Anybody dream of buying a sewing machine and making their own clothes?

[laGrosellaEspinosa]

How delusional am I?

I don't want to make everything but just the odd thing. A jumpsuit or a dress. I see a very clear vision of an item of clothing in my head sometimes and I think it's beautiful and I both want it and I want to create it.

Anybody have a sewing machine? Can they recommend a good solid reliable one that threads the needle (essential). Is it useful for making alterations even if you're not Stella McCartney (I reckon my designes would be better than her :-p )

I'd say look for a local independent shop, maybe one which runs sewing courses and seems to be well-established in the community (eg it's windows have local adverts for local sewists etc etc).

Or you could go to John Lewis and try a few out. But they may try to talk you into a bells-and-whistles machine with loads of stuff - like embroidery & quilting - you may not need. More to go wrong, is my feeling.

My Brother machine is almost 40 years old and has sewn almost everything I wear, my curtains, and quite a few of my duvet covers. My cousin has the most gorgeous Pfaff (expensive) and my mother has a Husqvarna older than my Brother machine. I learnt on my mothers Singer, which only went forwards & backwards, but had a lovely beautifully made action. Solid metal, not plastic.

Starting out i bought really cheap fabrics on eBay and from charity shops (old duvets etc). As I've got better I've bought more expensive fabrics which has encouraged me to slow down and take my time. I was so impatient at first that I'd have massive glaring errors in them. I still wore them anyway because I was so proud I'd made something.

5 years later I'd say I'm a proficient dressmaker but I shy away from the tailoring and couture techniques.

Go onto social media though if you want help and encouragement. Instagram and blogs have given me a lovely circle of friends who I've never met but are jhelping me learn to sew. I've even become a guest blogger for a fabric company that gives me free fabric!

no worktop or table space/floor space

If you can spend some money, then you can buy really lovely sewing cabinets, which take the machine, plus a lot of threads & equipment, and open out into a reasonable working space.

Horn sewing cabinets

You can cut out on the kitchen/dining room table, or the floor. I sewed all through my university days in my bedroom - just cleared my desk of books, and put my sewing machine out each evening I wanted to sew. Cut out on the sitting room floor when no-one else about.

I have my mum's old sewing machine from the 60s, it's basic but works fine. I like Colette patterns, I also use my mum's library of patterns (now mostly vintage!). I can only do simple patterns but it's really satisfying.

I used to make a lot of things years ago. I once made a velvet and taffeta ball gown (it was the 80s). I used to make things for DD too. I used to make my own patterns.

Not made anything for years now but I've been thinking of making a couple of tops along the lines of the Boden Ravello.

Where do you get your fabric though? John Lewis seems very expensive for what I want.

Has anyone tried a PDF pattern?

There's two I want to try but am put off by the hassle of printing out.

Try Clothshop for fabric, or the Goldhawk Rd shops.

Also Fabrics Galore on Lavender Hill.

WeyHey, is there still a Husqvarna dealer and service network? My mum's 1960s machine has come down to me but it could use a proper service (and I'd like a lesson to refresh my memory on its workings). Or would any sewing machine shop be able to help? Thanks.

No, but I have bought a Burdastyle one by accident thinking it was a paper one. I've yet to download it though.

Chardonnay, bit far for me, I'm in West Wales.

i do because my mum was a seamstress and I grew up having the best clothes designed by her, she has great taste and I always so happy to wear the latest design, ra ra skirts, boobtubes, jumpsuits, dresses everything! I want to recreate this but with 2 boys I feel not quite the same..

She swears by Brother but obviously listen to advice on here for current times.

Reasonably priced fabric can be sourced from Asian clothes shops. The predominantly Pakistani areas in my city have loads of shops selling all sorts of fabric at brilliant prices.

My recommendations are a bit London centric, sorry.

And I got Clothhouse wrong even though it's my favourite.

I like the look of By Hand London Anna, but it's PFD only, which is a shame.

Quite a few dressmakers on the MN arts & crafts threads. I was recommended www.remnanthousefabric.co.uk by posters on there. Haven't got anything recently though so can't confirm current quality or service.

There won't be any Pakastani markets or shops selling fabric near me! I don't know where people buy fabric. I rarely see a fabric shop, or a sewing machine shop come to think of it.

If you're anywhere near the Midlands then the Birmingham rag market is well worth the trip. I feel very lucky to have it on my doorstep.

Online:

Croft Mill

Abakhan

Cheap Fabrics

Stone Fabrics (Totnes - spent some time in there on holidays when it was raining, they do mail order)

Cloth House & Borovicks in Berwick Street are both fantastic, worth dropping in if you're in London.

Simply sew have an introductory offer of 5 issues for £5. I get simply crochet (they gave me free yarn and I'm a sucker for free yarn, or any yarn in fact) so think I'm going to give it a try.

I started sewing at the beginning of the year, I took a beginners class and made a few simple things like cushion covers and bunting.

I'm not a natural, and I'm impatient which is a problem but I made a bardot top recently. It's full of issues but I can wear it as you wouldn't notice unless you're assessing it.

I'm planning on working through some of the Tilly and the Button patterns. They are expensive however, the styles are what I would actually wear and there are so many sewing bloggers reviewing the patterns that there is tonnes of extra help available via their blogs and vlogs.

I tried to make my toddler a dress using an apparently very simple beginners Butterick pattern but I found it really difficult to understand and made a complete pigs ear of it so want my next thing to be something fairly simple like the Tilly and Button elasticated skirt. I need more practice sewing straight.

I've looked at the online fabric sites but I'd rather feel the fabric myself first - at least until I have some inkling of what I want/ what I'm doing. I seem to remember there being an Aladdins cave of a fabric shop in Swansea. I wonder if it's still there?

Tilly and the Buttons tends to work for those who are petite and/or pear shaped. I'm hour glass and they really don't work for me. I have to do so many adjustments I really wouldn't recommend them to a beginner unless they were of similar shape to Tilly.

Whilst I do like the indie pattern companies for their styling and fashion forwardness I'm not convinced they are good value for money. 9 times out of 10 I can find a similar pattern half the price in the big 4 companies albeit with ghastly 1980s perms on the front cover

This thread is so useful I'm going to copy and keep it. Thanks everyone and you're right op, it's silly to put it off until retirement which could still be a few years away. I have a big piece of work to complete by January which will have to take priority but after that....

It also makes you realise that it just shouldn't be possible to buy a dress for £10, and to grasp how poor the fabric and the working conditions must be to create very cheap clothing.
This really resonates for me. I've also been trying to buy more second hand this year and if all I manage to learn is how to make my own alterations it would still be useful.

Like Blueflowers I come from a line of seamstresses but, unlike her, I wasn't at all appreciative. In fact I was a little shit and pestered for ready made clothes from Biba or Bus Stop or even M&S! So I think there's a bit of atonement going on too in my head, even though it would be too little too late

Sunny I am also an hourglass, size 14. Are there any particular patterns you've used that you'd recommend?

OP if you feel able to state your location on here, people may be able to recommend some good places to go? (I understand if you don't). There are a number of places near me that run sewing classes and/or sell fabrics, and I bought my Brother machine from the place I had lessons from. It's great and I love the automatic threader, and the button that automatically cuts the thread. Its been way more reliable than my Pfaff, which was frankly a faff, although that was probably down to my general incompetence with mechanical things.

Experience/prolific sewists of garments - do you have an overlocker as well to finish seams? I've made a few garments and I always hate how the seams turn out - I use the overlocking stitch on my sewing machine and they just look a bit messy. I've thought of buying an overlocker, or just doing French seams on everything - is that practical?