Dressmaking - experienced and beginners welcome

[AnnieSnap]

Dressmaking has becoming a topic in the ‘No Buy, Low Buy’ thread. In order not to derail that and because it deserves its own thread, I invite anyone who would like to make some of their own clothes or those already doing so to post here about fears, joys, problems, successes etc.

Having binged watched several serious of The Great British Sewing Bee when was laid-up with Covid and because that corresponded with the woman who did my little alterations stopping doing it, I was inspired to get a cheap sewing machine to try to do my own. That was just 16-months-ago and, having no previous experience at all, I quickly fell in love with sewing. I am not usually very patient with tasks (I have great patience with people and animals, but not with much else). Surprisingly, I have endless patience with sewing even when things go wrong 🤷‍♀️ At the beginning, I never dreamed I would be able to make clothes, but it turns out I can. So far, I’ve made dresses, skirts, tops, trousers, a gilet, a couple of things for my husband and even a jacket and a coat 😮

I try to buy ‘deadstock’ fabric when possible in the interests of the environment. It is fabric that is overstock from designers or big companies like Boden, M&S, Nobody’s Child and all the rest, or even fabric they have had produced and have changed their minds about using. I was horrified to discover that up to recently, all of this, tons and tons every year, went into landfill. It still does if it isn’t sold.

Any sewists (as we’re called these days) or potential sewists, what’s your story? And don’t forget the new series of The Great British Sewing Bee starts tonight. BBC1 9pm.

@pigtailsandall @theatrical @Zipps @remuslupinsbiggestgroupie @daisywaisy

Great work on the skirt @AnnaMagnani Looking forward to seeing the pics!

Would also love to see a picture, @AnnaMagnani !
Mum's shirt progress: 3 buttons sewn, 3 to go. Should be done, just, in time for Sunday lunch.
These proportions are size 6 with body shortened 5cm and sleeves lengthened 1.5cm. Also did a 1.5cm high round back adjustment but that's not really visible here. My mum is 158cm with monkey arms.

Skirt! Initial thoughts are I hope it is better with the belt.

However it is a big swishy skirt with pockets

@clowniform and @AnnaMagnani

Both beautiful! Bravo 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Hello! Just found this thread as I am keen to get into making my own clothes and it's nice to see others who are already doing it. I have my grandmother's old table sewing machine, circa 1970s. I learned to sew at school and made a couple of awful wraparound skirts. I like craft sewing (felt applique and embroidery projects etc) but haven't tried anything else in about 20 years!

@DollyParkin I saw your comment on the thread about some of the patterns and I think that's what has put me off. I want to wear beautiful shapes and silhouettes, things I see in the shops but that aren't the right colour or fabric, or are several hundreds/thousands of pounds and will never be in my budget. Where would you recommend I start as a beginner if you want to make stylish wearable clothes?

I love seeing the fabrics people choose when making their own clothes, I'm obsessed with fabric!

I too have just found this wonderful thread and am inspired to start dressmaking ... last attempts over 30 years ago so complete beginner too...

Also just found the thread.
Most of my experience is historical costuming using period techniques-think farthingales and ruffs and a lot of hand stitching-but I have recently inherited an overlocker and this is inspiring me to do more modern clothes for myself. I just find that when I get them right I wear them more than anything I have bought. Being able to make them fit and use decent quality fabrics at a reasonable prices means you end up with much better clothes than anything I can get for the money I want to spend.
I am currently planning a coat from the McCalls Astoria pattern. Have ordered some swatches of lovely melton wool and will make a toile at least for the bodice before I buy the fabric.
A coat feels ambitious but then as a fitted wool garment it’s reasonably close to what I am practiced at.

Hello.. please can i ask about dressmakers/ tailors dummies... I'm a beginner starting out and very excited.

Do you have one? How usefull is it? Does it make fitting easier and more accurate? Or does it sit in the corner unused As its too complicated or too much faff.

Have seen this one below with lots of sizes covered and looks quite simple and reasonable...

Just wondered what you all thought?

Thank you

singeroutlet.co.uk/products/adjustoform-elizabeth-dress-form?variant=42011104477237&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20318313006&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuNemBhCBARIsADp74QTSqEtWXQfLx6gY9CXkNr8_tJPNWWOuCApVyE3mqN3NRzdYOzANzhQaAjhWEALw_wcB

I have a dressmakers dummy - I mostly use it for hanging work in progress, checking hems are sitting straight and as a large pin cushion. It came in very handy when I was making a suit jacket for doing proper tailoring but it's the only time I've been very glad I have it.

It's a nice to have but definitely not a necessity. If you are fairly non-lumpy you might get a bit more use out of it but if you have e.g. large boobs/bum/tummy you have to add a lot of padding to it for it to serve any useful purpose as a fitting tool.

I've got an Adjustoform. I bought it with some John Lewis vouchers so I don't feel as if I spent my own money on it, otherwise I'm afraid I might feel it was a bit of a waste, although it's very handy for draping projects on and makes me feel like a proper artisan.

My main problem with it is that, like most of us, I'm not a standard shape, e.g. my shoulders are disproportionately narrow, so getting all the size settings right has been more complicated than I expected. With hindsight, I might have been better off getting the smaller size, in order to get the shoulder measurements right and then adding extra padding to waist, hips etc.

Also it doesn't (as far as I can tell) allow any adjustment for things like an extra high waist or a short torso, which are just as important for getting the right fit as your size.

it's possible I just need to put the time in to get it to work better for me, but anyway I'd say it's definitely not an essential.

