Sewing With Nancy

Expressive. Our world is filled with people who love to express their views and opinions via the media. Instead of the platform being the Internet, TV, or talk radio we've chosen a very quiet way of being expressive with sweatshirts! With needle and thread, and fabric my guest Mary Mulari has created ways to showcase personality through sewing specifically expressive sweatshirts. Mary, it's always a pleasure to have you as my guest. Thanks, Nancy. I'm always happy for the invitation and I have more great ways with sweatshirts. Our first expressive sweatshirt is created by cutting off the bottom ribbing and turning it into a fashionable cowl collar. I call this the "Bottom to Top Sweatshirt." Also, turn up the bottom edges of both the hems and sleeve ends add vent openings and your sweatshirt is no longer a silent bystander. "Expressive Sweatshirts," that's what's coming up next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman

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So, a lot of changes on this pigment-dyed sweatshirt but really quite easy to create. Here we have the bottom of the sweatshirt again. When we cut ribbing off. It's always good to make sure that we're making that straight. We find, Nancy, in working with sweatshirts that they have different widths of ribbing. Here's a much wider ribbing. This is narrower so it will work with the one that came on our shirt. But sometimes it's fun to mix and match, too. Mary has a whole bag filled with removed ribbing. I do! The cuffs can be removed, at least five inches. It's going to be a three-quarter length turned back so you cut off five inches from both sides. You're going to be using that fabric later to make the vents. The ribbing was cut off at the neckline. You do staystitch before cutting. There's a tiny row of stitching around the neckline before doing the cutting. That's a very important step, Nancy. Then I follow that up with turning under and stitching just the front neckline. It's just a 1/4" turn and edgestitched, front only. Now it's time to put the cowl collar on. I actually cut this a little shorter than the actual ribbing, which was quite long. I wanted a shorter collar. So, I seamed it. I know that you put it over your neckline. You tried it on to see where it ended and how it draped. That's right. That's the best way to plan this. Now, I have a seam in the center back. And if I don't like the looks of that seam I can sew a patch of extra ribbing over the top of it just to make it a little neater. We're going to start by pinning this beneath the center back of the sweatshirt neckline. We're also going to mark and place the front center. Along the way, we'll be pinning but we want to make sure that this is a flattering curve so actually you do need to try this on first and kind of establish, as you're trying it on how to position this. Then after carefully pinning, we're going to be ready to sew this cowl neckline to the sweatshirt. It's really just a topstitching along the existing-- Maybe I need to flatten this out a little bit-- But along the existing stitching lines to attach. Right, you have a guide to use. And the lower edge because this is pigment-dyed you'll see the fleece side come upward. Topstitch this into place, or use a blanket stitch. Here is a close-up of the blanket stitch. You can just sew the hem, the inside out and then the vent. We cut from one of our sleeve ends two 2" x 4" pieces of fleece. Then we are going to position that over the edge we've established, actually, inside the sleeve. Then we're going to bring out this edge and pin it into place. I think we have a sample to show. We do. How about that? We have a sample! The same technique is used on the bottom edge of the sweatshirt, as well. So, blanket stitching along the edges have little vents in the sleeves and hemline and the "Bottom to Top Sweatshirt" is yours to wear. Make a casual sweatshirt even better with the addition of another favorite fabric, denim. Bias strips cut from old jeans trim the neckline, sleeves and the centers of floral appliqus. It's definitely a denim do-over! Mary's fabrics of choice, denim and sweatshirts are combined here. Mary, you did a program with me many years ago on "Denim Makeovers." That's right, and many sweatshirt programs. Yes, and here we have both fabrics. As in the first sweatshirt of this program you removed the ribbing, turned under the edge and topstitched. We'll show you how to add a denim trim. That's right. And the appliqus have a little denim on them, as well. The sleeves have vents. The edges are trimmed, also, with strips of denim. So, first the denim. I have a collection of jeans of many different shades. I like both the right and the wrong sides of denim. And it's easy to cut strips. I cut strips that are 1" in length and width. Then I cut strips that are 1-1/2" in width. Here's my little collection, so far. They don't look so exciting. But I'm going to put them in a mesh bag and put them in the laundry, washer and dryer. When they're done they're going to come out looking much more interesting with a bit of a frayed edge. It won't fall apart, it's just more interesting looking. Then, I'll build a neckline. I'm going to measure my neckline and cut