Does anyone else make their own clothes

Penelope_Penguin

Youtube has a blind hemming video here. It's for curtains, but the principles for trousers are identical.

TBH, I'd not be bothering with the machine; I'd do the hem by hand

I'll link this thread into the existing one on dressmaking.

Penny. x

wendym

Rikki wrote: »

I need to make a couple of slips.
Are there any on-line shops I can buy the material from?

I got lining fabric from Ebay that was easily nice enough to make slips from. I've made several successful ebay purchases (despite having a bonkers stash of fabric) including embroidered silk/rayon for the dress I wore for my daughter's wedding.

boldaslove

C1aire wrote: »

I had possibly the most depressing fabric shopping trip ever today. I wanted some good white linen for some trousers (so not the stuff you can see through). I had to ask the shop assistant as I couldn't see what I was after and explained it was for trousers. She couldn't see anything either and said, "you know what, just buy a pair. Try Primark".

I was speechless.

Anyone know an online fabric shop doing good linen?

:eek:
it's not online but i was in john lewis the other week and they had some gorgeous linen (fabric of course! :rotfl: ), might be worth a try if there's one near you?

wendym

For some reason I can't post the link today, but if you search Ebay for "voyage sale" in fabrics you get to some really unusual designs - I've bought from this seller on three occasions, and he's absolutely genuine (happy to send samples, too).

C1aire

Thanks guys. Sadly, the essay is what my brother would call a 'ball-breaker', but the first 1000 word milestone is coming up any time soon...

Old_Meanie

Hello Claire. I finally paid a visit to the fabric shop I told you about in earlier post in Edgware. Went on Sunday morning and well worth a visit. A very tatty shop but absolutely crammed with rolls of fabric floor to ceiling. Unfortunately its one of those places where it is pick your own but the man is extremely helpful and seems to know something about fabric. I bought beautiful cotton jersey thick for trousers £3 a metre and silk dupion for matching shirt at £5 at metre what a bargain! The prices start from as little as £1 a metre!

Its called Jersey Vogue Fabrics 14 Station Road Edgware Tel. 0208 952 7751. Seems to be open most days from about 9.30 to about 4 and on Sunday mornings until about 12 midday. Well worth the visit!.

HTH and happy sewing.

top_drawer_2

hi,

I am attending classes in Preston on Astra Business Park nr Ribbleton - they're excellent!!

I was just wondering what does everyone else do with patterns - the one I am working on for class I have cut to the size I wanted, this seems a bit of a waste as how can I use it again?

Thanks

Jen

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Hi all! Sorry if I've been MIA for a few days, have been looking after my aged mother.

boldaslove as pigpen says, a casing tube is probably the easiest method, but you do have to make sure your elastic doesn't twist inside the casing - the best way to minimise this is to stitch down the elastic at the side seams. I'm not sure what you mean by a jersey waistband, but it sounds very comfortable. You would have to make the stretch goes round you, and cut the elastic approximately 4 inches shorter than your waist measurement. There's a tutorial on waistbands here: http://off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com/2005/08/how-to-use-it-elastic.html which is very helpful.

jasmin10 I would tend to hand sew trouser hems too,as Penny P says, but if you want to stitch them by machine, then you need a blind hem foot for your machine. http://www.jaycotts.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Bernina_Activa_Virtuosa_Artista.html

(scroll down to foot no. 5, this is the one I have, there's a video link to show you how it works).

topdrawer if your pattern is already cut and altered then you can use it again as many times as you like, if you use different fabrics then most people will never notice. I often trace my patterns onto Burda pattern paper (available from John Lewis) so then I have a clean copy available if I want to use a different size, try out different collars, sleeves etc. Some people press their most used patterns onto thin iron-on interfacing to keep them from tearing etc but I'm far too lazy to do that...

Well it's pouring with rain here so I'm going to finish off the jacket I started yesterday and maybe get to a t shirt I cut out last week.

Mrs F x

[Deleted User]

I either trace the size I want and I use fabri-baste because it is see-through, hard wearing and I can pin it together for trying on. If I can`t be bothered tracing, then I cut out the actual patten but I keep the relevant bits and mark them ie A/A or B/B so that if needed, I could use masking tape on the back for sticking together again

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Ooh kittie, what is fabri-baste? Sounds like something I need :rotfl: :rotfl:

Mrs F x