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There's nothing worse than wanting to sew and not being physically able too! I had to take a lot of breaks on this project because my hand kept clawing up from all the cutwork. I can't stop making Jojo costumes, the designs are just so stupid and always present some new challenge to overcome. This time around I decide to make this waffleshirt:  You could go about it a bunch of ways...I've seen people use strips or tubes of fabric, or just cut holes on a jersey knit shirt. But there's no seams criss-crossing it, and there seems to be a backing of some kind, since we don't seem through it when it bunches up. So I settled on a cutaway applique of sweatshirt fleece on a mesh backing.  It took a couple tries to get the grid looking right in the arm holes and sleeves. And just looking at the pattern was giving me the cold sweats, imagining lining up all those little squares at each seam.  So then a whole lot of this happened. And I pull through every darn thread end, tie it off and tuck it under the stitching. It wasn't tedious at all! I listened to a lot of podcasts!  And then a whollllle lot of this. With tiny scissors. Which gave me claw hand, so I had to really space out doing each piece. I made a .gif of it to help me not lose my marbles at this point. Was it worth it?  Awww yeah it was. Nothing better than the feeling of sick satisfaction when something this dumb and complicated comes together.  Now I get to do JoJo poses in it!! I made Kira's sailor suit too, but it was much less complex. Just had to draft an open, shallow sailor collar, and make pants with weird sticky-out pockets. I did post these in the cosplay thread, so I hope it's OK to cross post, they do seem more into the prop/armor side of things there, and I thought the sewing process on this was sort of interesting.
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Jul 30, 2016 02:18
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It's always interesting and relevant to see how you turn stuff like this into a functional garment. Also hand cramps are the worst. I've been 'working' on the hell-quilt, which means padding out every step with other projects. My fabric stash is now all very tidy and I have a box of scraps to play with, so I made decorative pot holders.   I wanted to see if a generic walking foot would fit on my old Singer, and it does...sort of. The end result was pretty wonky bindings though so I doubt I'll do that again.  I also threw this together for what will hopefully be a new winter quilt. I wanted it to be pretty heavy, so there's a lot of linen-blends in the top and I was thinking about flannel for the back but my options there are kind of slim.
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Jul 30, 2016 03:46
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Goldaline posted:I can't stop making Jojo costumes, the designs are just so stupid and always present some new challenge to overcome. This time around I decide to make this waffle shirt: I've been seeing your posts in this thread and the cosplay thread and I'm continually blown away by your skill and patience! And I completely support your addiction to making JoJo costumes. There's SO MANY and it's cool seeing someone with lots of sewing experience and know-how try to tackle Araki's designs; as ludicrous as they are he seems to be inspired by real fashion. I've been hacking away at some attempts at historical sewing (I feel like I'll never finish sewing the foundations...) which I guess I'll post there when I have stuff worth showing? But I've been learning there's so much more to fabric choice and fit and god knows what else to interpreting a drawing to real human cloths than I ever imagined and it's cool seeing cosplay from that approach. I've been teaching myself how to sew over the past 2 years and need to take some pictures of the clothes I've made... I'm painfully slow though (and somehow still don't have a full length mirror). I'll try to take pics this weekend?
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Jul 30, 2016 08:00
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Crocobile posted:I've been seeing your posts in this thread and the cosplay thread and I'm continually blown away by your skill and patience! And I completely support your addiction to making JoJo costumes. There's SO MANY and it's cool seeing someone with lots of sewing experience and know-how try to tackle Araki's designs; as ludicrous as they are he seems to be inspired by real fashion... I'll try to take pics this weekend? There's TOO MANY. It's hard to pick! I want to either make Fugo's swiss cheese suit (which looks like a pattern making nightmare) or Yotsuyu Yamiyagi's outfit (I'm already playing around with ideas to make spiked tights) He's totally influenced by real high fashion. I think I found the original inspiration for the waffleshirt, it was a Gucci sweater, and it was knit as an open grid. But then, that's not really what it looked like when it was drawn so...it's a physical interpretation of a drawn interpretation of an original garment? Also yes! Take pictures! Post 'em up.
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Jul 30, 2016 13:12
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Need some advice. My friend asked me to do some punk applique and put the image from an old t-shirt on the back of a hoodie. I'm having trouble with the screen printed parts. Can't get the stitches even and in some spots they drop all together. I'm using the same zigzag over the whole thing, and all the pieces are fused onto the hoodie.
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Aug 2, 2016 04:54
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there wolf posted:Need some advice. My friend asked me to do some punk applique and put the image from an old t-shirt on the back of a hoodie. I'm having trouble with the screen printed parts. Can't get the stitches even and in some spots they drop all together. I'm using the same zigzag over the whole thing, and all the pieces are fused onto the hoodie. Have you tried using a ballpoint needle? Skipped stitches are usually an indicator of a needle issue. It could also be reacting to the fuse stuff so you could put a piece of wax paper between the fabric and the presser foot to help it out a bit- I use this trick with anything that has a glue to it.
