Sewing With Nancy

cc Creating unique gifts is one of the main reasons many of us sew. If your sewing gift list includes a little girl perhaps a little girl who loves dolls this program is for you. Welcome back Joan Hinds who is a nationally known doll clothes designer. She's with us again. Joan, last time, you introduced us into doll clothes making. Now we're going to sew doll clothes for all seasons. Yes, thank you, Nancy it's great to be back here again. Today, we'll begin with spring and summer fashions. Hiking shorts and a hoodie are just right for playtime or a walk in the woods. We'll start by showing you sewing tips that make doll clothes stitching a breeze. "Doll Fashion Studio" that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy, celebrating 30 years of sewing and quilting with Nancy Zieman

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Baby Lock, a complete line of sewing, quilting and embroidery machines and sergers. Baby Lock, for the love of sewing. Madeira, specializing in embroidery, quilting and special-effect threads because creativity is never black and white. Koala Studios, fine sewing furniture custom-built in America. Clover, makers of sewing, knitting quilting and embroidery products for over 25 years. Experience the Clover difference. Amazing Designs and Klass needles. Sewing doll clothes is about as easy a sewing as you can get. Joan has designed the clothes so that they're opened in the back and all of the construction, for the most part, is flat. Rather than this hoodie being a pullover as most real hoodies are for the doll clothes it just opens up with hook and loop tape in the back and makes it easy for the little person to play with the doll and also, most importantly for us, to do the sewing. Joan, when you design patterns for dolls you just simply, after you design them you just trace them on recycled paper. That's right, that's how I create them. I have my little notes on there, so I remember what I'm doing. Now, if you're going to be using doll patterns over and over again you may want to consider tracing them on Templar or a quilting material for templates. Then you could either pin the paper tissues or trace the designs right on your fabric. The nice thing about doll clothes is it doesn't take a lot of fabric. Flat construction is what we talked about. That means sewing as few circles as possible. One of the first steps you're going to do is stitch the shoulder seams together and then set the sleeve in flat. It has ribbing, so to make it easy Joan's going to show you how to put the ribbing on. This doesn't take a lot of effort. No, I simply have a sleeve cut here. Then I have a piece of ribbing the measurements are given for you. You can see that it is a little bit shorter than the sleeve itself. I'll put a pin at the end so it's stretched across. Then I simply put it under the presser foot. Most doll sewing is 1/4" seams so I have that already set up on my machine. Then I'll begin to sew it. Just make sure that it goes all the way to the end. Joan, you just changed the needle position to make it 1/4" seam. Correct. So, it can be serged or it can be stitched with a straight seam. Then, what I have been doing is to pin the sleeve into the armhole. Because the sleeve curves one way and the armhole curves the other way you're always sewing with the outer curve toward the feed dogs. That will allow the sleeve to ease in to the fabric. It's all flat, but now you can start to sew it together. This is the premise for all of the doll clothes. You can see that the sweatshirt is flat, with the sleeves set in and the ribbing attached. Then all I need to do is to fold it so that I have the edges of the sleeve together. I'll put a pin in the end. Then I'll stick another one in just below the armhole. The good thing about fleece and knits is you really don't have to do a lot of pressing. That's right. I can put this under the presser foot again then I can just stitch the seam. I like to start from the sleeve end because then you can make sure that they're set up properly and that they will come out even when you're finished sewing. It kind of helps sometimes to backstitch just a little bit. Yes, definitely with little children playing with these you want to make sure that the seams are secure. Okay, so then you can turn the sweatshirt hoodie right side out. If we look at our finished doll you can see that here's the seam the seam that just had the raw edges. It's fine, just reinforce it. Then you can add the ribbing along the lower edge. We recommend that you seam the short edges together and you turn it right side out. Then you just sew that along the bottom. The hook and loop tape is put on after the hood is attached. It's really easy to put on. Just a lot of flat sewing. Within a very short period of time you've created your first doll clothes. A little trim can go a long way when it comes to stitching doll clothes. The sunny day