Member profile - January

Member profile of the month

Barbara suggested a wonderful idea for a regular monthly blog post. We could do a member's profile each month, to be posted around the 15th. Barbara had another great idea for a regular feature at around the 1st of each month, that would mean two posts that will hopefully be accompanied by lots of non-themed posts by as many members of the Dressmakers Club as possible! The more the better: a blog like this lives from many different people posting, the different areas of interest, of focus and the different voices make the blog a more lively and interesting place to check out.

In order to kick things off with the member's profile for January we thought that I should do the first one. I didn't put myself forward for being first out of the gate, but it is a great idea that I really love so I better put my money where my mouth is!

Here goes:

Member profile of the month - January

Giselle

I first became interested in sewing as a teenager, around 15 probably. I would get fabrics and patterns and cut into them blithely and utterly unconcerned. I made quite a few mistakes (catching huge chunks of the skirt fabric in the waistband? That might sound familiar to lots of people) but managed to make quite a few things. I wasn't really concerned with the technical aspects of sewing back then which now makes me feel even a little jealous of my naivité because it enabled me to just have a go. I could do with some of that now!

Life intervened with job changes and house moves and I only picked up sewing again when I moved to London quite a number of years ago. I did a few courses and particularly loved one on tailoring. Unfortunately I never finished the jacket I started then and still think of its lovely dark red colour. My figure changed since then so it's a good thing I got rid of it.

I started sewing again around six years ago. I am now very interested in the creative aspects as well as the technical skill that goes into dressmaking. My aspiration is to learn to sew well enough so I can tackle some of those creative ideas that keep whirling through my head.

I was going to write about a collar I did some work on, but will keep this for a future post. Watch this space!

My favourite sewing item to use right now is bias tape. I already wrote a bit about it: it is just so useful for bindings (around seam allowances) or as facings at necklines, armholes and even hems. I feel that using bias tape as a facing gives a much smoother result then folding over and sewing down does. I now make my own so I can pick and choose what fabric and colour I want to use.

A sewing technique or concept (is that the right word in the context?) at the moment is garments cut on the bias: where the pattern's "grainline" runs at a 45 degree angle to the two straight grain lines of the fabric. A bias cut top will hug your body and flow lots better. This uses up huge amounts of fabric though which is the main reason that I haven't made more of them already. That's on my to do list!

My biggest sewing frustration is the bad fit I get from most commercial patterns. I find it so very frustrating to be slaving over a new project only to find that I hate how it looks on me. I am getting better at figuring out how to make bought patterns work by using certain adjustment techniques (like FBA, and swayback adjustments etc) but I am still not completely happy with the results. Because of this problem I became interested in pattern drawing: making garments to your own measurements and your own pattern blocks. I attended a number of courses on that and absolutely love pattern drafting!

The websites I find most useful are Pinterest as already mentioned above, MySewingCircle (it is a bit like Ravelry but for dressmakers!), Pattern Review and other dressmakers' blogs - so inspiring!


Please tell us how you came to sewing, about some of the challenges and triumphs that you encountered and what you particularly enjoy about sewing!

Please post in the comments, and we would love a member profile to add in the coming months so that we can all see the many diverse perspectives of different members.


Here are some projects that I haven't finished yet:

 

 

Here is one I finished but I am not very happy with, the stiffening of the peak pulled the stitchline up on top of the brim:

 

Some other projects I started in the last two years, in various states of completeness, or I should say non-completeness.

28 rather neat sewing hacks

Some of these sewing hacks are pretty nifty.  I particularly like No 21 (to prevent button hole butchery), No 22 which I desperately need, and No 17*:

28 Sewing Hacks That Will Change Your Life

When considering tip No 2, I would strongly advise to keep magnets away from your PC, laptop and other electronic devices: you don't want to wipe them.

*: You can squeeze a third pencil in between these two to get a wider seam allowance.


Do you know of more tips like these?  Have you tried any tips and hacks like these and how did they work for you?

