Stitch and bitch thread #2. Sewing aficionados gather here!

[IDontMindMarmite]

The previous thread is coming up to capacity and as ever your wisdom, screw ups and accomplishments are appreciated!

Lovely @NutellaEllaElla

Woohoo. That’s fabulous

So is the faux wrap top.

My list gets longer

Thank you so much for your help! You're an amazing bunch.

Lovely top @kittykarate and very cute dress @NutellaEllaElla - the fit looks great.

A freebie for anyone who’s interested - SewOverIt are giving away their Audrey top pattern for free today for International Women’s Day, you just need to sign up to their mailing list. sewoverit.co.uk/

Oh lovely, thank you @SBAM, that's a really cute top. I've downloaded it.

Gosh I think my inexperience is showing as i'm struggling to figure out the princess seams on the button up dress. In particular, step 5. I've aligned all the notches but am concerned that if pinned per the drawing, the side panel lays across the front panel, towards the middle of the dress - really not aligning with the arm hole as illustrated in step 6. Am I missing something? I can align the panel so that the arm hole opens out in a nice continuous line but if I do that, it doesn't look like the picture as I will have had to pin it differently to the diagram.

I wonder if the lovely @Jins is around? I see you did it right first time, gold star, can I copy your homework?

I’m around but I’m struggling to picture your problem. I’ll have a read of the instructions. Remember it’s a tiny seam allowance

Ok so having read it I remember that I didn’t follow the instructions as I’ve done princess seams before. If you end up with it looking like the pic in step six you’ve got it right.

I think it’s been done on the lifting pins and needles YouTube

Ok, thank you. At least I know that the pattern works, so if the instructions don't seem quite right, it CAN be done.

@NutellaEllaElla that is beautiful! I've just finished a lovely snuggly cardigan which might come in useful over the next few weeks. Photo is of backside which is such a flattering shape. Then it's on to summer sewing, whoop! Top tip, Made By Jack's Mum, now Waves and Wild have got 75% off all their patterns today. I got a lovely pile of 8 pdf patterns for £16 including dungarees for the whole family, we will look ridiculous but very happy!

Ooh, and I’ve been sorting out my sewing space. I managed to get a huge dresser for my patterns (turns out I have loads, including ruddy beautiful vintage patterns I'd forgotten about) and fabric stash, and a desk with lots of drawers for the machine and all my scissors and pins etc. All from an auction house up the road so actually cheaper than IKEA, hurray. It is so lovely to have a bit of space for me, although DD 11 has caught the bug too and is doing her best to mess it up...

Thanks, that cardi looks really great too, very snuggly! I want it now as well but I hardly need to add to my "to mak"e list which I never even planned on having! It sounds like you got a bargain and are now one step further to the Von Trapp look. Just need some curtains...

Well I’ve not been able to get anything started or thought about for over a week and won’t be able to for a while. I’m missing the peaceful loss of a few hours that dressmaking gives me.

I might sneak a moment later to do a bit of prep work

@NutellaEllaElla the pattern definitely works and the princess seams fit together really nicely without needing much easing.

Lay the pieces right side up and fit the side to it so you’ve got the armhole shape right and the two pieces look like step 6. Then fold the side piece over on top of the front and you should see the notches lining up together. I don’t think the picture in step 5 is very clear.

Are you doing the facings? I had to read it several times to understand what they meant in the instructions. If you get stuck at that point search for burrito method facings on YouTube and all becomes clear

I've just this moment done the princess seams! I think/hope they're ok. I'm just about to prepare some pockets but will be on to the facing soon. I have zero clue about facings generally or specifically. The instructions do look very complicated. I don't know how people did this prior to youtube. I suppose teaching went through generations.

You guys, this sewing clothes thing is so addictive! If I'm not sewing, I'm thinking about it!

Hello, does anyone know what I can do if I have trimmed facing and main fabric neck line seams too much to under stitch?

I've been a bit careless and some is really tiny narrow so I'd likely miss the allowance or stitch over the original seam.

Maybe I should just give it a go...work on my precision sewing skills...

It’s not the end of the world if you don’t under stitch the neck. There’s a huge chunk of facing you won’t be able to understitch with this project anyway. If the facing won’t stay in place at the end you can catch it to the seam lines or top stitch the neckline if you have to

Ah brilliant. When you say catch it, do you mean hand sew the facing to the seam?

@NutellaEllaElla

Ok ladies. You made this happen!

That is a gorgeous dress!

I'm finally cracking on with my Stella hoodless. Life has just got in the way, too much, over the past 2 weeks but it's a sunny day and perfect for working with navy blue fabric, so I'm not wasting it!

Thank you! Good luck with your Stella!

I made quite a bit of progress today. The Burrito method thing was great, I added pockets and completed the side seams. I have to finish the hem tomorrow but one of my panels is out of step with the neighbouring panels by about 1cm. I don't know how that happened or quite what to do about it.