A beginner's mistake: help needed - The Sew Weekly Sewing Circle2024-03-28T09:18:55Zhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/forum/topics/a-beginner-s-mistake-help-needed?commentId=6365347%3AComment%3A104720&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThanks Jen, I'm finally start…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-12-02:6365347:Comment:1059692011-12-02T11:27:03.044ZCharlotte Forcerhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/CharlotteForcer
<p>Thanks Jen, I'm finally starting to understand a bit better when the serger is needed or not the more I practise. I started by making cotton baby dresses, which is nice and easy, and more or less jumped straight into a grown-up vintage project with fraying dupion! It was a challenge, and I'm glad I made the dress as I learnt a lot, but I think I need to take smaller steps now. For starters I need to learn how to sew a clean hem!</p>
<p>Thanks Jen, I'm finally starting to understand a bit better when the serger is needed or not the more I practise. I started by making cotton baby dresses, which is nice and easy, and more or less jumped straight into a grown-up vintage project with fraying dupion! It was a challenge, and I'm glad I made the dress as I learnt a lot, but I think I need to take smaller steps now. For starters I need to learn how to sew a clean hem!</p> Your finished dress turned ou…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-26:6365347:Comment:1052402011-11-26T16:25:24.160ZJen Ohttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/JenO
<p>Your finished dress turned out great!</p>
<p>One last note for future reference:</p>
<p>Using a serger is fast and fun, but when you plan to line anything, that cancels out the need to use it. Sew with that machine when your seams will be exposed and might unravel. Otherwise, plain straight stitch seams are fine, and won't add bulk to your garment's seam lines. In the end, straight stitch single needle seams are really the best way to sew an armhole seamline, since it will need to be…</p>
<p>Your finished dress turned out great!</p>
<p>One last note for future reference:</p>
<p>Using a serger is fast and fun, but when you plan to line anything, that cancels out the need to use it. Sew with that machine when your seams will be exposed and might unravel. Otherwise, plain straight stitch seams are fine, and won't add bulk to your garment's seam lines. In the end, straight stitch single needle seams are really the best way to sew an armhole seamline, since it will need to be clipped. This makes the curves smooth when the fabric is turned and pressed.</p> great job! Looks great! Don't…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-21:6365347:Comment:1048302011-11-21T22:36:39.680ZRoxanne Clarkhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/RoxanneClark
<p>great job! Looks great! Don't let mistakes throw you off too much. After sewing for almost 30 years I had to seam rip 3 times yesterday. It just comes with the territory, you probably won't make the same mistake again for a long time! Have fun!</p>
<p>great job! Looks great! Don't let mistakes throw you off too much. After sewing for almost 30 years I had to seam rip 3 times yesterday. It just comes with the territory, you probably won't make the same mistake again for a long time! Have fun!</p> Before you completely swear o…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-21:6365347:Comment:1048222011-11-21T15:05:52.921ZRosemaryhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/Rosemary
<p>Before you completely swear off doing linings in dresses altogether, remember they can be very useful, particularly if you are using a lightweight &/or pale coloured fabric, also they can help with how a dress hangs & moves on the body and 'wears' In the case of this dress, I can imagine that it will also help the skirt to not 'seat', that is to show that you have been sitting for any length of time due to the combination of body heat and pressure, a skirt/dress that has not been…</p>
<p>Before you completely swear off doing linings in dresses altogether, remember they can be very useful, particularly if you are using a lightweight &/or pale coloured fabric, also they can help with how a dress hangs & moves on the body and 'wears' In the case of this dress, I can imagine that it will also help the skirt to not 'seat', that is to show that you have been sitting for any length of time due to the combination of body heat and pressure, a skirt/dress that has not been lined (depending upon cloth) can show this when you get up and keep the sitting creases in it. Good job, and if you do remake this pattern, you will have a great head start on fitting and making methods - actually remaking a pattern, and changing up one or two things each time is a great way of learning but also being confident that you should be able to end up with a wearable garment. </p> I did it!!
