Intro Post

[miss_s_b]

Hello! My name is Jennie and I am trying to get back into sewing, mainly because I am poverty-stricken and need to make/mend clothes rather than buying new ones, and also to make things for cosplay purposes. I dream of a Sixth Doctor costume. I realise that this will involve upping my level of skill significantly.

I am fairly confident with hand-sewing, but I have never used a sewing machine. I am considering going on a course at my local adult education centre to learn sewing machine usage and various other things. I have designed my own patterns before, but only very basic ones, and my main experience is in altering existing clothes with darts etc to fit my shape better. My maternal grandma was a seamstress, and my mum can do various basic sewing machine things, but is at the level of confidence where she's thinking of joining me on the course at the adult education centre...

I am ignorant of technical sewing terms (for instance: what is interfacing? How does one grommit?) but am a quick learner, and am hoping that there are people in this comm who will be able to explain things to me when I am flailing with lack of understanding.

It's nice to meet you all :)

Comments

[onyxlynx]

Well, interfacing is material of varying stiffness that goes between a facing and the body of a garment (and the facing is what faces you, where the rest of the garment faces away from you. Mostly). In, say, a shirt, interfacing would be the strip in front where the buttons and buttonholes go.

I had to look up grommits, because I assumed they came with a Wallace.

[miss_s_b]

See, I would call those eyelets. To me, also, a Grommit comes with a Wallace. And probably a Feathers McGraw.

[0jack]

The way we use the terms where I grew up, eyelets are small (lacing corsets, etc), and grommets are big (on an army duffel bag).

[miss_s_b]

OK, that's useful to know. Thank you.

[0jack]

Going on a course is a great idea if it's in your budget. If you have access to the library, look for the Singer books (by the sewing machine company). They have a wide range of books that cover everything from basic sewing to techniques like tailoring. Fortunately, many libraries maintain a good section of those 'life skill' type books. Also, if you check out sites like Burda Patterns, in the user contribution section I have found guides for drafting shirts and pants (like engineering blueprints for clothing) submitted by fashion/textile students. They're a lot of pages but they're free.

I also recommend checking out reenactment blogs. There's a lot of amateur tailors/seamstresses in those groups and many of them even work by hand. Cosplay blogs are also helpful but I find that reenactors are often more specific about techniques and construction (to the point of being retentive, but that's the hobby!).

Good luck. :)

[miss_s_b]

Thank you! I had actually found a couple of re-enactment sites that seemed to be more geeky than the cosplay sites. But looking for student patterns had never occurred to me. And yes, the library is a good plan too.

[dhae_knight_1]

Youtube is your friend. I read the description of how to do understitching 5 times and still didn't get it. 5 minutes on youtube and not only did I see how, I also got an explanation of *why*. :-)

Also. *waves* Welcome! :-D

[miss_s_b]

Oh WHY to do something is a really important thing; I was brought up by a scientist, so my urge if I don't know why people recommend doing something a certain way is to experiment to find out, which CAN be useful, but sometimes leads to disaster...

[teapot_rabbit]

Classes are a good idea. :) Most sewing machine stores and fabric stores also offer classes. A good sewing reference book is also really handy. Check used bookstores to see if you can find one cheap. It may sound weird, but I really like how to sew books from the 1950s and before - they're a little out of date, but they're often really good for the basics.

To add to the explanation above, interfacing is used to add strength to a garment and/or stabilize areas (keep the fabric from stretching or deforming.) That's why you use it where you're going to put buttons or buttonholes, because they put a lot of stress on fabric. You also usually use it in collars and on facings around necklines, because those parts of the garment are cut on a curve and are prone to stretching.

[miss_s_b]

I have a reference book for handsewing that I've had since I was a kid; the machine scares me though. It's odd; pass me a hammer or a drill and I'm fine with it, but a sewing machine and I fear sewing my hand to my face or something.

[teapot_rabbit]

Yeah, when my parents first gave me a sewing machine, I was afraid to use it. So I got sewing lessons. :P Never managed to hurt myself with a sewing machine, and it's been twelve or thirteen years now. I've managed to hurt myself with most of the rest of my sewing tools, but not the sewing machine...

If you do get a sewing machine, there are some sewing machine stores that offer free "get to know you machine" classes when you buy a machine from them. :)

[miss_s_b]

My mum gave me a sewing machine years ago. I am a big coward. Ahem. You can pick up sewing machines in second hand shops for a couple of quid around here; buying a new one seems like something to save for if I get good.

[0jack]

Here's two things I find help me with my "You'll put your eye out" and "Machine will eat me" fears. One, the right place to put it so that I can sit up and back a little and see the needle/foot without bending. Sitting back is really important. You can also use things like chopsticks and skewers to poke fabric around the foot if you need to do so.

Two, doing a bunch of stitches on scrap cloth—hands-free, even—and learning how to control the speed. Sewing machines that I've had don't just have ON and OFF. The speed varies with how much you press the pedal. By putting the pedal so that my foot is in the right place (not entirely on the pedal, heel on the floor, knee at a 90* angle) I can make it so that even an accidental foot twitch doesn't send it into overdrive.

[miss_s_b]

Yeah, the one I have has variable speeds, so that is going to be a useful tip. I'm going to have to think about siting fairly carefully. I have a workroom in the cellar, ut at the moment it is very full with other stuff. Perhaps the dining room table?

[0jack]

That's actually where I do a lot of my work, at the dining room table. :) It's a large, stable surface and the chairs let me sit upright. Because it's not too hard to move my machine, I just keep it on a shelf and get it out when I need it.

[miss_s_b]

This is sounding like a plan :)

[lilacsigil]

A Sixth Doctor costume would be amazing! Don't worry too much about hurting yourself - I hurt myself on anything and everything (including imaginary tripping hazards!) but the worst I've done to myself on the sewing machine was pinching my finger when putting it down on the table.

[miss_s_b]

I have been vaguely thinking about a Sixie outfit for ages, but I met Colin this weekend at a con, and he was SO lovely, and so happy that I was wearing a Sixth doctor t-shirt, that the idea just became so much more urgent.

[redsnake05]

It's nice to see you here. Sewing is an awesome hobby, and I am sure your fear of the machine will fade once you get a bit of practice. The course sounds like it would be lots of fun.