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

@Brefugee i like the sound of your daughter!

Aw @Jins she has her moments but she is lovely. I tried to teach both of them to sew on many occasions. Not interested. a few years before Covid she decided she'd seen enough YouTube videos to want to make her own clothes, but again wouldn't accept any advice from me (so learnt, expensively in some cases) from her own mistakes. But she did make some good things, especially the "make a top and skirt from an old man's shirt" type of things.

Other daughter just asks me to make her things 😂

I’ve been enjoying reading this thread for a few weeks and seeing all your lovely makes. So I’m popping my head above the parapet to say hello. I’m a very late starter to sewing (60s) but loving it. I’ve made quite a few dresses, and just finished a tweed waistcoat for my DH. I bought some lightweight suiting fabric at the weekend (online, Yours fabrics), and want to make a lightweight smart coat for myself. I’ve been surfing patterns, but has anyone got any suggestions of patterns? I’m not a small size, need an 18-20, so far I quite like Butterick B6918 if anyone has tried this?

Thanks in advance.

Welcome @Twwodoorsaway ! I have spent a lot of time browsing coats and not finding exactly what I was after. That's a lovely coat. I've only made a test of the Nova coat by Papercut Patterns but enjoyed the process and should really make a proper version.

@Twwodoorsaway I like the coat but it doesnt seem to have been fitted well to the model in the main picture. Or maybe it's just that the pockets dont work and cause the coat to get pulled.

Have you looked at Simplicity 4789? I have that pattern collection though not yet made the long coat. I'm looking to make a trouser/jacket combination for a wedding in November, I'm Mother of the Bride.

I can’t help on coat patterns I’m afraid but just want to welcome @Twwodoorsaway. I love it when lurkers decide to de-lurk.

My prints from CLC arrived yesterday - just over 24 hours from ordering them. On a Sunday! Great service. Now I have to resist making a Forte dress and stick with my plan.

@GnomeDePlume thanks for that suggestion, I hadn’t seen that pattern. I’m keen to have a coat that buttons, or at least has some means of keeping it together. I agree the butterick one doesn’t look great at the pockets, but I’m not a huge fan of side pockets so think I’d actually leave those off. I’m waiting for the fabric to arrive to check it will be good enough for what I want. I have a very old Monsoon coat that I’d like to replicate the pattern of really, but I’m not clever enough to make my own pattern!

Thanks for the welcome too ☺️

Just to prove that I have the breaking strain of a kitkat - here’s my LN Forte view B dress made in some super cheap jersey I picked up to make a beach coverup. 🤦‍♀️ I’m leaving it sleeveless and this will have to be a beach coverup

Size Medium with full bust piece and no adjustments. Fits perfectly. Just have to hem neck, arms and bottom

Welcome @Twwodoorsaway - glad you decided to de-lurk.

I love that fabric @Jins - so summery.

I'm liking the pleated back of the Makers Atelier shirt thefoldline.com/product/the-makers-atelier-the-atelier-shirt/ but don't wear shirts, so was thinking of redrafting the back of a vest to add pleats. Does anyone have tips for how to get the pleats to stay sharp while wearing it? I'm not sure if it's down to fabric type? I'd like to avoid polyester, which is the only suggestion I've found from googling

Lovely, @jins - the colours are very summery.

@GnomeDePlume my Pfaff can be a right cantankerous piece of work sometimes but never does that. Is there maybe some fluff in the tension assembly? It's worth going at it with some dental floss and check that the area under the stitch plate is all clean with no stray fibres. Of course, even though it seems obvious, double check your bobbins are in the right way and you thread it with the presser foot up so the tension discs are open.

I always fancy coat patterns that I'll never make (because buttonholes), that hark back to my hippy/goth shopping in Guru in Darlington days.

So probably not at all what you want @Twwodoorsaway but I always love the look of this, and and want to live vicariously through someone elses sewing https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/duchess-jacket-pattern

More seriously, post a pic of your beloved Monsoon jacket and maybe it'll jog our memories for a pattern.

That is a lovely coat @kittykarate but I fear my already large posterior/stomach would look even bigger wearing that! I’ll dig out the coat and get a photo.

@PickAChew thank you I will give it a clean just to make sure there isnt a fluff build up. I will also have firm words with it about being replaced with a different brand.

That's a lovely dress @Jins well worth giving way to temptation for.

So I showed DH today’s dress and he declared it identical to the one I’ve just made. The black and red one with spaghetti straps! I explained how they were different and I saw him glazing over so I’ve given up on him. He can definitely tell the difference between mini and maxi although he doesn’t know the difference between a dress and a skirt.

I’m tempted to wear something back to front or inside out and see if he notices.

Thanks for the positive comments everyone! It’s an incredibly quick and straightforward sew. I probably won’t do another dress but I’ll definitely be making some tops for the cooler part of the year

@Jins my DH is similar. His only opinion on clothes is whether or not they can be tumble dried or need ironing.

Love it. I'm tempted to give dressmaking a go! 🤣

That looks lovely 😀

Love the dress, looks really wearable, especially on a Greek island.
I did buttons recently for the first time and they came out really well, the buttonhole maker machine attachment was magical, I loved watching it! I did practice about 6 times before going for it.
I'm making summer hats at the moment - Merchant and Mills bucket - free PDF and small enough to print on A4 on a home printer. I practiced first on some scrap, good job too as I attached the brim to the crown, then the crown sides inside out and it was too small anyway. Going to try the next size up with some 'real' fabric next and feeling much more confident.

I tried making a bucket hat from a pattern from Mood and it was so big I could have lived in it. Might have another go with that pattern instead

I make a lot of the Waves and Wild Sandcastle bucket hat - its a free one on their website . It comes out a little big tbh , but easy enough to do by using the 2 hat method

"2 hat method"?

Oh yes ! The pattern I use is reversible ( waves and wild sandcastle bucket hat ) , so I find it much easier to make the 2 hats separately , then pop one inside the other - right sides facing , sew around the brim , leaving a gap for turning . Then the top stitching covers the gap . This is one I made for my grandson a couple of years ago - he has such a big head 😀it was hard to find anything suitable age wise to fit him ! . I have made them from baby size to xxl

@bookbook that's such neat stitching around the brim.

I tried the waves and wild one last year but ran out of summer before I finish it. I lost count of how many times I unpicked the seam between the top and the sides because of it not being even. Maybe I'll manage to finish it this year

Ah thanks. I've only made reversible up to now. But I put them together round the inside brim seam.

@Brefugee - that is the way the instructions for this hat tell you to do it , but I found quite fiddly

I’m just making the wide brimmed version and it’s definitely a little big but it’ll do for my hols. I won’t be off sightseeing in it though - I definitely get Paddington vibes. 😡

My viscose scrap bag is pretty full so I’m going to look up that continuous bias binding tutorial again and make some hair scrunchies for my niece who seems to get through them at an alarming rate