So I:
- re-opened…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-21:6365347:Comment:1047202011-11-21T13:29:44.398ZCharlotte Forcerhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/CharlotteForcer
<p>I did it!! </p>
<p>So I:</p>
<p>- re-opened the sides</p>
<p>- sewed the bits of facing that I haden't used around the armholes</p>
<p>- cut out the excess fabric from the old too tight armholes and notched the remaining seam allowance</p>
<p>- turned the facings in and pressed them into place</p>
<p>- closed up the sides</p>
<p>- hand-sewed the facings to the lining so it stays into place</p>
<p>... and it works! Ok, it doesn't look too nice in the inside but who's going to see…</p>
<p>I did it!! </p>
<p>So I:</p>
<p>- re-opened the sides</p>
<p>- sewed the bits of facing that I haden't used around the armholes</p>
<p>- cut out the excess fabric from the old too tight armholes and notched the remaining seam allowance</p>
<p>- turned the facings in and pressed them into place</p>
<p>- closed up the sides</p>
<p>- hand-sewed the facings to the lining so it stays into place</p>
<p>... and it works! Ok, it doesn't look too nice in the inside but who's going to see it?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's the final result:</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2950543994?profile=original"><img class="align-center" width="500" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2950543994?profile=original"/></a></p>
<p>The bodice is tight and the skirt loose but it's how it's meant to be (I think). There is a small crease at the back, by the armpit but I'm going to leave it as it is. I might sew it again as I love the design, but I won't bother with lining next time.</p>
<p> </p> Bias binding does give a very…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-16:6365347:Comment:1029512011-11-16T10:50:04.037ZRosemaryhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/Rosemary
<p>Bias binding does give a very good finish, since you are new to it when putting on the first stage do not stretch it out to fit around the curves, if you do when you come to fold it over for the second stitching line you will find that it is not as wide as it ought to be. Therefore 'ease' or 'push' a bit more under the needle as you go along, but not so much that you get a tuck (if the bias is on the bottom, next to the feed dogs they will do this for you, to a degree), by doing this the…</p>
<p>Bias binding does give a very good finish, since you are new to it when putting on the first stage do not stretch it out to fit around the curves, if you do when you come to fold it over for the second stitching line you will find that it is not as wide as it ought to be. Therefore 'ease' or 'push' a bit more under the needle as you go along, but not so much that you get a tuck (if the bias is on the bottom, next to the feed dogs they will do this for you, to a degree), by doing this the second stage is much easier. I would suggest you have a try of both methods on a scrap first, to see the difference it can make, but personally I am usually too eager to get on with the actual item to bother (which is probably how I found out about this in the first place) </p>
<p>But the more care you put into the the first 'pass' ( pinning is good, tacking/basting is gold star award time:), the easier the second pass is!</p> Thanks Rosemary, this is very…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-16:6365347:Comment:1031492011-11-16T09:55:29.319ZCharlotte Forcerhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/CharlotteForcer
<p>Thanks Rosemary, this is very helpful. The seam allowances are actually marked on the pattern! There is a seam line and a cutting line: I have no excuses. I do usually try the 'project' on before sewing but tend to pay attention to the general fit. Now I know I need to look out for armholes and collars too!</p>
<p>I think I'll do what Casey suggested even though I've never used bias binding.</p>
<p>If it doesn't look good, I'll unstitch the whole thing and start again. I've got time anyway -…</p>
<p>Thanks Rosemary, this is very helpful. The seam allowances are actually marked on the pattern! There is a seam line and a cutting line: I have no excuses. I do usually try the 'project' on before sewing but tend to pay attention to the general fit. Now I know I need to look out for armholes and collars too!</p>
<p>I think I'll do what Casey suggested even though I've never used bias binding.</p>
<p>If it doesn't look good, I'll unstitch the whole thing and start again. I've got time anyway - I don't need to wear the dress before a family wedding in May! What could possibly go wrong? ;)</p> It really depends upon how mu…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-15:6365347:Comment:1031252011-11-15T20:45:26.647ZRosemaryhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/Rosemary
