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Crafty Thread - what are you working on at the moment?

Ah, the snake trousers! At the risk of crushing laudable sewing ambition, I've got to agree with campanula. I think you'd ruin them and be cross. It's not something I'd even do myself really. There isn't a guarantee that they'd fit afterwards as they might be weird in the other seam. There's more to making things fit than making them big enough.

Feel free to prove us all wrong.

19sixtysix is our resident chap sewer and may be able to suggest good beginner patterns. A simple A line skirt is probably not going to cut it for you...
 
RubyToogood said:
Ah, the snake trousers! At the risk of crushing laudable sewing ambition, I've got to agree with campanula. I think you'd ruin them and be cross. It's not something I'd even do myself really. There isn't a guarantee that they'd fit afterwards as they might be weird in the other seam. There's more to making things fit than making them big enough.

Feel free to prove us all wrong.

19sixtysix is our resident chap sewer and may be able to suggest good beginner patterns. A simple A line skirt is probably not going to cut it for you...
Click to expand...

Probably the simplest pattern I did at start was a sweatshirt but I actually started with patterned curtains to learn how the machine worked then I bought a jeans pattern and made floral trousers. I've not been sewing much (working through lockdown I had just the same amount of spare time :mad:) but I have just finished new bedroom curtains which have helped darken my room.

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The not really beginners jeans

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That's very impressive moose. I have seen loads of things made from pallets (and even possess a couple of rather glossy design books based on their use), but I just quail at the effort involved in taking them apart (splintery and tricky) sanding and such. All I have ever managed is to wire 4 of them together with cable ties, to make giant cages for compost or log drying. I may bite the bullet this year and attempt a swinging daybed to go on the deck outside the horsebox (or may chicken out and simply suspend a repurposed bench on a frame instead).
 
Artaxerxes said:
I have booked myself into the ceramics studio for the first time since 19th December and I am very excited but also nervous.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking of doing this. I have a Makerspace near me that will allow you access for six months for only $250. Sounds like a deal to me.
 
campanula said:
Forgive my presumptions here, David Clapson - I believe I know what trousers you are referring to. I would suggest, for this one time, you source your fabric yourself, but take the trousers to a local sewist to get 2 side-vents inserted. Some alterations are fairly straightforward, but removing the waistband, adding in extra fabric, then reattaching the waist is fairly complicated...and if the trousers were costly and special, it is sometimes better to get a professional to make the changes.
Cushions and other upholstery is a bit more of a walk in the park (as long as you are not too bothered about piping and the like)...and look like you have them well in hand.
Click to expand...

For some reason I missed the notification about your post. You'll be horrified to hear that sewing has commenced! I'm making a new waistband so I can repurpose the original one for enlargening. Have also removed the back pockets and found a decent amount of spare fabric by undoing the leg seams. The plan is not to hide the precious snake fabric in seams, but to sew the edges on to cotton tape and marry them up with no overlap. I realise this would normally be a terrible idea, but the fabric is like a blurred camo with a pattern which doesn't repeat, so I'm hoping that the joins won't be apparent. It also has a useful bit of stretch in it. The trousers are too small in pretty much every direction - not only are they two inches too small in the waist they're also a very skinny cut which I don't like at all. So I'm aiming to enlarge the waist, seat and crotch, make the legs a little longer and use any remaining fabric to give the legs a boot cut.

GeuldTE.jpg
 
campanula said:
That's very impressive moose. I have seen loads of things made from pallets (and even possess a couple of rather glossy design books based on their use), but I just quail at the effort involved in taking them apart (splintery and tricky) sanding and such. All I have ever managed is to wire 4 of them together with cable ties, to make giant cages for compost or log drying. I may bite the bullet this year and attempt a swinging daybed to go on the deck outside the horsebox (or may chicken out and simply suspend a repurposed bench on a frame instead).
Click to expand...
I cheated :D - there's a person just over the hill from here who sells bundles of the planks with the nails roughly ground off, and they didn't need much sanding as we wanted it quite rustic.
 
Blimey, David Clapson - well, you have certainly committed to this project! It can only move forward now. I am in awe of your bold scissors (I am a ditherer). I will suggest you buy a seam ripper. I bloody love my 'Unpick you'...I am almost certain I have never had a sewing project where this handy (essential) tool didn't get an outing. The knife did make me have a:eek: With Boudicca here -really interested in your trouser epic.
 
