Stitch and bitch thread #5 This whole thing is fabricated.

[NutellaEllaElla]

Welcome back seamsters! It is soon to be September and Autumn is on its way.

You've got me looking at Dalston Mill, as if I needed encouragement! What is Bamboo jersey like?

I live within 30 mins of the Birmingham Rag market, Barry's fabrics and the fancy silk store. Plus I hate building up a stash so swear to only buy fabric for specific projects. It's great but problem is that I have changed my mind before cutting out the pattern, not got round to projects, found new shiny project ideas that need more fabric and I often feel lazy, don't want to leave the house so browse around online.

I got a refund on my Etsy order by the way. They actually found in favour of both me and the seller so Etsy refunded me without taking it from the seller - good outcome I think.

So anyway, I have an annoying situation where I have 1m of lovely deep purple waffle, and 2m of faded lilac which i'm not a big fan of for a jumper dress i'm planning on making. So i'm trying to do the front half in one and the back half in the other. Which means colour blocking the sleeves, cuffs and neckband. It's a total PITA, why do I do this to myself?

I managed to not buy any today but the last lot I bought I turned into the Sheridan sweater by Hey June Handmade and the Talvikki sweater by Named Clothing. I don’t like the cuffs (or lack thereof) on the Talvikki so I’m going to add cuffs or put some elastic in the hems.

Both patterns were really easy to make and I fancy doing the Talvikki in a boiled wool next.

@NutellaEllaElla I can't help you on bamboo Jersey I'm afraid. I tend to go for 100% cotton.

I was sore tempted by loomstate twill. I dyed calico to make Christmas cushions and was really pleased with the dye effect - a good strong colour but with some marbling in a darker colour.

Shirts and waistcoat first though.

Dalston Mills do have a good range of the types of fabrics I'm interested in but they are a little dearer.

Both those patterns look great, although I do agree with you that the lack of cuffs makes the Talvikki look a bit unfinished dubyalass. I’ve been buying a lot of sweatshirting lately because I couldn’t decide what colour I wanted....I have mustard, pink and green. Not much of a theme there! I’m planning to make Hudson pants and a Linden sweatshirt, but that leaves another piece that I don’t have plans for yet 🤔

I like your idea of a colourblocked dress NutellaEllaElla, but it’s a bit of a pain that you end up having to do things like that because someone didn’t describe their product clearly!

Shirt is finished. I now need to tidy up so that sewing room can be turned back into a bedroom for a pre Christmas flying visit from DD.

Well done Gnome. Slow progress over here but progress at least, all pieces are cut out and i have sewn the front and back shoulder seams together.

@NutellaEllaElla getting to the point where you have started sewing is a real achievement. Cutting out is always a lot longer process than it looks when described.

Thank you Gnome, that is encouraging. It took much longer with the colour blocking as well. I need to see the whole process as sewing, not just the bit where I sit at the machine!

Cutting out is definitely a big part of the process. It also tends to get glossed over in sewing instructions with a pattern layout diagram and an airy 'don't forget to transfer notches'. Even more so if colour blocking as you are doing.

Mind, I think sewing instructions are an exercise in minimisation. Yesterday I had 30 minutes work contained in a single sentence: stitch, grade, reverse and press each cuff.

Absolutely! I was amazed when I started dressmaking that each word entailed so much work! I had to google what 'neaten' meant and couldn't believe it! Sewing really is a new language.

Agree @GnomeDePlume And indie instructions tend to be pretty thorough. Big 4 are often so minimal that they may as well say ‘make a jumper’.

I’m on some facebook groups where people mention ‘whipping up a…. in 30 mins, or an hour’ and I cannot comprehend it.

Me either, but I try not to get into the competitive speedy sewing thing. I do it for my own enjoyment, I don't need to rush it one bit.

First sew for a while for me - Fibre Mood Leona sweatshirt. A fast sew (for me) 5 hours from cutting out to finished. The geometric shape and gathers would be more obvious in brighter colours.

30 minute sewing projects?! 30 minutes is just enough time for me to fold fabric in half and lay out the pattern pieces. Not sure the scissors would come out in that time, let alone the sewing machine 😯

I made good progress on my Kermit skirt (working title only!) I inserted the zip, attached the sides, bound all the seams and then decided to remove the top stitching on the fly as it looked a little bit wonky. Big mistake, as all subsequent efforts looked much worse. I’m currently trying to work up some enthusiasm to try again...

