Sewing, now and then

Oh M0nica
I another the clumsy one but sm definitely not the best at sewing and others "helped" me a lot by taking sewing off me!
I can make things and am creative but am super-slow and not very intuitive when sewing.
Grandfather, mother and uncle all tailors - my father was a milliner.

I am in process of printing 4XL, this pattern does not combine the 2 sizes on the same page, all other pdf pattern I have used do and that makes it easier to grade from one size to another

So I need to keep the top strapping and the boob area within the XL range and just sub the 4 XL to the bottom of pattern XL

Fingers crossed, this could be easy

Doh, silly me the band measurements are on the instruction sheet so I am going to print again, 2 sizes on the same sheets

XLb and 4XL b, then I will combine the patterns, XL right down to the overlap and then extend that to 4XL and the band will be 4XL

I hate tight bra bands and the 4XL will give me a snug but not tight fit.

pima cotton of course, nothing less

Moth62 don`t cut into your good fabric yet, always cut a toile from a cheap similar weight of fabric, or buy some calico. Try it on inside out and ask someone to pin it here and there so you get that beautiful fit

Many of us learnt the hard way not to use best fabric for an untried pattern

I have assembled bralette pattern and cut out, got some cheap but suitable fabric out of stash. I am not the typical young person figure and my underbust is about the same size as overbust. Sigh, oh well already I see that I will have to make adjustments ie lengthening the underbust and also lengthening the bra crossover

Once I get the perfect pattern then I will treasure it and keep it safe. I did this with knicker-making, took me a while but I am proud of my comfortable knickers and will now use a good quality fabric.

Actually, lands end nighties are very good quality, I have been known to get the largest ,with sleeves, in their sales and I can get 5 or 6 pairs of knickers out of two nighties

Petra, Wow, what a claim to fame! And how lovely that her mother's beautiful work is still seen and admired by so many people.

Interestingly, my mum's maternal side of the family were descended from Huguenot silk-weavers who came to East London in the early 1700s, so I think you are right that the genes have something to do with it. I do so wish my mum's dressmaking genes had been passed on to me. She did try to teach me but I wasn't that interested when I was young. I only started sewing again just before the first lockdown, and I'm afraid I'm adequate at best!

AskAlice
My late mother in law was a wonderful machinist. She had a full apprenticeship where she was taught everything.
She told me how she embroidered the name tags on Douglas Fairbanks shirts. They were taught everything, her smocking was beautiful.
Embroidery must have been in her genes as her mother embroidered the robes etc that we see at coronations etc.
My mother in law had been blind for many years before she died but she would never give up her Brothers industrial machine.

Romola, my mum made her wedding dress from parachute silk that my Dad brought back from the Far East (he was in the RAF)

karmalady I also love Lifting Pins and Needles if ever I am unsure about a new technique. I find I sew more during the winter as my main summer hobby is gardening/pottering in the garden.

I have four sewing machines now, two Singers (one basic, one computerised), a Janome and a very old Jones all-metal one which weighs a ton but still sews like a dream. I try to rotate them all, but I must admit I've got a bit addicted to the automatic thread cutter on my Janome!

I've had a look at the bralette you mentioned, and might treat myself to the pattern and have a go. There is also a free pattern on that site for children's underwear that would use up all the odds and ends of jersey left over from making my GD's T shirts and shorts!

Karmalady
I too love my Bernina. I bought it second hand complete with all the feet ( including a walking foot) The price for it new was £600 in 2003.
Re the practising on sheets. I was talking to my dentist Re sewing. She was given a machine but said it can work out expensive practising on material that has cost money.
Fortunately I volunteer in a charity shop so was able to give her some sheets to practice on.

My mum was also a court dressmaker, starting her apprenticeship when she was 14 with a mentor who once worked for Norman Hartnell. She made all my dresses when I was young, but unfortunately I then went through the awkward early-teen stage of not wanting "home made" clothes any more. Luckily when I got to my later teens I appreciated having unique, made-to-measure clothes again!

I've still got the bridesmaid dress she made for one of my daughters on an industrial straight-stich Singer machine. It has three layers to the skirt (taffeta, net and lining) and a fully lined bodice and it looks as neat on the inside as the outside with no raw edges to be seen. Even the sleeves were set in using French seams!

I got O Level dressmaking and my mother made all my clothes until I was a teenager (many dresses made for herself and me, often matching, made from Crimplene!) I have a lovely red jacket/lining material ready to start cutting out, but the class I was going to stopped and I am so fearful of cutting it out wrongly that I’ve never done it yet. I watch them on Sewing Bee just cutting out with no bother at all with envy.

