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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@PickAChew
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@Jins
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Have been procrastinating about my Cashmerette Fairfax jacket in Sherpa lined bubble cord. Wanted to make a few changes that ended up looking very similar to Helen’s Closet’s Wildwood! But I didn’t want to buy another pattern and expansion pack, then it went on sale! 25% off with the code WILDWOOD2025
Now to get my projector working . . .

There's a collar and hood for the wildwood, now, too, which is why they have the discount. (eta you mentioned the expansion pack! They've just been released is what I meant)

I'm working on a hip length vest version of it, at the moment. Making the binding took me longer than the quilting!

That’s why I buy premade bias binding!! (Thank you, bought both packs, total £15 instead of £20 and the sale was a total fluke from my PoV, except I hadn’t bought at full price!)

Fabulous blazer @CrimsonAlligator ! No sewing here, am having a break before I decide on my next project.

My printing arrived from PlanPrinting24 and it’s absolutely fab. Highly recommend.

Only one snag - I uploaded the size 16-40 of the itch to stitch Madalena by mistake. I’ll check the measurements again but may end up offering it to anyone that can use it

Is that A0, @jins?@@jins

After CLC prints prices went up I tried flamingo prints on someone's recommendation. It was no cheaper and the folding was dodgy so not all my sheets fitted in the extra capacity A4 pockets that I use for pattern and destruction storage.

Yes @PickAChew. AO and folded pretty well. They fit into my big brown envelopes which are designed for A4. It’s on the thinner paper but that’s ok for me. 75p per AO sheet plus VAT and delivery.

Thanks all 😊 I used some viscose that I’d bought as “an experiment” for the lining of the blazer. I’m trying to introduce more pattern in my wardrobe, but knew that one was a bold & risky choice…and I was right! No way could I wear that as a top. But as a lining it adds a nice touch, so everything worked out fine in the end.

I’m currently turning the other two experimental fabrics I bought at the same time into Scout tees. I keep looking at them thinking “this is so not me”, but it’s time for a change I think.

Thanks for that tip about the printing service @Jins. I bought Alison Smith’s book on tailoring last year, which has some lovely patterns in it, but didn’t know where to even start getting those printed. The ones I looked at worked out more expensive than the average indie-pattern! I’ll have a look at PlanPrinting and see how that compares 🤞

Needs an iron but here it is anyway. Made this for the summer 🌷

I’m definitely going to need to make some new swimwear for the summer as the ones I made last year are already looser than I’d like. I’ve splashed out on some funky shark print from pound fabrics. I love it! It’ll be colour blocked as I think it’s a bit much on its own and it may need powermesh as I don’t think it’ll provide enough compression.

I always like to have something with high visibility for open water swimming and I think this ticks that box 😆

Love that dress @ClearHoldBuild. Looks wonderfully swishy

I’m looking to push myself this year with my sewing, swimwear would be a challenge. I think I’m going to have to start making tentative enquiries online to see what is out there.
love the fabric 🦈

Those of you who quilt or who’ve made quilted jackets, how do I choose the right wadding? I’ve just bought the Pauline Alice Ayora jacket and it needs wadding but I have no idea what I need. I want natural fibres rather than polyester - is wool better or cotton? And what loft do I want? I’ll probably make it in a cotton or linen.

I'd suggest low to medium loft or else you end up with lots of bulk in places. I'm making my gilet with cotton bamboo blend wadding, ended up buying the Vlieseline one as that's available by the metre and is on a scrim. I was able to buy enough for that and the quilt I need to quilt with 1.75m of the wide width.

As I had washed the fabrics and didn't want it to shrink too much, I pre-soaked it in warm water and gave it a brief tumble dry. It shrank by about 5% in one direction and became a lot cleaner to work with. It's lovely and soft and drapey.

Wool would be the warmest but doesn't stand up to lots of washing.

Thanks for the quick reply! I think I’ve already pre-washed all my fabrics but I don’t have a tumble dryer unfortunately. What constitutes low loft in cm? I saw some that was 0.3cm, would that be right?

I could just buy the Merchant & Mills quilted jacquard that I’ve coveted for years but I want to use fabric from the stash.

@ClearHoldBuild swimwear is an awful lot easier than you’d think. I was surprised. I tend to buy my swim Lycra in person, usually from the bargain bins at Abakhan, so I can test it for stretch and recovery etc. I also like to make sure it doesn’t go white when it’s stretched. Sometimes I line with specialist swim lining fabric, occasionally with some very lightweight polyester 4 way stretch fabric I picked up and sometimes with 4 way power mesh. It depends how much compression I need. More often than not I use ordinary braided elastic and save my rubber swimwear elastic for training suits.

Tankinis are a good place to start as the length of the body isn’t as critical. Most of my early attempts weren’t swimwear patterns at all - I used basic underwear patterns. One piece costumes are more tricky to fit as the body length is critical and you need to add or subtract length in the right place. This year I’ve picked up a couple more patterns - love notions Clearwater and Ellie and Mac racer back wrap although I tend to mix and match tops and bottoms.

Give it a try. You only need a metre of fabric and lining and there’s nothing to beat a perfectly fitting swimsuit

That's roughly what mine is. Most of the pre-cut bags will tell you somewhere in the description and most of what is available seems to be low to medium loft as it's easier for machine quilting.

If anyone wants pre quilted fabric my favourite sources so far are Fabric Godmother and Higgs & Higgs.

here to enable others !!

Great, thanks! I’ll browse the options. Morris Works are top of the search listings so I’ll try them first.

@Daffyyellow noooo don’t give me ideas! The one I like from M&M is currently sold out, which is a blessing!

Cotton patch is good. Lots of options to peruse even if you buy them elsewhere. Not the fastest delivery but reliable

@PickAChew I’d forgotten I also bought a M&M navy squared quilted fabric. Sewed up beautifully but has a strange quilting to it, it’s in lines and separates easily. Whilst I love the fabric and the jacket and gilet I made from it it is the least durable and it was £££, but so were the others!

The little white summer dress is lovely.

Did my first sewing in ages yesterday, finally using my beautiful moth fabric. I’d intended to make a hacked midi dress, using the Indigo bodice, but stupidly cut out the bodice pattern to dd’s size instead of mine. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough fabric to start again, so I made a bias cut skirt (New Look pattern) instead and it’s come out nicely. The Lady Mcleroy viscose is really delicate though, so it’s a bit see through at the bottom. I might have to invest in a slip!

I finished my skirt and am now making a toile of the TAL cuff dress. I think it is going OK so far, I have done the bodice and now need to do the skirt. I wanted a cotton though, and am really struggling to find a print I like.

Made a toile of the top half of the fabric godmother Aspen dress. Going to make it this weekend with this fabric.

Oh that is lovely fabric @ClearHoldBuild