Lovely work @kittykarate and @GnomeDePlume . I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll also have a finished article to share in a couple of days

That’s lovely kitty. I’m a big fan of black,, I think it is very classic, stylish and timeless and of course super versatile.

A friend of mine wanted to know where I got my fav winter dress from so I’ve offered to make one for her. Not sure what I’ve let myself in for because we are very different heights and shapes and adjusting patterns, doing alterations etc is all new to me. It will start with fabric shopping though so what’s not to love about that.

Once I’ve finished my current sweater dress, that will be my next project. I’ve not taken pics of my makes recently. I’ve been having a fall out with the mirror/camera.

It's too dark to take photos in my house so I haven't bothered either. I do have a nice pile of recent makes, but all of them need a slight adjustment, or ends sewing in or whatever.

It's interesting seeing which items I wear again and again, and which I hardly reach for. Time to swap them about a bit.

Lovely sweatshirt @kittykarate .

I think those '30 minute makes' are a bit of a con. You notice they always seem to start with convenient sizes of fabric. Or even pre-cut fabric. They also have suitable notions to hand. The 30 minutes of making is preceded by 48 hours of assembling all the bits and pieces needed.

It's a bit like 30 minute recipes when you look at the ingredients and realise that everything is already sliced/chopped/trimmed/marinated for 24 hours. The 30 minutes is the time you need to mix everything and put it on a plate. All the prep time is ignored.

I have an embarrassing stash of fabric and notions @GnomeDePlume so I might not have to go shopping but I reckon it would still take me more than half an hour to find everything, and check I had my pattern printed and cut in the right size, or print it and cut it.

I was hoping to get some sewing done this week as the next few weeks I won’t have much free time, but school has been closed yesterday and today and looking unlikely to open tomorrow 😩.

Flying visit to say that my sewing machine is in Aldi’s sale for a ridiculous price.

www.aldi.co.uk/necchi-digital-sewing-machine-nm2000/p/711676511147800

50p per stitch pattern 🤣

I’ve given mine a thorough testing over the last 13 months and highly recommend it.

I love that they've given the price per kilo 😁

@Jins I spotted that and posted in my sewing chats just in case anyone needs to buy a sewing machine! I've not sewn much for myself recently. I got a kimono jacket sewn together but haven't done the edges/hem yet. I need to see if a rolled hem will work instead of bias binding. The fabric is horrible to sew with, so I won't be making anything with what's left!

I ran 3 sewing workshops to make Christmas stuff recently. I didn't have many people but they enjoyed themselves and all got something finished! We did gift bags, a stocking and a zipped bag. Hopefully I'll be doing another beginners' course for home ed kids in the New Year and I already have an adult course planned to make a kimono jacket (hence why I've made one recently!)

That is ridiculously cheap!

Now I’m wondering who at Aldi thought price per kilo is the usual way to compare sewing machines 🤔

Following on from our speed sewing chat, it has taken me 1 hour this morning to make an elastic waist skirt for my daughter - square up the fabric, sew the side seam, hem it and gather to a wide elastic waistband. And the fabric was about the right size already and I didn’t do any pressing 😳 (my excuse is that it’s needlecord and I don’t want to flatten the wale).
How do they make entire outfits in a couple of hours on the sewing bee?

I haven’t watched the Sewing Bee, but is it a bit like Bake Off? As in unrealistic timescales resulting in corners being cut and almost guaranteed failure? Not that I could (or want to!) badly put together an outfit in a few hours either, but may be tight deadlines spur people on to sew at a superhuman speed?!

I’m possibly on week 4 of my Moss skirt now, so speed sewing is 100% alien to me. I’ve finally got to the stage where I’m ready to add the waistband and...it’s too short by just under an inch 🤬 I can’t believe this. I have an old version of the pattern and was aware that some people had reported problems with the waistband on that version. I’d preemptively added a couple of inches, but clearly that wasn’t enough. Sigh!

I think the most elegant solution will be to unpick and re-sew the side seams just a little bit tighter. That’s the entertainment sorted for this evening 😞 (jumbo cord, sewn with a tiny zigzag stitch...I’ll be a while!)

@CrimsonAlligator yes, I think the timelines are deliberately tight to make it a challenge. And I suppose there’s probably prep done before the challenge begins.

For anyone who’s in London or London-adjacent I spotted this on Instagram which might be of interest: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-fabric-destash-swap-event-tickets-454908943897?fbclid=PAAaZIxN0ONEUgnKkX_LVYg34YiYS4hfsmbLFxM1xHdQznWz8WFFU6hb3djPE