#sewing instruction

[professorpski]

Threads Magazine, Winter 2022

This issue offers a lot of special items for fancy occasions, but it also offers coverage of more common sewing projects.

It begins with a seasonal dress-up fabric, velveteen, see the rich purple jacket on the cover. Sandra Betzina offers advice on using this fabric, and that jacket which is BurdaStyle 6661, offers a clever embellishment with golden beads and buttons shooting like comets. The Up Close feature on the back of this issue is a jacket with a doubled peplum which Kenneth D. King explains how to copy. In between we get an an article by Katherine Seeburger on her “opera dress,” which you see in the floral brocade, a special occasion dress which she planned and created with the help of King and Susan Khalje. And we get the winners of the Make It With Wool contest which includes this felted white wool coat, embroidered and embellished, by Kim Vogley which comes with a dress.

Duane MacLeod offers a technical article on sewing welt pockets which I am ready to try, and Linda Lee offers advice on creating a capsule wardrobe, an old idea of coordinating colors and shapes which is always worth reviving to my mind. There is also a gift section suggesting everything from a new machine to a trip to France. All this plus reviews of new patterns, and interviews including one with Natalie Chanin known for the Alabama Chanin company and its striking but simple embellishments.

You can find it at your local fabric store, newsstand or online here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

[craftyladybug]

[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

[lilaco21]

I think everyone needs to have a go at a new hobby every once in a while because:

1. You might find something you enjoy

2. You gain more respect for those who can do said hobby

3. You remind yourself what it actually feels like to not know anything about a subject

[badassindistress]

Cloaks for all! A cloak sewalong for beginners

Step 1: Cutting/the pattern

The pattern of this cloak consists of three pieces. A (half) circle for the body and then two pieces for the hood.

We'll start with cutting the cloak itself:

The longest cloak you can make will (with this pattern) be the length of the shortest side of your fabric. If you want it shorter, measure from your neck over your shoulder down over your arm to find the length you want, that will be the radius of your cloak circle. My fabric is 150cm wide, so my circle radius and cloak length are both 150cm.

You're gonna want to clear a large piece of floor for this one.

Cut the cloak

Fold your fabric in half (short side to short side). Now you mark a quarter circle. Get a 150cm piece of string, tape the end to your surface at the folded corner. Circling the piece around will give you an easy way to draw a circle with your chalk.

Cut the half circle you just drew while the fabric is still folded.

2. Cut the neckhole

You'll need your neck measurement. (make sure to leave breathing room).

You can either do math about it, or lay your tape measurement on your fabric in a circle and cut slightly smaller than half your neck measurement.

3. Cut the hood

For the hood, you have to make sure it is bigger than your head. Start with the largest rectangle that is left from your fabric. Curve the top right corner with some chalk.

The height of the hood controls how oversized it is. Measure from your collarbone over your head to your other collarbone and you'll have the minimum size. My hood is 45 cm high.

(Optional: hollow out the left line and curve the right bottom corner)

Putting a hoodie on this rectangle to get a nice shape makes it a lot easier.

Draw the hood shape and cut two (this can be done while the fabric is folded double).

That's it for step 1. Tomorrow we start sewing!

[tj-crochets]

Blorbo pattern is below the read more! Based on this post by @thewiglesswonder

Sew the darts on the two Blorbo body pieces

Sew the two Blorbo body pieces to each other, right sides together (sew the curved edge, and leave the straight line at the bottom unsewn)

Sew the Blorbo body base to the bottom of the Blorbo body pieces (pin it well, with the front roughly in line with the dart on the front half of the body; this does not have to be precise, Blorbo can be a little irregularly shaped, it’s fine). Leave an opening for turning of a few inches left unsewn, turn the body right side out

Put two leg pieces right sides together and sew the side seams (leave the top, where it attaches to the body, and the bottom, where it will attach to the foot, unsewn). Repeat with the second leg.

Pin a foot piece to the bottom of a leg, with the front of the foot roughly lined up with the seam at the front of the foot. Sew around (this can be a little tricky, it might be easier to hand sew than to machine sew this part). Repeat with second leg and foot. Turn legs right side out through the opening at the top of the leg

Finishing:

Embroider the face, either before step 2 or after step 3

Stuff the body at any point after step 3, after embroidering the face

Sew the opening for turning in the body closed

Stuff the legs after step 5. Tuck the seam allowance at the top inside the leg; I ended up tucking about ½” of fabric in instead of ¼” to make the leg a bit shorter, but if you are using an extra fluffy fabric you might want it closer to the ¼”

Pin the legs in place on the front of Blorbo and ladder stitch around the base of the leg

You’re done!!! Enjoy your new blorbo, and if you post it on tumblr I’d love to be tagged @tj-crochets (that’s not a requirement for using the pattern, you do not have to do it, I just love seeing things people make from patterns I wrote)

[dkettchen]

A summary of my excursion to the local (publicly accessible) uni library to look at some books to learn proper pattern drafting for my highly customisable sewing needs/goals

I'd assumed the problem would be a nonbinary one of binary gendering above base theory, but ALAS, THE MATRIARCHY IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE

[gmabasic]

sneak peek at the quilt i’m making my sister

[sammy8d257]

The (Fanmade) Virabot Plushie!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!

THIS IS THE BIG SURPRISE I'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR THE PAST HALF A YEAR!

A (fanmade) VIRABOT PLUSH INSPIRED BY ALAN BECKER'S ANIMATOR VS ANIMATION SERIES!!

And guess what?