<p>It really depends upon how much larger you need to make the armholes. Personally I would undo the stitches, the key to making this easy is to understand the formation of the stitch, if it is a 4 thread stitch it will look like this<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2968421443?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2968421443?profile=original" width="338"></img></a></p>
<p>if you only used a 3 thread serging stitch ignore the dark green line. Starting at the end (preferably, but you can cut yourself a…</p>
<p>It really depends upon how much larger you need to make the armholes. Personally I would undo the stitches, the key to making this easy is to understand the formation of the stitch, if it is a 4 thread stitch it will look like this<a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2968421443?profile=original"><img width="338" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2968421443?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>if you only used a 3 thread serging stitch ignore the dark green line. Starting at the end (preferably, but you can cut yourself a starting point anywhere) put the point of your seam ripper, (I prefer to have the blunt side towards the thread), and pull the stitch out, move on about 3-4 stitchs and repeat (ad nausem) if you want a change try pulling the needle thread until it breaks, but then you have to find the needle thread again amongst the tightened stitches, which can be a bit tricky, but can give you a bit of variety in what you are doing whilst unpicking :) With a 4 thread stitch, it can be possible to do both threads at once, but the works seems to go slower than if you do one at a time - you have to find out what works for you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For future reference, before serging multiple layers together, straight stitch and check fit, or you could try pin fitting the pattern - that is pin the pattern pieces together and try them on, this can indicate possible problems. When doing armholes however, do remember that you will be losing the seam allowance from the edge, it can be quite easy to cut off the seam allowance so that it fits nicely, but then when you sew it up, the armhole is now too large.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seam Allowances - if the pattern says stitch it at 5/8", do so. Years ago I made a 4panel flared skirt with waist band, I thought the seam allowances were too generous so I sewed them about 3/8", at which point the skirt panels did not fit onto the waistband and rather than re sew them, I put in a pleat on either sideseam to get it finished. It didn't look good, but I learnt my lesson and future skirts were stitched with the proper seam allowance! If you progress on to drawing your own patterns you can make the seam allowances any size you want :)</p> Thank you ladies for your hel…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-15:6365347:Comment:1032182011-11-15T08:43:30.475ZCharlotte Forcerhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/CharlotteForcer
<p>Thank you ladies for your help and advice. I'll take another day (and maybe night) to think about it and decide which tip to follow. It's not the end of the world if I mess it up as the fabric was a cheap remnant (the lining ended up costing more) I could always buy something similar to start again but for some reason I'm scared of getting started and making an even bigger mess. You learn from your mistakes right?</p>
<p>Thank you ladies for your help and advice. I'll take another day (and maybe night) to think about it and decide which tip to follow. It's not the end of the world if I mess it up as the fabric was a cheap remnant (the lining ended up costing more) I could always buy something similar to start again but for some reason I'm scared of getting started and making an even bigger mess. You learn from your mistakes right?</p> 60's patterns are always tigh…tag:circle.sewweekly.com,2011-11-15:6365347:Comment:1031062011-11-15T05:16:09.046ZCasey Sewhttp://circle.sewweekly.com/profile/CaseySew
<p>60's patterns are always tight in the armhole!</p>
<p>I would -</p>
<p>draw your new armhole shape + 6mm seam allowance on the outside of the garment. eg. in 1cm at the shoulder and down 1cm at the underarm & draw new curve. (you may not even need this much.. up to you)</p>
<p>Pin along the line so that the lining doesn't slip out of place.</p>
<p>Cut through the lot! (yeah I hate unpicking!)</p>
<p>use some satin bias binding turned to the inside to finish the armhole, treating the…</p>
<p>60's patterns are always tight in the armhole!</p>
<p>I would -</p>
<p>draw your new armhole shape + 6mm seam allowance on the outside of the garment. eg. in 1cm at the shoulder and down 1cm at the underarm & draw new curve. (you may not even need this much.. up to you)</p>
<p>Pin along the line so that the lining doesn't slip out of place.</p>
<p>Cut through the lot! (yeah I hate unpicking!)</p>
<p>use some satin bias binding turned to the inside to finish the armhole, treating the lining and outer fabric as one.</p>