Sewing Bee

[Cocolapew]

New thread for this weeks 🙂

They did do Sashiko (?) mending on a transformation challenge on the last series or one before. Think they did it on jeans & denim jackets with holes in. I really liked it - currently working on mending a torn shirt & have a pair of cord jeans with a tear to have a go on as well.
A proper alteration round is a good idea - get some of the dressmaker models reduced to petite size & buy a batch of the same size fitted dress for standard height - they'd need to alter the bodice as well as the skirt length. (My mother did this frequently for me as I am shorter than average & petite sized clothes used to be hard to find).

I have a couple of vintage Singer sewing machines and they are bloody brilliant for being robust, reliable straight stitchers. As well as being able to handle really thick layers without trouble. They’d have dealt with those dinosaurs dressing gowns without problem. When you turned them upside down and see the cast iron, and metal rods and mechanism, you can understand why they’re still going after 100 years. When the apocalypse comes and our electronic machines all stop working, the vintage hand cranks and treadles will still be sewing on.

good reminder there, @funnelfan for me to get my treadle Pfaff fixed up.

@SBAM I completely agree about the transformation challenge. An alteration challenge as you describe, would be an excellent replacement.

The transformation challenge makes for good tv though. Many of us don't sew, but enjoy the programme. I think it's got to be something visually interesting.

When the apocalypse comes we can go back to hand sewing, as in 1840. I don't mean we shouldn't use machines - don't get me wrong - but I sometimes think that it doesn't take long to hand sew something straight, rather than get the machine out.

you can hand sew if you want, I'll be using my machine. I would rather stick pins in my eyes than hand sew 😂

I’m with @Brefugee, if I can machine sew then I will, hand sewing is a last resort.

We’ll all be back to one outfit each plus something for “Sunday best” If we had to rely on hand sewing for our wardrobes.

Happy Days....not!

I'd be reduced to ripping holes in a binbag!

I hand sew a lot! Used to make dolls clothes (Barbie and much smaller) and found that easier by hand. I make memory bears - large ones I sew using the machine but the smaller ones I hand stitch. Soft toys it's a mix - if there are small fiddly bits (like the trunk on a 2 inch tall elephant) I do them by hand. Just started making clothes for me (definitely not miniature) so getting into machine sewing again.

Not rip. Surely you'd make a little pattern out of grease-proof paper and cut two matching armholes at each side of the bag and a good even neck-hole out of the top.

You vastly overestimate my sewing ability, I'm afraid. Threading a needle is quite a challenge chez Gasp.

I've hand sewn curtains for our study. The window is 90 inches by 76 inches and I did proper side seams, hems etc I didn't line it.

I'm still scared of my sewing machine.

See, this is why I got my hand crank Singer. I was far too wary of my electronic machine that just whirred away so fast. I can go one stitch at a time and really control what’s happening.

I fear the speed of my sewing machine but know that I'm being silly and you can make them go slower or faster just by easing up on the pedal or pushing down. I've got my first dressmaking class next week which will hopefully alleviate my fears.

My problem with my sewing machine is back in the 1980s, when I was doing my compulsory sewing class at school, I never managed to properly thread my sewing machine. I got knots beyond knots. It made an impression on me.

I learned to sew on my mother's treadle singer when I was 11.

She made most of mine and her clothes for many years.

I loved that machine which made me many mad student or hippy clothes with fabric bought at Birmingham rag market.

I was almost disappointed to get an electric machine for my 21st. This had a lot of use as well and made many costumes for youth theatre plays.

the memory bears sound lovely

@Brefugee They are great but it can be very intense. I used to have a business on Etsy but stopped a couple of years ago because I started to find it too stressful. Most of my customers had lost someone and told me how important the item of clothing was and of course how special their Mum, Husband, Child was. I found the pressure to make something 'special' quite intense - probably pressure of my own doing as everyone loved their bears but I found it impossible not to be emotionally invested!

Now I make them for friends, friends of friends and family. They are much happier - child leaving primary school, left over wedding dress fabric, reminders of travelling etc.

That might not be such a bad thing when I think of all the stuff I have in mine and can't bear to get rid of.

I'm still scared of my sewing machine.

They know when you're afraid. 😬

In one wardrobe the thing that held the rail has broken, so it was 'all fall down'. This has caused lifting out and sorting a bit (only a bit) and a journey to a charity shop this morning. There is a tide in the affairs of old women when they admit quietly to themselves that they have more books than they can ever read, more pieces of fabric than they can ever make up and more half unpicked garments that they really were going to alter than they will ever get around to.

The memory bears and the wedding dresses project are lovely ideas.