What the heck is this mess? Its the jammies that refuse to happen. After spending two days tearing apart my workroom my TNT jammie pattern could be found nowhere. Sunday morning was spent going into town, a big deal when you really want to stay out in the country and sew, and getting a new pattern. Of course I didn't buy the pattern I wanted because that was not on sale for 99 cents. Instead I got one that would be "ok" but not my TNT.
As soon as I got my tissue pieces all cut and ironed I gave one more look before cutting the fabric. You know I found the TNT. (Slap upside the head here!) So I ironed the preferred tissues, placed the pieces on the flannel, and aackkk, not enough flannel! I am thinking I bought this to make jammies for my little guy,not my big guy. I cut it out anyway, pushed it aside, and will go back to the store on the Akwasasne Reservation to get more flannel. I'll work it out somehow. You know how persistent I am. But for now, I've had it with this project, too frustrating. And I haven't even started!!!
In the case of this faux leather I did not fuse the interfacing to muslin. Instead I fused to the wrong side of a heavy flannel to give some loft to the bag from within. The wolves are the right side of the flannel which will be totally hidden. I used fusible fleece and a strip of Peltex on top of that just to give some strength to the edge of the flap. You can see the seam allowances and the cut back interfacing.
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Can you tell what the heck this is? Well, I know what it is so perhaps I should just ask "why?" I know I cut nearly everything with a rotary cutter. I am not tall which doesn't allow me much leverage so my "pushing" can't be that forceful. I go through a lot of cutting mats. I have been through two of those big milky white ones. I actually prefer the colored type mats better. In the past five years I have gone through two Olfa mats, which I definitely like better than the milky type. This greenish yellow one is a Fiskars. I thought I would give it a try. It is maybe two years old and loaded with cuts and fibers. I have been gleaning off the fibers with one of those green scrub things, dry. Is it me being rough on these mats? I don't really think I am. Is it "over use"? Am I doing something wrong? I can see myself buying more mats before long. Do you go through these like I do?...Bunny
Ack! You have my sympathy on the jammie frustrations!
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice trick for the interlining.
I wonder if your cutting table is too high. My cutting board lasts for years, though I don't use it to cut everything. I use the green Olfa mat.
Hmmm, Bunny. I have never replaced a cutting mat, and I use rotary cutters for everything too. Do you replace your blades as soon as they start getting dull? Maybe Shams is right - table too high?
ReplyDeleteI do. Nothing is more frustrating than a dull blade so I don't think it is that.
ReplyDeleteThe table probably could be lowered but I am very comfortable using it,no back issues ever. I would think I would cut it up more if I were taller (table lowered) and therefore had more leverage for pressing down. Make sense?
Does anyone else have mats like these? All of my mats have done this, for years.
ReplyDeleteI've had my mat for many years, and though it's definitely not pristine anymore, it's fine. I keep a microfibre cloth on hand in the sewing area, and as soon as I have "residue" from my cutting, I wipe it up with the cloth. I do this right away, and it seems to work OK.
ReplyDeleteBunny, I have a large white mat and a smaller green mat. The green holds up better, but the white is more useful because of size. I use the mat smoothing disc often, and always before any fabric that snags easily. My mat looks like yours after I cut out fabric, especially fuzzy/linty/easily frayed fabrics. HTH.
ReplyDeleteI've had a green mat for the last 4 years. It looks a little worn but it is holding up better than yours. I wonder if you simply sew more than I do?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the hints on faux leather sewing. How did you know that was on my project list?
ReplyDeleteI hope I can return the favour by suggesting that you are using too much force when cutting . If you blade is sharp only a little pressure is required to cut the fabric. I use the large white matt and it lasts for years and years.
You may be stronger than you think!
Thank you, Bunny...for the tips on sewing with faux leather...and for the nifty thread sash-keeper tutorial. How do you discover these things? I'm always learning something new here.
ReplyDeleteI use a gray Fiskars cutting mat...and I've had it for years. Since I make purses to sell, it gets a LOT of use. It's a little beat up, but still works like a dream. I'm 5'10"...so if anybody could bear down on their rotary cutter, it would be me! But, I find that a very sharp blade and light pressure works best.
I agree with Janlynn. You may be a bitty little thing, but I'll bet you're stronger than you think!
Kathy
That's a good way to handle interfacing on many fabrics. Keeping the heavy interfacing out of the SAs would eliminate a lot of headaches at the machine.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the screw holding the blade to the rotary cutter handle is too tight. That would force you to press harder when cutting on the mat.
ReplyDeleteBunny - I've had great luck with the Olfa mats too - and like you I'm short and for my silk, I have to just replace the dang things to make sure I get good cuts (no fabric sneaking into crevices, places not cut cause there's no mat underneath [where the crevices are], it actually helps the blades have a longer life), but I do have to replace those mats a lot. I usually wait for a sale at Joann's and then get the gigantor (36 x 72 w/clamps to hold them together), size.
ReplyDeleteBunny, my Fiskars mat looks exactly like yours, and I also am cutting at a table a bit higher than normal (to save my back).
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain with the cutting mats! My clear one is just not satisfactory for cutting. It does cover my entire workspace but I use it mostly for graining purposes. For cutting, my Olfa is the best. However, since I invested in some spectacular scissors (Kai), I find that I don't use my rotary cutter nearly as much as I used to. These scissors are fabulous, even on slippery fabrics like charmeuse as they grip the fabric nicely.
ReplyDeleteRegarding cutting mats, this is what I did. It has been a couple of years since I submitted this tip to Pattern Review and the chair mat is still going strong. http://sewing.patternreview.com/review/review/1596
ReplyDeleteI clean the lint off of my mats with a sticky lint roller, works like a charm. I have the very large SewFit mat which covers the whole table but I use smaller green Omnigrid mats on top if I'm cutting lots of small pieces to save wear & tear on the large mat. I've had my mats for many years.
ReplyDelete