The Cellar » Sewing

bbro · 8/06/2022 6:49 pm

So, I started back to sewing recently. I'm loving it. The other day, I made a dish drying mat. It's not perfect, but it was a simple project I could knock out quickly.

I also decided to make a pair of pants into shorts. With a pocket! This didn't take long AND I got to use something new: a double needle! So exciting.....cause I'm a nerd (I'm not sure why the pics are different colors - lighting, I guess). I fucked up the top of the pocket, but who gives a shit - these are for doing messy things around the house

I'm trying to figure out what to make with this fabric. I think a bag of some sort? It's pretty stiff, so I think it would work well with that.

I have a purse I want to make, but I've misplaced the pattern, sadly.

I also want to make a smaller crossbody bag that I don't have any pattern for. I figured I'd just wing it.

And a wallet, that has a pattern

I keep having to hold back on buying things and work on the stuff I already have.....but I bought some more fabric today that I'm planning on making some lounge pants out of. One has fried eggs, and the other has small ghosts. I can't wait! I'm currently trying to figure out what's the best stitch to use and what I actually have available on my machine.

I have SO much fabric since I took all the stuff from my parent's house. I have some that is SO pretty, but I have no idea what to do with it, so expect more random pictures of fabric

Anyone else sew on here? I feel like I've seen some before, but I can't remember.

BigV · 8/06/2022 6:54 pm

I sew.

I've sewn costumes, ditty bags, pack covers, mended clothes, camping equipment, leather goods. I love sewing. I have about four sewing machines at the moment (not counting carefully, don't sue me). And of course, just hand sewing. Needle and thread. Alas, I don't think any of my children have learned it from me, which makes me sad. There's a fundamental truth to the aphorism "A stich in time saves nine."

I'm excited to see more of your projects bbro!

ps, don't sew the pockets to the pant leg, and don't ask me how I know.

bbro · 8/06/2022 7:07 pm

BigV wrote:
I sew.

I've sewn costumes, ditty bags, pack covers, mended clothes, camping equipment, leather goods. I love sewing. I have about four sewing machines at the moment (not counting carefully, don't sue me). And of course, just hand sewing. Needle and thread. Alas, I don't think any of my children have learned it from me, which makes me sad. There's a fundamental truth to the aphorism "A stich in time saves nine."

I'm excited to see more of your projects bbro!

ps, don't sew the pockets to the pant leg, and don't ask me how I know.

I'm doing some mending, too. I don't know why I waited so long. Well, actually, I do. Low on room. For the pocket - I was trying to emulate the pants I wear the most. They all have pockets on the outside. I'd do it different in the future. Instead of the traditional tuck under like I did, I'd probably use an overedge stitch or something similar.

bbro · 8/07/2022 2:09 pm

Egg fabric! Making this into pants right now

And I just found this fabric I bought last year. Trying to figure out what to make with it

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for the fabric I post that I don't know what to do with, I'd love to hear it.

tw · 8/07/2022 8:56 pm

Soing, what has been discovered?

monster · 8/07/2022 9:15 pm

BBro, you will need to take time out to build an extra room/shed for your fabric stash, your fabric stash overflow, and your fabric stash overflow overflow.

TheNeverWas · 8/08/2022 3:51 pm

monster wrote:
BBro, you will need to take time out to build an extra room/shed for your fabric stash, your fabric stash overflow, and your fabric stash overflow overflow.

Fabric? Fabric?!

Buttons! What about buttons!? Think of the buttons, for God's sake, woman!!!!

TheNeverWas · 8/08/2022 3:54 pm

tw wrote:
Soing, what has been discovered?

Well, we discovered a few days ago that you don't know what kind of car you drive...

Or that you don't have one. Not surprising though, most institutions don't let the patients keep cars at the facility to come and go as they please.

bbro · 8/08/2022 6:08 pm

monster wrote:
BBro, you will need to take time out to build an extra room/shed for your fabric stash, your fabric stash overflow, and your fabric stash overflow overflow.

It wasn't this bad until I took all the fabric my mother had stashed away!!

(There's some mending here, too)

The main stash (with kleenex box for size comparison)

TheNeverWas wrote:
Fabric? Fabric?!

Buttons! What about buttons!? Think of the buttons, for God's sake, woman!!!!

I've got those, too

bbro · 11/02/2022 1:37 pm

I finally sewed something this past weekend (and got more fabric.......)

The meat fabric is going to be an apron and possibly a bag that fits a family size package of chicken from the store.

The spoon fabric is going to be a purse and possibly an apron

The flower fabric is going to be a small messenger bag I can use with just my phone and wallet

The firefly fabric is going to be a small wallet.

I'm not sure what to make with the constellation fabric just yet. Maybe another bag?

Reusable grocery bag!

bbro · 11/05/2022 5:36 pm

Ok - I got a couple questions for anyone that knows what you're doing (@BigV?)

1. When it says 1/4 in seam allowance, how is that measured when sewing?? The measurements on the plate only go down to 3/8 in. Should I just be lining up with the edge of the foot?? That's what I've been doing, but I never know if it's right!

2. When edge stitching, how do you keep it straight?? I put some tape on the machine, but it didn't quite work. I think I get nervous because for some reason, I think that the edge of the fabric shouldn't be under the foot. Maybe it's left over fabric getting caught in shitty machines, so that's how I was taught.

3. What is fabric with no wrong side called? What are these used for? I have a few of them that were inherited from my mother's stash, but I can't find anything about them. It's the exact same pattern on each side. I was going to make some napkins with it, but I feel like they're more special than that.

bbro · 11/05/2022 8:49 pm

Bag - done

Clodfobble · 11/06/2022 9:48 am

bbro wrote:
Ok - I got a couple questions for anyone that knows what you're doing (@BigV?)

