Sewing With Nancy

Expressing yourself with fabric is one of the hallmarks of sewing. Whether it's dramatic, casual, modern, or sophisticated, you can easily combine fabrics and techniques that showcase your sense of style. With me today is Lorraine Torrence. Lorraine has a knack for making a statement through sewing. Welcome back to Sewing with Nancy. Thank you, Nancy. It's great to be here. Today, I want to show how innovative sewing can be, especially when you start with a simple, basic pattern. During this first program, we'll use a classic tunic pattern called the Town & Country Tunic to show style changes. Any time there's an area like a front panel to fill, use that space to show your style. "Fashion

Sewing

Plain to Fabulous," that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy.

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So, at the bottom, you could use the interesting border print at the bottom or a border, or you could eliminate that-- just move it around and see what you like to see. And remember, any time you have a center panel, you draw attention to the middle, not the whole width, so it's very...

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Slimming. So it's nice to have that panel being a focal point. Correct. So five pattern pieces with a panel that is the emphasis, so use specialty fabrics or coordinates for that idea. Gather small strips of fabric that portray your sense of fashion. Stitch into strip sets and cut into squares. Fill the center panel of this tunic with small quilt squares or blocks that contrast with the basic tunic color. Like the song says, it's " Hip to Be Square." This tunic top can be made in a variety of lengths, and, as you saw, this is a little shorter length, but it has a lot of impact. Yes. This is the short length in the pattern, but you can customize that for whatever you need. In this one, I've chosen to do some piecing. These are made from strip sets. Strips cut in different widths. I cut narrower ones for the center and slightly wider ones for the outside. And then I like to fuse a pieced thing onto a fusible interfacing to protect the seams if you're not going to line it. Then, of course, choosing a binding and a little flange to insert into the seam is the icing on the cake. It's all in the details. - Yes. The details really make a great difference. So if you're not a quilter, you may have strips of silk dupioni, which Lorraine used, or I have some batik cottons here that have been sewn together an inch and a half to 3/4 of an inch. They get narrower because of the seam allowances. Make it sporadic. And then in the pattern that accompanies today's program, we'll tell you the size of the squares to make for whatever size you're wearing. And we're gonna cut a 45-degree angle right here. And better cut it along-- to economize on fabric. And it is always a little tricky to cut this on a diagonal, but then you just trim these two, and this happens to be 2 and 3/4 of an inch in size, and save all of these small portions of fabric because we can make it back into a square. So you're gonna be cutting many, many different squares, as you can see. They're cut on point. And then, as I mentioned, you'd be cutting crosswise strips of fabric, more of them, but if you have extra fabric left over, like this one, these ends, you could piece these two together, and just make believe there's a seam allowance there, and you can see, it would make one more block. So, Lorraine, you have some interfacing cut the size of the panel, and you've done some layouts. Yes. This is a good guide to where things will fall on the pattern. Then you're just going to audition where you're gonna place these. If you don't like the distribution of color, just move them to another place. That's a fun thing. She has two of the rows already sewn together, and you'd be sewing quite a few more rows, but row by row, you kind of make this work. And what I did right here was put two identical squares together. If you don't like that, move it to a different place or save it for down here. Sure. Well, you can see that this is quilting but in a small version, but what impact it gives down the center front of this tunic. Turn a plain fabric into something fabulous with a stamp, stencil, or paintbrush. Rather than adding color, learn how to take away color from a natural fabric such as cotton, linen, or silk using a decolorant paste, one of Lorraine's artsy techniques. This is novel, at least for me, and, Lorraine, this gives dramatic results. It does, and it's easy. It's the easiest surface design technique there is. Our sample here shows a black long-length tunic. The front panel was all black fabric, and I took the color away by brushing on this paste, letting it dry, and then ironing it. I did some stitching later, but it's easy to do. So the key is natural fabric and to test. We can't stress that enough. - Always. And you'll see why in a few minutes, but show how this occurs. This is a very goopy substance. And you can apply it many, many different ways. I'm just using this sponge brush. And you can't really see-- you can see the glisten up close where you've applied it, but it doesn't show the effect for a while. You will be amazed in a minute. We have a little magic show going on here. The key is to let it dry completely. Mm-hmm. And then, that's a matter of an hour, a few hours, even overnight. And then after you've done it, we can maybe show the sample that you've already painted, and we'll just move this-- we're working on some paper, obviously, to prevent the paste from getting on the ironing board cover, and it doesn't look like anything right now. But I've brushed discharge paste, which is the old name for this decolorant, onto this black fabric... Sure. - A few hours ago. It's completely dry, and then you take an iron with water in it for steaming it, and the more heat and steam you put on it, there it's-- you're starting to see it come out. It's a hidden design until you're done pressing. And the important thing to remember is that you need to test it, because every single piece of fabric discharges differently depending on the fiber content, the color... Mm-hmm. The dye of the original color. And here we have some examples of different-- they're black fabric but perhaps different types of dyes, different time that you've waited. Here we have a tan to cream. Here is a more gray effect of using that same sponge brush. It's not just for black fabric, is it, Lorraine? No, you can discharge any colored fabric, including hand-dyed. And this is a ombr or a variegated fabric, and the discharge is variegated as well. Sure. We have so many options to show you. This is a stripe with a little hand-painting in the black area. This is one of my favorites, using twine, dipping the twine or cord into the paste and then letting it dry, and you get a stripe. Purchased stencils. - Yes. This had a stencil design that you may be well aware of, and then... You can make your own stencil with freezer paper, a simple product that most crafters have. You press it onto-- after you've cut out your image, and then the reverse is what you see here, where you've added the decolorant, so it's a great way of personalizing your fashions. Reflect your sense of style by adding artistic touches of fabric trim. My next tunic features complementary and contrasting colors of squares and bias strips of fabric randomly stitched to the panel.

