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bowmore posted:are there any books that people recommend for beginners making clothes for dudes? I can’t think of a single one for beginners, I suspect you will have to buy something like the sewing book, then google how to read sewing patterns and buy an easy sewing pattern. Do Not under any circumstances buy one by McCall’s they think cuffs and formal shirt necks are easy when they ain’t and the instructions are badly translated from French. Vogue are the consistently good ones. Top tips, iron on interfacing is your friend, those sewing clips are also your friend as they are less of a pain than pins, when threading elastic use a large safety/nappy pin. Don’t get hung up on your edges for your first garment, pinking shears will be fine. If you have never done it before (if you have please ignore) It’s a lot like self assembling furniture. You cut out the paper pattern, iron it on low and with the steam off, then put it on the fabric the way the step by step instructions tell you to and cut it out including all the little marker notches. Put the patterned sides together again as the instructions tell you and then sew round at 16mm (5/8th) from the edge. Then you YouTube all the fiddly bits to make sure you understand them. 
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Dec 30, 2018 09:37
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Holy shot. Check out this Chinese knock off comic book fabric. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-...7QAAOSwfpBahCG1 I’m the fighter Honos. Edit: oh my god there is more, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marvel-Comic-Book-Strip-Kids-Cartoon-Cotton-Fabric-Curtain-Upholstery-Craft/282648433078 “OMG” https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-COMI...R0AAOSwSwVaZ0ok learnincurve fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Jan 4, 2019 |
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Jan 4, 2019 13:57
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No questions are unwelcome here I would look and see if there is anyone doing clothes alterations locally, depending on what the wrong side is like you might want to look at putting a backing on it to extend it’s life, and it should be cheaper to give them your own fabric to use than what a chain store will charge you.
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Jan 5, 2019 10:25
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So I’m live blogging an absolute newbie tutorial here for anyone who is interested. How to turn any printed picture into a sewable “fabric”, that can be sewn onto collages, or as a patch. What you need.  1. Something flat to put on your table so preserve it, some use plastic I prefer plywood so you can move it without your work getting crinkled or ruined. 2. Your picture. 3. Scrap cotton, this is a thin cotton shirt material because the picture is thick, light colours for newspaper. 4. That PVC glue you used at school. It’s not worth getting a big bottle, the kiddies ones come with a inbuilt brush which is what you want. Water down the glue if you want the end result to be more flexible. 5. Scissors you only use for this project, scissor sharpeners are a great buy. Step 1.  Paint the fabric not the picture and make sure it’s really soaked in, then put your picture on top and wait for it to completely dry. To be continued ....
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Jan 11, 2019 14:28
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 Part 2. Step 2: when it’s absolutely completely dry paint over the fabric/paper again, ifyou get impatient and it’s still wet then this step will be like stripping wallpaper. again wait to dry.....
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Jan 11, 2019 18:17
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Last and final part 3. Now everything is dry you can see that the glue has left a high gloss sheen on the picture.  Step 3. Cut it out and sew it on. I’m doing this by hand but you can use a machine with a white ceramic foot. I use scotch tape because you can sew through it, you could use marking tape, any holes left by pins will be really obvious.  Thing I’ve used this most for over the years is pictures of characters my kids like sewn on to coats, bags, and one time, shoes. learnincurve fucked around with this message at 22:48 on Jan 11, 2019 |
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Jan 11, 2019 22:45
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That’s a leather worker’s awl Carbon Thief 🙂
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Apr 19, 2020 20:14
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corgski posted:Added to the fix it fast OP and also bookmarked so maybe I'll finally use my sewing machine and ever-growing pile of fabric that I'm totally going to use someday I swear! Oh so you have a stash... How to make a fancy stash busting quilt for newbies. Easy: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/easy-half-square-triangle-units-for-quilts-2821466 Fast: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/easy-quarter-square-triangle-units-2821468 Fastest: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/magic-8-half-square-triangle-units-2821440 Using a magic system may not get you the super fancy quilts you see on the internet but some of those take years where as with this you start to see it come together by the end of the evening
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Dec 5, 2020 08:48
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If you are in the U.K it’s a straight line to “whichever Singer Heavy Duty you can afford” Our sewing machines are eye wateringly expensive in comparison to American prices, we pay £200 for the base level $50 brother and it gets worse and worse the higher up you go, so you may as well get the £250 one with a metal head and 10 year guarantee even if it only has limited stitches.
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Dec 5, 2020 18:52
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I love that quilt! I’ve been mostly doing the fast 8 but definitely going for HST next time after seeing that, last few I’ve done have been super fast bigger block bags and headboard protector and the like but this was the last mini quilt topper I made
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Dec 6, 2020 10:38
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MASSIVE metal washers, the kind that are used with washing machine bolts, are your friend. Some will be marketed as sewing weights, but you want the ones from a diy store fir £2 for 10. Holds the material in place when you are marking and cutting.
