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 .

I aim to get as good a fit as I can on the shoulders and high bust. I need a more flowing and forgiving fit from under bust through to hips. I’ll have at look at that recommendation as it sounds right up my street.

The joy of dressmaking and the main reason that I’ve returned to it is that I can now have clothes that fit. Even when I was much slimmer I struggled because I’m a lot shorter than the standard design height.

I’ve discovered that blending sizes works better for me than doing full bust adjustments. Gives me more room for my tum

Hi, i've been reading up on how to best select pattern sizes and some people have suggested to measure a piece of similar clothing. I'm planning to make a shirt dress, so have measured one i have already that I like the fit of and am comparing the size of it with the ease of the pattern sizes. The weird thing with that is, my store bought dress measurement is a full 2 sizes smaller than the pattern indicates based on my body measurements. What would you trust?

Are you comparing against the pattern chart or the pattern pieces? When I did a basic 'fit a little black dress' course they were all about taking the pattern size chart with a pinch of salt for woven fabrics, and measuring the actual bust/hip etc in the pattern pieces (and then subtracting the seam allowances). So if you know the bust on your store bought shirt dress = 38inches for example, you'd get all the bits that make up the bust and measure them on paper, subtract the seam allowances and see if they tallied up.

Yeah i'm thinking about the actual measurements of the final garment. The pattern has ease measurements on the pieces and I checked as well and they correspond.

I’m wearing my tempo sundress. They promised bra friendly and they delivered bra friendly. 😂

I’ve got a length of viscose I've struggled to match to a pattern but I think it’s going to be another Tempo.

Anyone got any recommendations for summer trouser patterns? I'm looking for a slim leg, perhaps gathered at the ankle. Quite like the Jalie erm Vanessa?

I am tall with wide hips. Wide leg trousers look awful, sadly. Want something fairly structured - too loose and my backside looks like two animals fighting in a sack, particularly in linen.

I’m a big fan of Sinclair’s poppy pants
sinclairpatterns.com/products/poppy-easy-fitting-pants-for-woven-fabrics-pdf. Elastic at the back and waistband at the front. Legs quite tapered. There’s a cuffed version which I guess could be adapted to gather at the ankle.

There are different files for different heights which is a huge bonus for fitting.

Great, thank you Jins. I'm quite tall (v long of leg) so always have to add length. I shall take a look at those.

You’ll probably need to add length to the legs @dubyalass but you’ll probably find you won’t need to do much to the rise. I’m short with long legs and I always need to adjust the rise but it was fine with these. The only thing I should have done was take the hips in on my linen pair as there’s a distinct jodhpur thing going on. I have stupidly narrow hips compared to the rest of my measurements so it’s always a compromise

Can I join you all to ask for some advice about taking up these trousers I bought today, please? :)

The turn up on the hem looks to have been attached as a separate piece - can I just unpick that, shorten the trouser legs & then re-attach it at the bottom hem?

It's an unusual approach to attach a turn-up as separate band - most places use a method like this www.wikihow.com/Sew-Turn-Ups-on-Trousers

If it is a detachable band when you unpick it, then the main complication could be that the band was sized for a narrower point on the leg so you might also have to taper the side seam of the trouser slightly to get it to join back up.

Thanks kitty, I haven't ever sewn turn ups, just a basic hem but these really appealed to me.

I'll sit down with them tomorrow earlier on in the day and have a look how they're actually constructed :)

I'm too scared to cut my pretty fabric. This is silly.

Haven’t those turn ups just been done as a deep hem with a cover stitch machine?

I don't think so Jins, I can feel the end of the leg inside them. I think the only way to find out is partly unpick one...then maybe swear at myself for making things hard work!

Yes @lucysmam I think you’re going to have to be forensic.

You shouldn’t need to unpick too much to see the construction though

Note to anyone attempting stretch jeans: use extra-strong thread for the general sewing as well as the bobbin thread for the topstitching. Just had to redo the arse seam on my new jeans after sitting down a little too enthusiastically last night :/

*for the bobbin thread

Oh what a shame, your shiny new jeans.

I cut my pretty fabric! Other fabric is in the wash. My plan is to combine them for a bit of colour blocking.

They're as good as new now! I shall just sit down a little more cautiously from now on...

I size to my upper bust - I'm a dressmaker's C cup so need to add darts on anything close fitted, though I don't wear much close fitted due to lumpy middle aged midriff.

I'm almost finished with my sew house seven tea house top. It has been the most pleasing in an asmr sense pattern to sew, particularly with the lovely soft chambray I'm using. Everything is just so precise and lovely and the instructions and available sewalong are top notch. We'll worth the money because I will almost definitely make another.

@kittykarate, how's that top going?

Gah my phone ate my post!

So tops made, but couldn't make the ruffle happen. My initial cutting wasn't very smooth so couldn't leave it un hemmed. Tried a rolled hem on my overlocker which technically worked, but didn't sit nicely. So cut that off. Then I realised that by the time I'd done all my cutting the ruffle was more of a frill, and I worried I'd look like my tits had gills. So left them off in the end.

Oh shame, sounds like it is a tricky pattern then

Tits with gills 😁

I found a casual trousers pattern in an old Burda magazine and cut the pieces out for a toile. I sewed it up and tried it on, only to realise that you have to add the seam allowance yourself. Jesus what a faff.

Anyway, fabric cut and mostly sewn up, but they have a drawstring waist and it's just going to look shite because I've cut the holes too big. So I'm going to add an inner waistband instead and have them in a sort of paper bag style, which is kind of what I wanted anyway. This was supposed to be a simple make that I could run up in a few hours - it's taken me all day!