update on sewing with nuno felt yardage

[dottyhen]

I have finally finished the vest!  It was by no means straightforward.  I decided to join the seams with a straight machine stitch and that worked ok.  I decided to turn under the raw edge down the front (to give it a bit more weight)and sewed that with a straight stitch too - that also worked out ok.
But I have lost weight since my mum helped me draw up the pattern pieces and it did not fit properly.  Also for some reason, the side edges were towards the back rather than straight down the sides (I think I got it wrong when adding on an allowance for the seams.
After a bit more help from my mum, I managed to take it in at the shoulder and sort out the side seams, but it still didn't sit properly around the arms.
While sewing I noticed that it was starting to pill or go a bit fuzzy so I decided to rinse it in warm water and full it a bit more by squeezing and a couple of risky throws.  I realised that it needed to be a bit more fulled than I would normally do for a lightweight scarf in order to be durable.
It did shrink so I quickly chucked it on my mannequin and stretched it into shape as much as possible.  Although it isn't exactly as originally planned, I am quite pleased with it.  It has certainly been a learning experience!

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I have attached some photos (hopefully it works).

Attachments:

[luvswool and dyestuff]

It’s a lovely vest with all the multiple shades of purple, and it turned out quite well. I did made a tunic just once, and I can agree it’s a lot trickier than one might think. How much yardage did you create for the vest, and did you have fabric leftover? I did not make yardage but rather felted it seamlessly.

[MTRuth]

It's very well done considering the things you ran into in the making process. But it sounds like you have learned a lot. Will you make another?

[elizabeth]

It's beautiful!

[Pandagirl]

Great job, Dotty! You certainly managed well with all your challenges! I love it.

[lyn]

It's very pretty - the last photo shows it well.

[Shepherdess]

It turned out really well. I like the colours and it looks to have a good shape.

[halay]

It seems you managed to solve all the problems during the process and your vest looks great - light and lovely colours.

[koffipot]

The vest is lovely. It's been a steep learning curve, but you've learned so much.

[Deleted]

Very Pretty..

[dottyhen]

Thanks everyone!

Cathy, I'm afraid I didn't keep my scribbles about the amount of yardage I made. I laid the pattern pieces out so I could work out how much I needed and calculated the likely shrinkage (usually about 28% but I would have to allow for more shrinkage if I did it again, in order to get it sufficiently fulled to wear well. I have a fair bit left as the back was wider than the front pieces, but am not sure what to do with it yet.

Ruth, I am not sure about making another one, at least not yet. I want to make a seamless on but think I might try a plain felt rather than nuno one first. And maybe a tunic would be easier to try first rather than a vest, with having to do an overlap. So many things to try and not enough time to do it!

[luvswool and dyestuff]

Thanks for the info! I am not very good about taking notes either, except when I plan a blog post. I think stopping to take notes and photos will just come with time and they will be quite useful as you continue your felting journey !

[Pandagirl]

Jane, I'm still terrible at taking notes even when I have a blog to write. It's the excitement of getting the project going... I'm trying. ;-)

[Shepherdess]

You could make a matching hat or purse out of the extra.