Sewing

25 Aug

Posted at 06:07h in Fitting Patterns, Pattern Fitting Tutorials, Sewing, Sewing Pattern Alterations by
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So often the greatest disappointments I hear about making your own clothes are about commercial sewing patterns not fitting how the maker imagined.  What's not always clear is the complexity of size charts and the idea that all garments and sewing patterns use the same sizing system.  Not so unfortunately.  My own approach is to always ignore the sizing system offered on the back of sewing patterns (size 14 or S M L) and to focus solely on body measurements and desired garment measurements and how the sewing pattern compares.  What follows is a description of the first steps, I use personally and teach to my students, to make sure they have the closest sewing pattern size before cutting a fitting toile.
 

03 Nov

Posted at 10:00h in Pattern Fitting Tutorials, Sewing Pattern Alterations by
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Imagine joining me in one of my many pattern making workshops and enjoying the new techniques and skills that'll up your creative game.  My Sewing and Learning Packages include a sewing pattern or block and a related set of detailed tutorials that are the very resources I use in my pattern making workshops.  So something a little different: The Sleeveless Shift Dress - A Dress with a Lesson.

06 Oct

Posted at 10:00h in Garment Construction, Pattern Puzzle Sewing Patterns, Sewing, Sewing patterns by
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For those of you that follow my 'well-suited' blog closely you will have realised that every month I've been releasing a new sewing pattern.  With each release I've also been offering my newsletter subscribers exclusive fabulous discounts.  For the month of October the focus is on my two #zero-waste sewing patterns: The Eura and The Elizabethan Shirt.

07 Sep

Posted at 10:00h in Off-the-Rails Sewing Patterns, Pattern Making Instructions, Sewing, Sewing Pattern Alterations, Sewing patterns by
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I'd love to share with you one of my favourite versions of the Corporate Shirt Pattern.  Using a sweet oriental print on patchwork (heirloom) fabric I decided I'd like to try a summer short sleeve shirt.  To begin I decided to use only the collar stand and not the collar fall so you end up with Nehru look for your shirt.

12 Feb

Posted at 16:03h in Garment Construction, Off-the-Rails Sewing Patterns, Sewing by
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If you have a single retro bone in your body you will have come across a circle skirt at some point in your sewing life.  And they are fabulous, no question.  However they have two possible drawbacks in the making.  They are:  you waste a lot of fabric and you always have to level the hem and in some fabrics that can be an ongoing process. In this post I will only be dealing with the waste fabric from cutting circle skirts.  You'll find more information about Circle Skirts in my other blog posts.

26 Oct

Posted at 12:53h in Garment Construction, Pattern Puzzles by
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We've all seen this particular style over the past few years on the catwalk and in the shops.  But unlike many fashion trends I think this one will be good for quite a while.  It's so flattering with the distracting diagonal drape across the tummy and hip area.
I've featured this particular pattern making move twice on this blog:  Twist and Turnback Top 2013,the Twist Jumper 2013 & Turnback Thinking 2014.  I've also made a number of samples in the past few years, testing different materials and design details.  I'm going to share those samples here and let you know which of the features and fabrics work the best for this design.

30 Aug

Posted at 11:11h in Garment Construction, Pattern Puzzle Sewing Patterns, Pattern Puzzles, Sewing patterns, Stretch Patterns, Vintage Patterns by
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The Retro Wrap was one of my earliest Pattern Puzzle patterns and easily one of the all-time favourites.  I've made the original pattern and all the adjustments necessary to prepare it for conversion into a PDF Sewing Pattern.  And I do admit that working out the grading plan for this style was a huge challenge.  When the grade document is returned I'll let you know if it was successful.

 

17 Aug

Posted at 10:00h in Garment Construction, Pattern Puzzles, Stretch Patterns, Womens Knit Block by
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The Twist Tee pattern puzzle was always one of the easiest versions of jersey twist patterns I've ever produced.  You don't even need your own garment blocks to make this pattern.  Any simple top or tee shirt shape pattern is a good place to start for this project.  The sample I have posted here is the double twist version.  It's possible to make this as a single twist pattern from the original post if you have access to the appropriate fabric.

18 Jan

Posted at 10:45h in Fitting Patterns, Pattern Fitting Tutorials, Pattern Puzzles, Self-draft, Sewing Pattern Alterations, Vintage Patterns by
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To begin, a quick recap of previous posts for the Gil Brandao, Conjunto Pratico.  You can start with the first post, the self-draft instructions for this vintage bodice.  If you think you'd like more detail you can download my detailed worksheet - Vintage Style Pattern Making.  The instructions in the worksheet include information for drafting different sizes, from 6 to 22.  If you're unable to access the worksheet there is a post where I outline the grade rules to make the original draft in to other sizes - Grade Rules - Gil Brandao Conjunto Pratico.  Taking the vintage bodice further I have a post with the instructions for adding a skirt to the vintage bodice to make and wrap style dress -Vintage Bodice as Dress - Fist Sample.
Vintage Style Pattern Making
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