strips of bias to combine. I have here one set. And you see how I piece them. Many times, across the leg of a pair of jeans you can't get the full length you need. I piece and combine different shades of denim. You just overlap them, really. That's right. I don't even worry about seams. Here's another neckline all ready to stitch. The red stitching on the edge is zigzagging to hold the two layers together. Keep in mind that we use the technique as we mentioned earlier. Staystitch the neckline, cut off the ribbing then turn under the edges. Then, this new neckline is stitched all the way around. We have right sides meeting. That's right. This first part of the neckline is pinned. I've already sewed the back half in place. Then, after getting the strips sewn on I do a little bit of topstitching to hold the edges of the denim inside the shirt. When you complete this and flip it up it's easy to work with. We turn our attention next to the sleeves. Here they have the same kind of edging the two layers of 1-1/2" and 1" of denim. There's another ten-inch strip denim that's cut and one strip is sewn to the sweatshirt two inches below the center fold. Then we are going to pin and stitch the second edge. Pull the first edge kind of out of the way a little bit so we can stitch that second edge down. We're going to trim off the ends to be level with the sleeve edge. And we're almost done. We have one little stitch-- cutting to do. This shows the finished stitching that we had of the vent. She stitched one side and then the other. Then there's the sweatshirt underneath. You just trim away from the underside. Let me just show you. Here's the trimmed vent. I think it's very clever. Very easy, too, Nancy. One quick final addition is making an appliqu. Because this is a pigment-dyed sweatshirt the reverse side is very textural and very interesting. This is the reverse side of this kind of pigment sweatshirt. It's terra cotta color and it's fused on. Very interesting. So, denim, sweatshirts, buttons, and a little creativity. Give your sweatshirt a layered look by adding parts of a shirt. Remove the sweatshirt ribbings and stitch a shirt collar neckline, sleeve cuffs and a shirttail hemline. This sweatshirt design was created by Laura, Joyce, and Kristen at Calico Country Sewing Center in West Frankfort, Illinois. It's always interesting when you're merging two recycled pieces together, or two different components. This design certainly is charming. Besides that, Nancy, it's the layered look without two garments. For some people, that's too much to be wearing. It is. We're going to cut the neckline a little bit larger. You'll soon see. And then finish the inside with ribbing from the bottom of the sweatshirt. It will have an automatic appliqu created that you can place. I like your asymmetrical placement. Then, part of the shirt is at the cuff. The sleeve cuffs are added. The original shirtsleeve is cut shorter. Then, down at the bottom, we hemmed the sweatshirt. We also added to it the shirttail. It's just the shirttail. It's not the entire shirt. This is a fun look, I think, and easy to create. So you need compatible sweatshirt fabric or a sweatshirt and a shirt fabric. You might have to do some fitting. Right. Or, sizing, maybe not fitting but sizing to get the two widths to be compatible. Many times, a sweatshirt is wider than a shirt. And here on this sample, I've pinned one side I've pinned it narrower. That's going to make a better fit, in many cases. On the other side, I've sewn the seam to make the sweatshirt narrower. So, it hasn't been trimmed yet. The goal would be so that the sweatshirt width and the shirt width will meet. Match, yes. So that's the first thing that you'll need to do. Then, you cut off part of the shirttail. Right, I suggest six inches. But that can be a length of your choice. We have at least one button showing of the shirttail. This has a more tapered look. You can see that Mary has added that shirttail to the lower hem area, just tucked it underneath and did a second row of topstitching around the edge. I mentioned earlier that he neckline is cut a little bit deeper than a traditional neckline that we have been doing throughout this program. This time, Mary, you measured 1/2" below the stitching. I staystitched on that line first. That's a little deeper than I would normally do but we want a bigger neckline to be able to get into this sweatshirt. So then after trimming off around the marking after you've stitched-- You wouldn't use this color ribbing but we did it for contrast purposes. Again, saving those ribbings that come from the bottom of another sweatshirt. I made a one-inch-wide folded ribbing. That's sewn into the neckline. Then we're going to be pinning this into place. This is sewn down with a 1/2" seam allowance, all around. Now, at this point, after you've done the stitching you'll find that your shirt is a little shorter and has different pieces. But yet, this portion at the top, the neckline, the collar is going to be a very crucial portion of the fit. So, try on the shirt. Here we have the shirt on the mannequin. Slip your sweatshirt over the shirt. That's right. We're going to pin the sweatshirt and collar together so we know how we're going to attach them