Does anyone else make their own clothes

Rikki

vivatifosi wrote: »

Sorry if anyone has posted this before, I did a search but couldn't find it. In my latest Which magazine it shows a mini-sewing machine that John Lewis has brought out for £49. You can see it on their website here:

http://www.johnlewis.com/230515174/Product.aspx

I don't need to do much sewing, so looks great for what I need. Anyone else had a look at these?

I've just had a quick look and depending on what you intend to sew it might be too light to deal with heavy fabrics. If you decide to make larger projects like curtains or bedding etc.I personally think I'd spend the extra £40 and buy the next one up.

www.jaycotts.co.uk Have a good range of Janome sewing machines too.

papoosue

Hi there,

I don't know about this particular model from John Lewis, but it looks very similar to the Janome one in the picture at the same price and I have bought that one in the past and I really wouldn't recommend it. I bought it for my daughter (10) and as soon as we tried it at home it jammed up. I took it back and got a replacement, same thing happened so I got my money back. It definitely wouldn't be any good for heavyish/heavy fabrics (the JL either) so I would go for something full size.

I hope that helps a bit :-) (I should say that I've never had any bad experiences with the full size Janome machines - they seem very good indeed)

Susan

vivatifosi wrote: »

Sorry if anyone has posted this before, I did a search but couldn't find it. In my latest Which magazine it shows a mini-sewing machine that John Lewis has brought out for £49. You can see it on their website here:

http://www.johnlewis.com/230515174/Product.aspx

I don't need to do much sewing, so looks great for what I need. Anyone else had a look at these?

Penny35_2

Hi

Hope this is in the correct thread, if not sorry.

In an effort to help save some money..I have invested in a sewing machine, after getting a great money off deal.

Now I need some thread, patterns and fabric..anyone know of any MSE ways to get these. I have posted on freecycle but no response.

Thanks in advance..

Penny

:j

Pink.

Hi Penny,

Yes, you are in the right place. This recent thread may help you:

Does anyone else sew their own clothes

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

grem_2

Making your own clothes, is no longer as cost effective as it once was. However, having said that, ALTERING clothes can prove very cost effective.

Buy clothes from charity shops, boot fairs etc can give you the basics to play with and by using simply alteration techniques (using your sewing maching) can prove enormously cost effective.

You can also alter clothing that goes for ridiculous prices in the sales to give them a custom look/fit

Making them from scratch is not really cost efficient these days

butterfly72

Hi all,
I got a Janome 525s Sewist for christmas. (actually got it a bit before at 20% discount!). I'm really looking forward to learning how to sew and do a few projects. I also have simple sewing by Lotta Jansdotter which has some great projects.

I went to john lewis today to get a few basic bits and pieces.. scissors, threads, pins etc... but was a bit overwelmed by the stuff in there. I think I'll do some internet research.. or does anyone know where I get get such items for cheap?

there is also a Making Clothes adult ed class starting near me in April. Its a 10/11 week course for £80 so I might sign up for that too.

Happy new year:beer:

SunnyGirl

butterfly72 wrote: »

I went to john lewis today to get a few basic bits and pieces.. scissors, threads, pins etc... but was a bit overwelmed by the stuff in there. I think I'll do some internet research.. or does anyone know where I get get such items for cheap?

there is also a Making Clothes adult ed class starting near me in April. Its a 10/11 week course for £80 so I might sign up for that too.

Hi Butterfly!

I got a sewing machine about 5 years ago and have made quite a lot of stuff for myself, my daughter and the house with it. It isn't a massively cheap option nowadays but I've noticed a couple of things. 1) You get the exact fit that you want on something, 2) Garments seem to last a lot longer than bought stuff and 3) If you want quality clothes it's cheaper. I made a beautiful black skirt, fully lined, from Scottish Gaberdine for 25 pounds. Yes, I could have bought a cheaper skirt I'm sure, but the material never creases, hangs beautifully, washes well & irons easily so, for me, it's worth the money.

I buy my thread, scissors, tailor's chalk, pins etc on a habidashery stall on my local inside market. Are there any near you that are worth a look? They usually have loads of stuff like ribbon, elastic, buttons etc and sometimes patterns. Choose a couple of patterns that you can make again and again in different materials so you get the full use out of them. I've got a trouser, skirt, 2 shirts, 2 tops, pajama's & bags that I use all the time. They're all on 3 different patterns. Simplicity are good for beginners, so are Burda.

With the adult education class, I'd definitely go for it. I did one for a year and it's taught me loads. All the basics about material, patterns, different stitches & when to use them etc. We also used a few different machines and tried an overlocker too. I made 2 skirts, a pair of trousers and a blouse under the watchful eye of the tutor :T Well worth the money in my opinion.

Good luck with your sewing

she_grinch

Where do you all get your fabrics from? Even our local market stalls are expensive now and the Fabric Warehouse s very pricey.
Does anyone know of any online fabric suppliers with reasonably cheap prices?

InkyCats20

Hello She Grinch

Not sure what to suggest on the fabric front, as you say market stalls are expensive these days.

I have bought fabric from Dunhelm Mill & The Range (for household projects) which are both shops local to me & I am also fortunate to have some really good independant shops aswell

With regards to online suppliers there are a numerous suggestions all the way through this thread (fabricland.co.uk, fabric.com, fabricuk.com & cheapfabrics.co.uk to name a few), but it'll take some reading :eek:

I have bought from various sellars on ebay, both plain cotton & patterned fabrics which I have been pleased with but as others have mentioned on here before there's really no substitute for actually touching / feeling the fabric & obviously that's what you miss from buying online.

Sorry that's really not much help :rolleyes:

IC
x

Justamum

grem wrote: »

Making them from scratch is not really cost efficient these days

But it's a bit like making food from scratch - buying 'value' will be cheaper than making your own food, but your own food is better quality and can be compared to the top range supermarket food. Same goes with clothes - you can buy the cheap, throwaway stuff which doesn't fit well and doesn't last, or you can make your own which will be better quality, can compare to the top of the range clothes, but is cheaper than actually buying said top of the range clothes. Having said that I haven't had much success making my own clothes because I haven't yet learned to alter patterns . Also I'm trying to lose weight so don't want to make clothes in my current size :rolleyes:. And I have a thing about sewing machines and their buttonhole stitches. If I could afford a decent machine I'd have a decent buttonhole, but my machine doesn't do very good ones. I suppose I could make clothes with velcro fastenings :rolleyes:. So what I use my machine for at the moment is patchwork. I'm going on a short course starting next week where I hope to learn pattern alteration.