The Sewing Room

butterfly2001

hey i need some help.

i have brought this dress a while ago http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&productId=2431531&langId=-1&sort_field=Price%20Ascending&categoryId=291042&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=200&refinements=Size{1}~[12]&noOfRefinements=1 but the seam has come away. do you think it is repairable and if so what is best to use on this sort of material,, i am concerned sewing it would make it fray more

Florenceem

butterfly2001 wrote: »

hey i need some help.

i have brought this dress a while ago http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&productId=2431531&langId=-1&sort_field=Price%20Ascending&categoryId=291042&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=200&refinements=Size{1}~[12]&noOfRefinements=1 but the seam has come away. do you think it is repairable and if so what is best to use on this sort of material,, i am concerned sewing it would make it fray more

My three Daughters are always giving me clothes to repair. I have stitched fabric like your dress. If the repair is in a non visible area.....I would use a very lightweight interfacing to strengthen the repair seam. Is it a hand or machine job? My eldest Daughter bought a lovely sheer blouse and then found some of the front ruffle torn. I couldn't repair that bit so refashioned the front ruffle. She was happy with it. One of my Daughters does patchwork/quilting but always gives me her repair jobs.

Florenceem

This is one of my dolls I made for a retiring Infant School Head.

butterfly2001

Florenceem wrote: »

My three Daughters are always giving me clothes to repair. I have stitched fabric like your dress. If the repair is in a non visible area.....I would use a very lightweight interfacing to strengthen the repair seam. Is it a hand or machine job? My eldest Daughter bought a lovely sheer blouse and then found some of the front ruffle torn. I couldn't repair that bit so refashioned the front ruffle. She was happy with it. One of my Daughters does patchwork/quilting but always gives me her repair jobs.

thank you for advice can do it by hand or use my machine, probably do it by hand though. it is not the arm but below- the seam that goes under the breast?! so shouldnt be too visable lol i am a complete novice! Is interfacing just a swatch of material you use to join?

butterfly2001

your dolls are absolutely gorgous by the way must be proud of them!

Florenceem

butterfly2001 wrote: »

thank you for advice can do it by hand or use my machine, probably do it by hand though. it is not the arm but below- the seam that goes under the breast?! so shouldnt be too visable lol i am a complete novice! Is interfacing just a swatch of material you use to join?

Interfacing comes in various weights....it is used on the inside of collars/facings. Mil had a nightie that had torn so I cut a small piece of lightweight interfacing - put it under the tear and darned the torn fabric with my sewing machine. May be one of the experienced sewers on here can help you more than me.

handsewn

I'm new here and just had to join in on this thread (my user name probably gives away why!)

I sew doll clothes, the teeny-tiny kind for popular brands of Japanese dolls (Blythe, Licca...I am aware this might go over the head of most people who are unaware of them) and recently I have been just trying to sew everything and anything. I'll definately bookmark this thread for inspiration.

Am I alone in asking if anyone else out there prefers to sew by hand rather than use a sewing machine? I have a machine but I cannot get the hang of it.

shirlgirl2004

handsewn wrote: »

I'm new here and just had to join in on this thread (my user name probably gives away why!)

I sew doll clothes, the teeny-tiny kind for popular brands of Japanese dolls (Blythe, Licca...I am aware this might go over the head of most people who are unaware of them) and recently I have been just trying to sew everything and anything. I'll definately bookmark this thread for inspiration.

Am I alone in asking if anyone else out there prefers to sew by hand rather than use a sewing machine? I have a machine but I cannot get the hang of it.

Hi Handsewn

I try to avoid sewing by hand because I can guarantee it will fall apart.I haven't been doing mcuh sewing lately but I do enjoy it when I bother and I love admiring all the fabulous makes on here.

Savvy_sewing

handsewn wrote: »

I'm new here and just had to join in on this thread (my user name probably gives away why!)

I sew doll clothes, the teeny-tiny kind for popular brands of Japanese dolls (Blythe, Licca...I am aware this might go over the head of most people who are unaware of them) and recently I have been just trying to sew everything and anything. I'll definately bookmark this thread for inspiration.

Am I alone in asking if anyone else out there prefers to sew by hand rather than use a sewing machine? I have a machine but I cannot get the hang of it.

Welcome handsewn,
I think you will find a mix of people, although there are a lot of people learning to sew on Sewing machines.
Personally I sew mostly with a machine, but also sew by hand, hems etc etc but dont do embroidery or patchwork.( Yet).
I won a lovely prize of a book called Hand Sewn, and I am looking longingly at the items in it. Who knows I may be doing a lot of both.

Savvy_sewing

butterfly2001 wrote: »

hey i need some help.

i have brought this dress a while ago http://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33053&storeId=12552&productId=2431531&langId=-1&sort_field=Price%20Ascending&categoryId=291042&parent_categoryId=&pageSize=200&refinements=Size{1}~[12]&noOfRefinements=1 but the seam has come away. do you think it is repairable and if so what is best to use on this sort of material,, i am concerned sewing it would make it fray more

Hi, if the seam has frayed it could be that the dress was not sewn very well in the first place, or it could mean that your upper arms are wider then thier version of adverage. (My daughter is a dancer, with very strong muscles/shoulders and upper arms through batton twirling), yet was a small size 10 (bit bigger at mo from just having a baby).). Anyway, if the seam is already tight on the arm, then repairing within the seam will only stretch the fabric and it will fray even more.
You could try using a piece of similar fabrics to reinforce and patch but I fear interfacing is not the best route, if the fabric is shear.

What I used to do was open out these seams and insert a piece of similar weight and colour fabric into a diamond or V shape in the sleeve seam where the strains would be. Not invisible but if done well can be better then seeing a patch??
Hand sewing on this occasion would give you a better chance of pulling together seams then a machine, as you can repair a tear easier with small featherlight stitches then anything a normal sewing machine can do.
Hope that helps?