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Dec 9, 2020 17:57
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For a first quilt I absolutely 100% recommend place mats to make a table look fancy. Use the same size triangles or squares and lay them out in front of you to make the pattern you want and use the 1/4 foot with the guide to assemble. Fabric glue the sandwich together and then “stitch in the ditch” (along each patche edge) and then bias bind to make it all look tidy.
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Dec 10, 2020 09:00
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If anyone has a lower end Singer machine I cannot tell you how much better the official walking foot is than the cheap knockoffs - only issue is I have one of the high end singers with auto tension and boy does this machine not get along with walking feet. I have to put the walking foot on my cheap backup machine instead.
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Dec 11, 2020 13:08
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Newbie advice bit: Those big sets on Amazon for a tenner are the ones you want, I have absolutely no idea which are the Chinese ones and which are the ones that came with the machine. Look for this foot in the set, it’s the overlocking foot, you stick it on zig zag and it tidied up the edges
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Dec 12, 2020 12:16
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What I like doing is making a regular simple quilt with big blocks and then cutting out big hearts, stars, and so on sewing them on leaving a hole for the stuffing. Gives a 3D effect- you can add all sorts ribbons, pretty buttons you have found and so on. Please forgive the fact that this now needs a wash, table cover with a cushion panel in the centre.
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Dec 13, 2020 22:47
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Bigger buttons or smaller buttonholes, the latter would be the easier option, you can do a few stitches on each side of the holes by hand which would take a little while but when it’s done it’s done.
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Mar 28, 2021 20:12
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I bought a darning mushroom and used wool, just because of Sandra the real seamstress from Ankh-Morpork who kept having to hit people with a mushroom who confused her with the other kind of seamstress.
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Apr 2, 2021 12:38
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Before you buy any quilting book read these and use them as your guide, it will honestly save you hours and hours of work as a new quilter. https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/easy-half-square-triangle-units-for-quilts-2821466 https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/easy-quarter-square-triangle-units-2821468 https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/magic-8-half-square-triangle-units-282144 Quilting patchwork and appliqué by DK is the go to newbie book Donna Kooler’s encyclopaedia of Quilting Martin Mitchell has a whole series of books, they tend to be expensive new dirt cheap second hand and all of them are great The quilters ultimate visual guide edited by Ellen Phal is probably my favourite. The best how to make each block book with exact instructions I have is A block a day 365 quilting squares by Lucinda Ganderton.
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Jun 10, 2021 09:16
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The brother heavy duty have their own special bobbins in the U.K Singer heavy Duty is the one to go for, it’s the first one in the range that has a proper metal head and the guarantee on it.
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Jun 29, 2021 12:20
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I imported my Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 to singer Switzerland when they first came out and had the power supply switched to U.K. and then sent here and it STILL cost £1000 less than buying the equivalent U.K. version at the time. Official store has it for £600 on sale now and honestly, it’s the dogs. Automatic tension and it’s a quilting machine so designed for layers, getting the official walking foot is extremely worth it with this machine. I’ve used it for thick waterproof table cloth material and it’s fine with it. https://singeroutlet.co.uk/products...YBoC4-YQAvD_BwE
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Jun 29, 2021 14:06
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Try lowering the feed dogs and see if that makes a difference, it could be slightly snarling up each time they move?
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Aug 10, 2021 19:36
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Pondex posted:As far as I can tell they're not adjustable on this machine. You can drop them completely for freehand sewing but that's it. That’s the kitty, drop them completely and try freehand to eliminate one moving part
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Aug 10, 2021 20:49
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Pondex posted:It doesn't make the sound sewing in place, but moving the fabric causes knocking again. Ok good then it’s not terminal or expensive. On my singer machine when I’m quilting it absolutely hates the bobbin being horizontal - it has auto tension and does this thing where it cuts out when you go too fast and it detects the thread is about to snap - having it upright tends to cut out this issue. I would wonder if your knocking is to do with same issue.
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Aug 10, 2021 21:22
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Same principle as measuring for and assembling a cardboard box, but you got to add on an inch all round to give yourself seam room and some give. I’m a rank amateur and I always do these things super slow. Measure cushion area, add on inch, cut out, measure back area, add inch, cut out and so on till I got all the bits ready to assemble. Fabric would depend on your machine, singer heavy duty would go through very heavy denims but a more average machine I’d go for a heavy cotton.
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Aug 24, 2021 18:58
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Yes absolutely, under the skin and dials it’s near enough identical to the singer heavy duty. The 2932 is part of a series that’s dogshit at multiple layers.
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Sep 12, 2021 22:12
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Hutla posted:I haven't made an actual garment for real life wearing in a very long time, only theatrical alterations. Those are generally of "this will make this $5 thrift store item hold up for 2 weeks" quality and a lot of hand sewing. I’m a huge fan of cotton lawn for pretty much everything clothing, the way it drapes is fantastic and it’s a dream to cut and sew. The eBay search is cotton lawn/Liberty cotton lawn/tana cotton lawn.