sundress sports a touch of rick rack which serves as a focal point. The design may look complicated to sew but it's certainly not. Let's take a close-up look at our doll and her fancy dress. Gathering and rick rack are all part of this design. Again, easy closures will all be part of Joan's mantra to keep it easy for little girls to have playtime. Right. Now, the gathering. We're going to show several ways to gather throughout this two-part series but you're going to start by showing one way. Yes, this is fusible gathering tape that's applied to the skirt. The skirt needs to be cut a certain width and a certain length. This is 36" long. You can trim the skirt in whatever manner you like. I chose rick rack. It matched the fabric so well. What I did is I hemmed all three sides of the skirt leaving the top open. Then I attached the rick rack just by placing it right underneath the finished edge here and topstitching again. Just a simple stitch. Right, and I will show you the gathering tape. This is a tape with blue stitching. There's white underneath. The white is the fusible part of it. That part goes down on your fabric. You can see here that I will press it onto the edge. I like to take it so that it extends a little bit over the end so that I can pull some threads. Then I just simply use my iron to press it on. I would press this the whole width of the skirt. I can show you what it looks like once it's pressed on. You can see that there's a knot tied here at this end so the gathering threads don't pull out. I've used a pin to pull these loose so that I have something to hold onto. Then I just simply start pulling these threads. Perfect for doll clothes. Couldn't be simpler. So, you'll get your skirt ready. I'll show you how to prepare the top. Joan, we line the pieces. Yes, and you'd think lining would be very difficult but it makes it so much easier than trying to use facings for doll clothes. The front piece is curved the back piece is the more angular piece. The side seams are sewn for both the outer and the facing. Before putting this together, I made little straps. They are pinned, you'll find it in the pattern directions. But you can see another way of adding rick rack just topstitching it onto the strap to make it look a little bit more interesting. You pin it to the inside and sandwich the outer bodice and lining section. Now, these little pieces they're no longer flat, because of the straps. Right, the strap is shorter. You pin the two together so that they match. On this sample, we have the curve or the armhole stitched. We need to sew it around the top and the side. Rather than pivoting at the corners Joan likes to use the wrapped corner technique that I use so often on TV. That is, at this corner to fold the fabric right at that stitching line and then pin the seam allowance to the edge and then sew the edge, starting at the fold. You do that at every corner. When that's sewn like that, it looks weird because here are the corners, but they have those funny folds. Joan, we've sewn everything and left the bottom open. But the magic of this is that when you turn this right side out, even on these little pieces-- Yes, you can just pop that corner and it will be nice and sharp. That's probably the most difficult part is turning it to the right side. Look at that nice, sharp corner. This hasn't been pressed. But then you'd simply overlap the two pieces by 1-1/2" I believe the instructions say. Yes, that's correct. Then you can attach the skirt in this flat manner so that the skirt is attached to this area. I think you can figure that out, how that's done. We're just showing you portions of how the pieces go together and some of the main sewing techniques. It's gathered, trimmed then the opening has the hook and loop tape and you have the sunny day dress. Your little girl will love to play dress up with her doll especially when the doll's wardrobe is filled with "sewn with love" options. This spring break top and capris are sewn in a very easy way. Even though the pieces are little the sewing will be, again, flat construction. When we look at this three-piece outfit you'll see that the top resembles a little bit what we did just a few minutes ago. Yes, there's a gathered skirt and it's just a gathered piece of fabric on the edge of the top with a simple bodice. Again, it's a lined bodice. Easy to sew. But the pants, whether you're making capris, shorts, or pants, they're all done, again, in the flat way. Joan, you have the pattern pieces. It's hard to tell which is the top and the bottom. Right, so you have to be sure you remember once you cut out the fabric. For each leg, sew the long side seams together. This represents one of them. Then you hem it first. Right, I decided to decorate these pants with the same fabric as the top, so I cut a cuff. I pressed it and then I stitched it to the wrong side of the pants. Then you press the cuff over to the right side. You