dressmaking necessities

homealone_2

i decided to brave it and take my sewing machine out of the box, although 4 years apart having had a couple of confidence building sessions, i feel able to go for it. i cant spend another summer paying £10/£15 for 2 pieces of material sewn up the sides, with some elastic running across the top. being a size 20 is also giving me a push to learn to be able to alter clothes. so now i have made the decision i bought an off cut of a satin type material for a £ in my local market and have a pattern for a first timer. it looks like a t shirt and is just cut out in 2 pieces, it has braid on which i dont have but as it is only going to be worn in bed am just going to make a hem. ANYWAY why i am on here after all my waffle is what bits do i need as a beginners tool box obviously dont want to buy allsorts i wont need for ages but i would like to know is what do you think i need for now? thank you oh yes also how do i go from a pattern in an a4 book to a life size pattern?

jackyann

I'm not completely sure what you mean by "a pattern in an A4 book". Is it one of those patterns with squares that you have to size up? If so, you need pattern paper.
But I would take a step back. You need quite a bit of experience to size up & alter a pattern. I would go to sewdirect (or to a shop if you have one) and buy a pattern. Look for "basics" or search for "shells" and get one in your size.
It's well known that sewing patterns often come up a bit bigger than shop sizes, but you can't always rely on it.
Get some very cheap fabric, or old sheet (charity shops often have them) and make up your basic pattern, tacking. Don't worry with facings or hems, just try it on and see how it feels.

But to answer your first question - good scissors - the best you can afford - begin with 8" as decent all purpose. Pins, needle & thread, tape measure, chalk for marking.

Slowly gather up stuff as you need it - as I am always altering patterns, I have a roll of brown paper, a plastic guide and paper scissors. I also use a board: http://www.sewdirect.com/acatalog/Cutting_Tools.html
Not strictly necessary, but protects your table, or turns a bed into a cutting / marking surface.

I find The Sewing Forum a great place to share problems and get tips. Good luck

Hermia

If your local TK Maxx has a decent craft section it might be worth looking there. When I started sewing I was lucky to find a beginner's sewing kit in there. It was huge and very heavy (it contained four pairs of scissors and lots of other things). They were all good brands.

theoretica

Just to add - keep your new scissors just for cutting cloth. Cutting paper blunts them. I would rather use a new, cheapish pair than ones that have been abused.

You will also want a stitch ripping tool for correcting mistakes or removing tacking.

gayleygoo

I often get patterns at sewessential.co.uk, they tend to have half-price offers every so often on the various brands (patterns can seem expensive, especially if you intend to just make one or two items from it.)

Trace patterns rather than cutting them out, it's much more economical. Tissue paper or greaseproof paper works well for this!

Use good thread. I use Gutermann for everything - it doesn't come cheap, but cheap thread will break or jam in your machine, and break quickly in whatever you sew. It drove me mad when I started sewing!

To be honest, sewing is not the cheapest hobby, but you don't have to pick everything up at once. Get good scissors first, pins and seam ripper (your new best friend ), and you can build on other things. I buy elastic, trims, notions and fabrics from ebay. Cheap charity shop purchases can be cut up and repurposed too.

Satin type material can be a pain to work with, it's so slippery. If it was cheap then you may be happy to practise with it, but as another poster said, old sheets might be a better first try. If you have never used your machine before, maybe try some smaller/simpler projects such as simple pillowcases, napkins etc so you get the hang of tension, sewing in a straight line etc first!

FairyPrincessk

I second the comment that satin material might be frustrating. I'd suggest (as above) starting with old sheets or a similar fabric as it is much easier to work with and presses well.

Things you need (some repeated from above):

Good, sharp scissors reserved for cloth
Seam ripper
Iron and ironing board
Selection of thread--good quality
Pins
A few hand sewing needles
Chalk
Tape measure
A clear ruler (not an absolute necessity but I find them very useful for things like hems and you likely have one somewhere)
A soft brush/compressed air for cleaning your machine (very important!)


If you want to do pattern alterations, I've learned quite a lot from a book by Palmer and Pletsch (sp?) I think they have several in the series now, although the one I have is called Fit for Real People. Although some of the techniques are not the way that professional tailors do it, it did help me understand commercial patterns better and know a few easy fixes for basic issues.