Welcome the New Year Meet-up 2 January 2015

What's a London Dressmakers Meetup for social sewing at a public venue like?  Well, I think this one was fairly typical except normally we meet up for monthly meetings at Ev's, not far from Waterloo or Southwark tube stations.  This time, as it was an addition to the normal meet-up, we met at the Royal Festival Hall.  This venue does make it a bit more difficult for everyone to locate the group, especially as poor Giselle had lost her mobile while away from London for Christmas and couldn't field any mobile phone cries for "Help" from wandering LDC members who hadn't spotted our group.  Usually you can identify us by the sewing manuals and magazines, scissors and bits of fabric on the table.
I think there were 10 of us, including Maggie, who had never heard of us but, as a keen knitter and sewer, joined us and I hope we'll see her again at future meetings.
 So, what do we do?  Sew- by hand, of course- any one knowing of a cafe that allows you to plug in your own sewing machine at a table and start sewing please let us know immediately.  Usually tacking, hemming, embellishment, a bit of discreet cutting out, that sort of thing.  Diamond was tackling not just one but 2 jacket and skirt suits to a Vogue pattern.  Giselle had a dress with an amazing appliqued pattern on it rather like stepped patchwork.  Wish I had remembered to take a camera so you could have a view of these things and our group.
Some, such as Holly, bring another craft as their sewing is not at the portable stage, in her case she was knitting some colourful socks.
 For a lot of us, this time, we were looking for advice.  Marianne, who always produces garments to an extremely high standard, had brought a length of velvet that she had embroidered on her machine with an intricate multi-coloured pattern and was asking for suggestions about the neckline.  Catherine  wanted opinions on her idea for an ensemble as a winter wedding guest  and on how to embellish a hat to go with the dress that she intends to make in a beautiful tweed fabric.  I had a problem with two garments that I brought along with me, the first a skirt  with fitting problems at the back and the second a jacket where I felt the sleeve needed adjustment.  I had spent a couple of weeks thinking about what to do about both of them  and still hadn't worked out what I should do but Catherine immediately spotted that I needed to rotate the jacket sleeve a bit and not just take it in as I had thought might be best. 
Rholdah is fairly new to dressmaking but determined to give it her best shot.  She described how she had taken advantage of the sales to try on lots of dresses and see which ones truly enhanced her look and thus, despite the blandishments of saleswomen telling her that each one suited her, worked out the styles of dress she should aim to make.  Catherine then whipped out a book describing figure types which was pretty useful in defining your type and what styles best complement your figure; I think my figure  would best be described as a Dented Column.  I wish I had the courage to go and try garments on like this  but I get so disheartened  when nothing seems right or, if it is, I feel faint at seeing the price tag.  Best to stick to sewing.
While members were chattering, perusing technique manuals, magazines or the patterns Giselle had brought to give away  I was trying to get suggestions for or to hassle people into contributing to this blog, thank you to those who volunteered.  I would like to get some regular features going  with contributions from many different members.  Maybe you have thought of creating your own blog, why not write a few posts for this one to try out blogging.  Perhaps there is something you have recently experienced to do with sewing- a garment make, a visit to an exhibition, a course that you have taken, a good place to shop for sewers - that you would like to pass on to members. 
The features that I would particularly like to try and get going are:-
1.  Member of the Month - Post to be issued on 15th of each month.  You can be any type of sewer of any experience level. What I envisage is a bit about yourself and your sewing, what you sew and why, your sewing ambitions, the good and the bad in sewing etc.  If you would like to put yourself forward as Member of the Month please contact Giselle or myself by sending us a message on the meet-up site.  I hope we have someone lined up for January so we are looking for someone for February and later.
2.  My Sewing Machine- Members are often asking "What should I look for in a sewing machine?"    "  Should I get a new model?"  We would love to hear about your machine or machines, whether they be new or old.  There are so many out there  that it is useful to hear about actual experience of particular models.
Lastly Happy New Year to all and don't forget the Next Monthly Meet-up is on the evening of Tuesday 13 January.  Hope to see you there.

Sewing Resolutions

It's that time of year when people reflect on the past 12 months. It has been great to see how people have progressed with their 2014 sewing resolutions here. So how did I do?
My sewing resolutions were:-

1. Make a tailored jacket
2. Continue to make at least 1 garment per month
3. Attend at least 1 sewing course or workshop to learn new sewing skills

I managed 2 out of 3 of these aims, with number 1 alluding me. I have the pattern and muslin in my stash, I just have not put aside the time to crack on with this.

