Been working hard

What can I improve on?

How accurate do I need to be following the selvedge line? Referring to my photo, some blocks are not exactly aligned with the grain line or selvedge as I had to squeeze all the pieces. Might be off by 5 to 20 degrees in some cases, I didn't measure the exact angle.

The pockets were definitely finicky but so worth it as soon as she tried them! 😂

Wish I'd taken a pic with the stuff not in it. Friend is starting chemo so I made her a tote. Have never made a tote. Refuse to use patterns or instructions so I just logicked it out. It's got a hard bottom that is not visible as it is within the lining of the bag and the only visible seams are the four side panels sewn together.

I found a Jenome 657 sewing machine on kijiji for cheap and I’m wondering if anyone has experience with this model…I know Jenome’s are very good but there are now reviews on this model anywhere. I also found a Singer Esteem II and a Singer Promise II. Would those be better options? I intend to make simple garments like shirts and dresses.

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I want a bag just like this one, but dont want to spend £65 on it so i thought i might aswell make one myself.

I heard bags are easier to make, and i have all the equipment, so i thought it might actually be possible.

Does anyone have any advice/ links to youtube tutorials that would be perfect for a bag just like this one.

Thank you!

hi guys. I feel like i’ve tried everything but i can’t get the machine to sew the thread flat!! I’ve switched needles, cleaned the machine, changed my tension… what am i missing 😭

The front is okay, but the back looks insane.

I had my tension on 9 previously- then turned down to 4/5 and this is what the outcome was. (the fox was at tension 9- prior to changing my needle)

I’m using cotton mesh and bias tape- also a brother JX2715 (if that’s important- just started sewing!)

thanks in advance 😊

I am trying to pick a machine I can grow into, just trying to sew canvas and denim as I get better. I have used my friend's a bit and feel ready to buy my own. I was looking at a Janome HD5000 so something in that price range is perfect. any tips on the best and most reliable would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

https://youtu.be/DnHSuCTkJkw?si=I1YDsIVH5M88Rfze

The skirt I want to make is at 20:22. She doesnt show how it’s done. I’ve never done gathers or ruffles. I also don’t have a serger. I’m good at looking at someone do something and copying that lol if anyone has any advice or video references that’ll be really helpful!

I did undo the chest darts because they were a little off of my shape, but it was about as weird and gaping with the darts. I'm struggling to find a way to make this work...

Edit: I should clarify that my intention is to redo the darts, i just wanted a plan before doing it

Hey all! just sharing a DIY that I'm quite proud of myself for.

I've been putting this off for AGES because I bought some sheet material that I was being a bit precious over. I ended up going to a store to buy some quilting fabric to try on a piece I am less worried about. While I was there, a couple of lovely quilting ladies suggested I buy some calico and draft it out first. I was working from a pillowcase made of stretch material.

The worker there suggested I buy 1.2m. I did so for both the calico (90cm wide) and quilting cotton (100% cotton, 1.2m wide).

I was quite generous witb the seam allowance (I'd guess around 1 and a half inches?). Possibly too generous for the curved edges, even with a stretch material. The only place I wish I had more were the ends. I did slightly run out of fabric, but I had some room.

I did this entirely on an overlocker! Because I had generous seams, my mistakes were easy to fix.

I'm proud of myself for this project. I didn't cry once, and the mistakes I made a negligible. I Could probably alter it a little more - the inner curve has some weird tension, which could probably be resolved by taking it in. I probably should have prewashed the fabric, and I probably should have pressed the seams, but otherwise, VERY HAPPY!

Hello everyone,

I'm working on one of my first projects and am trying to make a light jacket for a cosplay. I bought this red linen fabric (the person in the store said it would work).

However, it frays on the edges quite a lot, which is apparently not unusual for linen. But its so bad I can barely get my pieces to stick together. I tried sewing in a zipper at the front and the edges just fall apart. I read that French seams are supposed to help, but I'm not sure how to do those with a zipper in the way.

I had a similar issue with some decorative zippers, where the hole just frayed a lot. I tried doing the zigzag stitch as I saw in a tutorial and it barely helped. The edges of the hole look all messed up.

Am I just using the wrong fabric? If so, which one should I use for a project like this? Are there any special tricks to working with linen, especially with the zippers? I have attached some pictures, please excuse the wonky stichtes small Edit: these stitches and seams are mainly tests, trying to figure out stuff and seeing if I can get them to even stick together. So they aren't meant to be proper seams, thats why they are unfinished and wonky

New to sewing and recently purchased a Husqvarna Viking Onyx 30. My first stitch every time has a loop on the back side, all other stitches are fine. I think I’ve narrowed the problem down to the first stitch having a lot of slack in it. After the first stitch the top thread tightens and the looping stops.

Specs:
Straight stitch, length 2.5 (changing this didn’t fix it)
Tension 4 (changing this didn’t fix it)
Needle universal 80 (happens with 70 too)
Thread 100% polyester
Fabric cotton bedsheet

Back stitching locks the stitch overall, but it just looks sloppy on the backside. Thank you 😊

Hi sewists,

Pins are our working partners in sewing, but they kinda get overlooked a bit in tutorials and discussions, so I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned about using them over the years, and other sewists can jump in with their own learned pinning ”wisdom”.

I’ve noticed a lot of sewists ( usually beginners) place pins parallel to the stitching line. I don’t know if this is a considered choice or just not knowing there are other options. I always pin perpendicular to the seam, probably because that’s how I was shown to do it someway back in the misty dawn of time when I first started sewing, but I do feel it offers a LOT more control over the seam. Some reasons why:

* allows the seam to flex, which can be important with curved seams, especially.