These sewing threads die down after a while. I started another one ages ago and put umpteen tips and links on that, won`t be doing that again. It is good to know that there is still an interest in sewing

Knickers, that is another pattern I treasure. I have several patterns but have eventually settled on my old tatty kwik sew pattern. All my knickers are now hand made, with picot edge elastic edging. None are tight on me and all are lovely, made from pretty fabric having started with re-using lands end nighties

There are free pattens and there are some good sewing videos

re that bralette pattern I just downloaded 6 sheets to stick together in my size, XLB. Sewing size is not normal bra size. The pattern cost £8 and it just needs a fabric with 50% stretch and good recovery. I am going to dig out some viscose jersey from my stash, toile first of course

Its a beautiful pattern, slip-on and no sliding straps

Purplepixie

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

Please try, get a second hand sewing machine and also old sheets from a charity shop. Sewing is not hard but you need a steam iron and an ability to carefully follow instructions and a bit of practice, hence the sheets

There are several good helpful videos on youtube

Beyond the pink door has some excellent sew-a-longs
Lifting pins and needles is the very best at explaining processes

My ddil started sewing two years ago and is making lovely things now, I don`t teach her, she lives a long way away

Re the second hand sewing machine, it depends on finances but there are lots of good refurbs around. If finances are in short supply, then ask people who go to craft groups, someone in mine recently gave a machine to a young lady who could not afford one

SueDonim

That’s impressive, Karmalady! 👏 What sewing machine do you have? Do you use an overlocker?

I use Bernina sewing machines, mainly a 380, bought a long time ago and sitting on an old horn hide-away table, which is the size of an ironing board and permanently set up. I have my (first ever ) dream sewing room, bought this new build especially for the extra bedroom, after a lifetime spent using the dining table

I do also have a vintage bernina record 930, I love Bernina, bought three years ago and that sits inside a cub plus from horn, in my living room.

I use an overlocker regularly, had my babylock evolve in 2004 and still fantastic, destined for a dgc and I since treated myself to a babylock acclaim

Karmalady, going back to your post about making a bra, I remember my DM saying she'd made one during WW2, out of parachute silk, which WAAFs like her could get. She was a trained dressmaker (not allowed to go to university) and she took her wotn-out bra to bits and used the pieces as pattern pieces.

One of my elderly aunts was a court dressmaker. I never saw anything she made, as she paid visits to Cornwall for only a brief time, but I assume it must have been pretty good.

Purplepixie

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

I came back to sewing as a result of my (very skilled) daughter saying to me 'if a things worth doing, its worth doing badly'

Yes, the opposite of the usual phrase, but her point was that if I enjoyed doing something, even if I was not that good at it, then it was worth doing to the besst of my ability, so I put behind me a lifetime of deft sewers like my grandmother, mother and sister, solicitously rushing to 'help' me and tell me how I ought to be doing things, and just got on with sewing in my own fashion and I have surprised myself by the things I can actually do, not as well as DD or even DGD but good enough, and I have curtains, cushions, quilts and bedspreads, whose needlework would not bear close scrutiny by Patrick Grant and still less Esme Young or May Martin, but looks good when part of a rooms furnishings.

I wish I was skilled enough to make clothes.

Ps I made a lot of my own clothes from the age of 14, although i didn't do sewing at school after primary and lots of clothes for the DC.

I wondered whether to try machine quilting instead, to use up all the odd pieces of fabric I have left over from mask making!

My sewing mojo disappeared about 3 years ago, partly because I don't much like my new sewing machine, purchased just before lockdowns.

There is one garment outstanding but it's an alteration of a skirt for DD and she hasn't mentioned it, thank goodness, as it probably means taking out an invisible zip and putting it back in. There is an excellent seamstress shop here 🙂

I don’t do much any more re either, Grandma70, though I used to dressmake and made a lot of dresses for dds when they were little - usually out of gorgeous Tana Lawn.

Also various items for dds’ school fair when we were living abroad - I once made at least half a dozen quilted carry cots for large baby dolls - complete with pillows and blankets. All sold PDQ!

Knitting takes priority now, so it’s more like the odd repair/easy alteration, but I did make a roll for my knitting needles and a padded cover for the very hard seat of our new step stool!
But it’s good to know my trusty old sewing machine (a little Elna I’ve had for over 40 years) is still there when I need it.

I haven’t sewn anything (except the odd button) since needlework at school stopped being compulsory when I was about 12. To me it is the ultimate boring occupation.

My mother was marvellous at it, and made all my pretty dresses and ballet costumes when I was a child. Perhaps I don’t sew because I know I could never compete.

I make curtains and roman shades. I take up trousers.

No room, all my sewing is on the dining table.