Stitch and bitch thread #3 Sewing is harder than it seams

[NutellaEllaElla]

And i'm very glad to have you clever sewists to selvedge what's left of my dignity .

Hi @rivermum and welcome to the thread . I'll have another look at the instructions and your interpretations another time as i've put it down for today. Thank you for your ideas.

I made great progress on the dress for my mum this weekend though. I've just got the cuffs, hem and button holes left.

This might seem like a stupid question, but there's more than one way to sew on a cuff. It doesn't matter if I do it differently to the instructions does it?

Hey Nutella, hope you got on okay with your cuff. The diagram makes sense to me more than the wording on the instructions. I've never heard of layering seams and I think it's referring to grading them. And the next one is saying to stitch in the ditch in other words.

Rivermum has summed it up nicely. It's pretty much how you would construct a waistband as well.

Nice trousers Kitty.

I have only got as far as washing and drying my fabric for shorts. I'll need the weather forecast to start showing some sunshine before I get a wriggle on

I'm hoping to get back to it on Friday.

I bought a walking foot and it's working a treat BUT it loosens the screw to the needle holder and the damn thing has FALLEN OUT and destroyed the needle twice! I've googled it and apparently it's a thing that just happens. Damn!

I've just been offered an overlocker for £150 - a Baby Lock Prestige 750 DS, practically new. It seems like a good deal - comes with all the bits and pieces but I can only find one review online and she doesn't say much.

I keep seeing positive things about Babylock machines on the facebook group 'Spandex Doesn't Scare Me'. I think as a brand they are bigger in the USA. I'm sure I read somewhere that the machines are manufactured by one of the japanese machine companies (Juki? Toyota? ) something like that.

Saw this on instagram and had one of those why didn't anyone tell me moments!

Gamechanger way for marking darts!

I've got one of those Chaco chalk markers too used in the video and would recommend, particularly for marking straight lines.

Baby lock machines are good. They're normally expensive in this country, compared with other brands. But if it's all in good working order, it's a good buy.

And yes, like a lot of overlockers, most models are made by Juki. Bernina are the same - mostly made by janome or juki.

I like that @ulysses. Shame I mostly use tissue patterns as it doesn't really work with that stuff.

Thank you both - I think I will go for it!

The Sabrina slims look great @kittykarate. I still haven’t made mine but my knee length version in ponte have had a lot of wear. I was more concerned about the fit on the hips and the rise so I made my own waistband with a drawstring but the original did look a bit too wide for me.

I’m still on my hols. Just left Whitby which was fab and we’re on the coast somewhere near Bridlington until the weekend. I’m missing my sewing but trying to resist fabric and pattern purchases

I'll definitely make the Sabrina Slims again @Jins - the pattern was easy to understand and most of the waistband fit problems were self inflicted. When I'd looked at the measurement chart I'd come out at 14 waist/16 hip/18 thigh/20 calf (yes my legs are that chunky) so being a bit worried about how I was going to grade that through the pocket section I cut it as a 16 waist thinking the elastic would take the strain.. And it did kinda, but you can pinch an inch in the back so it looks lumpy. So I'm going to do a proper job and re-grade it at the waist. And maybe look at the sway back adjustment because my back does hollow a lot.

I don't mind the depth of the waistband, I like high rise things (despite my height) as my tummy tries to fight itself over the waistband of mid-rise.

Hey hey, i'm almost finished on my mum's shirt dress, just the button holes to complete 😬And then hoping that it fits her nicely 😬😬😬

I didn't finish all the edges before I started as you made good points about trimming and grading, there was lots of that. So I have some finishing to do but I don't understand how i'm supposed to neatly finish edges sometimes when two seams from different directions meet.

I think it's easy to overlook seams that are a bit messy since they are inside the garment. You're probably overthinking it because you are making it for your mum. I bet there's plenty of shop bought clothing where the seams are less than perfect that you wouldn't think to scrutinise the way you do when you make them.

Still no sewing for me yet. I'm hoping to address that this weekend.

