#and patterns are confusing

[badassindistress]

Hello! I'm a huge admirer of your work, you're amazingly skilled and I would love to follow one of your sew-alongs one day.

The only problem is, I'm terrible at sewing - I can't cut a straight line to save myself; I measure a million times and always end up short; all the different terms even in "beginner" patterns are confusing and overwhelming. But I really want to learn, and the few things I've managed to make, even though they look like trash, have made me feel accomplished. Any beginner projects you'd recommend and/or novice sewing advice for someone without a crafty bone in their body?

Thank you and can't wait to see what you make next!

What a lovely message to wake up to, thank you!!

Anon, I'm going to go and find the first apron I made just for you. it is terrible in both design and execution but it accomplished its goal of existing in a fit enough state to encourage me to continue sewing.

It sounds like your projects do that too, so you're already doing awesome!

One isn't born with crafty bones, one creates them in hellish experiments bathed in blood and lost scissors.

That said, there's lots of ways to make the experiments less hellish. As with most things, money or help from someone with experience can make things much easier.

Can't cut straight? If you've got the disposable income, get yourself a quilter's cutting mat and a rotary cutter, or at least a clear ruler like this:

Picking your battles also helps. Using fabric with a clear grain that doesn't fray too much as you start out will prevent a lot of headaches, as will sharp scissors and a good chalk marker.

Depending on what your interests are, these are things I would call good ultimate beginners projects: pillow covers, aprons, gathered skirts, straight capes.

But ultimately, the best beginners project is whatever you would be happy pouring the hours and effort in, even if the project won't turn out perfect. It's really about gathering experience and if you get that by stitching random squares together or attempting a ballgown for your dog, that's the way to go!

Anyway, your message came at a good time. I've been musing on doing a sewalong for true beginners, since my previous ones were more for people new to historical sewing than new to sewing in general.

Not quite sure what, though...

Maybe a cloak?

[andsewingishalfthebattle]

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[bigfatbreak]

I was wondering why Felix flips that coin :0 is it a specific fae lore thing? Or a Felix thing?

its an iron coin. the sound of the iron biting the air snapped them both back into reality, (as its something that harms fair folk) and its something felix keeps on hand in case of magical related emergencies. after all, he's not fae folk, he was just kept by them for a decade

[scribefindegil]

Do you sew? Do you have boobs? Do your tops never seem to fit correctly despite following all the instructions on the pattern? THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT! Sewing patterns usually just tell you to match your full bust measurement to their sizing chart, but this isn't enough information to tell you if the garment will actually fit.

Here's the problem. Imagine three people who all have a 40-inch bust measurement. But one of them is completely flat-chested, one of them is very well-endowed, and the third has the mythical "average" figure that the pattern was designed for. Despite having the same circumference, their torsos are completely different sizes and shapes! So while our lucky "average" sewist can cut out the pattern as written and have it fit, that same size is going to be much too tight in the shoulders for the flat-chested person and much too loose in the shoulders for the buxom one.

And that sucks, because an adjustment to add or remove fullness from the bust is much easier to do than trying to re-size the shoulders and torso. Instead of starting off with the pattern size that matches your bust measurement, it's a lot better if you can start off with the size that fits your shoulders. But almost no patterns tell you how to figure this out!

What you need is to match the high bust measurement. Here's an image (from "Ahead of the Curve: Learn to Fit and Sew Amazing Clothes For Your Curves" by Jenny Rushmore, a GREAT book for learning to fit garments, especially if you're bigger) on how to measure high bust vs full bust.

The difference, in inches, between the full bust measure and the high bust measure is your sewing cup size. (usually not the same as your bra cup size, which is the difference between the full bust measure and the underbust measure. yes, it's confusing. sorry)

So how to use this to figure out what size to cut out from your pattern? If you're using a Big Four sewing pattern, those are all drafted for a B sewing cup, so the high bust for any given size will be two inches less than the given (full) bust measurement. Choose the size that matches your high bust. Then compare the full bust measurement to yours. If it matches, great! If it's smaller or larger, you will have to do either a full bust adjustment or small bust adjustment. They seem scary because they're slash-and-spread adjustments, but if you find a good tutorial they're not that hard. You can also just make a mockup in the pattern size that matches your high bust and either add or remove fabric in the bust area until it behaves.

