Stitch and bitch thread #10. There’s a pattern here

[NutellaEllaElla]

Time for a new thread as the weather starts to turn.
Welcome back oldies and come on in newbies!

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I’m just a beginner sewist, I made my daughter a bag for her felting craft supplies and also sewing a fabric advent calendar for my youngest grandson

Hello, long time lurker on this thread - just wondering if I can pick your collective brains?

DH and I are in the process of clearing out my late MILs house, and she has a drawer full of old leather gloves. Most of them slightly too small for me, and all well worn. Never went out without them apart from the height of summer.

Is there anything that can be done with them? I’ve got my dads old ties that I’m planning to sew into some kind of memory item, does anyone have a suggestion for old gloves that are not good enough condition to offer to a charity shop but are of lovely quality leather?

My mother used to make doll's shoes from her old leather gloves. Beautiful work - learnt during WW2 when you couldn't buy that sort of thing.

But probably not something in great demand nowadays!

oooooo, loads of places. What's your confidence in assessing fabrics for their content and what you'd use them for?

I'm always looking for bargains/reasonably priced more "high end" materiakl: silk, wool, linene, nice 100% cotton. There's not much point in me taking ages to tailor something really made to measure with crappy fabric.

I also have picked up a fair bit about fabric over the years, just by talking to experts.

When I'm in London, I like to have a mooch in Berwick Street, but only Borovicks and The Cloth House (if it's still there). There are a couple of other shops but they're outrageously priced. Borovicks know their fabrics and will sometimes have treasures - I bought 3 lengths of wool crepe from the shut down Jean Muir factory about a decade ago for not more than about £8 pm.

The other place that I like - except the service is not really sparkling! - is Dalston Mills fabric on the Dalston market. It's a pretty shabby looking shop front but a treasure trove - my current favourite from there is 100% linen decent weight at between £11 and £13 pm. I have some gorgeous vibrant deep aqua and some lovely white for next summer's trousers. Their wool section right at the back is also luscious, but you do need to have a pretty good idea what you're looking for.

Then there's Goldhawk Road - lots of shops, but you really need to know what you're looking for. They tend to put barrels of cheap poly cottons out the front to get people in. Polycotton is OK for making a toile but it's not worth my time to sew ... But at a couple of pounds a metre it's good for a trial of a new pattern, for example. I tend to get that sort of fabric when I'm in Birmingham - I've got some real bargains there, of good quality fabrics, as well as cheapo fabric to make wearable toiles.

Lots of inspo online for using ties on patchwork, @funnelfan - the results can be quite spectacular - they're precut Dresden plate pieces! Also look to work well for strip piecing.

making things with ties, you say? This is what i made for Rock am ring 1992, i still have it and wear it for Altweiber at Karneval (if you have heard of the day German women cut men's ties off?)

Absolutely love this!

@Lifesingflowers if you’re fairly confident assessing fabric content, willing to be led by what you find rather than having a fixed idea and keen on a bargain then Walthamstow Market is right up your street. There’s a lot of shops on the pedestrian section of the high street (heading away from the bus station and past Sainsbury’s) that have fabrics from £2-6/m. I had some lovely linen blend from there in the summer at £2/m, though I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the shop.

I’m fine for ideas for dad’s ties, it’s MiLs leather gloves I need inspiration for. One pair in particular are so soft I keep stroking them.

the only idea I’ve had so far is making a patchwork bag - I’ve found some floral silk hankies in another drawer that would go well as a lining.

A bag was my first thought, too. Or at least a little pouch if you can't get enough good pieces to put together.

Alternatively, little pot covers. Don't have to be for plants. They would be nice to have as a pen pot on your desk
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/98657048074532636/

You could make a needle book with leather from the softest pair as the cover. Or blade covers for your fabric shears from the sturdier ones.

Does anyone have a tried & tested tutorial for lining a pair of trousers with a zip fly?

I’m about to start my Mitchell trousers and found some beautiful wool suiting in one of the Abakhan bargain bins which would be perfect if it wasn’t so damn scratchy!

@CrimsonAlligator - no tutorial but it’s pretty simple. I line all my winter trousers at least to the knee, and often also line linen trousers so that underwear doesn’t show through. If the wool is a bit scratchy I also interline the whole garment with a really soft light cotton muslin. Interlining also gives a nice body and hang to a garment (it’s a standard couture technique).

I just cut the lining fabric using the same pattern but I take out the extra bits for the fly, leaving 5/8ths inch seam allowance which I turn in. Most trouser patterns with a fly will have you mark the centre front. Thats your folding for the lining at the fly.

I then make up the trousers to the point of adding the waistband. Then I make up the lining exactly as for the trousers and then put the lining in, wrong sides together.

