Stitch and bitch thread #8. It’s all starting to unravel

[NutellaEllaElla]

Welcome back and welcome for the first time to any newbies. As we go back into autumn/winter mode, sewing days are more and more appealing as the wind gales outside. I enjoyed looking back over the last thread, there were so many beautiful patterns (so little time), such beautiful makes, that thread is an absolute goldmine for inspiration. Also such wisdom from you lovely lot! Thank you. I couldn't do it without you actually as no one around me sews and you have imparted such great advice, hints and tips.

@PickAChew
@kittykarate
@TragicMuse
@SBAM
@pastabest
@Jins
@Blackamericanonosugar
@CrimsonAlligator
@SleepingisanArt
@dubyalass
@Brefugee
@InMySpareTime
@Rosenspants
@rivercobbler
@Karatema
@bookbook
@Sewingdufus
@FletchingStraight
@SideWonder
@CarolynKnappShappy
@Chewbecca
@eldorado02
@PrincessofWellies
@123ZYX
@Storynanny1
@Tinuviel
@Wildernesstips
@Dellabob123
@florentini
@longpathtohappiness
@twobluechickens

That is lovely @Jins - I. Shall have to get around to browsing for bralette patterns as all the ones I'm seeing in the shops are pull on or have thin straps which would be anythj g but comfortable and don't even give models with small, firm breasts a basic amount of support. I need one that I can whip off, through my clothes, when I am no longer out in public 😂

That looks really good @Jins !

Churned out two hacked stripey Coco tops today. Still need to hem them but really pleased with them. My plans for tomorrow have been cancelled so I get another day sewing, hurrah!

I made a toile of waves and wild superstar bra yesterday using a bit of the swim Lycra I’ve used upthread. It’s one of those ‘trust the process’ patterns as it looks about half the size I need yet fits perfectly. The straps were too short to cross over racer style but they worked perfectly as normal straight straps.

So as I’ve now got two bikini tops but no bottoms I’m making some swim shorts with a higher rise. Going well so far but the waistband will be where it all goes wrong. I must remember to make a couple of buttonholes before I start so I can thread a drawstring through.

I think that’s enough swimwear now for a week’s holiday so I’m moving on to my viscose linen later in the week for some trousers.

Bikini for serious swimming now complete. It’s been an experience and I need to do something in woven to de-stress 🤣

The top is Waves and Wild superstar bra made with no alterations. The bottoms are 5oo4 Candy pants cut to the 2” leg length with front rise lifted by 3.75 cm and a full size dropped for the waistband. Annoyingly I’d put eyelets in and don’t need to use them as the band fits perfectly so I’ve got a fake drawstring in for now. The top is lined in powermesh and the bottom fully lined with lightweight swim lining.

@Jins I am so impressed!
Spent some time at the weekend mastering zips by making little pouches, still need to work on straight lines and also not stretching the fabric as I sew so it all ends up a bit squiffy.

My fabric order arrived and it's all so beautiful, as you can see I like florals and ditsy prints. Once I have got a bit better at the basics I will attempt some clothes with these fabrics. The heavier linen I think I will do a tote bag with.
The Christmas fat quarters are adorable, I had planned to do quilted stockings with them but the prints are the wrong way along if that makes sense so to get a full length stocking it would be sideways, may try mini ones or think of something else.

Not pictured is the 50 pieces of pre-cut floral quilting squares from amazon, they where about £12 and I'm pleasantly surprised, the patterns are random but nice with only a couple of rouges and the cotton doesn't feel to flimsy. Hoping lots of quilting will help me master the straight lines and curves!

@Allthegoodnamestakken I love the grey fabric with pink flowers. Do you have a link to it?

@123ZYX Weirdly won't let me post links but they're all from fabrics galore the greeny grey one is called Green and Orange floral viscose, its beautiful I bought an end piece so not enough to make a dress from it sadly. Need to master the cotton before trying viscose though!

The other two with pink flowers are floral cotton lawns also from fabrics galore.

Fabulous, thank you @Allthegoodnamestakken

So I finally achieved something from last year’s Make 9! I made a Cashmerette Fairfax Jacket. Had to narrow the sleeves by over 2 inches and shorten them the same amount. It needs a narrow shoulder adjustment because I didn’t follow the size calculator’s guidance. It’s snuggly soft but I botched the binding so it’s a little wavy. It’s navy quilted sweatshirting with a white floral bias binding. Overall it’s wearable and comfy so a success.

BUT, now I want a blue, patterned, cotton pre quilted fabric to make another. I love the choice at Higgs and Higgs, but the nicest for me are out of stock! Any other online options, I have been searching a lot of the day! TIA.

This is exactly the one I've ended up getting. Bargain find on FB marketplace.

I have had a play with it and i love it. It is so quick and easy, just whoosh it through and the magic knife trims away the excess. Its the best thing ive bought all year. The satisfaction of sewing the sleeve length all the way through to armpit then straight down to side seam was magical. So neat, so tidy.

I love whizzing along the seams like that! I think my knife might need replacing but they’re not cheap.

Ages ago I made a Fiber Mood dress that I hated as it just swamped me shop.fibremood.com/en/product/804-ruby-dress-pdf. So then I cut it to knee-length, wore it a few times, didn't love it. Got some stains on it... so now the purple bits are onto their 3rd life as a sweatshirt from an Ellie and Mac pattern.

Good work @kittykarate ! Always good to repurpose things that aren't right - I'm currently wearing a jumper I knitted with yarn from a cardigan I made but never wore. I wear this jumper all the time.

