The gap between what is easy to buy and what is worth sewing is wide. Sources, roughly by how likely they are to have something interesting. Deadstock and remnant sellers. Leftover yardage from clothing production. This…
I buy fabric when I see it and pick patterns later, which I now realise is backwards. Current situation: a pattern for a fitted shirt dress that lists cotton poplin, chambray and linen. What I have is a mid weight…
Made my first toile for a simple button front shirt in cheap calico. Drag lines from the bust to the armpit, gaping at the neckline, and the shoulder seam sits about 2cm behind where my shoulder actually is. I measured…
I priced up a shirt I want to make and got to roughly the cost of a decent ready made one before I counted a single hour of my time, and that was with mid price cotton from a chain store. My partner has started making…
Sewing a lined jacket in a mid weight twill. I pin every 5cm and match the notches, but by the end of a 60cm side seam the upper layer has travelled forward and I am left with a 2cm overhang. It happens on both sides…
I can construct things cleanly, my seams are neat and my zips behave, but every woven top ends up pulling across the front and gaping at the armhole and I have now done four muslins of the same pattern chasing it. Local…
Sewing a plain t shirt in a mid weight cotton jersey. Every third or fourth stitch on the hem is missing, always on the same side of the twin needle. I have already fitted a new 75/11 ballpoint, rethreaded with the…
The pattern instructions go step by step and I follow them, and by step six the garment is a tube and any fitting problem is now trapped inside four finished seams. This has happened on a dress and twice on a shirt. Is…
I make maybe six garments a year, mostly cotton wovens and the odd knit tee. My finishes are zigzag or pinked and they hold up fine, but they look homemade inside. A serger is about a month of hobby budget and my sewing…
Making a shift dress in rayon challis. The zipper tape sits flat but the fabric either side ripples along the whole 40cm. I have basted first, used the invisible zipper foot, and stitched both sides from the top down.…