Saturday, September 10, 2022

Closures

A few weeks ago, a sewing friend and I made a presentation on closures to our ASG neighborhood group, Citywide Couture. So, of course, the Ericson sewing duo was central to my part.

https://dianeericson.com/blogs/journal/i-ching-in-the-garden

I started with this closure idea from Diane Ericson's online journal. The pattern is the High Five, a joint production from Linda Lee and Louise Cutting. It is mostly rectangles, a super simple sewing project. I had made it as a jacket. This time I made it as a top.


The fabric is interesting, A fellow student in my Susan Brandeis class, Veronica, represents the Diamond company. She brought in her samples for the students to view. She sells to a local quilt store where I was able to find only a limited selection. 

From the limited selection, this deep burgundy with pink crosses spoke to me. I bought 1.5 yard on spec (the way I usually buy fabric). The crosses are formed with long floats on the back. This worried me for a while as they seemed to catch on everything while I was sewing. It does not seem to be a problem now that I'm wearing it. 

Per usual, I was short of fabric. So I used a remnant for the sleeves, as well as the closures. This piece was gifted to me by my then-future SIL, something he brought back from a trip to South Africa. I had enough for the sleeves and the bias strips that make up the buttons.

The "buttons" are formed by simply sewing a 3-4" strip to the spot where I button would be and then tying in a simple overhand knot. Diane suggested painting the ends to discourage fraying. I used a copper colored paint for that. It hardly shows, but was fun to do.

And, of course, I showed my fellow sewists at ASG some books by the undisputed queen of creative closure, Lois Ericson. Her publications are such a treasure trove of ideas - more than could possibly be explored in one lifetime. But she did!

The other closure I presented was the Spanish snap buttonhole as explained in this Roberta Carr publication. It has become my go-to for couture techniques since ASG Atlanta offered a class with her protege, Marla Kazell. 

As you may know, the Spanish snap buttonhole is actually just a faced buttonhole. By using a bias cut hole facing in a contrasting color, you create tiny lips that show on the inside edges of the hole. The "snap" occurs when you turn the facing to the inside and give it a snap to place it. 

It needs another faced hole on the garments back side for a truly couture look. My mastery of that part is not up to par yet. Or maybe I should find a piece of silk organza that matches the fabric better than my sample below does.


I still need to work on my bound button hole skills, someday. Right now I'd much rather spend my time on creative closure, especially closures using bias tubes.




6 comments:

  1. What a pretty top. I think the addition of the SA fabric was perfect. And a good reminder to look at my personal library for some ideas. Jean

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  2. I love the examples you show. Also, when sewing tubes of fabric, the ends of the tubes will be finished if you make an opening somewhere in the center of the tube for turning instead of turning from an end.

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    1. Good idea. Now I hope I can remember it next time!

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  3. Lovely survey of closures! And, of course, beautiful sewing. Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Lovely top and the sleeve solution is brilliant. I am also a huge fan of Lois Ericson, may she RIP, and treasure all of her books that I have.

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  5. Wow, very creative and beautiful. Love this shirt. Definitely goes to my "Have to make" list. Thank you!

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