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

@twobluechickens oh I see you suggest amending the sleeves, not sure how I'd do that though...

I think doing a bell sleeve like that would be fairly easy - have a look on YouTube, there's videos for all sorts of hacks. I'll keep looking, I know I've seen something just like that but I can't think where!

Here's one for drafting a simple bell sleeve:

There's another Ellie & Mac one on sale - PDF only but for £4! It's a knit fabric but I think that's how you're best going to recreate the original. www.ellieandmac.com/products/womens-bell-sleeve-dress-pattern

Nothing much to add here except to say how pleased I am that the statement sleeve is still a thing

edited to add a suggestion
https://jaycotts.co.uk/products/sewing-pattern-bd6205

Actually that burda pattern is for a woven fabric so forget I suggested it 🤣

I love a statement sleeve!

For the posters who make baby clothes and indeed the rest of the hive mind.... I am making a little dress for my six month old DGD...as usual full of rookie errors which I have to go back and correct... being a sewing novice. However, it went ok until I got to the arm hole binding. Nightmare. I've unpicked them so many times. I have now bought some ready made bias binding to try again but here's my main issue; the armholes are so tiny that I can't get them into position on the machine and they're even too small for free arm sewing. My hands are like blood-stained pin cushions. Any ideas most welcome !

@twobluechickens that 2nd Ellie & Mac one is it!!!
Ok I'll cope with pdf & getting it printed....any recommendations I've never done that before

@Jins I too love a statement sleeve! I'm Only going stretch to avoid my fear of zips 😂

@Rosenspants I'm not experienced but I bet that's a tiny hole to navigate, could you hand sew instead?

Yeah i'm no pro but my last resort when something just. isn't. working. for me, is to hand baste. Are you clipping the curves?

The pattern doesn't say to clip the curves but I think it probably needs it at the underarm. I think you're right about hand sewing.

for those i often just made a whole yoke facing. Life's too short to faff with baby clothes like that 😀

@FletchingStraight excellent!

I wore my burgundy denim Megan Nielsen Ash jeans today - they were too small when I made them (didn't account for the fabric having less stretch than the last pair) but happily I must have dropped a kilo or so, and they fit! Wearing with a burgundy jumper I knitted, because apparently I can't mix and match colours - my default is top to toe shades of blue but today it's burgundy.

@FletchingStraight - I have printed loads of pdf patterns ( you can get them printed for you , but its quite expensive) .
Check you are printing at the right size , and I always print off just the one page with the sizing square on it to check first , otherwise its easy to waste a lot of ink and paper .
You can just print off the dress size you need , but I am one who prints all the sizes off , and then trace the size I need onto baking paper ( very helpful with children more than adults) .
other than that , its just common sense and a lot of sellotape!

@FletchingStraight I highly recommend CLC prints for their printing service. Cheap and usually a very quick turnaround.

@twobluechickens have you checked out the #dresslikeacrayon on instagram? Great news on the jeans though, and burgundy jeans sound lovely.

@Rosenspants I've never bound armholes (on any size) but do make tiny cuffs often, usually in stretch fabrics though which are easier to manipulate under the foot. I tend to pin perpendicular to the seam for teeny stuff, and do it with the free arm, machine turned as slow as it will go, and often do a cm or so at a time then rearrange and sew again.
In a woven I would be tempted to hand sew it, it might be quicker than faffing with the machine.

I finished the quilt for baby niece, and now my thoughts are turning to clothes for myself. I’m enjoying dressing for my new job, but I’ve spent too much on Vinted so given my outrageous stash I really ought to start making things. I’ve semi-settled on a SOI Erin skirt in wide-wale cord, and I fancy a shirt dress but I’ve not found a pattern yet - I want a fitted bodice, long sleeves, and a straight or a-line skirt with pockets. Anyone got any ideas?

@SBAM haha no but I will! I am telling sewist friends that I'm channelling my inner Katie Kortmann (if you're not familiar with her, look her up on Insta, you'll see what I mean).

Yes I second CLC Prints, great prices.

I finished my buttonholes! It only went wrong when I misaligned them so I can't blame the machine for that. Now i'm so lazy i'm considering looking into how to get the machine to sew the buttons on for me. I am afraid of smashing up the needle though.

@NutellaEllaElla I have done buttons on the machine by hand-cranking the wheel and using a zig zag stitch at 0.1mm length, but the bloody buttons would constantly misalign themselves when starting and it felt like more hassle than it was worth. Perhaps if I had hundreds of buttons I'd do it, but I think hand sewing is probably quicker and more reliable.

@twobluechickens I've just looked up Katie Kortman. Omg it's like a dose of joy flicking through her feed. I'm no where brave enough for that amount of colour, although I secretly long to wear it!

@SBAM @NutellaEllaElla thanks I've come across CLC so will send my pdf to print!

@SBAM thank you! I am slowly hand sewing bought bias binding to these tiny
armholes as the fabric is a woven cotton. I just about managed to bind the neckline with the self fabric binding that I made as per the pattern. I think a cuff might have been better for the armholes, yes. I also think it's about time I made something for myself. Recently it's been DS's PJs, DD's skirt and sewing ribbon piping onto her matching t-shirt (all for a cos-play) and then DGD's baby dress. Off to look up Katie Kortman.

@NutellaEllaElla I haven't even had the bottle to try button holes as yet. I had no idea that you could machine sew on the button! I also suspect it'd be quicker to hand sew it in the long run.

Send all your buttons to me! I love sewing on buttons! Youngest bought quite an expensive coat (in the sale) a few years back and the buttons were barely attached.... I removed them all and then sewed them all back on, ensuring the holes were all lined up etc. Not a single button has fallen off!

Not sewing clothes but am planning some festive 'polar' bears so just hunting for the right fabric for their paw pads....

I've cut out a load of knickers from my jersey scraps (great big granny applecatchers not sexy thongs) so they are on my to-do list. As well as that Pona Jacket, which I've also cut out this weekend in some stash denim. Skimming through the instructions on the jacket and they seem pretty good, but you know me, if it involves changing a needle on my machine I generally put it off.. All of the bits for both projects are stashed inside the bookcase door, ready to throw themselves out on the unwary.

I’m doing the Pona jacket at the moment too. Overlocking next for me which means I have to wait until I go to my class (I don’t have an over locker). I did the short version but with full length sleeves.

That's the version I'm making too Chewbecca .

Wow I need that kind of enthusiasm in my life! Can I reframe it I wonder... What do you like about it? Do you find it meditative? I reframe weeding in the garden that way. Also, do you do it any particular way?