Sew much fabric, sew little time

[Luce]

See, Bats? It's Brexit that has done this. Make do and mend!

I've no idea if that looks good or not, Cerise, since I know nothing but I'd be very happy with that machine.

[rosy]

Will this do for me? Mr Sax will be paying.

https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/janome-440 ... 01437-1000

That looks like a good all-round starter machine.

I’m going on a free-motion course the week after next.

[Cerise]

What other things might be good to ask for to get me started please?

[Squirrel]

Good scissors, large and small. A rotary cutter and mat are useful but they’re not essential. I also like having a magnetic pin holder and a bobbin case (and lots of spare bobbins).

ETA: a set of machine needles in different sizes and different sized needles for hand stitching. You could sew a needle case for them.

[Elya]

I love the dress, Luce!

The kids got a small sewing machine for Christmas - I need to help start making more than a pillow, which is about as much as I can manage!

[rosy]

Gutermann or other good quality threads - not Coats Moon, they are a false economy. Scissors that will only ever cut fabric, and some that you can also cut paper with. Pins and a pincushion, a thimble and hand sewing needles. Lots of machine needles. A tape measure. Chalk, or heat- or air-erasable pens. A SEAM RIPPER because everyone makes mistakes.

The best way to learn is either via a suitable book such as Stitch by Stitch by Tilly Warnes, or by following one of the many youtube channels for beginners. Most of all I'd say to develop good habits from the beginning - never skip the pressing, cut notches on garments outwards, tack before sewing.

[ParisGal]

cut notches on garments outwards

What does this mean, please?

[ParisGal]

Also if you sew jersey / knit you need a particular sort of needle.

[rosy]

cut notches on garments outwards

What does this mean, please?

If you look at a commercial pattern, you'll see little triangles or double triangles on the cutting line. What you should do is cut along the cutting line and when you get to the triangle, cut out around it. Sometimes people are advised to mark the triangle or cut them inwards into the seam allowance but this is a big mistake - you need the notches outward to match up the pieces, and cutting into the seam allowance weakens the garment.

This video shows cutting notches outwards (at about 4.10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3VzCguDAD0 She later says you can cut inwards but don't!

[ParisGal]

Ah! Thanks, rosy, I had indeed been cutting them into the seam allowance I think (and had thought it was a bit risky, but hadn't made the step to thinking of doing it the way you mention )

[overthehill]

Ah! Thanks, rosy, I had indeed been cutting them into the seam allowance I think (and had thought it was a bit risky, but hadn't made the step to thinking of doing it the way you mention )

I teach something different altogether. Triangular notches (inwards or outwards) are more or less only used in home sewing. If you look at an industry sewing pattern, you will see that they mark the seam join points with a small rectangular punch (a bit like an old-fashioned ticket-collector). Fabric pieces are then not notched but snipped.

While rosy is correct that an inward-cut triangle weakens the seam, a simple straight snip, no more than 5mm deep, doesn't - and, depending how accurate your notch-cutting is (and I've seen some horrors), a short snip (aimed at the centre of the triangle) can be a lot more accurate. You might worry that a short snip (with sharp scissors!) might get lost on some fabrics, but they work surprisingly well on all but the most loosely-woven fabrics. And, yes, like rosy said, if there's one triangle, cut one snip, if two, cut two, etc. It's particularly important where you have things like sleeves that look almost symetrical, so could easily be sewn in back to front.

[overthehill]

I don't tend to share my makes, but I thought this might give you a bit of a laugh. It's 'Look #1' of two for my 2nd year City & Guilds. The brief was 'street wear' and I don't even want to go into how a 4" x 6" sample of free-motion quilting became the inspiration for this eye-watering ensemble. The top is georgette and the jeans are 'pleather' (in case you couldn't tell) ...

IMAG2203.jpg

purple-pleather-jeans-1.jpg

top-2.jpg

[rosy]

Those trousers are very shiny! Was it a difficult fabric to work with?

[overthehill]

Honestly, rosy, they're dreadful. Stretch pvc! They're a model size, so they'll probably only ever be worn once, for the fashion show. Funnily enough, the fabric was much easier than I thought it would be. Ideally, you'd use a Teflon foot or a walking foot to stop the pvc sticking, but my Pfaff machine has a sort of built-in walking foot so I just put a bit of low-tack decorator's masking tape on the bottom of the foot and used a Microtex needle. Overlocking, OTOH, was an utter nightmare. I had used a huge amount of scrap fabric to try and get a consistent stitch before my tutor told me not to bother and to just top-stitch the seams.

[rosy]

That sounds like a nightmare! But I bet the garments will look great on the catwalk.

[overthehill]

I've hardly been here recently, but here's Look #2

shell-top-pants-detail.jpg

Look2-zipped-coat.jpg

They looked quite ok on the runway, although the model put my lovely drapey blue crepe trousers on back to front (she was very slim). No one noticed except the college Principal, who was acting as compère. She asked the model to open the coat zip, so the audience could see the shell top and trousers and was about to point out the pockets, when she realised she couldn't see them! The model had done the coat zip up all the way to the neck, so the lapels looked really odd, sticking out in front. Still, it's 'fashion', so no one knew they weren't meant to be like that.

looks-kingsroad2.jpg

[rosy]

I’m using up scraps of Liberty lawn from projects plus some samples and scraps I picked up at shows to make a sampler quilt. It will have 36 blocks and I’d made 18 but when I laid them out for the photo I spotted a mistake on one block so I’m going to have to redo that one. So here are 17 blocks:

Edit to actually post the pictures!

[Cerise]

That looks fiddly!

[Beena]

I used to love patchwork when I was younger, rosy. There's something so satisfying about it.

[rosy]

Another ten, so I’ve done 27 now including the redone one. Nine more to go which I’ll make a start on over the weekend; I’m busy tomorrow and have a couple of dresses to finish on Friday