our sewing forum

I don`t go for cheap options either, those days are long gone. I sourced the best fabrics and patterns and the best pure wool artisan yarns for knitting. I love japanese fabrics and have many in my stash eg double gauze. I have made many a garment in my younger skint past from fabrics from stores such as abakhan and they don`t look nice for long, the fabrics don`t wear or wash well. on the whole. MIL used to say `buy cheap buy twice`

I have cut out the 4 large pieces for the new sofa seat covers, it truly is a stunning fabric, I did pattern match because there was only about 8" waste between. I shall cut the rest this morning and start sewing. I will overlock but not cut. It was like butter to cut

I am so impressed that you are making sofa covers *craftyone. it must be at least as difficult to manipulate as curtains and I had to give those up because the size meant I had to cut them on the floor and, although getting down there is just about possible I worried about getting up again! One of the drawbacks about sewing in later life.

I hate sewing curtains GGumteenth, I made all our curtains from 1970 until 2010 and I finally had enough, all that crawling on the floor to deal with the bulk, the hanging, waiting for the drop, the hemming. It is the one job that I turned down flat when dd asked me. These seat covers are relatively easy and I am going to make them today, nice and cosy in my sewing room. I finished cutting at 9am, tidied up, had a brunch, cleaned the kitchen and will shortly set my tablet up for an audible book. What a lovely positive and productive day ahead

I want to chat about sitting position, sewing position at the machines. My overlocker is on a typical office desk it at the wrong height. I managed to take the keyboard shelf out and I bought a back saver office chair which happens to be too wide to go under. I could use it by leaning forward but too long and I would get backache

I have made a couple of modifications which help and have used them today as I have just overlocked 31m straight in one go ie 2 sides of the bias for the covers and a large cushion. Some time ago I made a foot device because I had to tip forward to reach the pedal and it was always sliding about because it was at the end of the cord because the desk is too high

It was a piece of wood about an inch thick and about 18 x 12. I put padding on it around a foot control shape. The padding is high enough to stop the control slipping, then I covered all around, glued and stuck the fabric and slipped router mat into the footwell. It was miraculous today, backache got me early last time. I was able to sit into the back of the chair

I also sat a little bit sideways with the overlocker a bit sideways. I might put a bit of router mat upstairs to stop any machine slippage when working like that

I am having a break now, to change my body position and will soon be doing a lot of sewing at my sewing machine, making the actual piping. The horn foldaway is at a much better height and I can use a normal chair but I am going to use the foot control board as well and see if that stops me tipping forward

I've found that the foot pedal on my new machine is much lighter than the previous one. It slips forward on the carpet so I've had to put a piece of rubber as a very small mat underneath. Quite annoying.
It seems to work ok but is not perfect.

I have finished prep and been on both machines a lot today, all using the foot pedal in the little well. I never lost contact with it at any stage and have no back ache, I was able to sit better in both chairs. Tomorrow I will sew the zips on and assemble the seat covers. Best to have a change now, it has been good on a very miserable day today, grey and pouring down

Thanks to everyone that has posted re pattern makers and the videos you can find online re sewing techniques. Really useful.

Susie42, I also recommend style arc patterns. I used to get the paper patterns from australia, very good paper and multi sized, in fact I made 3 tops from one pattern and am wearing them most days right now. Amazon now do a big range of style arc patterns and they arrive quickly

I have a sewing machine needle cushion, like this
dontwaittocreate.blogspot.com/2019/10/why-you-should-use-sewing-machine.html

It is very useful when I have a decent part used machine needle but don`t want to throw it out. I used a needle from there for my current project. I chose the size 80 which was lurking in the cushion.

I have just seen lots of online patterns for pin cushions, that would seem to be a pretty good idea for gifts

I have pre-washed the upholstery/curtain fabric and it has turned out lovely, still flexible no wrinkles, it is just drying flat outside, folded inwards so the sun does not bleach it. I really want to make `the assembly line` 3 pleat skirt with it, it seems to be the right weight fabric and will be extra useful for autumn and will match any top

This is a flat waistband ie no elastic, so I will work from the waistband down, measure carefully to fit me. I will have everything I need in my stash. The patterns came yesterday, I am going to measure everything and then trace, the paper is too good to cut because I think I will lose weight with the extra cycling. The instructions look so easy. There is a guide at the back and this one is for average sewing ability, the others are easy or very easy. It means that you can whip up a garment in double quick time

No one will be wearing the same as me

Craftyone what are you tracing your pattern on to? I have used 'banqueting roll' paper which is wide and quite strong. I don't fancy going to the shop which sells it at the moment so my plans are on hold. If a couple of weeks go by without too many extra cases of virus I may venture out.

craftyone- That sounds like a lovely idea for a skirt. Will it need to be lined?
Twice in my sewing life I've made loose covers, once for a small sofa and once for a heavy armchair. I made the patterns from newspaper - in those days there was no alternative.