Looking back on my sewing year it appears that I do like instant gratification sewing as I now have alot of easy to make dresses in my wardrobe. This is a shame as I have alot of designer Vogue patterns that I have yet to tackle and spend time on. So how has this shaped my sewing resolutions for 2015? My aims for the next year are:-

1. Complete 3 designer vogue patterns
2. Continue to make 1 garment per month
3. Make a tailored jacket 
4. No new pattern challenge (check out the details on this here)

These are not the most inventive, but they will challenge me to get to things that I have been putting off. As I am generally a one project at a time sewer it will also challenge me to have some quick stash busting projects in addition to a slow burning project that I can take my time with. Resolution number 4 should hopefully encourage me with resolution number 1 and curb my ridiculous pattern stash.

Has your sewing year shaped your resolutions for 2015? Are there any new skills that you would like to learn? And do you have any meetup ideas that could aid your resolutions?

Don't forget to post your ideas here!

How many mistakes is it possible to make in one sewing session?

Quite a few judging by the number made between us at the social sewing session on 6 December.  Here are some of them so you can remember to avoid them in your sewing.
1. Putting pins in the wrong place for machining the seam.  By this I mean not thinking about on which side of the fabric and in which direction you will be sewing the seam when you are putting your pins in. Thus you find that the pins are either (or both)  on the underside as you sew or not pointing in the right direction for easy removal before the the presser foot arrives at that spot.

2.  The iron not being hot enough for fusing fusible interfacing to the fabric.  Remember always to do a test first on a piece of spare fabric with a scrap of interfacing.  This way you can find out how hot your iron needs to be.. Always press, not use an ironing motion, and you must make sure that your fabric and interfacing are perfectly smooth and flat before you start or you could create permanent wrinkles in your garment .  Once fused then leave the piece to cool before picking it up and using it.

3. Forgetting that you should add a seam allowance before cutting out your fabric.  Some patterns, such as Burda magazine patterns or patterns that you have drafted to your own measurements, need seam allowances adding to them before the pattern is is used to cut out the fabric- Don't forget to add them! 

4. Not sewing in the right direction on a seam when you are matching up a fabric pattern, such as stripes, checks etc.  Always machine away from the point where you have matched the design otherwise your fabric might slip and no longer match when it reaches that point.  Consider tacking (basting) rather than pinning and/or using a walking presser foot on your machine if you have one.

5.  Finding that you cannot hand crank your sewing machine.  I'm not sure that this is valid for all machines but one sewer was trying to lower the needle by turning the handle of the machine by hand but it would not work.  She found it would not lower the needle when the bobbin winder spindle was pushed to the right to wind the bobbin.

6.  Sewing with no upper or lower thread.  Don't forget to check that your needle is threaded and your bobbin has not run out, or about to do so, before starting to sew again after a pause.

7.  Stitching down darts or seams without checking that they are lying the right way.  Pattern instructions usually tell you which direction  to press darts or seams once you have sewn them.  Make sure that when you come to stitch across them, for example when applying a waistband to a skirt, that they will be sewn in the correct position and not the wrong way around.

8.  Sewing in a zip with the zip slider pointing down instead of up.  When sewing in zips by certain methods you can get around the difficult bit of sewing by the head of the zip by moving the head of the zip past the needle- see the previous post for an example.  However you can only do this if you can grab the the zip slider which is easier to do if the zip slider is pointing towards the top of the zip.

9.Not concentrating all the time.  Be warned, don't think that, just because you have managed to do a difficult bit of machining successfully, you can relax.  That's when your lovely straight line starts to wobble.

10.  Getting the wrong bit of cloth caught into your stitching.  Always make sure that you are only stitching together what you intend to.  It's easy to catch up some fabric unintentionally, especially when dealing with gathered fabric or curved stitching.

11.  Sewing with a zipper foot in the wrong position.  Zipper feet are designed to enable you to stitch as close to the zip teeth as possible.  In order to do this, depending on the design of your machine, you need to move either the needle or the zipper foot to the correct position  in relation to the side of the zip you are going to stitch.  If you don't then you could find yourself either sewing on the teeth of the zip or too far away from the teeth.

I'm trying to think if there is anything I have sewn without making a mistake at all and I can't think of one.  What is your most frequent or your worst mistake and how did you deal with it?