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Aug 2, 2016 05:50
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Yes on the ballpoint, and it's only having problems on the screen printed parts, not the regular fabric which also has fusible behind it.
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Aug 2, 2016 05:59
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there wolf posted:Yes on the ballpoint, and it's only having problems on the screen printed parts, not the regular fabric which also has fusible behind it. Hmmm. Maybe switch to a sharp 70/10 and see if it goes through better?
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Aug 2, 2016 06:06
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I wonder if it's not a needle problem, but the presser foot sticking to the screen print? If changing needles doesn't work, try putting a piece of tracing/tissue paper on top of the patch and sew through that?
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Aug 2, 2016 13:02
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Hi thread, I want to make some fabric prints from manhole covers etc. in the style of http://www.raubdruckerin.de/ and was hoping someone could offer me a little advice as to what the best sort of ink to use would be and in general. I've never done block printing before but it looks pretty self explanatory. Any good resources or tips? Thanks!
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Aug 3, 2016 15:20
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Tactical Grace posted:Hi thread, I want to make some fabric prints from manhole covers etc. in the style of http://www.raubdruckerin.de/ and was hoping someone could offer me a little advice as to what the best sort of ink to use would be and in general. I've never done block printing before but it looks pretty self explanatory. Any good resources or tips? You could use screen printing ink like Versatex or I think Jacquard makes one too. Quick and dirty option would be acrylic mixed with fabric medium, if you didn't need it to be washed a lot. A moment to toot my own horn...I'm Makezine's Maker Spotlighttoday! Go read me struggle to explain why I make all this dumb poo poo.
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Aug 5, 2016 19:45
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Making my own wedding dress: lunacy or complete lunacy? The pattern I fell in love with is the Vogue 8814, but I want to do it in silk / line in silk because wtf why would you put silk on the outside and not on the inside where it can be magical next to my skin? I also want to change the straps slightly so they are made of trim and not fabric, and don't crisscross in the back. Obviously I'm going to make a muslin first but is this a giant waste of time? I'm a VERY slow sewer but I've done silk before (just a bowtie and a little simple dress though, and I'm not satisfied with the finishing on the dress at ALL) and I can't tell if the imperfections will make me crazy or if I'll be crazy proud for doing it at all. Any thoughts on this? Nicol Bolas fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Aug 7, 2016 |
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Aug 7, 2016 21:15
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What kind of silk are you thinking? Whatever you do make the muslin using tha closest fabric you can find to the silk you plan to use.
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Aug 8, 2016 03:06
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My wife made her own wedding dress, and while she was ultimately very proud/happy with the result, it was a huge amount of time and effort; she had help from her maid of honor, and did the work at her house (as we were living together and she didn't want me to see any of it). She did a mock up of the whole thing first before making the silk version, as well. I would suggest you consider how much time you have and what else you need to do (we also made our invitations and favors, so by the big day we were ready to kill ourselves). Edit: Also, what do you mean by 'very slow'? My wife and I did a lot of costuming stuff, so we had a history of turning out full outfits for events within a few weeks. Those were generally less precise/detailed than the dress, although I will say there were elements that borrowed on the 'this only needs to last for the day' mentality we had applied in the past. Ashcans fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Aug 8, 2016 |
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Aug 8, 2016 16:39
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The silk I'm using is a silk / Lurex blend--its very shiny and gold and light. It's this stuff. And I was just gonna use a taupe crepe de chine to line. So I guess I should buy some cheap slippery polyester to make my muslin so I know what techniques to use? And by slow I mean I try to lay out everything verrrrry carefully and try to cut cut verrrrry carefully but I'm still kind of a mess because I'm just cutting on my carpet and I suck at pressing stuff, so my cuts look like a serial killer did them. I was planning on doing the tissue paper sandwich trick to help but that might not be enough. There's a sewing studio near my house though, I may go to them and shell out the hourly rate for personal guidance and their tools (huge tables, circular cutters, etc). That seems like a good way to make my mock-up and see if I even want to try. Wedding is in spring so I have time if I decide to throw up my hands and say gently caress it. Is that less madness?
