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

[NutellaEllaElla]

Continuing our supportive little group until we run out of material

I managed to find heatproof wadding recently, so have managed to get it delivered but not yet sewn the placemats I planned. Non-heatproof lining in a teapot made for hot pots is daft!

I've also received my hockey print cottons - so a few small pouches and a drawstring bag are now on my projects list.

The only thing I have sewn recently though is finished off the decoration on 1 XSt bookmark and started the 2nd last one I need to do - I plan to add a backing to all 10 at the same time (economies of scale idea) and have them finished for this year's Christmas presents. (I started this project in 2018...).

Love Notions feature Friday pattern is Luna loungewear

I bought this last year and didn’t anticipate using it but the bralette became a swimwear top. I’ll be making the shorts and cami top during my offcut reduction onslaught

Gutted I can't do any serious sewing as we are ( hopefully) moving house. I had to keep the house spotless and clutter free when selling, and now I need to start sorting out the shed/ garage/ loft, rather than making something nice. Annoying!!

I know what you mean fuzzy, i've had a garden project and social engagements get int the way of my sewing and i'm itching to make progress!

I finished the trousers! They are messy AF and i'm blaming the slippery fabric. I'm not especially looking forward to starting on the matching top.

The tencel lawn top I made recently involved a fair amount of bodging (and even more swearing!) due to the slipperiness. Thankfully, it's the type of fabric where small inaccuracies aren't highly visible. My only advice for the top is more pins than you even own and, if it moves when you're pinning out the pattern, lift it up and start again. Swear as required.

Thanks

A 50% successful sewing weekend for me.

A successful maxi dress version of the Closet Core Sallie jumpsuit.

I had another go at the Asta dress from wardrobe by me. The first was was really tiny across the top and sleeves this time I upsized and now it fits really oddly and the boat neck is more super tanker sized.

I've hit a bit of a wall. I've a huge fabric and pattern stash so I've properly properly banned myself from buying anything new until I've used some of it up.

Only i'm not really getting any inspiration and I'm losing weight fairly steadily at the moment so reluctant to sew anything too fitted like jeans/trousers as all my weight is round my tummy.

My thoughts have also turned to Autumn rather that summer and it's hard to get motivated to sew autumn/winter when it's boiling hot outside.

also... school holidays.

blah.

Well done on your weight loss @pastabest

I'm unsure what to suggest - but surely with your weight loss, you are shrinking out of your existing wardrobe, so maybe it would make sense to make a pair of summer trousers / dungarees/ playsuit or similar that fit you now and show off your success, and just wear them to death through the warm weather? While it's great making clothes to keep longer term, I think we often forget the other side of value, getting lots of wears out of something, even if it only lasts a summer.

Lovely dress @kittykarate.

@pastabest I agree with kittykarate that lots of wears over a short time also represents a good return on sewing effort.

I am making steady progress on my Ilford coat. Now at the stage where the cut (boxy) and colour (charcoal grey) are making it look like something which came off the set for Hogwarts. Hoping that colourful buttons will offset this a bit.

Does anyone know why the bottom stitch appears to have a step in it? The top stitch looks ok. I'm sewing a silky fabric, brand new 70/10 needle and I've tried increasing and decreasing the tension and it hasn't helped. I've also re threaded the machine but not the bobbin.

@pastabest I love your name. I lost weight and turned my attention to taking in my favourite tops.

I fixed that sort of issue by putting a bit of ribbon round the top spool to add a bit of friction to the top bobbin. I'm sure that's not the scientific way to fix it but it does the trick for me.

That's a new idea, do you mean you tie ribbon around the top thread reel?

Normally when my stitches are acting up like that, I've cocked up threading my bottom bobbin.

This picture shows what I mean, it's not classy but it does the trick.

I have similar when I've put the bobbin in the wrong way round. Mine needs the thread to be anticlockwise otherwise it skips stitches.

Have you tried sewing a different, more sturdy fabric with the same thread?

The tension is far too low. Start from scratch, top and bottom, making sure the presser foot is up when you thread the machine. I would also suggest re-winding the bobbin onto a fresh one before you start. A microtex/sharps needle is also best for that sort of fabric.

If it's still misbehaving, try different fabric of a similar weight to see if it's reproduced then try with different thread. I like to use the gutermann sew all extra fine with this sort of fabric.

Thank you thank you I will take a look tomorrow armed with your advice and fresh eyes.

I've had today and have tomorrow off work just for sewing . I did a toile of the Saguaro top today which went well and i've cut out the main fabric to work on tomorrow. I've even made a start on hand tacking the first step. I think i'll be doing a lot of hand tacking as it's the only way i've found that works. It's not as slow as i'd feared though obviously slower than just pinning but it was just going horribly wrong so even though it's slow, it's better than a shit show.

Tacking is tedious but so much less tedious than unpicking - particularly with fabrics that bruise or snag easily!

Ok, I rethreaded a new bobbin. Does this look ok to you now?

Reverse of fabric looks ok, but the top looks a bit out of tension.

Gah I was on track to finish the top today but i've ground to a halt as for some reason, the neckline is more revealing than the toile. The toile was perfect (despite me being really hasty putting it together), it didn't show my bra at all. This does at the bottom. I really don't want to unpick the waistband to tighten up the cross over at the front but anything else might just be a bodge. I'm going to have to unpick aren't I?

Fraid so!

I have a lovely top in my wardrobe that I never wear because I cba to unpick the indecent neckline.

Balls. So I've unpicked the damn thing and adjusted the overlap so now of course the waistband is too big to reattach. I feel like I'm guessing now, I don't know how much to reduce it by. Gah trying not to panic but am worried about bodging it no matter what I do.