Sewing, now and then

Anyone else just doing a bit now and then

My sewing mojo is gone at the moment, good job too as my wardrobe is full

I'm envious of your bra solution! I don't see the need for wearing a bra under winter woollies but I do need something to keep my boobs in check. I've tried buying bralettes but they are too flimsy and "all-in-one" pull over bras have not been great either.

Your hand made wardrobe sounds lovely. I grew up with all my dresses home made by my seamstress granny and I regret not keeping one that I am wearing in a faded photograph. I'd live to hold or see the dresses again now. What a wonderful skill.

*love

My sewing room (spare bedroom reclaimed now my g’dtrs are too old to need my babysitting services) is my calm place. I have a sizeable stash but really don’t need any more clothes. My daughter, who is petite, persists in buying trousers that are too long for her and I currently have 2 pairs waiting to be taken up, but this is not a job I enjoy. However, as the cat has taken to sleeping on my sewing table they will have to wait until he decides to wake up.
I have never made a bralet though I did make a summer top for my g’dr that had an inbuilt bra. She chose stretchy fabric. Never has my seam ripper had so much use and I very nearly chucked the whole lot out of the window. I am not keen to repeat the experience.

We have just moved house so for the next six months I will be making curtains.

I come frrom several generations of gifted sewers. My grandmother was a professional dressmaker. Both her daughters, my sister, DD and DGM are true descendants of that professional dressmaker.

I have all the creative urges but I am the archtypal cack handed clumsy child, falling over everything and getting everything in a tangle. So, so far i have tended to limit myself to curtain making. However in our new home there is a tiny room off one of the bedrooms that is going to be my sewing room (actually my quiet retreat) and I have the fabric and pattern to try making myself a dress - once I have made all the curtains.

That’s impressive, Karmalady! 👏 What sewing machine do you have? Do you use an overlocker?

I’ve got the material for some curtains.
That was put on hold as I’ve got a lot of bulbs to pot ( 26).
Finished those this morning despite rain.
So starting on the curtains ( lined) this afternoon.
I have 4 new tea shirts that need the shoulder seam reducing/ sleeves taking up.
Part of my joy is that I love using a sewing machine.
I spent most of my working life sewing. Not clothes but books

At the moment, it's curtains for me too. I'm making a pair for younger GS aged 19.
They are lined with blackout material and I was glad to find on YouTube the way to avoid pinpricks which would let in the light. So I've learned to do an overlap seam using clips instead of pins.

I make curtains and roman shades. I take up trousers.

No room, all my sewing is on the dining table.

I haven’t sewn anything (except the odd button) since needlework at school stopped being compulsory when I was about 12. To me it is the ultimate boring occupation.

My mother was marvellous at it, and made all my pretty dresses and ballet costumes when I was a child. Perhaps I don’t sew because I know I could never compete.

I don’t do much any more re either, Grandma70, though I used to dressmake and made a lot of dresses for dds when they were little - usually out of gorgeous Tana Lawn.

Also various items for dds’ school fair when we were living abroad - I once made at least half a dozen quilted carry cots for large baby dolls - complete with pillows and blankets. All sold PDQ!

Knitting takes priority now, so it’s more like the odd repair/easy alteration, but I did make a roll for my knitting needles and a padded cover for the very hard seat of our new step stool!
But it’s good to know my trusty old sewing machine (a little Elna I’ve had for over 40 years) is still there when I need it.

My sewing mojo disappeared about 3 years ago, partly because I don't much like my new sewing machine, purchased just before lockdowns.

There is one garment outstanding but it's an alteration of a skirt for DD and she hasn't mentioned it, thank goodness, as it probably means taking out an invisible zip and putting it back in. There is an excellent seamstress shop here 🙂

Ps I made a lot of my own clothes from the age of 14, although i didn't do sewing at school after primary and lots of clothes for the DC.

I wondered whether to try machine quilting instead, to use up all the odd pieces of fabric I have left over from mask making!