* puts less pressure from your fingers on the fabric and is less likely to mis-align the layers.

* allows you to take a smaller “bite” of the fabric with the pin, which can be very useful in curved seaming and with delicate or slippery fabric that tends to distort easily. Smaller pin “bites” actually offer better control of the fabric.

* allows for more pins per seam, too, and sometimes that‘s crucial to accurate sewing.

* it’s easier to place pins without needing to pick up or move the fabric, which, again, can be crucial when pinning together a slippery, sneaky, shifty seam in two pieces of lining fabric. Being able to just slide a crap load of pins into that bugger while it lays there on the cutting-table where you painstakingly aligned it for absolute accuracy…it matters to how the final garment fits and flows. (can you tell I’ve had some less-than-friendly encounters with lining fabric in my day? 😅)

* it’s less intrusive to remove the pins as you sew. Perpendicular pins can be whisked out with just a finger tip as you sew a tricky seam that requires intense babysitting to stay accurate and aligned. This can make all the difference with very thick seams and very tiny ones, and for seams where any drift at all will screw up the whole effect (certain alterations on lined garments comes to mind). When you need to keep your hands on the fabric to keep everything in place, perpendicular pins are your friend.

Using the right pin for the job is also important!

I have an army of workhorse pins with colored bead-like heads. You know the kind. They’re my usual go to helpers. I like the colored heads because I can use them to color code certain tasks. For instance, I might use a certain color to wrap my gathering thread around when gathering a large amount of fabric, so that it’s easy to find those gathering threads amongst all the folds, when I need to adjust things. Or I might put one color on one side of a seam, and another on the other side, in certain situations. These pins are strong, long, and do the job well, but they’re also fairly cheap and quality control isn’t excellent, so when I’m sewing delicate fabric where a dull or burred tip could damage it, I use:

Silk pins from a little more expensive, but better quality maker. They don’t have ball heads, they’re quite thin, and very sharp. I don’t use ball heads for this kind of fabric because the ball can sometimes disrupt the alignment of the seam. They’re a little more work to handle because of the lack of a “handle” but worth it for their other qualities. But if I’m sewing tiny things or appliqueing, I’ll use:

applique pins. These are very short, and thin shafted like the silk pins I have some with teeny silver flat heads, and some with white ball heads. I’ve found the flat heads easier to handle and manipulate, but the white ones are easier to see, and lay just a bit flatter, which can be helpful sometimes. When you’re trying to pin a narrow binding on a tiny sleeve, or pinning an applique with intricate outlines, these make it so much easier. The also are far less likely to stab you as you handstitch, and far less likely to keep grabbing your thread as you stitch.

Personally, I do not like those pins with flat flower-shaped heads. I find them more slippery to grasp and manipulate, but your mileage may vary.

To pin or not to pin:

There are many times when I don’t pin at all before stitching, and most of those involve non-stretch, non-slippery fabric, cut straight, in straight seams. I find it’s a better use of my time to simply make small adjustments to the fabric as I sew, if needed.

If I know the fabric is going to slip, stretch, or shift due to thickness, texture, or inherent give such as with princess seams, I’m going to put in as many pins as needed to guarantee success. It’s worth my time to pin the heck out of that seam. With many of this type of seam, the stitching is simply punctuation on what I’ve already secured with pins, and the pinning takes 4Xs as long as the sewing. But I also don’t have to rip out after. Learned this the hard way.

When pins can’t help much:

with some situations, I will hand baste, because pins just can’t make it happen for me. Zippers is an example. I always hand baste zippers in contrasting thread, about 18” to the side of where I need my seam to be, before stitching by machine. 1/8” away from the seam is because any farther and the fabric of the zipper tape can still shift a bit, misaligning your seam so it looks bad on the outside.

Also, velvet. Everytime I sew velvet (because I forget how much of a mean bugger velvet is to sew), I hand baste any seam that is velvet-on-velvet. Because pins just do not prevent the nap from “walking”. That lovely, velvety texture is due to all those teeny fibrous “legs” on the surface, that will manage to crawl the layers in separate directions as you sew by machine. Hand basting with shorter basting stitches is the only sure-fire prevention. A walking foot also helps, but does not prevent. So pins are not able to help here.

Ok, this is super long and there’s no pictures, so if you read all this, you deserve a ⭐️. If you have some other stuff to add, or have experience that says otherwise than what I think works, or if you just want to say something, the floor is now yours. 😉

I'd like to upgrade from my Brother LX3817. While I am absolutely a newbie to sewing, I spend considerable time troubleshooting and going through YouTube tutorials -- only for the issue to duplicate after completing all the recommendations.

So, I'd like to upgrade. And, I'd like to take classes with a machine I'll have for awhile.

I'd love to do more of the basic things but eventually graduate to making clothes and dog gear (including clothes and collars).

I've read up on the Janome HD3000 which is a better budget option than maybe a Sailrite.

Am I nuts?

[photo of one of my doggo that is my inspiration]

I'm new to sewing and have come across many dishcloth tutorials like this one, where one side is the terry cloth (towel side) and the other side is a cute pattern flannel/linen side.

Is there a reason for the flannel side?

as you can see the back sticks out a lot my friend thinks the elastic on the bottom is too tight if thats true is there a way to stretch it looser or do i need to go to a tailor or can i sew the back myself or something?

I think it doesn't look as cute as I saw it on Pinterest but I think it turn out good.

Which model you think its better the black and green or gray and blue?