Does anyone else make their own clothes

Mrs_Flittersnoop

shazrobo oops! I've done that loads of times, especially with flimsy fabrics. You won't damage your machine, at worst you may bend or even break the needle. As Aussie says, you're going to have to take off the needle plate (or at least loosen it if you're trying not to damage the fabric). What I do is unscrew the needle so that it's resting in the fabric and v-e-y slowly turn the hand wheel towards you, wiggling it slightly back and forth until the mess of thread underneath begins to loosen a little, then, with my very sharpest scissors, snip away at the tangle of threads wound round the bobbin case until I can gently free the needle. Once that is done, you should be able to wiggle the fabric free, with, hopefully only a smallish hole left in it. Make sure you clear all the tiny little bits of thread completely out of the bobbin case and round the needle plate, otherwise a teensy bit might get stuck somewhere and mess things up for you.

When you finally get everything free, check your needle very carefully to see if it has bent, because if it has, you need a new one. Using a bent needle could damage your machine by knocking out the timing.

Don't panic! it's ok, you will get it free from there. Good luck.

flea72 it's an interesting and vexing question, isn't it. Unless you are prepared to buy a sheep, shear it and turn the fleece into wool to weave on your own loom, I suppose the answer is that us mere mortals have no way of checking really. I have bought 100% organic bamboo knit fabric before which I suppose is half way there but of course I have no way of knowing how many poor people were pressganged and paid 1p for their expertise in actually producing it. I just sit on my moral high ground and think well at least I'm cutting out some of the exploitation by making up most of my clothes myself, and, as it's sadly a dying art, there are many millions of other people who are happily paying those poor people's wages by buying their cheap t shirts from Primark. Difficult one. Maybe it's time we all went back to wearing figleaves :eek: :rotfl:

No sewing for me for a while, I've been horrendously busy and today is catch up with the housework day

shazrobo

hi thanks for the advice, tried unscrewing the screws on the needleplate, but they are fastened way too tightly, and wont budge.
think i'll just have to take it in to the shop and let the guy have a look at it, he'll probably think i'm thick, but i dont care, so long as its working again, cant wait to actually start making something

Mrs_Flittersnoop

Good luck then, shazrobo, the guy should be able to help, and don't think he'll think you're thick!! I have been sewing for a hundred years and I still do things like that all the time, it's such an easy mistake to make. How else will you learn, if not by messing up occasionally?? :huh:

C1aire

Did anyone see the programme about Primark clothes last night? Having found the same items in Primark and Topshop before now (with a giant price mark-up in the latter), I'm a little wary of the highstreet and sooooooo glad I have my (admittedly cantankerous) sewing machine!

champys

Hi sewing friends - I have been meaning for some time to check in and tell you how pleased I am with the Loes Hinse and Textile Studio patterns Mrs F. tipped me off about! I'm slowly getting my new wardrobe together and LOVE wearing the clothes, they are so comfortable and look great. All I need is more sewing time and another trip to the fabric shop to make more of them..... :-) I am learning about 'drapey' fabrics though, which I have not used much in the past. I hadn't realised that stretchy knits - even thin ones - can drop down because of their weight. Anyway thanks again Mrs F., this was just what I was looking for!

Mrs_Flittersnoop

claire I wanted to see the programme last night but was out so missed it. I expect I can watch it online though, will have to investigate in a mo. Was listening to a radio prog on it yesterday (was it Radio 2?) and someone said Primark has sacked all those who were exploiting their workers, which doesn't help those poor people a jot :mad: .

I think it's about time we got used to paying the proper price for clothes, and maybe denying ourselves quite so many luxuries to help the poorest people on the planet have an acceptable lifestyle....

*Mrs F climbs painfully (too much walking!) down from soapbox....*

champys I was wondering how you were getting on!! I'm so glad you like the patterns, I love them too - my cotton jacket was made from the Bolero pattern, which I have made up in about seven different fabrics, including a double knit and this cotton one, complete poles apart. I fall into the knit trap almost every time I use one :rolleyes: , I always make a bust dart in the right place on the pattern and then when I stitch the knit fabric together, the darts end up pointing to my waist, or worse....:rotfl:

Of course, for really lovely 'drapeyness' (no idea if that's a proper word) you can't beat silk, in almost all its forms...... (sorry )

Mrs F x

shazrobo

:j bloke in sewing machine shop was really nice and unjammed my machine, i'm so happy now i can start on some small projects before attempting some clothes.
just bought a pj pattern, as they end up costing me so much from specialist shops as i am so tall

champys

Mrs_Flittersnoop wrote: »

I fall into the knit trap almost every time I use one :rolleyes: , I always make a bust dart in the right place on the pattern and then when I stitch the knit fabric together, the darts end up pointing to my waist, or worse....:rotfl:
Mrs F x

Mrs F - is there a way of adapting the pattern beforehand when working with a knit? I wouldn't know how to tackle that exactly. But it seems inefficient to make up first and then having to alter the whole thing once you can see the extent of the 'drop'. Any ideas welcome!

Mrs_Flittersnoop

I'm so glad shazrobo! PJs are a great choice to begin with, you should have a line on the pattern showing you where you can cut across the legs and add the length you need (I use tissue paper and magic tape since it's less sticky than sellotape). I have to add 5cm to all my trouser legs since I am tall too, you'll love having legs long enough at last! Good luck!

champys generally you can get away with no bust dart if you are vaguely 'normal' i.e. up to about a C cup size. Unfortunately I am far away from that :mad: . The 'proper' way I suppose would be to make up a muslin with cheap knit fabric to check but even that is not infallible, since just about every knit is different. Marcy Tilton in her book Guide to Sewing T Shirts http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guide-Sewing-T-shirts-Companion-Library/dp/1561582395/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214391342&sr=1-2
has a great method where you ease the bust dart in, rather than sewing a proper dart (you run an ease stitch from bust notch to notch and ease it into the side seam. This is a fantastic book, by the way, well worth the money.

HTH
Mrs F xx

BobbinAlong

Just joined the forums and found this thread. I've been making my own clothes since I was young - I hated sewing lessons at school because we had to go so slowly, that in the time we made a simple skirt at school I would have made a matching blouse with collar and buttonholes at home and a few more things besides.

I worked in a classic sweat shop (very sweaty in the steam ironing room in the hot summer of '76!) for a couple of summers whilst at university doing computing and learnt loads.

Since then I've been an addicted machine knitter since 1982 and sold at craft fairs, and I've made anything and everything from barbour fabric jackets to my wedding dress. I could never find readymade clothes with long enough arms, legs or backs - my nightmare would be a bought jumpsuit!

Currently I've got a couple of boat covers in production for our racing dinghies - nylon for the undercover and pvc for the over cover from Point North by mail order. PCL needles for sewing it of course.

Fabricland is my favourite store with great cheap fabrics (halloween black at £1 per metre) and I treat myself to Burda magazine with about 40 patterns each month. I worked in south Manchester in the early eighties and remember sloping off to Leon's fabrics at lunchtimes. Good to know they're still going!

Happy and successful sewing and knitting to all.