The result

a fashion technique we call Bias Influences. It's both a clever and tasteful fashion accent. You can add Bias Influences to your tunic. I made mine more geometric, and this one is very random and free-form. This is bias strips. Any time you want your strips to curve, you have to cut them out of bias. I put five different stems and just squares at the end of the strips. Very clever, and lovely combination of fabrics. That's what I like about what you have, Lorraine. Just beautiful fabric. - Thank you. Bias strips, cut on the 45-degree angle, which we have precut, and make the strips-- cut the strips double the width of the bias strips, so if you want them 3/8 of an inch wide, cut these 3/4 of an inch. If you'd like them an inch wide-- excuse me-- 1/2 an inch wide, cut them 1 inch. And there are many ways that you can press the bias strips. Press the ends to the middle. As you can see, I just have that folded, and here's one that's been pressed very nicely. Or you can use a tape maker, where you insert the angle cut through the wide end, slide it through with a pin, and as it comes out, the ends are folding to the middle, but you got to catch it with the tip of your iron. Yes. - Lorraine, show that technique. We've pinned this end down so it doesn't move, and as I pull the bias tape maker and press right behind it, you're making bias tape. And don't leave a lot of gap between the iron and the maker because you'll get a bow in the size, but this is a great way, a fast way, of doing that. So you can make lots of bias trim with this technique. And then, to do the creative part, that's to do the shaping, and we'll give you another color here to work with. So I've pressed this piece of bias onto the front panel of this tunic already. I want to add another one. And we'll make it cross this time, and I like to train these curves in. And you can change your mind. Sure. And then you've pinned by couching. I really like this technique. Pinning directly through the bias tape can sometimes distort it, so I like to trap it or couch it on there. That way, you're not pinning into the fabric to give it a little hiccup. Right. And then after you position all of your bias trims, you can cut little squares or rectangles of fabric, which I have here, press under the ends, and then position, do some auditioning. Sure, and if something needs to change in length, just cut it off. You may decide you don't want to use two squares that are exactly the same size, so you can change to another size. And here's a close-up of edgestitching the bias tape down. Using an edgestitch foot works well. When you sew on the square, you may want to use a pin to sneak under those extra bulk of seam allowances, those double-layer of seam allowances, to edgestitch around. Free-form or geometric, it's a great way of adding an accent to a top. What was once ordinary can easily become dimensional. Through the magic of stitching and steaming, this onetime perfectly flat layer of silk fabric is now textured. It's a stitching technique that adds character. It'll be magical for you to see how simple steps can make such a dramatic difference. Well, it's all about that front panel and showing techniques, Lorraine, that you added to that fabric, and this is an easy one. It is. It makes a dramatic difference in that center panel. And you have added a few little sequins to tie the two colors together, but as I mentioned, that pink fabric was perfectly flat, but it's changed by adding a textured fabric to the underside that will become textured. You'll never see this fabric. It comes under many brand names. You purchase it, you grid it-- we have started to grid this-- and pin it to the wrong side of the fabric, and then you do stitching. And you can stitch with several different stitches. You can use a straight stitch. What I'm using now is a serpentine stitch. You can use a stepped zigzag. You can stitch at a 1-inch grid, a 1/2-inch grid. Just stitch in one direction. Any way you do it changes the appearance of the textured fabric. And we have a sample that has already been stitched, both horizontally and vertically, and here, you can see how it's been stitched with 1-inch grids. Again, make sure that you set your iron for plenty of steam and follow the instructions, but this is kind of the magic show of it. Just use plenty of steam, and it shrinks. Now, we would suggest maybe you make a small sample, a 10-inch-- and it gets hot.