I wouldn’t be without mine. I first got it after I had trouble pinning a facing round the neck of a modern dress. However it gets a lot of use given the type of sewing I do: because the costumes I make tend to be long and to involve different layers, it is enormously useful for both getting things the right length and making sure garments sit in the right place on top of each other, eg whether the neckline is visible. I also sew a lot with wool which tends to drop more than other fabrics so it’s useful to leave the garment on the dummy knowing it will stretch the same way as if it was worn.

I have to work with the fact it doesn’t quite fit as firstly I have broad shoulders which even turning the dial to max bust size doesn’t match, and secondly dummy boobs don’t behave the way real ones do when squished under a laced undergarment as opposed to lifted and separated by a modern bra. Professional costumers often saw the boobs off but I can’t bring myself to do that! When I first got it I once fucked up a jacket by forgetting to test the shoulders on myself- it was a lovely fit on the dummy! I could customise the dummy by extending the shoulders if I could be bothered.

You’re probably not going to sew the same things as me so the main relevance of my waffle is to say that you have to be careful if you’re not a standard size but there are workarounds.

To be honest though it’s mainly just fun to dress it up! Mine is a Ladyvalet Adjustoform which is more traditionally styled so it can stand in a room like a piece of furniture quite happily. It’s good for taking photos too.

I like having one, but I wouldn't say it's essential. Do you have an overlocker, as I'd get one of those before a dummy.

I don't use mine for precise fitting, but it is useful to see how things are progressing, to hang WIPs, to hem skirts and also to photograph things. I document all my makes, and I'd rather do that on a dummy than on me!

‘Also it doesn't (as far as I can tell) allow any adjustment for things like an extra high waist or a short torso, which are just as important for getting the right fit as your size.’

All their current range have adjustable back length afaik including the entry level one the pp linked so unless it is an old dummy and a new feature I think it should be possible.

Which reminds me, I was very disappointed last week when I clicked on a ‘Should I get a dummy?’ thread only to discover it was the wrong sort of dummy and they were talking about babies!

Mine doesn't adjust for my hourglass figure. Approximating my generous hips precludes nipping the waist in sufficiently, and it's nowhere near as busty as me. If I cared enough I'd add padding etc but I mostly use it to help me visualise what a garment might look like on, not for actual fitting, so it's fine.

Thanks TheCountess, it's a current model so I think you're right about it being possible to make it work for me. I think it's more that it's not a silver bullet but rather something I need to commit to!

@ReviewingTheSituation no overlocker yet...maybe I should consider this first a good point made. I know even less about overlockers than dummies.... which one or what features do you like on an overlocker?

And thank you all for your thoughts on dummies... I'm having a ponder now about weather this is a need or a want.

I started with the one from Lidl. It seems to divide opinion and some people hate it, but I loved it. It was basic (didn't do anything fancy) but mine served me well for a couple of years and a LOT of sewing. I only traded up because I had the offer of a better one, and I knew I would get the use out of it. My Lidl one went to a friend and is serving her very well.

You can get very fancy ones, but they're £££££, and personally I think a very basic one is just fine. I made loads of jumpers, hoodies, tshirts and dresses straight on the Lidl overlocker, and used it for seam finishing on coats, jeans, floaty viscoses, cotton... everything really! I would say it's the bit of kit that really elevates your sewing because it just makes everything so much more hard wearing and gives you a neat and tidy finish in no time. And being able to make up a basic tshirt or sweatshirt in an evening is so handy.

The threading puts some people off, but it's really not hard (and you can just attach the new thread to the old and let it sew through, so you don't actually need to re-thread if you're careful). And changing the blade is easy too (if you sew over a pin, the blade is a goner - it's a mistake you don't make again in a hurry!).

I think Lidl do them in October time, so it's worth thinking about it before then, if you're considering it seriously.

I inherited an overlocker a few months ago and I agree the threading isn’t as hard as it’s cracked up to be. Just concentrate and follow the instructions.

Omega, what kind of things do you see yourself sewing?
The dummy is more use for tailored coats and jackets than for t shirts, for instance, and no use at all for trousers! Will you be sewing for yourself or your family, children, men, formal or casualwear?

Thanks @TheCountessofFitzdotterel and @ReviewingTheSituation

Im planning to make stuff for me mainly! Tops, skirts, dresses, coats, currently a dress in a viscose linen effect fabric thats more difficult that I imagined. Im a lumpy bumpy body shape so like things fitted round the bust then looser over waist and hips. I would love to use some stretch fabrics in time so maybe the overlocker is a more sensible and useful addition than a tailors dummy. Thanks for the lidls tipoff... sounds ideal to start and not long now anyway.

My first pattern! A bit baggy on the legs and a bit shorter than I thought but overall rather pleased with myself!

Have finished the belt for my skirt.

It does look better with the belt however:

the waistband of the skirt is too big. I thought being a gathered elastic waistband this wouldn't matter too much but it really really does. I am going to have to unpick and take out some inches of elastic

the way the colours have ended up from the patchwork, I don't really like it. I like all the colours together but it has ended up very blue and yellow when I thought it would be purple and green

Worst of all - I just don't think it suits me. I've put a lot of effort into losing weight and getting fit and now have an hourglass figure instead of being an apple. And all the gathers round the waist just lose that.

Result is I have basically torn up all my future sewing plans in favour of form fitting knit dresses.

Ooh yay @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I hope you're going away somewhere (or are somewhere) where you can get some use out of shorts! They look great.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel somehow the idea of sawing the boobs off is horrifying.

Thanks @tribpot They are just for sleeping in, so no sunshine needed (although it would be very welcome)!

I enjoyed myself so much that I immediately made a three quarter length pair too! The pic makes it look as if one leg is longer than the other, but I think it’s my posture!

OMG @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie you are working so fast!

Both items look great on you, the fabric is lovely.