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Sep 21, 2021 08:50
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fabulous machine, the stitching quality/definition* reminds me of those wonderful old singer straight stitch machines - which is something the modern singers lost recently. *hard to describe like stitching in bold
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Oct 2, 2021 09:10
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It’s kind of funny not funny because in the U.K. you switch $ to £ and add a 0 to the American price as machines are so hideously expensive here. We tend to have utter poo poo machines you would pay $50 for, none of your mid range machines, and then expensive investment machines you expect to last your lifetime.
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Oct 3, 2021 21:02
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HolHorsejob posted:What's a good place for someone that's interested in sewing to start? I have a leather jacket I want to make alterations to, but I don't have any experience sewing and I'd like to take a class or something. What's a good place to learn all the basics, ideally that doesn't involve crash-coursing alone with online tutorials? If you are in america then https://www.joann.com/projects-learning/classes-events/#instore has been all the rage for a while now among my American friends. They do digital lessons and the basic beginner classes online are free, iirc the store lessons are $35 a session.
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Dec 28, 2021 01:59
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Start to 9000 rpm nicely replicates my experience with a Singer Overlocker though.
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Mar 21, 2022 13:13
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Be aware though, the needles are the same no matter the age of the singer, the bobbin may be a pain in the balls if the machine is pre 1920. Each cast iron singer will have a number stamped on it and you can check the age of it on https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-sewing-machine-serial-number-database.html
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Mar 24, 2022 15:27
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Bacon Terrorist posted:Hello, I have read the OP on behalf of my wife who is getting back into sewing after watching the Great British Sewing Bee. She wants to find a pattern for a short sleeve shirt to fit me (a giant goon, 6'9" and wearing UK XXXL) but is finding it hard to source a pattern that accomodates a man of my dimensions. Is she better off finding a cheap shirt that fits me and unpicking it to copy the pattern? If you are in the UK then yes unpick because our patterns are mostly made in France in a medium and then lazily made bigger or smaller getting worse as they go. The neck is going to be hard without a pattern and instructions so what I would do is get the largest not-mcalls mens shirt pattern she can and use it and the instructions as a guide.
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Jul 12, 2022 20:00
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That is just genius and would have saved me so much money over the decades. I’d I have, finally after 20 years found a sewing table that fits a quilting machine. Gidget II, it’s fully assembled, folding, but has wheels on one side so you can move it. Sewing online has them on sale for £179, last I saw it anywhere it was £350
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Aug 10, 2022 20:41
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Ok that’s next level, weaving, carpentry, haberdashery all separate skill sets. The tables with the drop down is a game changer, you have no idea how unnecessary hard you are working your wrists and arms until you get the machine at the right height. The usual problem with fold down is that they bounce so they got to be extremely heavy duty, look for ones so heavy they need the wheels, otherwise get the non-fold down and because you have the skills add on some extra support bars.
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Aug 10, 2022 21:30
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There is a super popular quilt block (completed square) called “pinwheel surprise” that’s come in vogue, in context could it be that? Edit: it used to be cathedral window, and I suspect it’s people on Etsy not liking the religious name so changed it to something stupid instead. learnincurve fucked around with this message at 14:06 on Aug 17, 2022 |
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Aug 17, 2022 14:03
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I would guess it’s a southern tradition that he’s seen in his family/a guest house. Each woman sends in a block and the outcome is a surprise quilt rather than the planned whole object they usually are.
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Aug 17, 2022 23:01
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Oh wait this is Steven King, you can legit email him/Twitter @ him and ask, his wife will usually reply to fan questions and she’s his right arm/proofreader/editor.
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Aug 17, 2022 23:05
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Shifty Pony posted:I was looking to get a new machine for light duty and craft use and the Singer 9960 seemed to fit the bill pretty nicely. Are there other machines/manufacturers in the $450 range which I should consider as well? I have this exact machine, the one single issue it has is with when you use a really big reel of thread and it’s full, then you have to angle it at 45 degrees or it has to keep making you stop so it can figure out the auto tension. Other than that it’s an absolute dream. Before they started selling them in the U.K. I imported mine from Walmart to singer Switzerland and had a U.K. power supply fitted and I wouldn’t swap it for any other machine if you paid me. It’s worth investing in the official singer walking foot for it as it just *works* much better than the cheap generic ones I was using before.
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Sep 12, 2022 11:38
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I could enthuse about this machine all day and am about to; it’s got every single one of singer’s best features all in one - the auto tension shift when going over bumps is unnoticeable, it’s cutting feature is something you never knew you lacked, but more importantly it has the modern features and computer stuff with the older models much better cast iron head and chunky bobbin mechanism - If you take off the case it’s all metal under there so can handle more layers than you would expect. It goes fast, because, all metal, it could have been made to go faster, but they wanted to make sure the auto tension could keep up. So if you are doing one straight seam it just punches down and gives the crisp line of the very old black all cast iron machines which morphed into the industrial machines of today can do.
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Sep 12, 2022 18:55
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I have found that the auto threader only works with singer branded needles no matter if people in haberdashery shops have “never heard of this before” or not. It clearly needs no deviation in eyehole height for it to work and off brand never get it right
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Sep 14, 2022 08:00
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