Does anyone else make their own clothes

C1aire

Oh, and materials:

Needles
Thread
Seam unpicker
Pins
Tape measure
(Tailors' chalk - optional)
Sewing machine if you can, in which case, spools, a zipper foot (invaluable) and machine oil so you don't have to shell out too much in having it serviced!

Am sure others will add to the list, but in essence, needle and thread is all you really need!

Actually, what are people's favourite sewing gadgets? Mine is a foot attachment that folds the material into a hem as it feeds through (I hate hemming!).

Grandma_Carol

To add to Claire's list of equipment - some small sharp scissors for snipping threads and a good pair of cutting out scissors that are for fabric only, (using them to cut paper blunts them) Get the best you can afford (or borrow) as if your cutting out is spot on then the sewing your seams is accurate!.

There are loads of other items I have amassed over the years but scissors for me are a high priority.

Carol

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Morning! Yes I would agree with Grandma Carol, I think a good pair of snippy little scissors is invaluable, although I am completely converted to using a rotary cutter for cutting out my fabrics. I am left handed and although I have left handed shears etc I still find it difficult to cut along a straight line :rolleyes: . The rotary cutter is quick, easy and for fools like me, more accurate.

My favourite machine foot is the edge stitching foot, I use it practically all the time, it makes edgestitching, butting seams and topstitching so much easier.

I also love my little wooden thingy (professional term) for turning collars, my seam gauges and the tailor's ham for pressing.

Jen, a million years ago I started hand sewing soft toys and doll's clothes. Do you have any likely customers for such a thing? Or you could sign up for quilting lessons/courses, that's hand sewing in a straight line, mostly.

Good luck!
Mrs F x

caleo

champys wrote: »

Caleo - I have been having a ball browsing this website (thanks for the tip!!), and you are right, the choice is great and their prices are pretty good. Have you had any luck with the downloads though? I have tried using 2 different PC's but couldn't get the software to load successfully. Maybe this only works in the USA......

It is a great site, isn't it? I have to keep away from it, because I just want so many of them!!!!!;)

I haven't tried the downloads yet. I prefer the ready packaged ones, as they are easier to store, so can't help you there.

GraciesGran

I make my own trousers, purely because I can't find ones that fit in the shops. I made dresses for my granddaughter last year - from a 'posh' shop to fit and 18month old they were £25, I made 6 for about £10.

dolly_day_dream

Grandma_Carol wrote: »

Croft Mill is great, I use their mail order service, the newsletter is such an amusing read too.

Also has anyone else tried downloading patterns - www.burdastyle.com and www.sewingpatterns.com offer some freebies. However the down side is sticking all the A4 pieces of paper together. You can pay for patterns too, usually cheaper than getting the tissue pattern sent, saves waiting but you still have to stick the A$ together.

Must admit, I was able to download from the sites fine once I had understood what I was doing.

Carol

Ok Carol are you my twin separated at birth? I too have used Croft Mill for years and love reading the newsletter. I am a member of www.burdastyle.com but keep finding that it doesn't recognise my log in and therefore I have not been able to download any patterns. Shame cos my daughter is just getting into making her own clothes - cos I don't have too much time at present :undecided and the patterns from there would be just great.

top_drawer_2

hi,

Thanks for all the tips etc. I am thinking of buying a cheapish sewing machine to begin with ... any ideas/tips on what I should look for? There was one in the Netto pamplets last week, it was £19.99 - not sure that would be too cheap and so of little use ... also had a look at some on the bidup.tv website but again not sure what too look for in a beginners sewing machine and how much I am looking at spending.

Thanks for any advice,

Jen

top_drawer_2

what do you all think of this?

http://www.bid.tv/ProductDescriptionPage.aspx?Id=2131210&Cat=11&Sub=32&Type=Categories

good value or not?

and

http://www.bid.tv/ProductDescriptionPage.aspx?Id=2140941&Cat=11&Sub=32&Type=Categories

Thanks

Jenny

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Hi Jenny. I couldn't get the first link to work but the second machine shows up OK. My only concern about these little mini-machines is that they are not heavy enough to cope with large fabrics, i.e. curtain, cushions etc, the weight of the material could easily pull them over. I don't have any knowledge of how good they are, but to be honest, I think you would probably get what you pay for.

It might be worth having a look on ebay, freecycle or other second hand sites to see if there are any older reconditioned machines available. The old school ones, although they are not very pretty, are generally good old workhorses and were built to last.

If you do decide to go for one of the £20 ones I would be interested to know how well they work as these enquiries come up a lot on this site.

Mrs F x

Grandma_Carol

Hi Jenny, I would rather go to a sewing machine dealer and get a secondhand/ reconditioned model because you would then have the support of the dealer if you need any advice or information. Useful if something jamms, doesn' seem to work as you can go back and ask for help. Plus you can try out machines in a dealers to see just how they operate.

I agree with Mrs F, try asking for a loved but used one on Freecycle, or even borrow one to see what you like.

Carol