Dress making for mums

[Chloeolive9]

Hello does anyone dress make here ?
I am thinking of making my own jersey dresses wirh pockets in but unsure if its worth it ...
I really like popsy dresses and they are priced around £38.....40
Thanks x

[bookbook]

I make a lot of my and my families clothes .
You will be hard pushed to make a dress for much less than those prices .
A pattern from somewhere like MBJM/Halla/Ellie and Mac start at about £6 , ( a download pdf which you need to print off) but then you can reuse . If you want nice quality cotton lycra /stretch material , that can range from £8 for a plain, solid colour - £24 per metre for a nice pattern. Depending on pattern / height/what size you are you need approx 2 to 4 metres .
That gives you a rough idea! Without factoring in time ( and having the right equipment )
But , you do then get a totally original item that fits you , usually from better quality material , made better and will last longer , oh , and the joy of making it!

[Chloeolive9]

Thanks for you reply much appreciated
Its appears making your own clothes is not cheaper but satisfying though. Also I am awkward sizes so would be better.
Thanks x

[MaidenMotherCrone]

I agree with @bookbook. I make my own clothes and patterns, especially the Indie patterns, are expensive. I don't buy the pdf ones and mine are all between £14 - £20.

It can be a very expensive hobby before you even think of buying fabric or it can be done very well on a tight budget.

2nd hand good machine is much better imo that a new one of the same price. Fabric can be bought cheaply but you do get what you pay for.

[Buttybach]

Hi there I do dressmaking. To do jersey dresses you will ideally need an overlocker which can be pricey.
However the joy of having clothing that no one else has is pretty amazing x
I have the Tilly and the buttons stretch book
It's also been amazing to make kids costumes like this Victorian one I recently made.
I tend to buy a lot of vintage patterns as they are cheap on eBay x

[MaidenMotherCrone]

@Buttybach you can use a regular sewing machine with jersey fabric without any problems. Just as Tilly says all the way through the Stretch book. You don't NEED an overlocker at all.

No one NEEDS an overlocker when they are starting out.

It's a nice piece of equipment to have but most people don't even use their machine to it's full potential.

I have more than one machine AND an overlocker

[JudgeRindersMinder]

I’ve just come back to dressmaking after a long break and found that what’s available fabric wise now is amazing
There are loads of inexpensive fabric suppliers online such as poundfabrics.co.uk, fabricland.com, poundametre.co.uk, and loads of fb pages selling.
You don’t NEED an overlocker, but it does make life easier if you sew jersey a lot, however I picked mine up secondhand for £70, and Lidl and Aldi often do deals for about £130, and I believe the machines are fine.
If you go onto Facebook there are loads of groups for sewing at every ability level, and members are generally very supportive and answering questions.
Don’t be put off by people saying it’s expensive, it can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it. I’ve been making new knickers this week from offcuts of cotton jersey fabric-I reckon they’re costing me about 80p a pair, and 70p of that’s the elastic!!

[JudgeRindersMinder]

@MaidenMotherCrone errrm 3 machines and an overlocker here

[MaidenMotherCrone]

@JudgeRindersMinder

I will admit to having more than one but I won't give a number

[MaidenMotherCrone]

I've heard very good things about the recent overlockers from Lidl.

Fabric..... Seasalt have a sale on their fabrics every few months. I've had some beautiful ones. Still not cheap cheap but lovely quality.

[Chloeolive9]

Thanks all for your replies

I have a machine and very modern and up to date but haven't used it for few years.

Something I will definitely get into

Going to book onto a basic sewing course to refresh my memory
Thanks for your advice

Happy sewing lovelies

[bellinisurge]

Stitch Upon A Time patterns are great.