Yes that's fair.

I got the collar on my dress completed today. I was really annoyed that I gave up valuable sewing time to cook something for someone who then fecking cancelled on me. Such a waste of my time when I really wanted to make progress on my dress. Ideally I want to go for a 3 hour walk tomorrow morning, finish my dress (attach cuffs, sleeves, buttons, hem and finish interior seams) before getting to the hairdresser at 3pm. That's massively unrealistic but I really don't want to bump any of my plans. 🤨

Ah nuts. The cuff is a smidge too big for the sleeve opening. It keeps puckering when I try to sew it in. Do I have to cut a new cuff??!
I'm letting go of my desire to finish this today. It was making me hurry and feel stressed.

Have you eased it in or is it too much of a difference?

It's maybe worth doing some gathering stitches to the end of the sleeve so it makes it easier to ease in. I had to do this with an armhole even though the instructions said it didn't need this.

I've had a similar problem recently and checked it against the pattern pieces and I hadn't cut it out exact enough.

The pattern had me pleat the sleeve and now it's too small for the cuff. I've made the cuff a little smaller by stitching a bigger seam allowance, I think that should sort it.

Ahh sorry I misread thought it was the other way around. Glad you've managed to solve it.

Hi all! Long-time lurker needing some help. I'm so impressed by everything you guys make. I've been doing quite a bit of quilting recently (maybe I should start a separate quilting thread!) but have just restarted dress-making.
I'm making the Sew Over It 1940s tea dress sewoverit.com/product/1940s-tea-dress-sewing-pattern/ I've just finished my toile of the top and I could do with some help. The gathering looks to me as if it's too high and doesn't sit right under the bust. How can I lengthen it a little?
I know that I need to take a bit more care with the gathering! The waist fits nicely, although it looks a bit baggy in the photo; it's my 'generous' upper proportions that always cause me problems!

Hello and welcome @Tinuviel! I find I have that problem with ready to wear clothes, it's because my boobs are on the large side, so extend lower on my rib cage. Most patterns are cut for a B/C cup unfortunately so maybe that's what's causing your problems.

I haven't made that Tea Dress, but I've found some blogs about how to do a Bust Adjustment on similar dresses

blog.deer-and-doe.com/15837-fit-bust-adjustments-on-a-gathered-bodice/

and pattybrower.com/2011/01/simplicity-2601-fba-on-gathered-bust/

It might definitely take a bit of fiddling to get the bust to land where you want it, you might have to manually add length to the bottom of the gathered cups to allow it to sit lower on your body.

I basically only sew stretchy materials so someone who is more gifted on adjustments might be along in a bit!

I'd let the shoulder seam out a bit (to lower the bust line and give some more armpit space) and take in the sides below the gather to tighten up under the bust a bit (so the boobs have nowhere to escape to!)

Thanks for those links, Kitty! The second one in particular is very helpful.

I didn't see your comment, Spare Time! That sounds like it might help too. Now I'm looking at the photo, I'm wondering if I should go down to a size 10 and do a full bust adjustment to increase where I need it to. It is a little baggy above the bust. Then if I need to, I can do a smaller seam on the shoulders as well.

It doesn't help that I've lost weight for the first time in my life, so am really not used to being this size yet! I'll get DD to pin it on me again and take a photo of the back, so I can see what's going on there too.

Hi @Tinuviel. I think it’s too big for you on the shoulders and high bust. Have you measured your sewing cup size? It’s not the same as bra size confusingly.

Measure around under your armpits for high bust measurement then you can compare it to the pattern pieces. I think you need to go down at least one size but possibly two. You can then do a full bust adjustment which will add the length you need and you can grade out to the size you have made for the toile to get the right fit around your waist.

I’m a B sewing cup size but still need to make bust adjustments. I like my clothes to fit well around the shoulders and high bust then do their own thing below that level to disguise the lumpy midriff thing I have going on. Some garments take more work than others to get a good fit (I’m looking at you Lyric dress)