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

Purplepixie

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

I came back to sewing as a result of my (very skilled) daughter saying to me 'if a things worth doing, its worth doing badly'

Yes, the opposite of the usual phrase, but her point was that if I enjoyed doing something, even if I was not that good at it, then it was worth doing to the besst of my ability, so I put behind me a lifetime of deft sewers like my grandmother, mother and sister, solicitously rushing to 'help' me and tell me how I ought to be doing things, and just got on with sewing in my own fashion and I have surprised myself by the things I can actually do, not as well as DD or even DGD but good enough, and I have curtains, cushions, quilts and bedspreads, whose needlework would not bear close scrutiny by Patrick Grant and still less Esme Young or May Martin, but looks good when part of a rooms furnishings.

One of my elderly aunts was a court dressmaker. I never saw anything she made, as she paid visits to Cornwall for only a brief time, but I assume it must have been pretty good.

Karmalady, going back to your post about making a bra, I remember my DM saying she'd made one during WW2, out of parachute silk, which WAAFs like her could get. She was a trained dressmaker (not allowed to go to university) and she took her wotn-out bra to bits and used the pieces as pattern pieces.

SueDonim

That’s impressive, Karmalady! 👏 What sewing machine do you have? Do you use an overlocker?

I use Bernina sewing machines, mainly a 380, bought a long time ago and sitting on an old horn hide-away table, which is the size of an ironing board and permanently set up. I have my (first ever ) dream sewing room, bought this new build especially for the extra bedroom, after a lifetime spent using the dining table

I do also have a vintage bernina record 930, I love Bernina, bought three years ago and that sits inside a cub plus from horn, in my living room.

I use an overlocker regularly, had my babylock evolve in 2004 and still fantastic, destined for a dgc and I since treated myself to a babylock acclaim

Purplepixie

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

Please try, get a second hand sewing machine and also old sheets from a charity shop. Sewing is not hard but you need a steam iron and an ability to carefully follow instructions and a bit of practice, hence the sheets

There are several good helpful videos on youtube

Beyond the pink door has some excellent sew-a-longs
Lifting pins and needles is the very best at explaining processes

My ddil started sewing two years ago and is making lovely things now, I don`t teach her, she lives a long way away

Re the second hand sewing machine, it depends on finances but there are lots of good refurbs around. If finances are in short supply, then ask people who go to craft groups, someone in mine recently gave a machine to a young lady who could not afford one

re that bralette pattern I just downloaded 6 sheets to stick together in my size, XLB. Sewing size is not normal bra size. The pattern cost £8 and it just needs a fabric with 50% stretch and good recovery. I am going to dig out some viscose jersey from my stash, toile first of course

Its a beautiful pattern, slip-on and no sliding straps

These sewing threads die down after a while. I started another one ages ago and put umpteen tips and links on that, won`t be doing that again. It is good to know that there is still an interest in sewing

Knickers, that is another pattern I treasure. I have several patterns but have eventually settled on my old tatty kwik sew pattern. All my knickers are now hand made, with picot edge elastic edging. None are tight on me and all are lovely, made from pretty fabric having started with re-using lands end nighties

There are free pattens and there are some good sewing videos

I got O Level dressmaking and my mother made all my clothes until I was a teenager (many dresses made for herself and me, often matching, made from Crimplene!) I have a lovely red jacket/lining material ready to start cutting out, but the class I was going to stopped and I am so fearful of cutting it out wrongly that I’ve never done it yet. I watch them on Sewing Bee just cutting out with no bother at all with envy.

My mum was also a court dressmaker, starting her apprenticeship when she was 14 with a mentor who once worked for Norman Hartnell. She made all my dresses when I was young, but unfortunately I then went through the awkward early-teen stage of not wanting "home made" clothes any more. Luckily when I got to my later teens I appreciated having unique, made-to-measure clothes again!

I've still got the bridesmaid dress she made for one of my daughters on an industrial straight-stich Singer machine. It has three layers to the skirt (taffeta, net and lining) and a fully lined bodice and it looks as neat on the inside as the outside with no raw edges to be seen. Even the sleeves were set in using French seams!

Karmalady
I too love my Bernina. I bought it second hand complete with all the feet ( including a walking foot) The price for it new was £600 in 2003.
Re the practising on sheets. I was talking to my dentist Re sewing. She was given a machine but said it can work out expensive practising on material that has cost money.
Fortunately I volunteer in a charity shop so was able to give her some sheets to practice on.