Stitch and bitch thread #11. Where the puns are only sew-sew

[NutellaEllaElla]

For sewists old and new. Join the fun, let us know what you're working on.
I apologise for not having been around at all. I've been away all footloose and fancy free but now i'm back and have NO NEED TO BUY NEW FABRIC. I must use what I have.

@PickAChew
@Hiddendoor
@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie
@OperationalSupport
@Daffyyellow
@ShoAndSew
@kittykarate
@RainbowWife
@GnomeDePlume
@Twobluechickens
@123ZYX
@BlackAmericanoNoSugar
@CrimsonAlligator
@Just4thisthreadtoday
@Frumpyunicorn
@Jins
@Lifesingflowers
@Yalz
@sewsewsewyourboat
@bookbook
@YellowAsteroid
@MarmiteWine
@Castlerigg
@IDareSay
@NotMeNoNo
@Toyotatallula
@Crispynoodle
@Hiddendoor
@Rosenspants
@TashaTudor
@InMySpareTime
@Isabelle70
@SpryCat
@Funnelfa
@OperationalSupport
@ChoccyJules
@Mygreyhair
@Marcipex
@DiggoryVenn
@ClearHoldBuild
@50IsTheNew21
@Heavybuthopeful
@HollyBerryz
@Chuchoter
@Placemats
@TorturedParentsDepartment
@PrincessDonut
@Shirtyllama

I measured DHs head as I’d picked a really good quality straw hat up yesterday from an Amazon returns warehouse and it’s way too big for him. 58cm, which seems small for a 6ft 3 chap. It came with hat reducer tape and a nifty little Velcro drawstring and we’ve managed to get it to 59cm which looks ok.

Repairs and alterations now complete despite me finding that the DSs had sneakily added items to the mending pile. I quite fancied making SH7 Mississippi Avenue next so I’ve done my measurements properly which is the first time since losing weight. I think it’ll have to be a wearable toile at this stage as I’m going to risk the smaller of the two sizes I fall between.

Saw this joke online and thought of this thread:

Nice!

Terrible photo but here are my finished palazzo pants. I am really pleased with them and the fit is great.

The pattern is the Vacation Vibes from Pattern Emporium , one of my favourite sites for patterns. I made the dramatic version and they are indeed rather dramatic.

Ooh, gorgeous fabric. They will be both swishy and swirly 😊

Thank you, it frayed like mad so not my favourite to sew with. Swishy and swirly works for me 😁

Congratulations! They are stunning! How long did they take you to make? Was it tricky?

Do you mean my trousers? 😊

if so, thank you!! I used a Pattern Emporium pattern, the pattern instructions are always really good so not too tricky to sew. Took about two days fairly solid working on them. They have got pockets and these could be left out for an easier sew.

Yes, I did, I see they're elastic waisted. Do Palazzo pants sometimes come in zip fastenings too?

You (plus one other friend from esewhere) inspired me to finish a toile (wearable) of a dress that I started in lockdown in a different fabric (frayed like mad and I messed it up so it's still in a heap in a cupboard)

Burda Style 04/2015. I made it without pockets as no side seams and the pocket placement is too kangeroo-ish for me. Very happy to have finished something I quite like (even if the fabric is a bit too stiff foe the style)

Yes they do. It’s been a while since I put a zip in, that was in a lovely pair of wide leg trousers that I started to make before I realised that US sizing is different to that in the UK and also how I learnt the importance of making a toile 😂

That fabric is 😍😍😍 @alianangel

I cut out and sewed most of the new boat neck top pattern from Wardrobe By Me yesterday morning. The neck is bound rather than faced so I need to find a suitable fabric scrap for that. I went for the slightly larger size as I was between sizes and I’m glad I did - the fit is great.

Sewing may happen! I bought two massive tops at a fair on Saturday purely because they are 100% cotton double gauze and with the sole intention of remaking them into something else. I’m torn between two LN patterns - Rhapsody and Ballad. Possibly leaning towards ballad as the top has a front seam but I’m not sure there will be enough for the yoke and the button band. I’ll have to have a rummage in my pattern collection.

Posting a before pic of one of the tops for accountability 🤣

I can’t fit those pattern pieces on it so will keep looking.

Thank you! I love it 😊

I had a look at the boat neck pattern and it’s very nice!

Anyone got any tips for sewing bias binding around necklines? I’ve just finished my boat neck top which is jersey with a woven bound neckline for stability. The binding has bunched up around the shoulder seams where there’s quite a sharp corner. To be fair I did the neckline last but the instructions have you do the binding flat early on after you’ve done the shoulder seams, so perhaps it would have been better that way.

It's hard to get binding around corners and sharp bends without folding but you can ease it in with little gathering stitches along a concave edge so it doesn't have to stretch so far for the convex edge. That works whether you're applying it to an inny or an outy.

Also, rather than try to sew around bends, straighten the curve of the neckline out as much as possible as you apply the binding (or any other neck finish) though taking care not to stretch it out of shape. This is, as you realised, much easier before you close the side seams.

Thanks. Yeah it was the stretching for the convex edge that was causing me problems, there just wasn’t enough fabric. The original binding pattern piece was wrong so the designer said to add 7cm but it still wasn’t quite enough.

I might just draft a new facing for the next time I make it. Or follow the instructions 😂

Heck, yeah, I draught a facing if it's too bendy. I just finished a Cashmerette Avola top as a cami to wear under a rather see through blouse and didn't want to faff about with a lining for what is already a lining and couldn't face wrangling binding round all the pointy bits so made a (rather rough and ready) facing for it. It's a bit of a dog's dinner inside but tidy with no puckers on the outside

tbh i would have put the binding on the neck before sewing the shoulder seams, so that the binding isn't one continuous strip but in two pieces. Slightly bulky at the seam, but easier than all the other methods i've tried.

But tbh i would have made a facing, and understitched it.

Oof a woven binding on a jersey top. Yikes! That sounds a bit of a wrangle, it would always be fighting you as you go round a corner or if the jersey got a bit of a hump. The longer the 'run' the more it would squirm, so yes, the doing it in 2 bits would have been a bit easier.

I only have one top that has that woven & stretch combo, and it did it as a hidden facing.

I’ve just made a mess of a neck binding - luckily it was only a toile using a duvet cover.

SH7 Mississippi Avenue is my new favourite everyday summer dress. Size adjustment needed and will do facings when I make it in viscose.

@twobluechickens i can’t visualise this at all (it’s me, not your description!) but all my shop bought boat neck t-shirts use twill tape as a binding. That seems to work well as it’s bendy, but not stretchy. Could that work here?

That looks like a very useful dress @Jins. love the fabric too

I think I’ll be making this again and again @CrimsonAlligator. This won’t be one to wear outside the house as there are some ink marks on the back that won’t come out but it’s going to be great for messing around the house.