A few optional things you might want to stock (say if you get a gift card for a birthday!) I'd probably wait to see how I got on and which of these things I was most likely to use as some people might never use some of these whilst others would find them invaluable.

Selection of interfacing--black and white, light and medium weights. I'd probably stock mostly fusible as it is the one I use the most
Pinking Shears (some would put them in the list above, but I think you can manage just fine without)
Backup stock of your most common thread colours--I go through a lot of white and navy.
Extra bobbins--if you're making a large project you can wind 2 at a time so you don't have to stop and re-wind as frequently
Extra machine needles/needles you don't have such as a ball point, twin etc. if your machine will take them.
Seam Roll/Pressing ham

homealone_2

thank you all so much for your valuable advice. luckily the classes i did take happened to be on the machine so at least i know where all the bits are etc.. i have found a pair of scissors which i had forgotten i bought which were supposed to be good. i hope you dont mind if i ask you all a couple of questions


jackyann yes, it was one of those size up books,it was the book that was based on the the sewing bee program, not using yet but am desperate to make some pyjama bottoms, they would save my son and me a fortune, we wear them all the time and i can do thick ones for winter and short cotton ones for the summer. will definitely do a practise one first as you all suggested but is brown paper, baking paper and others suggested wide enough for , tracing paper
the sewing forum sounds like the exact thing i would find useful.
thank you

to everyone else, thank you. i will definitely look into the wesites/shops that have been recommend. the items you have suggested (basic to start with) i am ordering now on ebay, just waiting on reply on whats the best paper to use and if the standard widths these all come in will be ok to use, or is there a width i need to look out for that covers most items to be sewn?

FairyPrincessk

homealone,

I'm not the best one for advice on the pattern book, but I can make a few suggestions for the pyjama bottoms that you could do even before you master the pattern sizing. They're a great way to practice! Using your best-fitting existing pair

You can use this method to skip the pattern making stage:

https://reddogmine.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/how-to-make-a-pair-of-pajama-pants-using-an-old-pair-as-a-pattern-diy-tutorial/

Or this method to create a paper pattern:
http://www.simplymodernmom.com/2011/01/simple-pajama-pants-tutorial/

A few hits:

- Double stitch the crotch seams as these receive the most stress and are usually the first to pull out.
-Don't forget your seam allowances when cutting out
-If your elastic casing isn't quite as snug around the elastic as it could be, stitch it down at the side seams to keep the elastic from twisting (this is less of an issue as you're more experienced but getting that casing just right is sometimes tricky when you start out).
-Most fabric needs to be washed before you sew with it to ensure it doesn't shrink. This is especially important if you're using cotton flannel as it often shrinks.

paddyrg

My Mrs recently got into sewing her own clothes - sewing machine with simple stitches, new pair of poundland scissors, pins, and http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0804843155 this book - she set off with simpler pieces and now knocks up a blouse in a few hours, or a skirt in under two. They're not perfectly made, but they're perfectly wearable and look great :-)

(BTW sewing machine came later - she even started off hand-stitching everything, she's got a wonderful determination!)

gayleygoo

Baking paper can be a bit narrow for some pattern pieces, but there's nothing wrong with taping it together where needed! That's what I do anyway. You can buying larger sheets of tracing paper online if you prefer, but that might work out more expensive. Baking paper also tends to roll up, which can be annoying, but this can usually be solved with a low iron! I prefer white paper over brown, as it's easier to see the pattern you are tracing, but if you can see the lines (or are just drafting a pattern rather than tracing one) brown paper is fine. Actually I use any paper for drafting patterns - old wrapping paper and newspaper will do the job and this has the advantage of being quite wide.

Peasant style tops are easy to sew and can look quite flattering on a larger person, especially with a belt. Simple skirts made from rectangles of fabric, and aprons, are other great beginners projects. And you can vary your skills as you go, adding pockets, trims etc.

Are you a member of Pinterest? There are lots of links to sewing ideas and tutorials on there!

flea72

A good all round pattern book for basic garment shapes is 'easy sewing, the kwiksew way'. It also comes with fullsize patterns, so no scaling up needed and the pieces are really easy to alter for fit