Stitch and bitch thread #6. What a yoke!

[NutellaEllaElla]

The other thread is so painfully slow so lets hope a shiny new one will run a smoothly as a well behaved sewing machine. Pin your places here my lovely stitchers

Those rompers are adorable.

Is it too hot to sew? Been sweating over my machine today making what can only be described as a Midsommar version of the Fibre Mood Kika dress with a mix of vintage fabric and white cotton. Sorry to say though that I didn’t realise that little Pom poms melt when you iron them 😱- luckily only scorched the edge of two.

I can't sew when I could be laying about in the sun . I really need to buckle down tomorrow though. I need to make 2 water bottle holders for a mini break in 2 weeks.

I'm having a bit of trouble with the neck of my dress. I've been trying different finishes with bias binding on scrap fabric but haven't managed to achieve something good enough to do it for real. I'm going to try bias interfacing instead and see if I can get that to sit flat.

I did manage to make a seat pad though. I bought my Mum a walking stick that turns into a seat, it functions reasonable well as a walking stick and is stable as a seat but it was quite uncomfortable to sit on, so I made a padded cover that hooks on with elastic.

Good news! I was able to squeeze an ogden cami out of the miss cut leg piece and leftover fabric! The ogden is not fitting well though, I really need to sort out the pattern.

Excited to say that 'real fabric' has been dispatched for my tunic top but duvetgate is not over as I ordered an easy (allegedly) trouser pattern to have a bash at - the top was massive flowers and the trousers will be in the reverse side of the cover which is red with big white dots! (I think my eldest might have been having some kind of breakdown when she chose this set for uni!)

Brace yourselves for the barrage of dumb questions which may appear when I look at the trouser pattern.......

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar are you using bought bias binding or self made? I sometimes think the bought binding is a little stiff. It might be worth seeing if you get different results making your own?

I'm using my own from the left over dress fabric. I might be using too thick a strip though, I'll try it a bit narrower as well as trying it as interfacing.

I have not consistently got the hang of bindings myself. Maybe I need a lesson or something but there's something about it being smaller and having to stretch it out that screws me up and then all of a sudden I can't sew in a straight line.

@SleepingisanArt no such thing as a daft question - you’re among friends here!

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar bias edging is tricky, I prefer turning it fully to the wrong side (is that called bias facing?) I notice that in shop clothes that are finished that way it’s usually a very narrow strip of binding so perhaps making yours narrower will help.

Yes you are right SBAM, turning it fully to the other side is what I envisioned.

Yes, I think bias facing might be the way to go. I'm used to binding quilts and you always have a bit showing at the front and then fold over to the back to finish and I'm (finally) pretty good at doing that so I thought doing it on a neckline would be pretty straight-forward. Plus the fabric is a narrow vertical stripe so the bias is very pretty with 45º stripes.

My test with bias facing sits nice and flat so I think I'll go with that. I also got my DH to even up the hemline so I just need to iron that into place and it's ready to go.

Finished off a cardigan from my sewing club - Marnie from Sew Over It

Ooh, I like that kittykarate.

Has anyone bought a pdf pattern from Sew Different? I bought one just after 4pm and I haven't had an email with my download yet.

So lovely @kittykarate !

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar I haven't, have you looked in your junk mail? Also, is there a section on the website where you log in to your account? When I've downloaded patterns before, there's been a record in a "my purchases" part of my account.

There isn't a log in, and I hadn't checked my spam but I have now and it's not there. I get the impression it's a very small company, so perhaps it's not automated and I need to wait until they get in tomorrow morning.

Not ordered a pdf from Sew Different but have made three patterns - one freebie and two paper patterns. I think it is a one woman show. What pattern did you go for?

Kitty - that cardigan looks so comfortable.

I bought the Tulip dress pattern, I’m going to make it with long sleeves in dark red needlecord for winter.

tbh i prefer an interfacing piece over bias binding any time. In fact i have a bias/neck problem of my own (been sitting on it for 3 years) that i should fix by changing to interfacing. Thanks for the tip @BlackAmericanoNoSugar

Dammit! I moved my darts and now they're TOO BLOODY LOW!

Aaaargh.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar I made the Tulip a few years ago - see pic. Loved it and in needlecord, that will be lovely. My fabric was a bit more lightweight than was recommended.
I have also made two versions of the Everyday Chic Dress.

That is a lovely tulip dress, the fabric is beautiful.

Oh no @TragicMuse is that on your main piece or still on a toile? Is it complicated to move a dart?

Thanks @NutellaEllaElla - it was on my good fabric. I've managed to fudge a fix that I think has worked. But annoying all the same.

I moved the dart by drawing a box around it, cutting the whole thing out, moving it down, filling in the gap with new paper, and then redrawing the dart legs. Then you fold the dart into the paper pattern and redraw the dart roof with a tracing wheel and true up all the lines.

I will move the dart back to almost where it was and redo the whole process again. Or I might reprint the bodice pages and start again. I'll see!