Does anyone else make their own clothes

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Morning all! Just a quick note from me today as I'm halfway out of the door again....

purpleivyI hope you enjoyed your few hours of you-time, it's such a bonus, isn't it? I'm glad you have found someone to help you fit your tops, wearing a blouse that actually fits is a fabulous feeling and one you won't want to give up.

kittie congratulations on the new arrival! I hope your DD is OK and the baby is thriving, what a relief when it's all over! I haven't tried a Butterick pattern for years, sorry. Personally I prefer Burda patterns over all others because they fit me fairly well with minimal altering, but it all depends on your own body type which company is best for you.

savagelyric congrats on the great Readers Digest book bargain! I don't know what make your machine is but unless it's a Singer I'm pretty sure a Singer bobbin will not fit it. They are not interchangeable, and Singer also have different needles from other machines. That may well be a place to start.

shazrobo hi and welcome! Ooh a new machine, lucky you! If you scan back through a few pages of this thread (sorry) you will see where various people have posted pattern and fabric sites, or if you're lucky you may have a fabric shop somewhere near you to go and browse. Good luck.

Well I'm off out now but am itching to get back to the sewing machine later if I can manage it although I have another mountain of ironing to tackle and some new plants for the garden so not sure I'll manage it. I finished off and wore the new top last weekend, it's quite nice on but as it's a weighty fabric the neckline was a bit lower than I anticipated :eek: but I don't think I gave too many secrets away when I wore it out....:rotfl:

Mrs Fx

heehee InkyCat got in while I was typing! Sorry for repeat message then!! xx

purpleivy

InkyCats20 wrote: »

Hi Shazrobo,

I too hadn't really made anything on the clothing front for the last 20 years, although I had been making, curtains, cushion covers & roman blinds, all nice simple straight up & down stitching :rotfl:

If you read back through the thread there are loads & loads on links to all sorts of lovely online fabric stores, other people will probably be along some time during the day & will be able to let you know of fabric shops in your area.

There seem to be two popular pattern sites :-

www.sewingpatterns.com

Although delivery from this site has been a problem for some, I have personally never had any problems bought 4 patterns which worked out at £20, including p&p.

www.habithat.co.uk

This one I haven't tried yet.

HTH
IC
x

I can't come to terms with the concept of buying fabric over the internet. I feel I need to check what the thickness, drape etc is like.

shazrobo

thanks for welcome, and i will start reading through this thread, thanks again
shaz

InkyCats20

Sorry Mrs F, usually you're way ahead of me :rotfl: :rotfl:

Purpleivy - I must say I agree with you, I rarely buy dressmaking fabric over the internet, I too like to actually, see, feel, touch, etc.

I have really only bought plain white cotton & lining fabric over the internet, which seemed pretty safe & was fine when it arrived, although I did venture into "voyage" fabrics & made a purchase when someone mentioned it on this thread.

It's not too bad around this way for me as there are a number of good fabric shops within in reasonable distance from me.

Justamum

I cut out and started sewing my pyjamas yesterday. I'm making them out of an old duvet, so I haven't been able to line it up with the selvedge. However, it is striped so I did my best to line the arrows up with the stripes. Anyway, I'm not too bothered about the way they hang as I'm only going to be sleeping in them :rotfl:. I only hope they fit. I've made stuff in the past (years ago) which never fitted properly because I didn't realise that I would need a bigger pattern size than shop bought clothes - I thought the pattern makers must have been lying :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:. I also need to learn how to adjust cup size - I didn't realise at the time that patterns are cut for a B cup and I'm a D - DD :eek:

If these pjs work then I'll definitely have my sewing mojo back. I'm already planning on clothes for my LO

welsh_worrier

:T I made 2 pairs of shorts for my grandson this morning.Batman for one pair and I cut a pair of son`s old black trousers for other pair.:T

savagelyric

Mrs_Flittersnoop wrote: »

Morning all! Just a quick note from me today as I'm halfway out of the door again....

savagelyric congrats on the great Readers Digest book bargain! I don't know what make your machine is but unless it's a Singer I'm pretty sure a Singer bobbin will not fit it. They are not interchangeable, and Singer also have different needles from other machines. That may well be a place to start.

Thanks for the advice Mrs F, I popped into a sewing shop this morning to buy some bobbins and whilst he didn't have any PFAFF bobbins in for my machine, he said to bring the case in next time and he'd see what else he had that might fit!

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Gosh there's such a lot of sewing going on, it's brilliant:T

purpleivyI agree with you but often there's no choice but to risk buying on the Net for certain fabrics. I love nothing more than to stand in a really well-stocked fabric shop and just breathe in fabrics!! but over the years the number of shops has dramatically declined and so I've had to bite the bullet (several, um, hundred, probably times) and risk buying over the Net. Most of the well-organised American sites will send you samples for nothing or very little so you can have a fondle of the fabrics before buying although some sites only carry small quantities of fabric at a time and so sell out before you've had a chance to get your sample. I have only one shop available to me and that's 30 mins drive (and petrol) away and there's no guarantee that I will get what I want when I get there.

Yay, justamum! that's great, hope you're pleased with them. I think nightwear and undies are a great way to start back at sewing as the fit doesn't have to be so precise and it's a good way to learn. Yes, ignore what the pattern says, just go by your measurements, you'll get a much better fit that way, and you don't have to sew in a huge label announcing what size it is anyway :rotfl: .

welshworrier Bet you've saved heaps on your grandson's shorts AND he will be so impressed that you've made designer gear all for him.

savagelyric that will be great if he can find you bobbins to fit. Most of the other makes of machine I think are fairly similar, it's just Singer which has different bobbins and needles. good luck then, keep us posted!

Still no sewing for me, grr, neighbour's just been over to cadge a cup of tea. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. I NEED to get my dress for DS's graduation started otherwise I may be a very embarrassed Mama and he'll never speak to me again :rotfl:

Mrs F xx

sethsgran

Hope this is the right place to post this

http://www.fabworks.co.uk/

This is an amazing mill shop for fabric. Note they don't open weekends.
When my son married 2 years ago I was making the bridesmaids dresses, 5 adults, and I bought the fabric there. The total cost for the fabric, not lining, was £35 for the dresses and boleros. That was for 5 dresses not 1. Fabric was £1 per metre.Worth a look inside the mill. They have a good choice of furnishing/curtain fabric many at £5 per metre.

Penelope_Penguin

Great find, thank you :beer: I may venture there myself.

We have a thread on sewing so I'll add this to it to alers other sewers to it.

Penny. x