I then work the trouser legs into the waistband with lining and fabric as one, so the seam at the waist catches both trousers and lining. I make sure that the folded 5/8ths seam allowance is folded in and caught as a fold in this waist seam. I arrange that front centre of the lining so that it sits neatly either side of the fly on the inside. this gets hand sewn down to the fly and zip at the end.

I tend to finish the lower edge of the inside piece of my waist band with a satin bias binding and then stitch in the ditch. I don’t turn up the inside of the waistband seam allowance - the finish is the bias binding. I find this eliminates bulk at the waist seam at the bottom of the waist band.

You might want to grade the 3 layers of fabric at the waist seam as well to eliminate bulk. The other way is to have the inside of the waistband cut in your lining fabric so it’s really thin and soft and again eliminates bulk at the waist. If you do that, then I’d probably turn up the lower inside edge of the inside waistband and hand sew it down.

Hope this helps. It’s really just making 2 pairs of trousers and putting one inside the other and securing them with the waistband.

Hi I need to buy a pattern all in one ruler, can someone recommend me where I can buy one

SewDirect does a good lot of sewing tools online, and I love, love, love William Gee is east London. Old school.

I need some matching cord trim and fringing in gold for some Christmas decor. So I have gold fringe that isn't gold. Gold cord that's a great shade of gold and then some more gold fringing that's a more yellow gold!
I am in Guernsey and my only haberdashery shop doesn't stock any gold fringing only black or white.
Any suggestions of online haberdashery shops where I could speak to the store and receive matching gold items?

Depends on your budget but VV Rouleaux would definitely be able to help, but at a price!

Thanks for that comprehensive answer @YellowAsteroid! I did consider interlining, but the fabric already has more body than “average” suiting. Will need to do some tests to see if my machine can cope with that many layers.

@Isabelle70, I don’t know if Minerva is any good when it comes to customer service, but they sell cord & fringe from the same brand (Stephanoise). I imagine those would be colour co-ordinated across the range? Minerva have an email address for their customer services on their website, possibly a phone number too if you want to double check.

Thank you @CrimsonAlligator @twobluechickens I will take a look at the companies suggested. Ideally budget friendly as it's part of my decorate the desk for the work Christmas competition. Why did I think making some Nutcrackers were a good idea ………

Good luck with it @CrimsonAlligator If you have a nice soft supple lining that should be enough and won’t clog up your machine. I still sew on a Brother machine I bought in 1984!

I do love a good bargain from Abakan. I have some gorgeous pale pink corduroy with a bit of stretch for about £8 and I’m planning a nice 60s style shift dress - I have a vintage pattern I want to try out.

Hi, not a regular as I can’t keep up with the threads but I dip in and out…anyway I would like to make some PJ bottoms and have the Juno pattern in my Tilly and the Buttons book. But they are mid rise and I never wear anything which isn’t normal waist. Is it possible to lengthen them from the top somehow, to give me a higher waist? Or do I need to fork out for a different pattern?

Just looked at my copy of the pattern and annoyingly there aren't any lengthen/shorten marks to the hip.

Anyhow, you can find the widest point of the hip on the pattern, cut it horizontally and insert a new piece of paper to lengthen it. Do it in the same place back and front.

Measure along the crotch seam line (TATB uses 1.5cm) back and front and hook the tape measure around your own crotch to see how much you need to add.

This video look like it might be helpful

@ChoccyJules Here’s another way to turn a mid rise into a high rise pattern. This method adds the extra length to the top of the pattern. It also brings in the waist a bit, which depending on the pattern and your body shape, can be key to getting a good fit (natural waist is generally narrower than where mid rise pyjamas would sit, so the pattern ideally needs to be adjusted for that)

https://truebias.com/blogs/wardrobe-inspiration/high-rise-hudson-tutorial

I’ve had a challenge set! DH wants me to turn one of his wetsuits into a sleeveless version. What he really wants is almost a vest top to it but I’ve explained about raglan sleeves and the difficulties they pose. His eyes glazed over a bit so I’m not sure he got it.

Anyway I’ve drawn some cut lines for the sleeves and I’m reasonably happy with them but I’m strangely nervous about actually cutting.

Blimey, that does sound like a challenge @Jins! What are you planning to do with it? “Just” shorten the sleeves?

I’ve finished a toile for the Mitchell trousers. I was fully expecting to spend the next few days making endless tweaks and more toiles, but….it fits straight out of the packet. Not sure how that’s even possible as I’m a lot taller than the pattern is drafted for, but all the points definitely hit the right places. It’s the first time a sewing pattern has made me feel relatively normal 😂

@CrimsonAlligator It’s more than just shortening the sleeves sadly. I drew the cut lines while he was wearing it and then tidied the shape a bit using my rashguard pattern as a vague template. I’ve also cut the neckband deeper.

Ready for test fitting before I finish edges. I’m either going to make bands from the offcuts or just hem it. It needs something fairly substantial at the top of the shoulder at least as a lot of the structure has gone