What a good idea, rubysong, I've got some leftover 'banqueting roll' on top of the larder and I had no idea what to use it for. I nearly threw it out! Thanks for the tip.

I still have a roll of wide tracing paper, maybe it was from amazon, that is also useful. I don`t need to line the skirt Fennel. Tbh doing the prep is the most important bit, I traced any pieces that had overlapping sizes on a curve, I don`t like cutting into them in case my size changes

I just added a bit to the centres of the skirt, lengthened the waistband and there is some peculiar facing for the bottom of the skirt, maybe to hold pleat points. I checked and double checked and stuck extra pieces to the skirt centres and those facings. I didn`t want to mess with the pleats. Its all in a heap in the kitchen, its been very busy today

I really do like the fabric for a cheery practical skirt so I think I may well make a quick toile when I start sewing. I haven`t checked the length yet, I might end up shortening the pattern so that will mean more folding, sticking and re-drawing, It tends to be done around the hip height. Once the pattern is ready I think I will stop because there is so much to do in the garden and the house right now as well as me getting a cycle ride in and tweaking my new bike

I found some suitable stash fabric for a mock-up skirt, brown cotton with owls on it, I would never use it apart from maybe lining a parka. It is cut out and ready, I will never use this as an actual skirt so will just be tacking it together, fitting the waistband on me first

I did the proper tailors tacks using basting cotton because it does not slip out and in process realised that I had added extra width into the centre front, which will be the centre of 3 pleats, I ammended that so the pleats are all the same size with slightly wider spacing between the centre and the each side pleat

I have a notcher but did the old fashioned v, really only needed for pocket and zip placings. So far so good but I am not going to sew until I am in the mood. I only used weights for cutting out and tailors chalk and scissors because I could not be bothered getting cutting boards set up for roller cutters

Re patterns - I have just bought "How to Design Your Own Dress Patterns: A primer in pattern making for women who like to sew – 8 Feb. 2019" by Adele Margolis, for my grand-daughter, who at seventeen is very keen on sewing. She was thrilled with it - as well as starting from scratch with an idea for a style and converting it into a paper pattern, it has detailed instructions on how to make alterations in a bought pattern so that it really fits.
Years ago I borrowed a much earlier version of this from the library and worked through the exercises before returning it (I kept renewing), so somewhere I had a notebook of the processes. Of course, when I was choosing the book for DGD, I couldn't find the notes to remind me of the author's name, so I went by the recommendations in the reviews and ended up ordering this - then I found the notebook and discovered the same name.

Another idea for making a pattern is to choose an item that you've worn a lot and still fits but is stained or threadbare.
Unpick the seams and use the parts as a pattern

For those interested in buying fabric on line

I have mentioned Jules Fabric Friday before I think but I do find that every days a school day when you watch this lady. I have just learned a little about how crepe is made and the best length stitch for dress making (generally). I hope the link works.

I watched that too today GGum, great tips especially for beginners. Thanks for your earlier recommendation. Looking forward to my local fabric shop opening on Monday here on Scotland.

The little treats that matter so much now Nonna. The actual feel of the fabric is definitely one of them

I usually get samples for the feel, no fabric shops here and even in the bigger town, they would not sell the fabrics I am after

I hand basted the skirt together this morning, only the front, back and waistband are needed. It was a lovely fit on me and looked exactly the same on my dressform, I must have padded her correctly. Length was good but I want to add 2cm to the wistband on the opening side, for a hook and bar

I am going to order zips now and I need overlocking thread cops, I did order more fabric, curtain fabric, so I can make 2 different skirts in the same pattern. I love the colours, drape and textures

I have just ordered from empress mills, zips are £!.50. Zips, tailors chalk and large cops of natural thread. They are selling lots of new haberdashery things, good, they have always been a good company

Maybe I will set up for cutting now, once ready it will stay set-up. No-one here but me so it might as well be in a state of preparedness and I may well alter the other patterns from the same company, or at least make some notes

craftyone, you are such an interesting poster, you seem to have an artistic flair for gardening, sewing, home making. I could read your posts for hours they are so enjoyable.

craftyone, you mentioned upthread about buying the pulls for 'by-the-metre' zip. Where did you get them from, please? I've got several long lengths of zip but no pulls for them. My daughter has just asked me to make some seat cushions for the tops of storage benches they have built in on their patio. If I could use up my zips it would be ideal. Thanks.

I buy from Empress Mills as well, they are a very friendly company, they phoned me when something I had ordered was not in stock, to tell me they were giving a refund. I especially like their blender fabrics.