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BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

Definitely not jeans, looking more at dress pants for work. I looked at the Burda website and all their pants options for beginners are butt ugly.

I kinda want to make my own pants so I can finally have a pair of pants with adequate pockets. Although I guess I could find an existing pair of pants and just put in bigger pockets.

I don't think I've ever seen anything on Burda that I really liked and I don't have a good source for patterns that don't look like butt so I hope someone can chime in on that. Check out "rub off method" on Google, it's a way to make a pattern from an existing garment without deconstructing it. I haven't gotten the hang of it yet so I can't direct you too well on what's a good resource for it.

It's a waste of time, effort, and money to make clothes just to copy a lot of what's already out there. It is loads easier to say, hem pants or modify pockets on an existing garment than it is to make one from scratch, it's debatable whether it's easier to tailor a garment than make it from scratch and cost-wise, it's probably a wash. Garment manufacturers have economies of scale for materials that you won't have and they're paying third-world wages, so unless your time is worthless, you're not going to beat them on price. Your Hancock's and Jo-Anns have poo poo for garment fabric; those quilt cottons might be $3 a yard all the time but you're paying ~$20 a yard for questionable quality Lycra and ~$12-15 for so-so to bad suiting.

THAT SAID, sewing or modifying your own clothes is cool if you do it for the right reason and not expecting to save money (and if you have a good place to get fabric). If you're really hard-to-fit, you've got a particular style that you can't find in stores or is really prohibitively expensive, or you want something that's made better than by an overworked 7 year old who is paid by the piece, that's when it makes a lot of sense.

I'm hoping Goldaline has something to say, because those are some rad designs.

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Goldaline
Dec 21, 2006

my dear
Personally, I sort of hate making pants, mostly because I hate putting zippers in. And I wear through the knees of my pants so fast it's just not worth the time/effort. It would be a tough first project just because there's a lot of skills to master to do it right (fly zippers, welt pockets, inserting a waistband, maybe flat felled seams, ect.)
Definitely possible, but I would practice those things before making the pants so you're comfortable with them..

But, I do really like going to the thrift store and buying out of fashion dress pants (they're always in the $1 room, and often nearly new!) and altering them. Turning wide legged ones to cropped, tapered fits, or way-too-big ones to drapey crotchy fits. It's cheap enough that you don't feel bad experimenting, and taking things apart will give you a better idea of how things are made. It might be a good step between 'hemming' and 'making from whole cloth)

Patternwise, I use something really similar to the 'rub off' method. You'll need to do some cleaning up and I'd definitely always make a mock up pair first, but I think you'll get something much more like rtw pants that way. Commercial pattern pants always look sort of off to me.

Shamefully I've done almost no sewing lately, been too busy drawing. But I'm working on a tote bag right now! How exciting!

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
I've been poking around looking at patterns and I think I might try a simple dress or something first. Pants look hard to fit right.

I think I'm gonna try to make a few shirts instead, I have broad shoulders, biggish boobs, a tall torso and a small waist so I cannot find shirts off the rack and by the time I take apart an off the rack shirt to modify it might as well make one from scratch.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


Aquatic Giraffe posted:

Definitely not jeans, looking more at dress pants for work. I looked at the Burda website and all their pants options for beginners are butt ugly.

I kinda want to make my own pants so I can finally have a pair of pants with adequate pockets. Although I guess I could find an existing pair of pants and just put in bigger pockets.

Check out classes at your local sewing-machine and quilting stores. Some of them will have project classes like "make a pair of pants that fit". This is especially true at the higher-end stores. I haven't taken them, but Craftsy has a whole page of online pants classes. I'd be tempted by this Kathy Ruddy class.

Ziggy Smalls
May 24, 2008

If pain's what you
want in a man,
Pain I can do
Just finished a small padded pouch commission. Its got 3 hand turned Lignum Vitae buttons.

Pile of Kittens
Apr 23, 2005

Why does everything STILL smell like pussy?

GUESS WHO JUST GOT A COVER STITCH MACHINE??? I'M EXTREMELY EXCITED AAAAAAAA

there wolf
Jan 11, 2015

by Fluffdaddy
First attempt at drafting my own block pattern. It took three mock-ups but I finally have something that looks like a lobster. Now I just have to figure out what the whole quilt pattern is going to be.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
I made a bag today. I turned out moderately not awful.