YOU CAN GET THE TEMPLATE AND INSTRUCTION GUIDE COMPLETELY FREE!

You can download the PDF files for free by following this link!

[Virabot Plush Template + Instructions]

The plush itself comes out to be roughly 8.5 inches tall by 11 inches wide (21.6 x 28 cm).

I had a BLAST creating and designing this! I hope you can enjoy it too if you ever want to take a crack at sewing it for yourself!

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

I'll see you all in 2023!! 8D

[purringfayestudio]

Your plushies look so so amazing! Have you considered selling patterns for them?

Thank you! I have considered it. Short answer, no, sorry. I won't be selling patterns for the foreseeable future.

Ok story time.

Last year I prepped a pattern for someone for use in a PhD research project. I learned very quickly that pattern prepping for someone else is a very different skill than designing that pattern and making the plush.

My patterns are loose pieces of tape and paper with scribbled labels. In order to prep them I have to digitize them (difficult for pieces that are larger than printer paper), label them clearly, and then create comprehensive instructions.

The one pattern I prepped, one of my simplest, took me about six months to prep. That was mostly because, well, I hated the entire process. It's slow. It's boring. It's just not my cup of tea. (It probably would have taken me a month if I'd enjoyed it, even so. It's very time-consuming.)

What's more, pattern sellers need to be available for troubleshooting and answering questions, and I don't really have the bandwidth for that. Or time for the array of other issues that pattern sellers have to contend with on a near-constant basis.

Even if I did sell patterns, it wouldn't be for every pattern I design. My plush are more than plush to me--they're my art, my soul, and I'm not really keen on my exact design choices being recreated. So while I am utterly delighted to inspire and share my process, there are some things I'd like to keep within my own artistic voice.

My hat off to all the plush artists who sell patterns. They are true heroes.

~~~

P.S. If you're looking for realistic canine patterns, FreakHound Studios has a couple nice wolves, and is currently releasing a fox pattern with a Q&A session set to go live on Patreon on Nov. 24th. NazFX also has a realistic fox pattern but I don't think she has it up on Gumroad yet.

[professorpski]

Threads, Fall 2022

 This article has a good range of topics from making use of quilts to replicating a vintage collar to fitting and embellishments. The cover story by Judith Neukam on quilted jackets ponders re-using a vintage quilt as well as collaging with new fabric scraps. Related to this accidentally is the article by Lindsay Ostlie who offers a zero-waste blouse which you see here in brown with cut-on dolman sleeves and the fabric selvedges used as trim along the buttoned opening. Now, if all the dressmakers could get together with the quiltmakers, I think we could put to good use all those fabric scraps from more conventionally cut garments.  

Anna Mazur explains how to create a flower motif using self-fabric petals with sealant applied around the edges and paillettes, crystals and beads. You see here the pale green blouse that results. You can well imagine different designs to develop using this technique from the quieter self-trim like this  to more dramatic contrasting colors.

Kenneth King analyzes the circa 1940 dress in black, white and red on the back cover with an unusual collar created with a center ring through which the two scarf collar edges loop to button down high up on the bodice. He explains how it can be done and his version is quieter than the playful version on the back cover with two-tone covered buttons in order to avoid what he calls a “costumey” look. If on the other hand you are interesting in theater costuming, you will enjoy the articles on Bernadette Banner who recreates period clothing from the late 19th and early 20th Century and on Arnold S. Levine, author and millinery, who does Broadway and carnival millinery work of all kinds and who shares some of his favorite supplies.

There are also more technical articles on ways to make knit pants, on fitting garments through the shoulders, bust and torso, plus reviews of new patterns and fashion trends for fall.

Threads is my favorite airplane reading as you can enjoy the pictures when your brain is tired or dig into the details of a new technique and learn how to do it.

You can find it at your favorite bookstore, fabric store, or online here: https://www.threadsmagazine.com/

[craftyladybug]

Making our floral fabric neck lanyard 🪡🌸

[mokutone]

I have a Ko-fi!

okay so a little while ago I started building a Ko-fi so that if anyone liked my work and wanted to toss a coin my way, they could!

I also liked the idea of doing little informal thank-you doodles, so if you tip me $6 or more, i will try to do a little doodle of a character that you name (the guidelines for all this are written down on my kofi page)

the thank you doodles aren't commissions, they're just tiny little heartfelt little "hey! thank you for supporting me!" drawings

[overelegantstranger]

video tutorial this video tutorial that. i am begging you to understand that written instructions are also an accessibility need.

[valgeristik]

ok so this isnt exactly my usual brand of art but like. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: I MADE A DRESS myself. from scratch. behold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was wild bcs i got GRIPPED by insanity for like a week n would not stop working on this thing. ive never sewed clothes before. i do believe i may have been possessed, big huge thanks to my bestiest bestie @blu3mila for being the photographer 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[shirajellyfish]

Sewing machines, man

Normal instructions: Hey be careful not to do X, or the results might not be as neat! Avoid Y, as it could waste materials. Make sure not to Z, or you'll have to start over!

Sewing machine instructions: Don't you DARE so much as TOUCH X. You see X, right there? DON'T TOUCH IT! I'M WARNING YOU! The machine will become possessed by vengeful ghosts and stab you to death while you sleep, we warned you! Make ABSOLUTE SURE you NEVER do Y. The needle will EXPLODE and PEPPER YOU WITH SHRAPNEL. And if you EVER, I mean EVER even THINK about doing Z, your entire living space will be ravaged by the literal hellfire that spews forth from your sewing machine. This also voids the warranty.