AH MADE DIS SHIT

It's just a fugly pillowcase made using this bizarro Americano 4th of July bargain bin fabric that I got for Christmas ages ago, but I'M SO PROUD. I've sewn JACK-ALL in my life despite having owned a sewing machine (AND a super-expensive serger!) since the Jurassic era, but I finally sat down and did it today! ...My back frickin' hurts; I need a better sewing space in my house.

Does anyone here on Bratfree sew? For recreation or for a living?

See, here's the part where I admit the rather odd hobby I have that I don't really admit to people outside of close friends IRL and the requisite forums where the subject matter is discussed: I'm an on-again, off-again Elegant Gothic Lolita. Not "true" Gothic, in the sense that my wardrobe belongs to the Sweet/Classic subset of the variety, but definitely a Lolita. I have a whole CLOSET filled with super-frilly skirts and dresses and antique-looking blouses; I wear Mary Janes and rockinghorse shoes and knee-high socks. Anything with gathering and lace on it is a Lori DiAngelo dream!

Ergo, my newfound attempts/interest in sewing. I already possess a LITTLE technical knowledge on various sewing applications, but I'm taking a class in my area starting September 8th so that I can truly get a feel for the craft. I doubt I'll be sewing anything super-fancy soon, but if anyone is interested, I'll keep this post updated with some of my projects! (And if not, I'll go back into my hole.)

It'd be really great if some of the BF members here though had an interest or skill in sewing, so that I could pick their brains haha. The only friend of mine IRL who is into sewing is taking the same class that I am, and knows even LESS than I do. So while we can learn together, I can't really go to her with questions or ask for advice.

Lorelei,
Hello fellow tailor/ seamstress! I sew too. Fantastic job on the pillow. Watch out... it's an addiction that is both infuriating and gratifying at the same time! I learned from my mom when I was very young and have been doing it off and on ever since (approx 20 years now, yikes!). My crowning achievements so far have been my renaissance wedding dress that I made in high school, and two costumes from the Assassin's Creed franchise. Ezio from ACII for my husband and the multiplayer character Fiora Cavazza aka "The Courtesan" from AC Brotherhood for myself. My husband and I will be wearing the costumes to a Renaissance Faire in my state. Last year I had only just completed the Ezio outfit so I wasn't recognizeable in my dress, but about a million people chased my husband down and wanted pictures! You can spot the gamer nerds from a mile away! LOL! Google the video "Stalking Ezio" and you can see a horrible video of the back of us walking around that some kids took. I dyed my wedding dress and added red to it and am wearing it in the video.

As far as technical knowledge... I don't know what most of the stuff is called that I do (stitches, types of hems/ seams) but I know how to do it and what works in different applications. I'm not too good with terminology, I guess. But I have gotten better at making my own patterns and seeing how things need to fit together if I think about it enough. I have made curtains and recovered bed spreads too. Saves A LOT of money!

So if you have any questions, I can do my best to help. Maybe you can teach me some terminology from your class!

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crazycatlady
Lorelei,
Hello fellow tailor/ seamstress! I sew too. Fantastic job on the pillow. Watch out... it's an addiction that is both infuriating and gratifying at the same time! I learned from my mom when I was very young and have been doing it off and on ever since (approx 20 years now, yikes!). My crowning achievements so far have been my renaissance wedding dress that I made in high school, and two costumes from the Assassin's Creed franchise. Ezio from ACII for my husband and the multiplayer character Fiora Cavazza aka "The Courtesan" from AC Brotherhood for myself. My husband and I will be wearing the costumes to a Renaissance Faire in my state. Last year I had only just completed the Ezio outfit so I wasn't recognizeable in my dress, but about a million people chased my husband down and wanted pictures! You can spot the gamer nerds from a mile away! LOL! Google the video "Stalking Ezio" and you can see a horrible video of the back of us walking around that some kids took. I dyed my wedding dress and added red to it and am wearing it in the video.

As far as technical knowledge... I don't know what most of the stuff is called that I do (stitches, types of hems/ seams) but I know how to do it and what works in different applications. I'm not too good with terminology, I guess. But I have gotten better at making my own patterns and seeing how things need to fit together if I think about it enough. I have made curtains and recovered bed spreads too. Saves A LOT of money!

