Stitch and bitch #7. Hanging by a thread

The way I see it is that you’re going to want to try difficult fabrics at some point so may as well start with a reasonably priced one.

In all honesty it’ll be difficult to work with, tricky to get the tension right, fray if you look at it and stretch out of shape. Sometimes you’ve got to try though. At the very least you won’t have any problems with viscose if you master voile

@bookbook oh my word I haven't even made my first garment & I'm craving fabrics now. So many sites have big bold colourful patterns that I just don't wear but here are sooooooooooooo many wearable fabric here... & the prices are brilliant. Thank you!

@Jins I love reading your musings on how to tinker your dress. As a beginner it gives me hope that the 1st iteration doesn't Have to be the finished product - which is where I'd be & sitting looking at it forlornly. Hope you find the right alterations & post a pic when it's all done

sorry ! ( not sorry )- it is a great place to find a bargain ( even better if you can manage to go and look around , as I have managed once)
its cotton voile , so will have a bit more stability , and at 59" inches wide , a bargain , even if it is just a learning curve as Nutella says - its not so much to lose .

oh no! I assume as its a holdall , is it a drum shape ? I have only ever made bag linings by basically making a second bag in lining material , and putting one inside the other and turning right way through a small gap. Sounds a nightmare .

You have persuaded me (it was never going to be a hard sell ). It's winging it's way to me. They wanted to charge £35 to send to Ireland, so I'm using a parcel forwarding service instead so it'll take a little longer, which will give me time to find an EASY and breezy top to make.

The cotton is the stable bit but the viscose and polyester content are where the instability lies.

@FletchingStraight I’m glad you’re enjoying my ramblings. My motto with most things is to never give up and there’s always something that can be done (even if you’ve stupidly overlocked the whole thing because you thought it was finished). I’ll take a before pic of the back before I forget

I have made this in very fine cotton lawn for my daughter as a tunic a couple of times , not a dress - the demonstration picture looks dreadful to me , but the finished top looks lovely on . Its a very easy make too , with good instructions - https://www.ellieandmac.com/products/womens-batwing-tunic-dress-pattern

@Jins I'm viewing it as the wisdom of an experienced sewist that I don't have in my physical life 😁 I'm hoping it'll help me not give up when I make a pigs ear of the first (many) make!

Bloody autocorrect. I typed that possessive "its" correctly, then I went back to take out the apostrophe THAT I HADN'T PUT IN, and the bloody autocorrect put it back in. I would normally just ignore it but autocorrect needs to know that it's wrong.

If I can't find a new pattern to buy I might remake the one that I have just done (in the flower and bird fabric) because I bet that would be nice and floaty in a very lightweight fabric. I'd probably need to line the yoke for it to sit nicely, wouldn't I? Or would iron-on interfacing do the trick?

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar pretty fabric! I’ve had interlock jersey from FabWorks before and it was really good quality.

I wouldn’t use interfacing on the yoke in that fabric, it says the fabric has a crinkle texture which the interfacing would either ruin, or it would adhere unevenly and cause visible bubbles on the front side. If you think it needs strength/support I’d either line with a plain colour lawn, or with itself, or you could use something like twill tape to stabilise the seams.
In your shoes I think I’d lean towards lining the yoke with a plain fabric.

have been putting off doing the t-shirt/dress for my daughter because i hate doing gathers (i normally make flat pleats where gathers would usually go, but not sure that would work on this, i think it would so... next time...), and she thinks the skirt part will need lining, and i don't. but hey ho.

Have made and sewn (and undersewn) the pockets. And attached the skirt to the t-shirt. So now i need to check the length for hemming, and overlock where the t-shirt meets skirt, to neaten it up (if i have to add a skirt lining/underskirt, that's how I'll attach it because I'm lazy)

But so far, so good.

I put all my sewing on a dedicated instagram account - does anyone else do that? would anyone be up for sharing their account name?

Thanks for the tag @NutellaEllaElla ! I go on holiday for a couple of weeks and come back to 19 pages of a new thread! I bought lots of fabric in London in May and made myself 5 new dresses, as well as a skirt and another kimono style jacket! I also bought some fabric on holiday, so will be continuing my sewing marathon. I need to start making stuff for other people - my wardrobe is crammed!

Welcome back @Tinuviel hope the holiday was good!

You can do it @NutellaEllaElla maybe take a little break to sew something easier and come back to it?

@FletchingStraight here’s the back of the dress before alterations. Vaguely reminiscent of a 6 year old’s party dress or possibly a Beefeater’s tunic.

The elasticated thingy will fasten at the back which will gather it all in a bit and still allow me to pull it on and off. I’ll need to work on the best length to make it.

I tried it on with elastic pinned in place and this time DH didn’t laugh. I’m taking that as a positive

Woke up with a lurgy but felt a bit brighter this afternoon so I’ve cut out and sewn the Laura pants (trousers!) from Tessuti fabrics in a lightweight denim. Really quick and easy to sew and I love the split at the bottom of the hem. Next time I will add pockets and do a large bum adjustment as they’re a little low at the back.

https://www.tessuti-shop.com/products/laura-pant-print-at-home-or-copy-shop

Would this work for that sheer fabric? I'd wear it with a tank top underneath rather than lining it. It has box pleats across the bodice, I love pleats or pin tucks. And an absolutely massive sleeve is always a bonus. https://thefoldline.com/product/simplicity-tops-s9452/?attribute_pa_pattern-format=paper-u5-16-18-20-22-24

I think that would work @BlackAmericanoNoSugar You may even find a tank top isn’t necessary given the fabric is dark and the box pleats would kind of cause it to be double layered over the bodice anyway.

Has anyone seen a pattern with this kind of back detail? It popped up on a Shein advert and I refuse to buy from them but I really like this idea.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar if you like pleats and big sleeves you might like this, which I made earlier in the year. Ignore the pic on the link, it’s the long sleeved view C I mean. It’s a gorgeous top and very flattering.

https://patternsandplains.com/collections/patterns/products/mccalls-m7899-misses-tops-pattern-7899

I really like the view C of that @dubyalass, the neck is too high for me though. I'm comfortable with changing the neckline but I've never done it for a raglan sleeve. Would putting a v-neck in affect the way that it hangs?

That's really pretty @SBAM I'll keep an eye out for something similar since I'm browsing tops anyway.

I also like this one in the longer v-neck version but possibly still with the excessive sleeve elastics. https://thefoldline.com/product/simplicity-tunics-and-tops-s8839/?attribute_pa_pattern-format=paper-r5-14-16-18-20-22

That’s a gorgeous bit of detailing @SBAM

I haven’t seen it on a pattern but I certainly hope to! It makes me want to buy it so I can see how it has been constructed.