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Aug 8, 2016 17:53
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Nicol Bolas posted:And by slow I mean I try to lay out everything verrrrry carefully and try to cut cut verrrrry carefully but I'm still kind of a mess because I'm just cutting on my carpet and I suck at pressing stuff, so my cuts look like a serial killer did them. I was planning on doing the tissue paper sandwich trick to help but that might not be enough. There's a sewing studio near my house though, I may go to them and shell out the hourly rate for personal guidance and their tools (huge tables, circular cutters, etc). That seems like a good way to make my mock-up and see if I even want to try. Wedding is in spring so I have time if I decide to throw up my hands and say gently caress it. Is that less madness? I would definitely invest in a large cutting mat and rotary cutter.
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Aug 8, 2016 18:13
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legendof posted:I would definitely invest in a large cutting mat and rotary cutter. Don't have the space for the cutting mat, which is why I plan to use the sewing studio's space (and mats, and tables) instead.
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Aug 8, 2016 18:46
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Rotary cutters suck for any kind of close curves or corners. Use a pair of brand new scissors.
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Aug 8, 2016 21:25
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Pile of Kittens posted:Rotary cutters suck for any kind of close curves or corners. Use a pair of brand new scissors. You can get the small rotary cutters that work pretty well. It is helpful to have enough weight on a pattern. If you are using a conventional pattern you can just cut though. Also every pattern has the "finished garment" (or similarly named) measurements printed somewhere on the pattern usually. I would follow those before following the back of the pattern. Check out Craftsy for possible tutorials or classes on fitting and maybe they have sewing with silk tips too.
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Aug 9, 2016 02:10
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Funhilde posted:You can get the small rotary cutters that work pretty well. It is helpful to have enough weight on a pattern. If you are using a conventional pattern you can just cut though. Also every pattern has the "finished garment" (or similarly named) measurements printed somewhere on the pattern usually. I would follow those before following the back of the pattern. Definitely weight everything before cutting, but then scissors are just so much more precise. Why accept up to 1/8" error on curves when you could just use the tool that works better? I have strong feelings about rotary cutters, and it's not just because I suck at them - everyone loving sucks at them. In general, we start training with scissors in preschool. Why the gently caress would you try to learn a whole new tool? I get it with straight lines, but garments aren't made of straight lines.
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Aug 9, 2016 06:28
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Pile of Kittens posted:Definitely weight everything before cutting, but then scissors are just so much more precise. Why accept up to 1/8" error on curves when you could just use the tool that works better? I have strong feelings about rotary cutters, and it's not just because I suck at them - everyone loving sucks at them. In general, we start training with scissors in preschool. Why the gently caress would you try to learn a whole new tool? I get it with straight lines, but garments aren't made of straight lines. Because some of us can't cut an even line with scissors. I like rotary cutters and it only took a little practice to get to the point where I can cut a smooth curve with them. YMMV
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Aug 9, 2016 08:46
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You also don't have to throw away your scissors; there is nothing stopping you from using a circular on all the big straight lines and long curves on a pattern and using scissors for corners or close curves. I have seen people who can just run their scissors on a long line, but I always gently caress that up and either snag or veer off and do much better with circular cutters for those lines.
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Aug 9, 2016 22:02
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Ashcans posted:You also don't have to throw away your scissors; there is nothing stopping you from using a circular on all the big straight lines and long curves on a pattern and using scissors for corners or close curves. I have seen people who can just run their scissors on a long line, but I always gently caress that up and either snag or veer off and do much better with circular cutters for those lines. There's nothing stopping you but the laws of nature, man, and common decency.  Rotary cutters are the devil, I say.If you're not getting straight lines with your scissors, you may be tilting them off of vertical. Also remember to keep the piece you're cutting out on the right if you're righthanded (left if you're cutting with lefty scissors) so that the bottom blade isn't disturbing the fabric you're attempting to cut. And don't pin close to the cutting line. Hell, don't even use pins - just some nice round river stones with cute faces drawn on them are all I need. I keep them in a box labeled "box of rocks" for maximum whimsy.
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Aug 10, 2016 20:46
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Enough with Kittens and their shear propaganda. People like to donate their old quilting books to us, and I was going through the collection when this jumped out at me.  The cover is pretty similar to a quilt idea I've been tossing around in my head, and so I took it home to see what wisdom it contained. I was not disappointed.  Most of the book is diagrams like this, showing various band patterns and how to piece them.  Someday when I finally succumb to being a crafter hippie, I have my style guide. There aren't really any patterns for finished projects in it, just the guides for the bands and suggestions on how to use them for decorative elements in apparel.  Those parts have these cool, 70's-era illustrations which remind me of the Folklore Patterns, with instructions are about as inscrutable.  Also, in a final touch of retro-chic, Barry Gibb makes a cameo.
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Aug 12, 2016 02:10
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It's shearly for your benefit, friends. I mean, I know I'm a little edgy sometimes, but I don't feel I'm putting too fine a point on it. Keep your cutting remarks to yourselves.
