Stitch and bitch thread #4 I needle the help I can get.

[NutellaEllaElla]

Continuing our supportive little group until we run out of material

Gorgeous blouse, @Jins! I may have a go at that. And a lovely fabric stash, @toomuchlikemyusername. I love both the flowery blues.

I love that top Jins, it's really delicate looking with the gathers and the print.

That's a nice stash you have there @toomuchlikemyusername . I the Pringle print is grea . What are your plans for that?

I made the top collar for my PJ top and added in my own piping. I've had to unpick the collar from the top twice now and hoping it's third time lucky. Lining it all up at the correct points and accounting for the piping is proving tricky. I think I am going to hand baste it in and see if that makes a better job.

The lower collar also has piping and I'm struggling to see how they will join up neatly.

Thanks for all the lovely comments. I’m really pleased I bought the pattern. The gathered version is a straightforward make and the wide range of sleeve options makes it very versatile. I’ll be making a couple more.

Next up should be black trousers to replace the ones I sent to the charity shop by mistake. I’m going to use the Sinclair poppy pants pattern but haven’t got suitable black fabric.

@continuousmonotonousbeep

haha no definitely not face masks! I'm not really sure so I want to future proof the machine I get as much as possible.

Has anyone got this Brother FS210 machine or similar?

john lewis link

I've mostly been a lurker on these threads but just popping my head up to say I have this machine and really like it, it was a step up from the Brother LS14 I had been using for years before that. It comes with a good selection of feet (and I've used all of them I think!) and I really like the needle threader and button sewer

It's handled everything I've thrown at it so far, although it can be a bit temperamental with slinky knits sometimes but I mostly use my overlocker for that sort of thing now anyway.

@Ulysses the Pringle knit may become a TATB Billie sweater dress but I'd like to have a cowl neck. Just need to do a bit of research but I think it should be relatively straightforward (famous last words!).

@Jins I am tempted by the ballad blouse. I've got quite a bit of viscose and cotton left overs which could be made into a blouse. Need to check out what else is out there but I do struggle to visualise what some of the patterns look like in 'real life' compared to the pattern illlustrations. Will watch with interest how the Poppy pants go as trousers are on my 'would like to be able to sew' list.

@toomuchlikemyusername I’ve made the poppy pants a couple of times now. It’s been a good pattern as Sinclair include height files so the fit was right for me without adjustments.

Both Sinclair and love notions have loads of examples of their designs on ‘real’ people which I find useful.

That'd be a nice combination. I've made the Billie pattern before, just the sweater length version. I remember that the sweatshirt fabric didn't have much stretch and it was a pain to get on and off so that was a lesson learnt! There's another T&TB pattern that has the cowl neck, the Freya. Do you have it?

Oh @Jins that's lovely , it would make a lovely beach cover up

@Ulysses good thinking re the Freya. Yes I do have it, never made it though but I think it should match the Billie pattern. A job for this evening maybe to check that out.

I currently have decision paralysis as to the rest of the fabric and can't make any decisions as to what to make. I am pondering purchasing the Sagebrush top pattern for the blue/plum lad flowered viscose as I don't have a pattern top that I really like.
I need to shift some of my unused patterns elsewhere as they clutter my brain and the frugal side of me wants to use them because I have them rather than use them because I like them...

Does anyone else struggle to chose what to sew? Would love to know what everyone's planning process involves.

My planning process is pretty chaotic and my resolution this year is to use up my stash with patterns I already own.

I have a load of paper patterns that came with magazines or were bought in sales. Yesterday I went through them and separated out the things I really would like to make. The ones I’ll never use have already been given away so I’m left with a box of patterns which may be used but aren’t priorities. I’ve gathered my pdf patterns into a single folder but there are only a couple that haven’t been used yet. I seem to be more discerning with pdf patterns.

I have a list in my head of things that I need to make to plug wardrobe gaps. I don’t seem to be able to get round to them. I have a stash full of fabric that I really like and don’t seem to be able to match it to patterns.

I’m using some patterns again and again. I have three LN rhapsody tops and plan more with different sleeve options. I have fabric that would be ideal but using it would jeopardise the option of making it into a dress in the future so it stays in the stash.

It’s quite frustrating really. I’ve got loads of tops I want to make but nothing to wear them with. I’ve got a pattern for trousers that I want to make but I haven’t found fabric I want to make them out of. So I’m using up offcuts 😂

Quite a ramble there, sorry

I'm not sure I can call what I do any kind of process, but I usually get excited about copying a dress I've seen but want to tweak a bit. Then I shop patterns and fabric for that specific project. I don't buy fabric without a plan.

There's supposed be a planning process? Fuck I never got that memo!

My sewing is basically driven by
a) need. So if I have a 'need' for a new pair of leggings I'll probably stash dive in the hopes of finding something appropriate. Unlike the other neat sewers in the group I wouldn't be making something for a special occasion.
b) greed. I am a member of a monthly sewing subscription, so I get a pattern and material every month.
c) embarassment. HOLY SHIT IS MY STASH THIS LARGE! DAMN YOU POUNDAMETRE!!

