endless and my pattern stash is growing with alarming pace(much to my wallet's disappointment). And as I've started to admit out loud that I use patterns for about 50% of selfish sewing, people around me are surprised and a lot of the girls I went to school with have also admitted that they commit the ultimate tailor's sin and occasionally use a commercial pattern. "Why? Oh Why? Why are you turning your back to the old ways and going over to the dark side?" 

Well let me tell you. I don't think of it as a crime. There. I said it. It's out there and I can't take it back. There are a lot of reasons why I buy patterns and use them. One of the big reasons is my rapidly growing indie pattern stash. These talented and passionate people have put their heart and soul into these patterns. They have put themselves out there and hope that the sewing community will catch them. It's not easy running a small business. It's frustrating and scary but at the same time it is highly rewarding and heart warming to see your work being accepted and loved in the community. And I will do what I can to support these gals. If I like their pattern and I have the few Euros/Dollars to spare, I am going to buy the pattern.

Another reason is that I feel like drafting a pattern for a dress I saw a commercial pattern for would be like reinventing the wheel. If there's a pattern that's out there and I can afford it then I don't see the point in trying to replicate the same pattern and spend my hours on it. The time I spend on trying to perfect the pattern and figure out where all the seams and details are place would be better spent on actually sewing the garment and enjoying the final product. In order to release a pattern hours on hours of work has been put into perfecting the pattern, placing the seams, the details, everything. Sure, you'll probably have to make adjustments to the pattern once you start to make your garment with it but it would be the same with drafting a pattern yourself. I am yet to encounter a pattern formula that is so perfect that no alterations are needed in the fitting. We are all unique and special and so are our bodies. The formulas have been calculated and put together thinking of a perfectly proportioned body. And no one is perfect. We all have our quirks and the more complicated and structured the pattern, the more adjustments we need.

One other major factor to why I sometimes go and use a commercial pattern is that I am lazy. Yes. Lazy. For work I do for my clients, I always draft a new pattern for each of them. So when I decide to take a short break for some delicious selfish sewing I just can't be bothered to make a pattern every time. Unless I have something in my mind that I can't use a pattern from my stash, I'll go the easy way and use a commercial pattern. It's easier and it feels a bit comforting to let my brain rest for a little while and follow the instructions(mostly) that some talented person has thought and tried through multiple times and has perfected with the help of their pattern testers. They are like my soft and fuzzy blanket that I pull over my head when I don't feel like thinking too much.

Also the pattern envelopes and instructions can be quite educational. As you know, I'm from a small non-English speaking country and while I don't struggle much in a daily conversation, sewing terms can be challenging for me at times(thanks to our Professional English teacher who called "floral fabrics" "flowery fabrics"...Good job) So as the perfectionist who hates making mistakes and feeling like disrespecting a language with mistakes, I try to learn as much as I can as fast as I can and I've found that the pattern envelopes contain a lot of information and terms that improve my vocabulary and I can finally put an English term to the term names in my native language.

So even though I could draft the pattern I see somewhere and think "I like this, I want to make this", I'm not going home and spend hours on trying to figure out how it's drafted. If I were a musician and liked someone else's album, I wouldn't go and record the same damn thing just because I can. I think the stuck up attitude some of the old timers have towards hobby seamstresses and the pre drafted patterns they use is narrow minded and arrogant. I refuse to take part of it and I will continue to buy the patterns I like and can afford. I am going to keep using them and loving the makers behind the patterns. They have worked hard and I applaud them. You, my dearies, have ballz and I wish all the success and love to you. I like your courage to put your work out there and I love how supportive all the indie patternmakers are towards each other. There is no cut throat rivalry, only friendly competition and support.

To sum it up, I guess I will continue to use a mix of self drafted patterns and pre drafed patterns and I won't feel like lesser of a professional seamstress. It's my way of showing support to the patternmakers in the wild and I'll continue to do so until I can. Who knows, maybe one day I feel brave and experience enough to put my own pattern out there, and I'll get a bit of support back. But that day might never come and I'll still have a proud feeling swelling in my heart when I see the indie pattern makers do well and I'll think "I helped with what I could" and that's all that matters.

Keep up the good work, makers. Ignore the meanies and keep your heads up high. You are amazing, talented, beautiful and special.