However, I have discovered that I am godawful at cutting fabric, even with good fabric scissors. It's all jaggedy and looks like a special ed 5 year old cut it out. How do I get better? Practice?

legendof
Oct 27, 2014

Rotary cutter. Get a rotary cutter and a cutting mat. Also consider getting a quilting ruler. Rotary cutters will change your life.

Pile of Kittens
Apr 23, 2005

Why does everything STILL smell like pussy?

Notice which side of the cutting line the bottom blade is on. If you're right handed, the bottom blade is on the left. If the piece you're cutting out is on the left of the cutting line, that blade will be lifting and shifting the important piece of fabric around as you cut. Keep the piece you're cutting out on the right, proceeding clockwise around. Use slow, steady movements - it's not like cutting paper where you just snickersnack away.

I don't personally like rotary cutters because I feel they're difficult to control on curves, I'm terrified of slicing my fingers, and they slowly nibble away at anything plastic you run them alongside as a guide. I love my Mundial drop-forged steel shears, even if I do have to tighten their screw every time I pick them up.

Funhilde
Jun 1, 2011

Cats Love Me.
Also be sure not to not get too much fabric shift when pinning and don't lift the fabric off the table as you cut.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


Aquatic Giraffe posted:

I made a bag today. I turned out moderately not awful.

However, I have discovered that I am godawful at cutting fabric, even with good fabric scissors. It's all jaggedy and looks like a special ed 5 year old cut it out. How do I get better? Practice?

If it looks all jaggedy, that means you're hesitating, taking multiple small cuts. You need to open the blades and then cut from the throat for several inches. This is scary to do on fabric, I admit. Hie you to your fabric store and buy whatever's cheapest in woven fabrics -- this may be in the junk sections they use to lure you in, or it may be unbleached muslin, which is in a section all by itself. Then start cutting long lines, curved lines, chalked lines, whatever. The point is to learn to commit when you cut; measure however many times you need to in order to feel comfortable, then go.


I agree with other people that rotary cutters are divine for straight lines, but learning to use them on curves is not easy.

there wolf
Jan 11, 2015

by Fluffdaddy

Arsenic Lupin posted:

I agree with other people that rotary cutters are divine for straight lines, but learning to use them on curves is not easy.

The trick is often just getting smaller blade, but that's kind of a big investment if you're not cutting a lot of curves. You also really need a ruler/stencil to use them and again it's a big investment if you're not cutting the exact same curve a lot.

Pile of Kittens posted:

I don't personally like rotary cutters because I feel they're difficult to control on curves, I'm terrified of slicing my fingers, and they slowly nibble away at anything plastic you run them alongside as a guide. I love my Mundial drop-forged steel shears, even if I do have to tighten their screw every time I pick them up.

You just get your finger tips glued back on and you're good to go.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


there wolf posted:

You just get your finger tips glued back on and you're good to go.

If there aren't sacrifices to the blood gods, it's not sewing. (Ask me about the time I sewed through my finger with the sewing machine. Ouch.)

Funhilde
Jun 1, 2011

Cats Love Me.

Arsenic Lupin posted:

If there aren't sacrifices to the blood gods, it's not sewing. (Ask me about the time I sewed through my finger with the sewing machine. Ouch.)

I have seen through my finger with an industrial and regular machine. I've been sewing for at least 25 years.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


I sewed (under my mother's watchful eye) my first playsuit at about age 10, so that makes it 46 years. Arguably at least 10 of those years were the same mistakes repeated over and over again. On that first project, you don't want to know how many times I had to rip out and re-set the neck facing. We eventually had to cut out a new one because I'd damaged the original with so many rippings out.

In unrelated news, two more of my local sewing stores just packed up and died. At the first, a Hancock Fabrics, I picked up a lot of cheap cotton at 30% off to make nightgowns. The sales staff said they had women coming in and saying they'd been buying fabrics there for 40 years. My outside perspective is that they didn't make the pivot to crafting hard enough or fast enough. Joann only devotes about half the store to sewing now, but they're still thriving. My favorite downtown quilting shop died, too; the block they were on is being torn down, and apparently either they were tired or they couldn't afford space elsewhere. I'll really miss their cheerful willingness to help me pick out 25 different reds or find just the right neutral for a pinwheel. I have three other (!!!) quilting shops within relatively easy reach, but I loved having somebody downtown, with years of expertise and a wide range of fabrics. I took my first quilting class there...