I spent yesterday at the Stitch Festival in London - didn't actually spend a huge amount of money but I could have! Really good fun and quite lovely to see many of last year's GBSB contestants on the Emporia Patterns stall - Asmaa, the Tonys, Matthew, Lizzie, Fauve and Vicki. Also quite weird to see lots of Instagram sewists in the flesh as it were. Ruan aka theyorkshiresewgirl is really tall! I will pay even more attention to what she makes as we're the same height and a similar build. I bought the Summer in New York pattern by Seasons of East https://seasonsofeast.co.uk/shop-new-york-pdf/summer-in-new-york-1 - they had made it up in a gorgeous teal Lady McElroy fabric. I've no idea where I'll wear it but it's beautiful.

Hi everyone I love reading though everyone's posts for inspiration. I finally finished my remy raglan and am really pleased with it. I went for elasticated sleeves as i cant fold the patterbed fabric. Next I want to try sewing jersey so going to have a go at Waves and Wild Beachcomber.

I'm working on the Waves and Wild hand ten boardies for DS for the third year in a row. He's always so pleased with me making things for him and doesn't notice the imperfections, so I'll be making them every year until he decides it's uncool to wear clothes made by his mum.

I'm also having a go at making a bodice block. It's going reasonably well other than my shoulder measurement was out by a long way, since the back arm hold was an S rather than C shape - it's hard to work out what point to start measuring from. I remeasured from the point where the tape went round my neck for the neck circumference measurement and seem to be closer. I'm making the toil now and think I might have forgotten to change the shoulder measurement on the front when I corrected the back. All go practice though!

@twobluechickens That is absolutely stunning.

@twobluechickens I love that Seasons of the East dress - I keep looking at it and chickening out of buying it as I dread doing a FBA. I have another of their patterns and I think they are pretty good in terms of instructions etc.

@Frumpyunicorn Good work on your Remy! I have it on my to-make list, every time I see how nice someone's has turned out.

I am an E/F bust so it'll be interesting to see how it fits - am going to toile it as a top first as I suspect I might want the sleeves slightly shorter and/or narrower. I will report back!

@Frumpyunicorn I love that fabric and was eyeing it up at the Stitch Festival.

@Frumpyunicorn lovely top - the fabric is beautiful.

I also have the Remy Raglan on my to-make list. Sadly there’s been no sewing for me for a while, diy and housework are taking up all my free time. And my sewing space is a chaotic mess after making last minute book week costumes, so it needs a good tidy before I’ll have the space to sew again.
I am part way through a toile of the gambit pinafore, and there’s a new arrival due in the family in a couple of months so I’ve a baby quilt to make. I’m thinking I might give another Elizabeth Hartman design a go.

@twobluechickens I love the silhouette of that dress. If the finished measurements are right there’s a decent amount of ease in the bust. Very little ease in the hip though.

@Frumpyunicorn W&W Beachcomber was my very first sewing pattern - got me hooked and it’s probably my most used pattern. I think W&W’s Cuppa Tee is my favourite though! Have recently mashed them to have a Cuppa to the bust with a Beachcomber flare below.

Thanks everyone, @kittykarate just be aware if you do make it that it is quite a short top, so I added a bit of length to the body but that meant that I nearly ran out of fabric even though I ordered a bit spare so maybe order a bit more than you need. I loved the fabric but it was quite tricky to sew @twobluechickens

@Daffyyellow do you have any tips sewing the Beachcomber on regular sewing machine? I am planning on getting a twin needle and my machine does have stretch stitches. Also will regular jersey cotton be ok? I like the look of bamboo but it's pricey and I want to make sure I can sew with knit first!

Some great work going on here! I also love the fabric @Frumpyunicorn.

I’ve finished my holiday swimwear and managed to get two bikinis and the sleeves for a long sleeved rash guard out of one metre of fabric that cost £7 so it’s been a cost effective exercise. I’ve made a short pj set from Luna loungewear for sipping coffee on the balcony. It’s not my best work if I’m honest but it will do. I should have used FOE but took a gamble with picot elastic. Next time I’ll probably use Lycra for bindings.

I’ve been sewing with stretch for the last few weeks @Frumpyunicorn and it’s almost exclusively been on my sewing machine to reduce seam thicknesses. I have a few stretch stitches but I tend to use a narrow zig zag for everything as it’s quick. On high stretch areas I use the lightning stitch or the triple zig zag. For the beachcomber I’d use a narrow zig zag throughout. Use an off cut to test different stitches and see which stretches best. I love my twin needles but I don’t think I’ve ever got the tension right to prevent tunnelling. Do you have a walking foot or stretch foot?

@Frumpyunicorn I’ve made the child version of the beachcomber on a regular machine. I don’t bother with a twin needle, I use the faux overlock stitch for seams, then the ‘lightning’ stretch stitch for the neckband and hems. You can use the lightning stitch for seams then just tidy them up with a zigzag but I find the faux overlock is quicker. I wouldn’t use it on leggings though because I’m not always convinced it’s strong enough for seams that get a lot of stress.
Regular cotton jersey is fine. Get one with good recovery, so with some Lycra content, if you can.

@Frumpyunicorn you’ll be fine on a regular machine. For your first I’d get some less expensive jersey , maybe look at Pound Fabrics online? I would try the simplest version first, Tee shirt with a neckband, no pockets or colour blocking. To make life easier for yourself you could also buy Maraflex thread and sew with a straight stitch, that would be my preference. I have an overlocker and more recently a coverstitch, but I started on my sewing machine. I’ve never used a twin needle but used to do 2 parallel rows of stitching to make it look like it!

When you've got it sussed that’s the time for bamboo jersey, love the stuff but it’s trickier to handle as well as being more expensive. Good luck!