may want to put a pin or two at the hemline to hold the cuff into place. Right. The next step is to sew the center front seam which you can see has been done here. Then we need to finish the top. We're going to make these elastic waist so there is a casing stitched here. It's stitched really close to the edge. Right, you want to make sure you have enough room. Then you need to put elastic in your casing. I have a bodkin here. You want to make sure you have a really good tail on the elastic. You start inserting. I'll get it all the way through. I can pull it at this end. It takes a little time to maneuver that end. Right, once you get through the elastic. There we go. Okay, there we go. Now we're making some progress. This will start coming through. Sometimes it gets challenging at the corner! That's right. You're going to pin the elastic at one end. Right, once this comes all the way through-- It happens like this at home. There you go! It needs a little encouragement. You're going to hold that end so we don't pull it all the way through. This is how to use elastic with four hands! There you go. Okay, so you want to make sure you don't let this go through. You would put a pin here to hold it. And pin the other end. Then, when this comes through you would pin the other end. Then sew the center back seam. On these little pants, I'm just going to show you the center back seam would be sewn. The very last seam I like the way you put these together. Right, you just do the inner leg seam and you do it in one fell swoop. So, start at each cuff and go around the edge. Be sure to reinforce the seams at this edge. Right, you want to make sure you can play with them. Here's a little accessory. Joan likes to design accessories as well as the clothes. You can see the bag is just made with felt two pieces of felt, a little trim and some hand stitching. You know, this is like sitting and watching a commercial break. You can have it done in just a short time. What a fun accessory to add to the "Doll Fashion Studio" wardrobe. Most little girls like to jump in rain puddles so why not make a trendy doll-sized raincoat so her doll can be part of her fun. Accented with ruffles and snaps we'll show you how easy it is to create doll clothes with style. This technique, Joan combines all of the things we've been showing today. Right, it's a garment made from laminated cotton so even the doll can have waterproof fabric. You just have to remember not to press it on that side. It would melt. But it does have the flat construction with lining. Touches of ruffles and snaps. The sewing is flat construction, as we've been emphasizing. But for the raglan style, it's a little bit different. Right, the pieces look a little unusual but you have two fronts, two sleeves and a back. You just have to remember to seam it right here at the shoulders. There's no curve, so it's very easy with this fabric. When we flip it over you'll see the trim for the sleeves has been added. It's kind of the reverse of what we did with the cuffs. Right, you have a length of fabric and it is probably double the width of your sleeve. Then you would simply gather it and attach it to the edge of the cuff. We gathered it with the sewing machine because this is a double layer of fabric. The hood also has a little ruffle. Right, this one is inserted and you have your lining attached already. It's basted together. Then I'm simply going to pin the hood to the neckline. The center of the hood would match up with the center back of the garment. Then you would continue to pin it. It would be gathered slightly. Then it's pinned around the edge. Now you're ready to attach the lining. So the hood would be stitched around the neckline. Right. If you have one more pin we'll just sneak that into place. Okay, so they get the idea. Then we put the "top crust" on the pie. It's kind of reminds me of a pie crust for some reason. Here's the lining the same pieces as the coat itself. Now you're going to stitch around all the edges except for the underarm seam which are those edges right here. It's an unusual looking pattern piece right now. But let me just show you all the stitching that has been accomplished. First of all, you sew the hems. You sew them together with a 1/4" seam. Notice we did a little trimming with a pinking shears or a pinking blade. That will get rid of some of the excess fabric in this area. Here's the underarm seam and the underarm seam of the sleeve. Those are unstitched. The sleeve has been stitched and trimmed. We go again to the hem of the front, which is stitched. Then comes the big, long seam. The center front, around the neckline and then to the center front. Now, Joan, I'll just do the magic of turning it. Turning it all to the right side. This takes a bit. Keep turning until you get all the right sides out. Yes, it's a little cumbersome. It's kind of like birthing. I think so! We're giving birth to this raincoat.