So if you have any questions, I can do my best to help. Maybe you can teach me some terminology from your class!

Of course! If anything, I'm actually probably better with the terminology than the technical hands-on aspect of sewing...it was like that in choir, too. I can't sing for balls, but I can read music and follow rhythm with the best of them. I guess I'm just a clumsy fuck.

Speaking of cosplay, that's part of the reason my friend wants to take this class with me! She's head organizer for a nonprofit organization, so she doesn't have a lot of time to make stuff, but she wants to be able to make some cosplay for herself and her husband, for the few times every decade they can actually make it to an event or a convention (LOL). It's so awesome that you were able to make something so cool that people actually surreptitiously took video of you in it, haha. (Not so cool about the stalker-video-taping part, though - man up and just ASK if you can take a picture, jeez! This is something that happens a good bit in EGL, to be honest.)

I love a lot of Renaissance clothing designs, but I think the Victorian era appeals to me more - so much elegance! Lately I've been eyeballing steampunk fashion, mostly because of the beautiful, tasteful Victorian-era fashions for women that involve PANTS! Despite my love of lace and frills, if I could wear pants all the time and still be as cute, I would. I'm thinking after I take my class, I might try a simple project of long bloomers - the ones designed to be seen below the hem of a skirt. Do you think that would be too complex for a beginner, or does that sound about right? In the EGL circles, bloomers are considered the best start-up project - obviously I don't expect everyone to have knowledge of making them, but do you think it'd be too hard?

Thanks for chatting with me about my clothing obsession, and for offering to answer any questions! It means a lot to a shy lurker like me (who is slowly becoming more and more vocal on this site...ack!).

I have a simple question to start out: HOW in the heck do expert seamstresses manage to cut such straight lines? I'm just using a pair of sewing scissors (I don't use them on paper or anything, and they're relatively knew, so I know their sharpness isn't the problem - it's my derpness), but should I cave after a fashion and just get a rotary cutter and a mat? Is it a lot simpler to use than trying to manage scissors, ruler, and fabric all at the same time?

In return, feel free to ask me anything about terminology! I've looked over a good bit of it, so I can follow along during my class.




(PS, not to sound nosy or anything, but you don't have any pictures of your wedding dress, do you? If you don't feel comfortable sharing your face and don't want to bother with Photoshopping a blur over it, I'll totally understand. The concept just sounds amazing to me and I'd love to see the result of it, if it's possible!)

I used to do crafty-crap - cloth dolls and such. I swore I was going to get back to it once I semi-retired, but have been kind of apathetic. I'm just not sure why I'd be doing again.

This is a Polonaise Victorian walking gown I made when Dh and I repeated our wedding vows many years ago (click on the image to view full-size). It was from the Past Patterns supplier



The hard part was getting the waist and bust darts in the right spot so I didn't look like I had three boobs. Otherwise ... it was just a matter of following directions. Like Crazycatlady, I'm not sure how to tell other people what I've done, just that I did it. I love the Colonial and Victorian period of clothing even if I do throw my hands up in horror at how cumbersome those clothes must have been. Pictures like this make me go "ohhhhhh" Yesteryear clothes

If I do get back into sewing period clothes, I'm going to make myself a frock coat. The problem will be tailoring it to fit a female figure.



ETA: just read your remark about the Steampunk fashion. I discovered that years ago; the style certainly incorporates my enjoyment of the Colonial/Victorian clothing era; I'm just a little wary of being thought of as someone who gets into it because it's a new fad. Shoot, Dh wore vests, fobs and repeater watches years ago. And I'd seriously plotz if I could ever afford a Steampunk PC conversion.

I guess my problem is that I'm too obsessed with following directions? I can't just "leap into" it and figure out how to do things without being told, I guess. It's hard to explain, but without taking a class or reading up on it extensively, I'd have no idea how the pieces of clothing go together without dismantling half of my wardrobe to take a look, and even then I'd probably STILL have no idea.

Actually, that might not be %100 true. I started out making my pillowcase by reading the directions, but then I got to this one part that was worded weird or something and it completely fucking threw me off, so instead of trying to puzzle it out for a while and come back to the project I just went balls to the wall and started sewing shit together wherever. I'm actually surprised I could fit a pillow in the thing considering how I just sort of made up directions in the end. It actually looks like a normal pillowcase, too...on the outside. (The inside isn't TOO bad; I just didn't bother finishing the seams because it's just an ugly tablecloth-lookin' pillowcase that will likely never serve a purpose beyond reminding me that I can, somewhat, sew something together without sewing my freaking fingers to it as well.)