1. When it says 1/4 in seam allowance, how is that measured when sewing?? The measurements on the plate only go down to 3/8 in. Should I just be lining up with the edge of the foot?? That's what I've been doing, but I never know if it's right!

2. When edge stitching, how do you keep it straight?? I put some tape on the machine, but it didn't quite work. I think I get nervous because for some reason, I think that the edge of the fabric shouldn't be under the foot. Maybe it's left over fabric getting caught in shitty machines, so that's how I was taught.

3. What is fabric with no wrong side called? What are these used for? I have a few of them that were inherited from my mother's stash, but I can't find anything about them. It's the exact same pattern on each side. I was going to make some napkins with it, but I feel like they're more special than that.

Granted, I haven't sewed in a long time, but I'll tell you what I can...

1.) I don't think the seam allowance has to be completely perfect to the degree you're suggesting. Keeping the edge of the fabric *just* inside the 3/8" mark will be fine. Lining up with the foot is also fine, though I personally don't like it when I can't see the edge, because there's a greater chance (for me at least) of veering off the path or getting the edge caught on the foot, so I always kept it a millimeter or two outside the foot.

2.) I always avoided edge-stitching for this exact reason. It's a higher-level skill, and I would rather just add an extra 1/4 inch to my initial cut, and make it a real seam.

3.) As far as I know there's no special name for fabric with no wrong side, it's just fabric with no wrong side, and it's not generally more expensive or special. It just makes it easier when cutting your pieces because you don't have to worry about getting the side correct. If napkins don't feel special enough, maybe a scarf? But generally I think of no-wrong-side fabric as a nice convenience, not something to be prized.

bbro · 11/15/2022 10:43 am

Thanks Clod!

I totally veer off if I don't have the edge and something to compare it to. I'm getting a little better at edge stitching. Most of what I see it's for is to add a finishing touch to things that are already sewn.

I'm currently working on a purse for a friend that uses it. It also has pleats which is the first time I've done those. The edge stitching here is hard because it's in the middle of two pieces of fabric for the first time (instead of the edge) and the fabric is black and grey. I can't see SHIT! I've added some colored tape to one side of the seam to try to help. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping to have enough motivation to do more sewing this week.

monster · 11/15/2022 8:00 pm

bbro es siempre muy ocupada.

bbro · 11/18/2022 4:23 pm

bbro has great aspirations without matching follow through

bbro · 11/18/2022 9:06 pm

Latest bag. I used thesedirections, but I think they're slightly flawed. With the strap where it is, there's no way for the flap to close completely. Ah well. I still like it. I'll get better as I go along. I did add some interfacing to make it sturdier. Unfortunately, I added it AFTER it was mostly together, but it worked out

Closed

Open - I love a more reserved pattern/color outside and something with a bit more flair inside.

I also did the strap differently. I braided three straps together and did a zigzag stitch down the middle to keep it together. When looking at it normally, you can't really see the stitches

Oh! And update on the above. The colored tape helped immensely. I hope to make more progress on that this week/weekend too.

Last edited by bbro (11/18/2022 9:22 pm)

bbro · 11/26/2022 11:12 pm

I finished another bag. I actually started using different presser feet to help with some of my questions from earlier. There's a zipper foot that helps with getting right to the edge of fabric for top/edge stitching. I also have a quilting foot that has half the foot measured to 1/4 inch, so I don't have to think about it anymore, I just align the fabric with the edge of the foot

This bag was full of fuck ups, so it looking this good is great. First, I measured twice, but when I cut, it was completely off. I think my ruler is moving. Looking for solutions to that now. Then, I started with one pattern, but it was missing a key step, so I had to go looking for another step by step for the same bag type. So, it's basically a mix of two tutorials. I'm still debating adding a splash of color on the handle in orange or something. As a handle cover maybe

bbro · 12/05/2022 1:51 pm

.....I got more fabric
Just some fat quarters for some things I want to make. Although I might just use these for something different. I love the retro feel to the designs

These ones, I'm going to make into another bento bag like the previous post

And here's something I actually finished. This is going to a friend of mine. She picked the fabric and buttons years ago. I have fabric to make it for myself, too, but I might add a longer strap. I'm not a fan of handbags.

I'm still working on the apron, but keep getting in my own way. It would've been done, but I decide to add canvas to the back to make it more stiff and add more protection from cooking mess. I'm hoping to finish it this week. I'm also working on a wallet that I got thread for just yesterday and a little tray organizer that should be quick if I can get my sewing machine to stop tangling!!

Hope I'm not boring you all

fargon · 12/06/2022 4:42 pm

Not boring at all.

bbro · 12/08/2022 7:17 pm

Thanks fargon

I made another thing. It's little off, but I'm still happy about it. I actually want to try a square one. I had a picture in my head perfectly, but I've forgotten

Stupidrat · 12/08/2022 7:41 pm

WOW

bbro · 1/19/2023 10:30 am

I made a matching mini wallet for the flower purse above

I was going to make something for my friend to thank her for lending me some stuff when duke decided to shut off my electricity. She wanted one of the trays that I did. I took some more time with it than I did the one above

I also wanted to experiment, so I made her this too

I tried to make a holder for thread and bobbin pairs, but I forgot to measure the distance between the spikes in relation to a thread spool, so it doesn't quite work the way I wanted. I need to try again. Maybe with proper dowels instead of skewers - lol

Limey · 1/20/2023 5:42 am

Nice work!
Your stuff makes me wonder if I should go to the "get acquainted with your sewing machine" class that's on locally soon.

griff · 1/20/2023 8:53 am

Excellent!