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 .

It's well worth the effort, @dubyalass - looks great. I rarely do cuffs around the sleeve arm. Even leg cuffs. Even though they fit, the damned pins get stuck and make my stitching wobble. I arrange it all so the cuff is on the inside then stitch very slowly, cuff up, sleeve on the bed, making sure nothing catches on the needle shaft. It's fiddly and my hands hurt to buggery when I'm done (hypermobile) but rarely goes wrong.

Skip the bit about sucking eggs and this shows what I mean. You can do it with the cuff on the outside but there's more easing to do, that way. "How to sew knit cuffs » Helen's Closet Patterns" helensclosetpatterns.com/2017/04/02/how-to-sew-knit-cuffs/

Thanks! I am currently traumatised by the arm cuffs but will try the other way next time. I did try that initially but keeping the elastic taut enough meant it all kept slipping. I might even cut the slightly larger size at the base of the arm to give me a bit more to play with. It was worth it in the end though!

@Gizzy93 thanks for the mention of George and Ginger. There’s quite a bit on there that appeals to this old goth 😂

I’m on my hols at the moment in sunny Norfolk. Today I’m in my troublesome Ogden cami and it’s been perfect.

Starting to think about autumnal sewing now

I just need to finish my box box top in time for some decent weather and an outing on wednesday then I'll be starting on a Brome top for the autumn.

Does anyone know of a good men's shorts pattern for woven? Happy to do a drawstring and elastic wait band. I've never done a fly and it scares me a bit!

Sorry I don't.

My overlocker is screwing up which is frustrating. I've rethreaded it and it instantly unthreaded itself! Definitely putting my holiday dress in jeopardy.

Oh, overlockers are so frustrating! Once I didn't touch mine for a month because I was mad at it 😅
I used the overlock stitch on my machine instead

Well i've stopped and am having a biscuit in protest. I've rethreaded it again and it undid itself immediately. wtf. How much are those air threading ones....

Extortionate, i've just googled.

Oh and newsflash. Joe Lycett won't be hosting the next Sewing Bee. It's Sarah Pascoe instead.

@Gizzy93 I made my OH a pair that sound the sort of thing you’re after
wardrobebyme.com/products/mens-summer-pants-sewing-pattern
They are now his favourites

@Jins exactly what I'm after, thank you!

I made the mistake of using my overlocker with a headache, the other day. Forgot to lift the thread support which meant instant snapped thread. Took me 2 attempts to re-thread it correctly.

And I gave myself a generous budget when I bought mine and it was still half the price of an air threaded machine!

My brother is a dream to rethread. I’m glad I bought the Aldi one to try but I’m so glad I replaced it with the brother

When you use the overlock stitch on your sewing machine, obviously it won't trim the edges do do you just line it up with the raw edge so nothing hangs out?

Mine isn't that hard but my brain was not working properly at all. It was in do not drive or operate machinery mode🥴

Mines a second hand Aldi or Lidl one. How much did your Brother cost?

It was £219 when I bought it. I got it from Jaycotts
jaycotts.co.uk/collections/overlockers/products/brother-2104d-overlocker-new
There is a little slider that brings the looper out of its hiding place to make threading easier but I’ve only had planned rethreading so far so I could knot the threads and pull them through.

@PickAChew

Mine isn't that hard but my brain was not working properly at all. It was in do not drive or operate machinery mode🥴

My brain is in that mode today. Halfway through my hols and I’m not capable of thinking

My overlocker is a fairly cheap one. Birthday gift from DP this year, as my second hand aldi one broke. It's not top of the line but does the job I need it to do!

When I use the overlocking stitch on my machine, I do just line it up and go slowly. I know you can get a side cutter attachment, but I don't see the point in spending the money when I have an overlocker haha

My machine has a foot for its overlock stitch. It's annoyingly similar to the edge stitch one.

My machine hasn’t got an overlock stitch so it was zig zag or French seams for me before I invested. I do still do French seams quite often

I still zigzag short seams if it would be more of a faff to overlock them - I have my overlocker set up in a different room if I'm just finishing seams with it.

I wasn't pleased with the finish it gave me on the edges of a yoke with lots of curves, so I ended up zigzagging that and cutting the mess off. There is a bit of of a tunneling on the zigzag but it still looks tidier and it's in matching thread so looks nicer on the hanger.