affordable oak tag

Oak tag, also known as tagboard or manila paper, is commonly

used in commercial settings as the pattern paper of choice --

none of this flimsy mimsy stuff you get in pattern envelopes

for home sewing. As it is thick (think cardstock), it's durable and

is therefore easily used for cutting a pattern multiple times.

 

As I mentioned earlier, oak tag patterns are traced onto fabric

(and removed) before cutting happens, whereas patterns on

tissue paper are usually pinned on and cut around directly. This

tracing method keeps the pattern accurate by protecting it from

scissor nicks, wiggly lines caused by pin creases, and the like.

Oak tag is expensive paper, though, and hard to find.

It is often sold on the roll (for $300!) or by the yard (still

expensive at $4.75 a yard). However, I recently discovered

150 lb. manila board at art supply retailers for much less.

It comes in sheets from 9"x12" to 22"x30". This may not

be particularly useful for large items of clothing, like pants or

dresses, but I suspect it will work just fine for bagmaking.

All that said, I just received my first box of oak tag from

Dick Blick. At $21.50 for 100 sheets, it's a steal!

 

 

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further pattern development

 

I spent a good bit of time last year developing a diaper clutch pattern

that would work well for cloth diapers. In the current stage of

development, I finalized my paper patterns and did another run

as a gift for a friend who recently had a baby. As you can see, I also

figured out how to rivet leather for the handle. How fun is that?

The interior of this bag has a zip pocket for keys and the like,

not a built-in wet bag. Turns out if the wet bag is internal,

the whole clutch has to be washed on a regular basis.

Instead, I included a couple of separate wet bags which can

be easily laundered and also clip onto the bag handle if desired.

I guess now it's time to sew one up for the ol' etsy shop!

 

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the multi-tasking tote is done!

Here it is! I just finished up the tote/

diaper bag I've been working on --

the Multi-tasking Tote from Lisa Lam's

Bag Making Bible. Isn't it cute?

I used smoke gray and yellow duck (Artee), accented

with Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2: Bloom in Granite.

Both interior and exterior have lots of pockets.

And the base is internally reinforced and has feet!!

 

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oaktag patterns

I'm in the midst of sewing up a diaper bag that a friend

of mine commissioned. It's the Multi-Tasking Tote from

Lisa Lam's The Bag Making Bible. Lam's patterns are all

layered up on the pattern pages, so there's no way I'm

chopping them up. Also, a while back I learned

from Fashion-Incubator that in commercial settings,

patterns are cut out of oak tag -- a heavy manila paper.

Instead of cutting around the pattern, the shape is traced

onto the fabric and then cut. I like to use white china

markers for this. This method works great, makes for

durable pattern pieces that are easy to track down later,

and produces fabric pieces that are reliable and

sew together correctly. So here's my light board

and my fresh, new pattern pieces!

 

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more jammies

I pulled out the serger tonight and went to town on some more

jammies. This time just the shorts, in pink fleece for my girl.

The pajama bottoms sew up super quick, so I think I'll stick with

them and go with cheap t-shirts for the tops.

 

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girl jammies

 Here's a snap of the girl jammies I finished last weekend (after being

worn several times and tossed in the laundry). Ashton opted for short sleeves 

and shorts, which is the fun of being able to customize a pattern.

I find the difference in the fabrics they picked quite hilarious.

What has also been funny about this whole experience is that 

at the start, I thought I would save money by sewing my kids' pajamas.

After buying the pattern on sale (for $1) and picking up the fabric

at half off, I still walked out the door with thirty dollars worth of

"now I still have ten hours of cutting and sewing ahead of me."

Were they worth it? The fact that I'm scheming up coordinating sets of 

jammies so they can be mixed and matched with these, as well as thinking,

"what if we made the pants out of old modal sheets (sooo softy!)"

or "a strip of velvet ribbon would be nice on the neckline" 

makes me think that probably they were.

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boy jammies

 

My children are growing at alarming rates these days.

In fact, the pajamas Elliott received for his birthday a year ago

are now a good six inches too short. Since he is sproinging

out of jammies, I thought I'd sew some up myself

for the winter, extra long, so that they can be

easily lengthened over the coming months.

 

I found a unisex pattern, Simplicity #3935, with child to adult

sizes. The pants sewed up super easy. However, I had to adjust the

opening on the shirt to accomodate Elliott's realistically sized cranium.

My seven-year-old picked out his own fabric, as you can see.

After I took the photo above, I realized that they were effectively

camouflaged into the background greenery!

So here's another photo to show a little more detail.

 

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