I did use a seam ripper for 99.9% of the unsewing! I only used the scissors on frayed edges. (Now I have two seam rippers, because another one came with my new sewing machine.) As for the knife, it's a treasured possession, a super duper Japanese one. It's so lovely to hold that I try to find an excuse to use it every 5 minutes.
 
I'm too impatient for that. I just tell myself that my iffy stitches are in places which nobody will see. I will end up with trousers which can only be worn in the dark.

I'm surprised my machine doesn't have speed control. I chose it in a big hurry (impatient again) because it's computerised. But the only clever things the computer can do are hearts and bunnies and letters. The automatic needle threader is hopeless. The foot pedal weighs about 1 gram and is very hard to control. I probably could have saved £200 by buying something three times as good.
 
David Clapson said:
I'm too impatient for that. I just tell myself that my iffy stitches are in places which nobody will see. I will end up with trousers which can only be worn in the dark.

I'm surprised my machine doesn't have speed control. I chose it in a big hurry (impatient again) because it's computerised. But the only clever things the computer can do are hearts and bunnies and letters. The automatic needle threader is hopeless. The foot pedal weighs about 1 gram and is very hard to control. I probably could have saved £200 by buying something three times as good.
Click to expand...
What make/model did you get? If you've got hearts and bunnies, you may well have speed control.

1620228521967.png
 
There are lines on the footplate. I used to ignore these for ages, but find them really helpful when doing seams.

Incidentally, I recently bought a few patterns and am actually fairly annoyed with myself. I paid 17 quid for the most simplistic pattern ever. Could have drafted it myself in no time. And looking at the patterns I do have, when did we all start to pay double for 'independent' designs, some (most) of which are so basic as to be ridiculous. Tilly and the Buttons patterns are a case in point. Apart from all of them being horrible, they are utterly generic smocks and pinafores which can be had in any one of a heap of Japanese pattern books.
Anyway, I am now not going to buy any more patterns unless it is for some super-complicated garment (and given the amount of alteration required)I am wondering if I should ever bother again.I did a muslin for my Trillium dress which is completely hopeless - will have to completely redraft the bodice darts and add some extra ones along the shoulder line. Having granny bosoms and declining bra wearing, traditional darting is not really ideal (I like a princess seam).
So, have stuck a heap of lining paper together and am going to draft my own skirt, pants and bodice blocks. Seeing my measurements written down is slightly mortifying (103, 84, 104) I used to have a proper teeny waist once upon a time.
Sorry, I know this is a lot of witless rambling - sitting in my sewing room, not loving either of the 2 garments I am currently sewing and just waffling on the internet.
 
The rise of indie designers is interesting. I've had mixed experiences with them, some are not well drafted and they can be a bit idiosyncratic. Yet some people will only make indie patterns and are scared of the old school ones on the grounds that they think the instructions will be too vague.

One thing it's done a lot for is size inclusiveness. Lots of indie designers will release a pattern in a full range of sizes from eg 6-32 which the Big 4 still do not. And I find now that when I look at say Vogue or Butterick, the patterns look utterly frumpy and dated.

I do baulk a bit at pattern prices. And continue to be a big fan of Fibre Mood whose patterns are reasonably priced, size inclusive and stylish.
 
Artaxerxes said:
I have booked myself into the ceramics studio for the first time since 19th December and I am very excited but also nervous.
Click to expand...

Not much done today, bit of throwing and minor handbuilding a tray. Most of the day spent rehydrating clay and scrapping last Decembers now dried out work. Even the stuff in bags was a bit to stiff to use so just mucked about.

Still a good day, weird being out again
 
O, that is way beyond my capability, RubyToogood . The worst/hardest part of sewing is keeping my materials and seams reorientated (I have a weird spatial dysfunction) while linings,and facings are beyond the pale without a checker.
Knitting is slower but I still end up knitting 2 left hands!

Independent knitting patterns can be a bit of a disaster too (some of the awful patterns on ravelry).

I am also quite well along on the frumpy spectrum tbf so it is a bit frustrating that my sewing skills rarely extended much further than summer shift dresses, kids clothes and curtains. ..whereas I really want to wear frocks in nice material and properly fitting trousers. I need to have lots more practice but am limited to what fabrics I can scrounge up...and having chopped into it, (fabric) it cannot be salvaged (unlike wool).
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, you could use it for the back - and possibly use the edging for cuffs, yoke or collar. It can be a bit tricky, using materials of different weights and textures but I do like seeing a flash of contrasting material.
 
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