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The result

10-inch sample. And to see how much it shrinks, because you will have to allow additional fabric. Obviously, you're not going to stitch, shrink, and end up with the same size that you started off with. Usually, one and a half times as much fabric in both directions as your pattern requires for that piece. Not all fabrics will have the same amount of shrinkage. That's why a little testing might be important. You can see here, this one didn't shrink quite as much, whereas the one that we used really shrunk a lot. Here's the end result, and here's the beginning result, and this certainly was at least 30%, so it is definitely something you need to test with. Now, Lorraine, you made a lot of samples, and this one shows that the bobbin thread is important. Right, that's the one that shows. Remember, we stitched on the back, so that's where you see the tops--thread. Here's a leftover sample of the pink silk that Lorraine used, and you can make another project out of this. Practically. - Yes. Here you can see a type of utility stitch, not a straight stitch, and it really gave a lot of texture, but then you could stitch on point, on the diagonal, and, ta-da, there's another little texture. Just a great way. It is. So in this program, we've shown five different techniques of working with this tunic to personalize it to make it from plain to fabulous. An all-guy quilting class is rather unique. An all-male quilting class in a juvenile correctional institution is one of a kind. Please welcome Roy Mitchell Jr., who joins us today via Skype from Virginia. Roy is a professional quilter turned instructor, who is changing the lives of many young men. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Roy. Thank you, Nancy, for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with you this morning. When I read about your teaching in a correctional institution, I thought, "I got to get to know Roy," and when we talked, you gave me a little summary of how you got started. Could you share that with our viewers, please? The Commonwealth of Virginia wanted to bring in new programs to the Department of Juvenile Justice, and I was contacted to see if I would be interested in teaching it. And I came to the facility, and at first, they were optimistic about the young men going to-- uh, learn the art of quilting, but I started in 2012, and I've taught over 150 young men as of the current date of today, and I currently have 22 young men enrolled in the class, and I have a new class that will be starting in January. Now, you take your job very seriously and so do the students, because they have to take a test. Tell us about that. Yes, I set high expectations for the students, and they take a series of 20 tests, and the grading scale that I use in the classroom is 90 to 100. Anything below 90 is not passing. And as--I have yet for any student to make below 90, and the current pass rate-- I have 100% pass rate with all of the students I've taught. Now, those tests, they talk about terminology. Tell--tell the type of questions you ask. They learn 250 vocabulary words that are used in the terms of quilting and the art. They take measurements. They take two weeks of measurements and math-- how to create a pattern and know the dimensions and break it down. They have to learn the straight of the grain, the bias. It covers a lot into that category, and once they've finished the test and they have passed it successfully, they get a final exam, and then they are now ready to apply it, and they go to the sewing machine. And some of the quilts that they make are breathtaking, and you can tell a lot of math is in some of them because of the heavy emphasis on geometry and dimension. Wow. They're amazing. Thank you. You give them a size. Is that correct? Like, "Make this quilt 40 inches by 30 inches," and then they have to figure it out, how-- what size to make the blocks and so forth. Is that correct? Yes, it is. But you're not only just doing geometric shapes, you made a quilt for the governor of Virginia. - Yes, we did. Tell us about that, please. Yes. It took us almost a year. The students had to design the quilt first, and then it took almost a year to be able to do the quilt. And the actual measurements of that quilt are 10 feet by 12 feet, and it has the image of everything pertaining to Virginia-- the dogwood tree, the hound dog, the cardinal bird-- and we made it 3-D. And right now, it hangs in the governor's mansion, is that correct? No, it hangs in the Patrick Henry Building next to the governor's mansion, where the governor's office is. It hangs in the lobby. Well, that's a remarkable thing. Now, when-- you have three young men who have--are no longer in the institution, and tell us about what they're doing with their quilting skills that you taught them. They were artists, and they signed up for the quilting class, and so now that they've been released, they have developed their own website, and they have incorporated their artwork into quilts, and I'm proud of them, and I have-- they sent me their website so that I can look at it to see their work and everything, so they told me I really inspired them and pushed them to continue on with this art. Well, you are an inspiration, Roy. I thank you for your work and your continued work. You have--you've never had an incident in the class. You quilt--how many hours a day does the class run? The students quilt eight straight hours. They even eat their lunch in the classroom. Well, you can tell from their work that they're very glad to be there, and please pass along that I'm very impressed with their creativity. I certainly will, Nancy. Well, Roy, thank you for being with us, and continued success in this program and also continued success as your work as a quilter, because you're doing two jobs right now, correct? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. Well, hope to talk to you again and get an update, perhaps, or see more work of art that you have done, and thank you for being with us on Sewing with Nancy. It's been my pleasure. Thank you for having me, Nancy. You're welcome. Have a good day. - You as well. Well, if you'd like to watch more of Sewing with Nancy online, you can go to NancyZieman.com and re-watch this program or any other program that we've had in the last several seasons. Also, you can click on Nancy's Corner and review this video or many other Nancy's Corner interviews. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now. This stylish, easy-fit tu nic pattern offered by wearable art sp ecialist Lorraine Torrence is designed with front an d back panels that can be customized to make a fashion statement. The Town and Country tu nic pattern is $15.99 plus shipping an d handliing. To order the Town and Country tu nic pattern call 1-800-336-8373 or visit our website at se wingwithnacy.com/3023. Order item number LT1921 Town and Country tunic. Credit card orders only.

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