@kittykarate your post made me laugh especially the stash embarrassment motivation. 😂. Love your honesty. Do you tend to sew what you get in the subscription boxes or do they join the stash too? I haven't yet succumbed to these boxes yet but it might free me from the decision making angst.

@Jins I hear you. I think I am a lot like that. I already have a very uncoordinated wardrobe and I think that sewing will make it even more so. Need to focus on bringing it together a bit (but fabric shopping is just so enjoyable and I don't want to pass by all the lovely stuff).

@NutellaEllaElla. Love the discipline that you have to do that. Your planning no doubt leads to some successful outcomes.

I think I am going to try to plan a few projects and get them all cut out and ready to go, getting a few winter/early spring pieces made up before turning my thoughts to makes for the warmer weather.

I probably sew 2/3 of my sewing subscription boxes within the month of delivery @toomuchlikemyusername . I can only think of 2 I haven't made up eventually - one was a style arc dress that looked ok, but a bit similar to other dresses I'd made recently and a cardigan that I wasn't wild about. So the fabric supplied for those is stashed until I either find something else to make or until I decide that the pattern does appeal after all.

The sewing subscription has a little bit flexibility on fabric - they email you the pattern info e.g this month is sewliberated.com/products/stasia-dress-and-tee and then you select your 1st and 2nd choices on their website. Or you can opt to go completely blind into it, and let them select the fabrics. Sadly, it looks like they might be phasing out this subscription as it's vanished from the website - it was always a bit under-loved as it was stretch fabrics only, and now they seem to be going more down the premixed kit route.

Haha, i'm the Obsessive Project Abandoner according to this and right now, that seems pretty appropriate.

Pioneering Tacking Fiend here! Which is quite funny as after decades of sewing I’ve just seen the benefits of tacking tricky areas.

I decided to go through the drawer of doom yesterday. It’s where receipts, warranties and manuals for household appliances go to die. I found the paperwork for my Toyota machine. I bought it in 1999 for £108! A comparable 14 stitch Brother is currently £89. An inflation calculator tells me the Toyota would cost £191.40 today.

@Jins

Pioneering Tacking Fiend here! Which is quite funny as after decades of sewing I’ve just seen the benefits of tacking tricky areas.

I decided to go through the drawer of doom yesterday. It’s where receipts, warranties and manuals for household appliances go to die. I found the paperwork for my Toyota machine. I bought it in 1999 for £108! A comparable 14 stitch Brother is currently £89. An inflation calculator tells me the Toyota would cost £191.40 today.

I’ve got the receipt for my grandmother’s Singer bought in 1935, so I’ve just done the same calculation and it comes out as just under £400 in today’s money. I wonder whether if I spent that on a machine now, it would still be working beautifully after almost 90 years.

I am The Champion Snappy Dresser (if only!)
To avoid being Obsessive Project Unfinisher I have got on and filled up my weighted door stop, sewn up the gap and have a finished item. A nice easy little project really and I'll certainly make some more. Will be an ideal gift item too. Photo below.
I've spent an hour or so trying to get my ducks in a row for some future projects; washing some fabric, sticking together a couple of free download patterns and generally tidying up my sewing area and putting away fabric and patterns that I know I'm not ready to use.

My Brother machine cost me about £100 15 years ago. The equivalent machine isn't much more these days. I was a bit when I found out it would be £75 to service though. It does need it though so I guess I'll just have to deal with it

My Heather blazer remains unfinished. Just a button to sew on and the back seam of the inner lining to hand sew. I might make myself get that done today as I really don't want to start something else before it's completely finished.

Well done! That's a lovely door stop and must be a satisfying finish

February Prima arrived and the free pattern is for a hoodie which can be colour blocked or not

Cute!

That's a really cute pattern @Jins

Have you seen TatB has a new pattern - a 'ballet' style cardigan. I love the idea and it looks pretty cute, but I know of old that a cropped cardigan some how makes me look even more dumpy.

www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2022/01/meet-pearl-wrap-cardigan-sewing-pattern.html

That’s a nice pattern @kittykarate but being short and wide of midriff that style seems to draw attention to all the wrong areas.

I’m going to drop in to Abakhan to see if they have any suitable black fabric for trousers. I’m NOT going to leave with three lengths of ditsy floral viscose! If I have no luck there I’ll change plans and make the Sabrina slims in black ponte from my stash.

I really want to make another ballad and as I rethreaded the overlocker with cream yesterday to shorten some curtains my brain is trying to persuade me that it makes sense to get another light coloured make out of the way to save rethreading.

I can't wear cropped tops as I have a long body and it just doesn't look right on me. I do wonder who they suit really

Jins...I won't be placing any bets on you not buying any floral fabric

Visiting Abakhans is really deadly for stash growth. I can easily lose an hour swimming through the baskets of stuff.