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Aug 12, 2016 06:16
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I need to join two blankets together side by side and want to do it in a way that makes the stitching invisible. I've found there is a "mattress stitch" for knitting, but is there a way I could do the same thing with a sewing machine? Or would I end up needing to sew them together by hand? It's two falsa blankets so they're pretty thick, and while I do have a sewing machine it's not exactly heavy duty. Help me sewing goons, you're my only hope (because I can't figure out what I should even google to learn this technique).
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Aug 13, 2016 01:18
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Sewing machines always leave visible seams; you just hide them inside or on the back of stuff where they don't get seen. You'll have to do it by hand with a ladder stitch, probably.
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Aug 13, 2016 04:13
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there wolf posted:Sewing machines always leave visible seams; you just hide them inside or on the back of stuff where they don't get seen. You'll have to do it by hand with a ladder stitch, probably. Thanks, I didn't even know what kind of stitch to look up. That's exactly what I did, just finished and it came out pretty good.
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Aug 14, 2016 01:12
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Just got a basic sewing machine with the eventual intent of making some nylon bags for camping gear. Got some simple stuff planned before attempting my giant tote bag. One thing I've been meaning to do is finally attach velcro hook to some round patches. Been testing some straight, zigzag stitches, etc, getting a feel for how things work. Traced a circle on a scrap and attempted to follow the line, did not go anywhere as planned. Is there a specific better way to learn how to stitch on a curve or is it pretty much keep throwing thread at it until you figure it out? I clearly need practice before I gently caress up all my patches. Tried finding some tutorials, they went along the lines of: 1. Get patch and velcro. 2. Sew velcro to patch. >4 second clip of machine at full tilt doing it perfectly< 3. All done!
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Aug 15, 2016 00:12
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My only suggestion is go really slow when learning, but yeah it takes practice. Try to figure out how to look at two things at once: where the needle is and where you want it to be.
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Aug 15, 2016 00:17
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PirateDentist posted:Is there a specific better way to learn how to stitch on a curve ... ? Go really slowly. Stop the needle while it's in the piece, lift the foot and turn/rotate the piece, lower the foot again, then sew a few more stitches. It's not super pretty if the seam will be visible, but for what you need, it'll probably work. Curves are tricky to figure out, and this helps me for tight curves.
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Aug 15, 2016 01:16
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Learning to control our sewing at school we had to "sew" over patterns drawn on paper. No need for thread. Go as slowly as you need, and lift the foot up (with needle down in your work) when you feel the fabric itself is pulling you off course.
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Aug 15, 2016 08:33
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I'm looking to pick up a sewing machine mainly to hem jeans and tshirts. I understand that I'll want a twin needle to hem knits, and that even lighter duty machines can handle denim occasionally. This wouldn't exactly be a hobby thing, just something I bust out for the occasional repair/alternation. Should I be looking at used/vintage machines or an entry level modern one (budget is around $100, but I'm willing to pay more for a better value)? Are most sewing machines compatible with twin needles?
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Aug 16, 2016 22:33
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Yes, just about every modern sewing machine will take a twin needle. I'd recommend getting a newer machine because even the cheap end of new machines have so much more functionality than older machines. My personal recommendation would be https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F7DPEQ - $80, Brother is an excellent brand, and the machine is super popular so it'll be trivial to find accessories (needles, presser feet) and tutorials for it.
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Aug 17, 2016 00:49
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Thanks for the recommendation! That looks perfect (and seems to come with a twin needle too) but unfortunately the one you linked is $200ish in Canada. I'll look for Brother alternatives (it doesn't help that they have a million different models), but your suggestion gives me a good basis to compare against - thanks again!
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Aug 17, 2016 03:16
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Sewing machines are small appliances so you should expect to spend the same amount you would on a microwave. Brother and Singer both have reputable budget brands. They've also put out some stinkers so pay attention to reviews and maybe even head to a shop to try something out first hand. If you do go test one out in person, sew a bit then take the bobbin out and put it back in, sew again and see if the tension gets hosed.
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Aug 17, 2016 11:35
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Made a coat for a friend for Burning Man
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Aug 18, 2016 08:15
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Coat looks neat, but I will never understand why anyone would want to go out into the dessert in a muppet pelt.
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Aug 18, 2016 11:05
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there wolf posted:Coat looks neat, but I will never understand why anyone would want to go out into the dessert in a muppet pelt. It's high dessert so it can get very cold at night. The fur also looks cool and also people do drugs that make a fuzzy coat feel nice. Also good to have something to sit on or use as pillow if it warms up enough to take it off.
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Aug 18, 2016 15:01
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Here are the rest of the things I made for my friend. Husband tried on the pants before they were hemmed for my shorter friend.     
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Aug 22, 2016 07:19
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