New to Sewing

[Ciani]

I've had a sewing machine for.. oh.. 7 years? *blush*
yeah. Well I want to try to make some garb for myself this year. Seems like a fun project, but I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I mean, I see these projects for things like simple skirts and they'll say sew this, trim that, hem this. Do you put any kind of backing in the skirts or just the one piece of cotton fabric? when you sew it together are we talking a quarter inch seam? And how do you make sure the hem is going to be straight? I figure I'd ask some people who know before I go experimenting this weekend.

--C

[Lady Sarah]

you sound like me when I first started sewing. :D

I go for 1/2 inch seams, myself. personal preference. Gives me some wiggle room in case I need to take out the seams a bit later on.

Skirts, fear not the gored skirt!! ~L~ I'm sure one of the other wenches here can post you the link, but they are REALLY easy and it's straight seams all the way. I personally prefer the circle skirt, but they can leave a lot of waste behind.

How do you keep you seams straight? Use a ruler or yard stick when cutting, don't be afraid to trace the lines lightly with either a pencil or pen (if it's light colors) or a chalk marker if it's dark colors, and pin everything together first.

Just go slowly, take your time and have a seam ripper on hand in case of oopsies. The $1 and $2 tables at WalMart will be your bestest friends. You can experiment with the cheap fabric and if you goof, it's not costing you a ton of cash.

Good Luck!

[Ciani]

Thanks! I think I'll get a yard stick :D I have straight pins left over from when I thought I was going to make a quilt. That didn't happen. The skirt thing should be fun though. If I do it well enough I may have to make a couple for one of my friends. She doesn't know it yet but she's dressing for faire this year. :wink:

--C

[Ciani]

Ow my acheing back. I just finished the first skirt. One of my thumbs feels like a pincushion, and I broke one machine needle before realizing I should remove the straight pins as I am sewing. oops. I also need wider fabric next time. This fabric was a 44"ish fabric and it was just a little too narrow. I haven't hemmed the bottom of the skirt yet. I think I'm going to wait on that part. I need to decide on what kind of trim, if any, to put on it. It's a pretty cheap fabric and very thin. It will work ok over other layers, but not on it's own.

All told though, the skirt doesn't look too bad. I think maybe that a three inch waistband is too much. Dunno. Anyway, here is a picture of it. Sorry for the crappy quality, I took it through a mirror :D That's Min sort of hanging out behind me trying to trip me.

http://www.missile-command.net/ciani/skirtwaist.jpg

[Annabella St. Clair]

I think it looks fine. Your waistband looks better than mine, and I've done 5 skirts. It's hard to work well with cheap fabric. My skirtsmade of $6 and above a yard always come out better than with low cost fabric. I like to have a few skirts with big waistbands so they cover up the one below it.

Annabella

[Ciani]

The waistband took, by far, the most time. That's where I broke the needle too! I had some old interfacing from an unstarted dress project nine years ago, so I used that in there. I think that's why it stands up so nice but that little hem over the gather likes to flip up a bit.

Btw, what's the deal with purple? Can I wear it at all or must I stay away completely? I found some darker violet colored fabric in my yarn bin (I have no idea where it's from!!) that is a nice thickness. I was thinking about making another skirt with that, but if it'll be a bad idea I'll try to do something else with it. I still have my cheap black fabric for a skirt, and white muslin for a chemise.

[WenchLadyKate]

Looks good to me. More than I do. I don't even put in a waistband. Drawstring if I'm lucky. Usually just elastic. Nobody ever sees my waistbands anyway. But I'm a lazy sewer. Chemises are pretty easy too, those I always use drawstrings for, elastic just doesn't work right.

Anyways, my point is, it looks great! Keep on sewing, it gets better. I promise... :sew:

[Ciani]

that waistband is just pinned in the back right now. I was going to do a drawstring originally, but the instructions I was following didn't go that way. I am planned on using drawstrings in the chemise.

[Ysobelle]

It looks great! Just out of curiosity, why do you say the fabric was too narrow? How did you want to cut it?

[Ciani]

I haven't hemmed the bottom yet. I was just worried about making it too short, but now that I've gone and made the second skirt.. I don't think that's the case. I think they'll be fine hemmed.

I used a 1.5" waistband on the second one instead of the 3" that I did on the first, and I think I like that better. The sewing on the second one came out a lot nicer too. There were a few places I screwed up on the first. I am still a little worried about doing the hem. I don't want to make it uneven. I seem to have the whole sewing in a straight line down ok; I just have a problem with the thread getting all balled up underneath.

I'd do a pic of the second skirt, but now that it's 2:30 in the morning maybe I should sleep instead. :lol:

[WenchLadyKate]

If you're worried about getting a straight hem, and you know it's straight now. Buy this thing... I have NO idea what it's called, but it's one of those things that I can't sew without. It's like a buck or two at the Rag Shop, or Wal Mart or whatever place you have near you.

Since I have no idea what it's called or how to describe it, I just took a picture of it. Works up to 6 inches and it's easier than using the tape measure.

http://img136.echo.cx/img136/4715/img00046bg.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[Ciani]

I read your reply as soon as I woke up and I was very confused as to how that measuring device would help me, but now that I'm awake I get it! I might have to go pick one up :) I was doing the same thing last night with my yardstick when I was making the waistbands. The second skirt only took a few hours compared with the first! It was much easier to do and came out nicer. I might tackle the chemise later depending on how much I time I end up with. I have to clean and shop for a bbq tomorrow :D

[Daelyn]

psst... Kate... it's called a 'sewing gauge'. Or, as we called it in the class I took, 'that slidey ruler thingy'. :)
They usually have it in either with the notions or with the tools for quilting...
Second most useful sewing tool ever. (1st being, of course, the seam ripper)

[Ciani]

sewing gauge.. yay! good to know :)

I'm working on my chemise now. It seems to coming along well. (I have it on the at moment actually). It doesn't really want to stay up on my shoulders, but I imagine the bodice will help with that. I just need to hem and gather the wrists and hem and slit the bottom. It feels a little too tight down there so some side slits will be nice I think.

haha.. this is all so very exciting for me to be sewing like this. The only annoying thing is that sometimes my sewing machine starts to smell and also the thread will suddenly start breaking a bunch. I get that :/ I don't know if it's the thread or what. I just bought all purpose thread and right now I'm just working with muslin so nothing thick.

[Lady Sarah]

first things first - your skirt looks great! I like the longer/wider waistband on it - it'll stay tucked under the bodice!!

and I'd recommend finding a sewing machine servicing shop / repair shop and have it cleaned, tuned, etc. If you've had it for 7 years, it might be time to have it maitnenanced.

[Ciani]

Thanks! I wasn't sure if it would need tuning even though I never used it, but that does seem to be the likely problem. It's generally working fine but occasionally freaks out a little. The sleeves on my chemise ended up being a little shorter than I wanted so I made cuffs separate and sewed them on. That was great especially when I sewed one on with the edges outside the sleeve instead of inside! I only screwed up the sleeve a little pulling the cuff back off. You can't tell. Speaking of.. here's the whole outfit. Ignore the hottopic bodice thingie which is just there to show the whole outfit.

http://www.missile-command.net/ciani/skirtschemise.jpg

I need an actual bodice now. I don't think any of my real corsets will work because they're just not even close to period. besides, I want arm straps to help hold the chemise up. It likes to fall off my shoulders. :)