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 .

This one! www.ninalee.co.uk/shop/mayfair-pdf-sewing-pattern/
It’s something else I’m making from By Hand London.

I follow that lady on instagram @NutellaEllaElla. She makes lovely clothes and in real life she's a costume make for theatre shows in London.

I didn't realise that pattern was for jersey - it's nice to see it used like that with those details.

The lady in the first link I meant, Fiona Parker.

Thanks for the tip, I have been enjoying the #mayfairdress for examples.

That is a lovely dress. I wish I was the right shape for it.

@Jins I’ve been a variety of shapes and it’s always been flattering.

DH wants me to make him a jacket/ blazer. It's rather advanced and i've got a list of garments I want to make for myself still . Has anyone tried it though?

I made my husband a waistcoat and (arsehole) doesn’t wear it.

I want to make a blazer for myself, if that counts?! Don’t think I could be arsed to make one for someone else

@RainbownNameChange

Hi all! Not a total newbie to the thread but have lost track of name changes..

I have an alteration question that I thought I would ask here first - I’ve just bought a classic double breasted pure wool black coat, originally from
m&s (and old enough to have a St Michaels label and to have been made in the uk) for £3

BUT it is too big, probably two dress sizes too big. I quite like the oversized look but the shoulders are a bit ridiculous - I feel like if they could be narrowed then the whole thing would look a lot better

I make a lot of my own clothes but feel daunted about trying alterations on something so heavy and lined. Has anyone taken in shoulders on a jacket? Is it easier than I’m thinking or should I go to a professional?

If it's the pea jacket I had from there, in the 90s, it has some big shoulder pads that you may have to alter or replace.

Thank you - it could be that one, I think it’s definitely got an early-90s style.
I’ve been watching videos on YouTube and am giving it a go. So far the sleeves are off and I’ve worked out how much needs to be taken in at the shoulder.
I’m debating whether to take the body of the coat in at the sides too, and/or whether to narrow the sleeves…. It’s very much a learning curve.
And yes I have removed some serious shoulder padding

Wow you're so brave just going for it! Much admiration.

Yeah his jacket is not high on my list of priorities

I’ve had my trusty Toyota over 20 years and it’s still reliable.

How is it that in many years of use I’ve never noticed the thread cutter?

I feel a bit of a fool

Don't feel like a fool @Jins, I bet there's a million features on my machine, car, computer, phone, microwave etc etc etc that i'm NEVER going to know about. Life's too busy to read all the manuals

So I picked up my new overlocker . They did show my how to thread it in the shop a couple of weeks ago but the machine has arrived pre-threaded - do people normally just tie your new thread to the old and feed it through?

Ooh. Overlocker excitement.

I used to thread it from scratch but life’s too short so I tie the ends and pull it through the loopers but I thread the needles

That’s exciting! I find that the looper threads go through easily if you tie them. The other two less so so usually thread these as normal.

Cross post! You need to set your tension to 0 as well and then remember to set it back again.

I do the 'tie the new to the old' on the loopers are they are a mega faff to thread on mine, but just manually thread the 2 needles. This only has gone wrong for me once. I forgot to do the 'yoink upwards' to make sure that my left most thread was fully in the tension disks, rather than just hanging around casually in the vicinity.

Oh and definitely Ulysses said about setting the tension temporarily to zero to pull through the threads on the loopers. Take a photo of your dials before you do this so you can set them back!

Great advice thank you ladies! It's all up and running, zero tears

I always think my overlocker can sense fear so I try to approach it with false confidence

I talk to my overlocker all the time while I'm using it. Mostly encouraging it to be gentje and not eat the bits it's not supposed to eat.

Fabric all washed and ready for cutting tomorrow for the black version of the dress I made above.

I'm tempted to download the Mayfair pattern and go buy fabric tomorrow BUT I shouldn't because I have the black dress to make AND I already have fabric and pattern for a skirt. So I shouldn't buy more projects right now. But I do love a new dress project. And what if we have another lockdown? Then i'd need a good stock (what, it could happen).

@NutellaEllaElla I’ve heard it said that buying fabric and sewing are two different hobbies 😄
I’m going to use your lockdown reason as justification for my enormous stash, though I could probably be locked down for the next 5 years and not use it all up 🙈

Ooh did someone say lockdown? I’d better get buying 😂

Having just retrieved my stash from various hiding places, rationalised it and boxed it up I think I’m ok for a couple of years.

Three days until my new sewing machine can be used! I hope I like it