Funhilde
Jun 1, 2011

Cats Love Me.
Made these swim trunks out of a custom swim fabric. I can't decide what to charge!

Nicol Bolas
Feb 13, 2009
Enough that I can afford to commission a complete swimsuit please! That fabric is AMAZING.

Funhilde
Jun 1, 2011

Cats Love Me.

Nicol Bolas posted:

Enough that I can afford to commission a complete swimsuit please! That fabric is AMAZING.

I need to figure out how much I have left. I can order more at a higher price.

HodjasBitch
Apr 24, 2003

Too bad you revealed what a huge asshole you are so early in the game.....I woulda put out.
Fun Shoe
Those trunks are sweet!


there wolf posted:

First attempt at drafting my own block pattern. It took three mock-ups but I finally have something that looks like a lobster. Now I just have to figure out what the whole quilt pattern is going to be.


Love this, too!

I cannot wait to work on fun quilty stuff again soon. I'm 90% finished with three(!) identical quilt tops that have been less than a joy. Another memorial project for a dead Dad, made worse by the fact that I spent the last four months of last year caring for my own Dad until he died on 12/20. I had to put off this project, and the customer was unaware of my situation, now she's anxious to have it done, but feeling guilty for asking about it. I feel guilty for the delay, and for having a poo poo attitude about it. The clothing items I was given to incorporate were not very inspiring to begin with, and her later fabric choices...oy. I'm down to adding a border to each top and bottom to make them not so square, then layering and quilting on a domestic machine, through denim and stabilized tee shirts and sweatshirts. Kill me now.

Here's a very poor quality photo of one nearly finished top. In the midst of everything else, my laptop and camera both took a poo poo. Pay no attention to the Hello Kitty Janome, I've been using it for chain piecing.



I know that the photo blocks look awful because they aren't centered. My mother "helped" with those, and spent a shitload of her money paying for all of the materials in advance for her friend. I don't think I'll be doing any more projects for Mom's friends' dead relatives. Well, except for the one I'll have to make out of my own dead Dad's stuff. :smith:

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Ain't gonna hate on no hello kitty sewing machine.

Sorry about your dad. There's no good timing for someone to die and it sounds like your circumstances were especially tough. I know it's easier said than done, but make sure you take care of yourself too. Be strong, goon.

HodjasBitch
Apr 24, 2003

Too bad you revealed what a huge asshole you are so early in the game.....I woulda put out.
Fun Shoe
Hello Kitty thanks you. She's sews up a pretty good 1/4" seam, and I can leave my Viking tension alone (mostly) for FMQ now.

Molentik
Apr 30, 2013

Hello sewing thread, here is some stuff I've made. I landed a part-time job as a coordinator for a sewing group for immigrant women (as the only male :v) so I needed to learn how to sew, with these as the result..
















Some of the seams are a bit wonky and I definitely need more practise, but I think I start to get the hang of things!

there wolf
Jan 11, 2015

by Fluffdaddy

HodjasBitch posted:

I cannot wait to work on fun quilty stuff again soon. I'm 90% finished with three(!) identical quilt tops that have been less than a joy. Another memorial project for a dead Dad, made worse by the fact that I spent the last four months of last year caring for my own Dad until he died on 12/20. I had to put off this project, and the customer was unaware of my situation, now she's anxious to have it done, but feeling guilty for asking about it. I feel guilty for the delay, and for having a poo poo attitude about it. The clothing items I was given to incorporate were not very inspiring to begin with, and her later fabric choices...oy. I'm down to adding a border to each top and bottom to make them not so square, then layering and quilting on a domestic machine, through denim and stabilized tee shirts and sweatshirts. Kill me now.

Here's a very poor quality photo of one nearly finished top. In the midst of everything else, my laptop and camera both took a poo poo. Pay no attention to the Hello Kitty Janome, I've been using it for chain piecing.



I know that the photo blocks look awful because they aren't centered. My mother "helped" with those, and spent a shitload of her money paying for all of the materials in advance for her friend. I don't think I'll be doing any more projects for Mom's friends' dead relatives. Well, except for the one I'll have to make out of my own dead Dad's stuff. :smith:

This is why every time I get the idea to start taking up commission work, run my own business, set my own hours and all that junk, I slap myself. In retail at least my day ends when the shop closes, not when the project is done. And to go back to the terrible wounds conversation earlier, I PUT a nice 2in gash into my finger cutting for a customer today.