so they look right. You would not necessarily put it on a mannequin but on your own body to do this. Get a sewing buddy to help you. That's right. Now, the trimming of the shirt is next. Leave it pinned. We'll show our viewers what we've done for trimming. This is the look of an old fashioned dickey. It's about 6" below the collar stand that we cut the shirt. We curve it around to the back neck. But Nancy, it's important to note that we sew this on only in the back neckline of the sweatshirt. That's so we can get into this. The stretchy sweatshirt fabric won't stretch so much if we sew the woven to it. So if you put it on, you just tuck it inside. That's right. Now the cuffs can be cut from the remaining sweatshirt-- No, the remaining shirt. That's right. On this shirt, we have part of the button and buttonhole section of the front of the shirt. I have here another shirt with a pattern I made for the shirt cuff. That's just going to be cut from the front. And I've spaced it so that there's a button in the center of my cuff. That's optional. You might not have enough fabric. Right. In the book that accompanies today's program you'll get all the dimensions, how short to cut the sleeve. Then you finish the cuff. Meet the inside of the sweatshirt to the right side of the cuff. Sew around the edges and then turn it to the outside. Finally, we're going to go through the appliqu. An appliqu can be added. But I like your idea of stitching it to some of the fabric. At the computerized machine, we have the shirt fabric hooped the decorative fabric placed on top of it and the machine is doing the outline stitch. The second step is to trim away, close to that outline stitch with an embroidery scissors. Then, the third step is to do the satin stitching which is already programmed into the machine. And do the finishing stitches. Mary, you've then cut the background fabric to a size you'd like. I've used a buttonhole stitch to attach it to the sweatshirt with the horizontal stitches going out. So, a shirt, a sweatshirt, some computerized embroidery and you have a new design. This asymmetrical styled sweatshirt is remarkably easy to stitch to the front of the shirt. We have another expressive change on this shirt with shaped hemlines at the bottom of the sweatshirt and cuffed areas. We call this the "Orient Expression" a sweatshirt never had such style! You'll see in this sweatshirt that we are not adding any additional embellishment but just utilizing parts and different pieces. That's right. The bottom ribbing is removed and then re-stitched to the neckline in a V-neck. We do have some Jelly Rolls, or 2-1/2" strips that finish the cuff area and the hem. That's right. I've used two different strips. Why not? Because it's more fun that way. We start with a neck change. We've done this before on many sweatshirts, Nancy to staystitch 1/4" around the bottom of the neck ribbing. Then trim. Yes, we cut that off. You'll see that stitching here. Then we mark three inches down from the center. Draw two straight lines to connect that point to the staystitching. Then another line which we angle toward the side of the sweatshirt. Just continue that line all the way to the side. It gives us a stitching line. Now, you'll see in the instructions that accompany today's program that you cut down the ribbing to fit the neckline. Not as wide. Right, it's about 1-1/2" wide. But that's by personal preference, also. We start to sew here at the point of the V. We stretch the ribbing slightly as we stitch. We guide the ribbing, of course, around the neckline then back to the point of the V. At that point, you can try it on. You'd turn up this edge of the ribbing and also, then, you'd overlap and then continue to sew. Of course, there is that little V piece that you'd cut out of the neckline. So, remove this portion. It's just an overlap section. Now the hemming. You'll trim off the cuffs and the hem, of course because that's the ribbing area. You've placed a facing around the hem. This would, of course, be sewn in place. Next, we're going to shape this a little bit by using a curve. I placed that curved area kind of off-center. I used this tool to help me draw a curve that's equal on both sides of the area I've chosen. It's generally used to shape pockets but we are now shaping curves. You stitch following the curve. I also do that on the back of the sweatshirt just for a little bit of balance. Then, on this one you'll find that Mary has used a pinking shears to do trimming, and then cut into the shape. Then, I'll just turn this to the inside. We do a little topstitching to hold that in place. Of course, the sleeves are handled in the same way. On the sleeves, the curved edges are placed on the fold of the sleeve. One sleeve has a dark facing the other sleeve has a lighter facing. It makes for some interesting details. So, taking that ribbing from the bottom of the shirt adding it in an asymmetrical "Orient Expression" design is a really interesting classy way of dressing up a sweatshirt. Continuing our topic on makeovers this "Nancy's Corner" segment features an individual who has made it his business to make-over clients from head to toe! Perhaps you've seen him on a shopping network or used his cosmetics yet he also