Tip of the Month - August 2006
By Linda Beer
As the weather turns cooler and the trees start to turn color, we begin to think about our fall wardrobe. Whether your nights are merely cool or your days are downright cold, fleece is a wonderful fabric for a warm and cozy garment. Matching the proper type of fleece to your choice of garment is the first step to a successful project.
Many fleece products are available in a variety of weights. You can have a lot of fun with these fabrics. Not a speck need go to waste – pets love to play with strips of fleece tied in knots and kids love it for crafts and simple sewing projects. Use Unique's Polar Fleece Applique technique below to use your scraps and beautify your garments at the same time!
Microfleeces are lightweight fabrics, almost like chamois. They're perfect for shirts, leggings, housecoats, lightweight jacket linings and scarves.
Lightweight fleeces can be one– or two–sided, which means they're fuzzy on either one or two sides. Slightly heavier than the microfleeces, these fabrics are about the same weight as sweatshirting. Lightweight fleeces are great for high–tech sweatshirts and leggings, jacket linings, and lightweight gear for heads, feet, and hands.
Medium–weight fleeces are probably the most common and versatile on the market. Use medium–weight fleece in outerwear garments, garment lining/insulation, mittens, socks, slippers, blankets, quilts, pet garments, housecoats and pajamas to mention a few. It makes excellent sleep and lounge wear especially for people who have trouble staying warm. Because synthetic fleece is warm when it is wet, it makes perfect baby clothes. Fleece provides warmth without weight; paired with a windproof outer shell, you couldn't dream up a nicer winter coat. There are many medium-weight fleece fabrics on the market. Fireside Fleece, sold by Sundrop Textiles, wicks moisture away from the body, which is an important factor in keeping warm.
The final category of fleeces includes those with spandex or Lycra™. These have many uses. You can make leggings that do triple time as cold–weather camping pajamas and as long johns under your ski suit. These fabrics are great for socks, gloves, leggings, hat bands, and head bands.
Fleece comes in many types and textures and those elements can be used as design features in your garments. With its generous ease, jacket pattern 7032U0 will be flowy and relaxed in a microfleece; the same jacket will look structured but cozy made from a two–sided fabric of suedecloth and berber fleece. Because these fleeces have such different characteristics, be sure to fabric fit as you sew!
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Why not make jacket 7032U0 from a medium–weight fleece, and use the shawl collar as your palette for Beverly Chapman's Polar Fleece Applique? |
By Beverly Chapman
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1.Mark pattern placement on your chosen jacket pieces before the jacket is sewn together. Tip: White gel pens work well on black or darker coloured fabrics. (Photo 1) |
2.Trace the leaf and flower patterns onto your chosen applique colours and cut out. (You'll need a lot of leaves.) Tip: use a wave/pinking rotary cutter for texture.
| 3.Cut as many stems as you'll need. Stems are strips of fleece 5/8” (1.6 cm) wide and are as long as you need. A rotary cutter makes short work of these. Tip: For added texture, use berber fleece. (Photo 2) |
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4.Following the traced pattern on the jacket pieces, sew down the stem first, using a ball point needle and a medium length straight stitch or a small zigzag. Tip: Use a ball point twin needle for a bolder look. (Photo 3) |
5.Sew on the leaves, first sewing around the outside of the leaf, then doing veining on the inside.
| 6.Place the flower pieces at intersections of leaves. Sew around the outside edge first, then around the inside to add more dimension. (Photo 4) |
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Leaves and flowers can be many different shapes so be creative and have fun!