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


Molentik posted:

Hello sewing thread, here is some stuff I've made. I landed a part-time job as a coordinator for a sewing group for immigrant women (as the only male :v) so I needed to learn how to sew, with these as the result..
















Some of the seams are a bit wonky and I definitely need more practise, but I think I start to get the hang of things!

I love those! I especially like the hoods. I would definitely walk into a store if they had those in the display window.

HodjasBitch
Apr 24, 2003

Too bad you revealed what a huge asshole you are so early in the game.....I woulda put out.
Fun Shoe
Getting ready to quilt those three now, and warming up on FMQ with a quick baby quilt. I've never done these swirls before on my machine, and love them so far. I had a slight tension bobble, but I think it's all worked out. It wasn't bad enough for me to want to rip out.


baby puzzle
Jun 3, 2011

I'll Sequence your Storm.
Ok that's bad rear end. My mum takes her poo poo somewhere to get quilted for her.

HodjasBitch
Apr 24, 2003

Too bad you revealed what a huge asshole you are so early in the game.....I woulda put out.
Fun Shoe
All done!



Now I want to keep it.

Nicol Bolas
Feb 13, 2009
TINY PROUD SEWING THING: I am in my brothers wedding and I had to buy a David's Bridal dress but I did NOT have to get it hemmed professionally! I hemmed that poo poo myself and my hem looks better and less wavy than the original hem! gently caress yeah. Took about an hour and a half because I was being REALLY anal about getting it right.

Now on to tweaking the fit of some cheap pants from Old Navy and figuring out what I want to make out of this herringbone linen I've had kicking around forever.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

HodjasBitch posted:

All done!



Now I want to keep it.

Aaaaa so pretty

SuzieMcAwesome
Jul 27, 2011

A lady should be two things, Classy and fabulous. Unfortunately, you my dear are neither.
Looking for someone that would be willing to make an infinity wrap dress for me!

Funhilde
Jun 1, 2011

Cats Love Me.

SuzieMcAwesome posted:

Looking for someone that would be willing to make an infinity wrap dress for me!

Normally I would but I'm out of commission for a few weeks due to a broken thumb.

Nicol Bolas
Feb 13, 2009
Vogue Patterns is apparently having an everything-is-$5.99 pattern sale!

Annnnnnd maybe I just bought two long eveningwear patterns, one of which miiiiight end up being my wedding dress. The patterns are this awesome mermaid-looking number, and this boobalicious dress with fun ruffle business going on in the back. I figure I can try them out in some random cheapo fabric first to see which one I like better on (and if I can realistically make them myself) and then make the one I choose in some nice spendy fabric (or pay someone else to make it in a nice spendy fabric, if I get scared).

Crocobile
Dec 2, 2006

Hancock Fabrics is going out of business and is currently selling everything for 20% - 50% off! I'm guessing the sales might get more intense as they get more desperate to empty the stores. Most of the patterns are currently 50% off!

Trying to not completely ruin my hobby budget...

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Liquidation sales always suck. If you wait long enough to try to get 50% off, you'll be looking at fixtures.

Comrade Quack
Jun 6, 2006
Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and general stupidity.

NancyPants posted:

Liquidation sales always suck. If you wait long enough to try to get 50% off, you'll be looking at fixtures.

Especially craft/fabric stores. A lot of that stuff goes on sale/coupon for 40-50% off normally.

3 Action Economist
May 22, 2002

Educate. Agitate. Liberate.
Hello sewing goons!

Quick background: I reenact the American War for Independence.

I'm making a double-breasted coat (this pattern) and it calls for welted pockets. I have never done a welted pocket, and the instructions are a little confusing.

Anyone have any good tips or tutorials? I'm reaching out to my reenactment unit, too, but the more help the better!

Arsenic Lupin
Apr 12, 2012

This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.


I love Jennifer Rosburgh's site and blog, and her instructions look well-detailed to me.
http://historicalsewing.com/sewing-single-welt-pockets

3 Action Economist
May 22, 2002

Educate. Agitate. Liberate.
Excellent! Thank you. :)

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Trillian
Sep 14, 2003

I need advice on hemming especially stretchy knits. I've broken the thread on some spandex stuff because the hem isn't stretchy enough. I think I should try a stretch thread, but so far I am only seeing thread for sergers, and I am using a regular machine.

My hems come out nice and flat, at least. I am using a ballpoint double needle with a walking foot and a stretch stitch. What kind of thread should I be looking for, or is there anything else I can try?

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