What if you're not using a Big Four pattern? Well, if you're lucky you'll find a pattern you like from a company that simply provides the high bust measurement as well as the full bust in their chart. A few places, like Cashmerette, actually include multiple cup sizes in their patterns so you don't need to do any math to get a good fit. Otherwise, if the company tells you what cup size they're drafted with, you can figure out the high bust from the full bust: A cup is one inch difference, B is two, C is three etc.

If the pattern company doesn't tell you anything except the full bust measurement, scold them about it. If you have to guess, smaller sizes will most likely be drafted with a B cup. There's a little more variation in plus sizes. Regardless, if you're making a mockup try to get the shoulders and neck fitting properly before you worry too much about the bust.

Now go forth and sew things that actually fit your body!

[wu-does-art]

Mike "if a hot man told me to reconsider my morals i would do it" wheeler

Vs.

Will "why did you skip our beloved friend's basketball game for a senior's dnd game" byers

bonus:

[arachnestwilight]

Lizzie Hearts in the Ermine Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, 1585.

...Without the ermine.

[cimmeria-writes]

(ID: a digital drawing of Katara from Avatar: the Last Airbender. She is wearing her season one parka, and is sitting with a peach tree branch in her left hand and a single peach in her right hand. Momo is sitting next to her, reaching for a peach on the branch, and Katara is smiling down at him. End ID.)

@katara-week -- Day 3: Katara and Momo

[geminison]

started watching latest candela obscura season and I'm loving Raj and Oscar's dynamics they're both such passionate haters

[mothsakura]

hrrrrrnnng just woke up rn i wanna hold the little scrawny bug by his antenna so evilly... he's so silly........

[worstloki]

very carefully explaining to the princes of asgard how recessive genes work and skirting around details because eye colour is the textbook example and one of them has green eyes when neither parent does. hair colour is the other example in the textbook but well one of them has black hair when neither parent did.

[azurecoffin]

casual-wear Monet/M

Prev: Boom-Boom Trinary Armor Pixie

[datura-tea]

so i was reading an article on ulysses from thegamer dot com and this section is... it's something else

"all tribes speak in a sort of broken english" 🙄🙄🙄 "some even using their own words" you mean they're using their own language while trying their best to talk in another second language that they're learning to speak? hmm?? "more coherent than the dead horses" man shut the fuck up. i hate game journalism

[oceanwithouthermoon]

i used to try really hard to like rationalize things online and figure out exactly what people meant and who anons were, but the amount of times people have tried to do that and made up a really elaborate literally evil plot about ME that didnt happen made me be like... yeah im not doing that anymore

[gayformlessblob]

crochet octokitten❗️❗️❗️

i made this pattern on my own, posting below the cut 👇👇 tumblr keeps eating the video i'm trying to add for clarification on how to make the tentacles.... i'll keep trying though! if you use this pattern pls pls share i wanna see :)

EDIT: i reblogged this post with a link to the video! here is the link

r1: magic circle, sc x8

r2: increase in each stitch, sc x16

r3: increase every other stitch, sc x24

r4-8: sc x24

r9: decrease every 2 stitches, sc x16

r10: sc x16

(btw, anywhere from here onwards should be good to add facial details like eyes, nose, mouth)

r11: increase every other stitch, sc x24

r12: increase x4, sc x28

r13-18: sc x28

r19: decrease x4, sc x24

r20: decrease every 2 stitches, sc x16

tentacles / r21: (front loops only) c10, slst x2, sc x4, hdc x4

start with the first stitch, after a tentacle slst into the next stitch, then sc into the stitch after and start a new tentacle (basically, tentacles start with sc, slst between tentacles)

in the leftover back loops- sc in between the tentacles, basically until you feel it's closed enough (btw- put stuffing in around this step) (but dont tie off or stuff yet if you want to be able to reach the inside of head when attaching ears)

ears- c5, sc in decreasing rows until you're left with a triangle, attach to head

[divorcedwife]

i have the apartment just for myself for a few days so it’s time to go wild (do some sewing)

[mimi-saurio]

I want to draw their outfits from the photos we got so far, but I'm not even gonna try to replicate the pattern on Jonathan's sweater.