Front Quilting - Kensington Gardens Shirt - Technicos

I'm calling this my Kensington Gardens Shirt, because the fabric came from London. I love visiting Kensington Gardens and always return to see the Peter Pan Statue. The trim is William Morris Strawberry Thief. Unfortunately I didn't note the name the green print.

I love floaty, fluid Tanna Lawn fabric from Liberty of London, but in a weighty shirt,  like my tried and true No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency pattern, it means that the material drags in the front in the facing and edge of collar band. So I've been quilting the mandarin collar and the front interfacing to give them some structure.

I also edge-stitched the front inner edge with a leaf stitch on top of a blanket stitch. The extra layers of thread are giving it more stability.

Glad I machine basted initially, because I had problems with the fabric pulling funny. So I used my seam ripper to remove those stitches, hand basted and then machine stitched again to get a better lay down of this quilted area. I also stretched a little bit by hand and sewed very slowly. I used a really long machine stitch for the quilting because of all the layers.

Another thing that helped when I tried again was using my teflon sewing machine foot, instead of my Viking 'B' foot (for heavier fabric). The teflon skates over the surface a lot better and doesn't seem to pull. I still have to go slowly and stretch a little as I go.

You'll notice I used masking tape to get straight lines when I hand basted. Originally I used posit tape, but it was not adhesive enough. Also when I tried leaving the masking tape in place and machine stitching along the edge, the stickum on the tape somehow got in there. So I now vote masking tape for hand basting/quilting only.

* * *

Next time I'll show a bit about the under layers 

Ench By Sew-43-Part 1: Embellished and Printed Fabric, Reflections on an Exhibit at the Met in NYC

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448647

Click on this link in iTunes  to download the 43'rd episode of the Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast,  recorded in May
of 2016. Or listen directly on the web by clicking on this link.

This month's show is, Embellished and Printed, Reflections from a Historical Exhibit from an Historical Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City - Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

In this Show

* Primero Pensamientos/First Reflections - 

I reflect on this exhibit at the Met and also on how the exhibits I saw there, relate to my own current sewing and  my interest in patterned fabrics  history.

*Entonces/Then

#FashionandVirtue

We go to the exhibit together. Remember that this is only Part 1 of this exhibit. I’ll take you back with me again, next month in the June show, for Part 2.

Web Resources 

I mentioned the Tanna Lawn fabric for my cur.rent sewing project, that I purchased a few years back from Liberty of London. In this podcast "Laurel Loves London" I talked about a trip to Liberty

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/06/ench-by-sew-009-laurel-loves-london.html

One of the items in the exhibit we visit in the current podcast comes from the Victoria and Albert in London (V&A). Below is a link to a walk I shared with you around the fashion gallery at the V&A.

http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/07/ench-by-sew-010-v-fashion-gallery-tour.html

-Fashion and Virtue: Textile Patterns

and the Print Revolution, 1520–1620

http://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2015/fashion-and-virtue

- Link to the 10th century block printed lions - that I think would make a great quilt block - Spoonflower would be my ticket! http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448647

Ancient Egypt print block

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/448512

Many wonderful links turn up when I searched on 'printed textiles' at the Met

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=www.metmuseum.org+printed+textiles&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

"Nineteenth-Century European Textile Production

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/txtn/hd_txtn.htm

From My Journal - Mother of the Bride - Sewing Daydreams

Looking down the road to June of 2017.

The party will be at a lovely ranch in San Luis Obispo.

My daughter's wedding colors are blush and champagne. Her attendants will be wearing those colors.

For myself I'm thinking about dark rose, dark peach or gold

A sheer float'y overdress? Maybe I'll use the pattern I created for my Fiona the Irish Laurel dress (green linen below) - except I'll want to add 3/4 or elbow length sleeves.

Colored lace or a lovely sheer colored voile perhaps?

Somewhat high neck - or boat neck straight across. Dress below will be a scoop neck. Pearls will nest above.

Length of both over and under dresses - I'm thinking knee length. Show off those legs!

But tea length would look romantic.....

I have my nice well fitting straw hat. May want to re trim it. Or visit Wayne's studio for a hat workshop, and make a new hat based on  dress fabric scraps.

Clarks shoes - dressy low heeled sandals. Comfortable and cute too. I have two pair, but the colors are probably wrong. Oh durn, will need new shoes!

Beneath the sheer overdress I'm thinking of a simply shaped dress made from my sloper pattern. Similar to the above line art - but not quite as fitted.

Sleeveless? Cap sleeves? Quarter sleeves?

Plain colored silk or rayon? (Linen?) Silk dupioni or similarly draping polyester fabric?

Color same color/tone as the sheer overdress.

A nicely scooped neckline on this dress beneath.

.....

Either my long baroque pearls tied in a flapper knot, or my regular nice-string-of-pearls. I have a couple of different long strings of pearls, so I could see what color goes best with the dress.

Kensington Gardens - Quilted Collar Decisions (Another No. 1 Ladies Shirt)

Testing Possible Quilting Lines

Have been working on a shirt I cut out of my favorite 

B5526 Number One Ladies pattern, variations of which I've blogged and podcasted about many times.

Both fabrics are Tanna Lawn, from Liberty of London - another place I've blogged and podcasted about many times! The Tanna Lawn is very delicate and fluid. I thought that by adding a quilted design to the mandarin collar (just the collar stand with no additional pointed collar piece), I might add some nice texture and contrast to the drape-y shirt. I'm using Postit tape, to figure out how I might want the quilted lines to flow. 

Handy for Laying out Design Lines

What I haven't decided, is if I'm going to include a thin layer of batting under the front facing and under the collar.... I have many times quilted pockets and collars with only the fusible interfacing that I have already ironed onto both the inside of the collar and facing.

BTW - The contrasting facing and collar fabric is the William Morris design "Strawberry Thief". It's one of my all time favorite prints.