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Here we go. We're getting closer, you'll see. You can do some pressing and getting those corners sharp through this area. I'll just shake it out. Here's the lining, the sleeve, the front and the hood. It's really kind of magical how this is turned right side out. The trimming with pinking shears does help a tremendous amount. Now, no pressing has been done here but I think you get the concept. The underarm seam has been sewn. We'd sew this together just like we did in our first project of the day sewing the underarm seam of that hoodie. When that's sewn, just with a zigzag a straight stitch, or a serger here's your coat that's been pressed. Here's that seam. For the little girls, there can be raw edge in there but what a fast way, and really adorable clothes. Today's Nancy's Corner guest is a quilting sleuth who does much of her research at the Library of Congress. Recently, she uncovered the fascinating story of a Estella Weaver Nukes, an Indiana quiltmaker who gave a quilt to the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt, in 1930. Please welcome back Kyra Hicks, who joins us via Skype. Thank you, Nancy. I appreciate you inviting me to be on the show again. Two years ago, you joined us and gave us the fascinating stories of Harriet Powers and her Bible Quilt. Then you did another storybook about children. "Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria." We really were hanging on every word of yours when you were telling us the true stories. Now you have another story to tell us about a quilter this time as I mentioned, from Indiana. Sure, this is a story about a woman by the name of Estella Weaver Nukes. She lived in Marion, Indiana, during the Depression years. Again, it was one of those stories that I happened to see a newspaper headline that said this woman gave a quilt to the president. And you know me, I had to answer those questions. Where's the quilt? Why did she do it? And try to find out more about her as a person. She made President Roosevelt a Postage Stamp Quilt which is a pretty common quilt at the time. It is, but my question was, why a Postage Stamp quilt? I mean if you're going to give a quilt gift to the President of the United States you might do a Baltimore Album quilt or something more elaborate but why a Postage Stamp quilt? You found the answer. I did. In this book, and the title of the book is called "Franklin Roosevelt's Postage Stamp Quilt" I found out two really interesting things. One is that Mrs. Nukes was part of the WPA Sewing Project. I had no idea that the WPA even employed women and particularly to employ women to do sewing. That was one thing I found out. The second thing was, I think I uncovered the reason why she may have given the President of the United States a Postage Stamp quilt. The reason that I think I found out was that he was the number one Postage Stamp collector in the United States during his time in office. What a great correlation there. It was a quilt of gratitude, you mentioned. I think so. Based on my research, what I was able to find out and I was able to talk to her grandson who at the time, believe it or not was about 7 or 8 years old when his grandmother was actually stitching the quilt. He lived with his grandparents. From his recollections and other newspaper articles and people in the town of Marion that I spoke with the WPA Sewing Project in Marion, Indiana Mrs. Weaver was a part of that. I think what happened was the Sewing Project and Mrs. Nukes wanted to say thank you to the president for employing them. In my research, I found out that during the time of the WPA Sewing Project, which was about 1935-1943 did you know that the sewing projects depending on their location employed up to 19% of all the folks employed by the WPA. Can you imagine that? No, I had no clue about that. That's why you're called the quilting sleuth! Good job! Well, what I found amazing from the Library of Congress I also went to the National Archives which has not only written records but dozens and dozens and dozens of photographs of these sewing room projects these women across the nation in small groups as well as in these large, kind of cafeteria style rooms either hand sewing or machine sewing. I think Mrs. Nukes just really wanted to say thank you for employing her and her friends in Marion, Indiana. You wrote a really charming book about these Postage Stamp quilts. So often, these stories are forgotten about or they're not even remembered. You bring them to the forefront. What a great thing you've done. Thank you so much. I find it absolutely fantastic and interesting to really uncover and do the family history as well as the community history, so thank you. You're welcome, Kyra. Thanks for joining us via Skype. We hope to talk to you again when you uncover your next project. Thank you, and I'll let you know! Well, and thank you for joining us, those of you at home watching our two-part series on "Doll Fashion Studio" with our guest, Joan Hinds. We'll be back next time with our second program on this topic and show you more great fashion ideas. If you'd like to watch this program again at nancyzieman.com you can watch this program and 52 others online. You can join us by social media, and do all those things to connect together. Most of all, thank you for joining us today. Thanks for watching. Bye for now. Joan Hinds has written a fully-illustrated book entitled "Doll Fashion Studio" that serves as the reference for this two-part series. It's $15.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373

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sewingwithnancy.com/2622. Order item V6715 "Doll Fashion Studio." Credit card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's website at nancyzieman.com to see additional episodes, Nancy's blog, and more. Sewing with Nancy, celebrating 30 years of sewing and quilting with Nancy Zieman

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