has an interest in revising and restyling clothes. Welcome Dimitri James, who is a Hollywood makeup artist now a guest on Sewing with Nancy. Welcome, Dimitri. Thank you, Nancy, I'm excited to be here. We're delighted to have you. You were telling me that you were on a photo shoot doing makeup and styling and there were some interesting clothes being worn. Right, it was in Australia I had been flown out there to do the shoot. And the outfits they were showing were Capri pants and gypsy skirts with these fabulous tank tops that were embellished on the top. I asked what the price of the tank tops were and they said over $120 each. I thought, well, that would be so easy to make. Ta dah! Here they are! Here is your first beginning spot. You started with some-- These are the originals. And they were $9. Still, I left the tag on. To prove it, but then you made remarkable revisions. Right. Now, this first one the fabric we should say is not part of the T-shirt. You bought the fabric on a remnant table. Off the remnant table, because you don't need very much. I bought expensive fabric. And created the three layers of ruffles and the little tie. You also added that same tie fabric around the edge to make it very interesting. This was about a $20 top. Yes, it ended up costing $20. The material was $10 for both tank tops. The tanks were about $10 each, so $30 for both tops. They would be fabulous over the gypsy skirts that are in style now, or Capri pants. Great renovation! We'll show our viewers the remaining re-styling. This has some of the same fabric. It's a very lovely fabric, gathered down the center. Sewn together, then gathered down the center and then included in the neckline. Right, I included it in the neckline. Wouldn't this look great over a pair of black Capris or a black gypsy skirt? But the size, Dimitri, is not going to fit me. Well, I can only go remnant shopping, I figured so I better go really small! All right, very nice. In your styling and makeup you have found that you work makeup, beauty, and you're an author. I am. The book is "Becoming Beauty," and I teach women how to style themselves head to toe makeup, skin care, hair, clothing, accessories, everything, right down to how pick the right eyeglasses for your face shape. So, that makes it really easy for us. Then, back to the sewing and quilting part of it you do other renovations. We have some images to show what you've done with gowns. Right. I noticed when I was in Las Vegas that all the young girls were wearing these fabulous tops with jeans. And really all they were were they looked like the old evening gowns that everyone used to wear in the '60s and '70s and '50s. They were just "top" versions of them. I went to the thrift store on dollar days. I bought some thrift store dresses for $1 each and cut them into tops that would be current today and perfect for a glam night out, for $1 each. Here's the first one, and it's in shades of blue. In this image we're seeing, you have two versions. Right, first I think you see the long dress. Then what you're looking at is a top made out of it with the ruffled bottom as the bottom part of the top. The second one is the top cut at a diagonal across the bias which lengthens the torso. And then you're going to see a scarf that I improvised. Sure. So a lot of cutting, maybe a little sewing but you have the basis there at a thrift store. Right. A dollar! You may not be that lucky to get it for a dollar, but. We have "dollar days" at mine once a month. This next one in black is kind of a halter type of dress. Right, and I saw a lot of this type of top in Vegas, too when I was there. Well, when I saw this dress, I thought that is so similar to the tops the girls were wearing out with jeans, or slacks and high heels. I loved this one because it had a little bling to it. And, of course, it's unfinished. I just showed you the cut. Our last image today shows the same thing a white chiffon type dress. Just a little creative cutting and you have an interesting top to wear. Right. Night out. A night out, there you are. In this series of Sewing with Nancy we have gone from sweatshirts to tank tops now to glam with evening gowns and renovations. Dimitri, thanks for being our guest. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to have you. For more information on our "Nancy's Corner" guests, such as Dimitri, please go to sewingwithnancy.com click on "Nancy's Corner" in the 2400 series. You can find information about all our guests including Dimitri James. This wraps up our two-part series on sweatshirts with Mary Mulari. Thanks for joining us. Bye for now. Mary Mulari and Nancy have written a fully-illustrated book entitled "Expressive Sweatshirts" that includes all information from this two-part series. It's $14.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the book, call 1-800-336-8373 or visit our Web site at sewingwithnancy.com/2411 Order Item No. BK2411, "Expressive Sweatshirts." Credit Card orders only. To pay by check or money order call the number on the screen for details. Visit Nancy's Web site for more information on this program. Sewing with Nancy TV's longest-airing sewing and quilting program with Nancy Zieman

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