Your walking dress is GORGEOUS BTW, Dori-san! I'm obvious partial to the underskirt, myself. Did you gather all of those ruffles yourself? Argh, it looks lovely, but sewing it was probably a huge pain... I have yet to attempt gathered ruffles, so maybe it's not as hard as it seems (just trying to work on cutting and sewing a straight line, for now!).

Steampunk is a really fun fashion trend right now, but like a lot of things it's kind of ruined by retards. Except THESE retards are of the highly-cultured, "my knowledge of obscure English literature and 18th century technology is better than yours, ERGO I PULL OFF THIS CULTURALLY-INFLUENCED FASHION SUBSET BETTER THAN YOU" jadj;lfkad'fklda'fld;fa goddamned elitists. I don't give a shit about Jules Verne; just let me make some long bloomers and lace-trimmed trousers, God damn it!

(That's actually a lie; I loved Journey to the Centre of the Earth AND lace-trimmed trousers aren't really "steampunk", per se.)

...I need to stop talking about myself. I sound like an ass.

As for your frock coat, Dori-san, the best advice I can give being a complete noob would be to size the pattern according to your bust, then do darts or pintucks or something at the waistline so that it has more of a "flared" fit. You could also just alter a pattern to accomodate for your smaller waist shape, but that'd be more complicated. This is why I want one of those super-expensive dressforms that you can adjust all of the various sizes/measurements for it - so I can tailor things especially for my body shape! They're crazy-expensive, though. Just pin, pin, pin! Or baste - though you'll spend a lot of time pulling out basting stitches, which depending on the material you're using will leave you with lots of little random holes in your cloth. (Don't know how much this matters to you.) For basting thus far, I prefer to do it by hand, just because I can make huuuuuuuuuuge stitches and punch less holes into things overall. Huge stitches just don't do well with super weighty fabrics like wool, though. You'd need a lot of pins if you were going to pin it, too.

Gah, I guess I wasn't much help with it afterall, huh? Derp.

Another fan of the sewing arts here, but what I do is more along the drapery and upholstery line. Just finished making pillows and slipcovers with piping for the porch furniture, making my own patterns for the cushions. I've made both lined draperies and window valances, too, and have done a bit of simple furniture upholstery, but never got much into clothing.

I love steampunk. I kind of just discovered that that particular style has a name. I am a little slow on the uptake with fads and fashions.

Don't worry about being attached to directions right now. Since you are still getting the feel for it, that will give you a good basis. (even though some of those directions can be confusing!) Once you see the way things generally go together, where seams commonly fall and the basic shape of patterns such as arm pieces and bodice pieces, it will be easier to deviate from the directions and just go with your instinct.

As far as bloomers go, it should be pretty simple. I would think mostly straight stitching with an elastic on the bottom cuffs and around the waist. Before attaching the elastic, do a long basting stitch where you want the elastic to go and pull the string of one side of the baste to gather the fabric to the desired measurement. Attach the elastic and pull out the basting stitches. I drew a pattern and scanned it but it is too big to attach. PM me with your email address and I will send it to you if you want.

If you have trouble cutting straight lines, don't be afraid to use a fabric marking pen or chalk and mark the wrong side of the fabric all around the pattern. I have never been good with a rotary cutter myself but it might be worth a shot. You could also use a lot of pins to hold the fabric in place and keep it from gapping. Make sure you are working on a big enough flat work surface (which for me often ends up being the floor) and take your time. Slide the bottom of the scissors along the work surface to reduce tilt and wobble while cutting. Even if the edges are a little jagged, that 's ok because bottom edges get hemmed and seams are inside. For sheer fabric you can do a french seam or use seam tape to bind all the edges on regular fabric. That always looks fantastic but is a lot of work. And absolutely NOTHING beats a good pair of scissors. Invest in a nice stainless steel pair. Mine cost about $50 but they cut like a dream! I can't emphasize that enough. There is nothing more aggravating than having to saw at your fabric with dull scissors.

And yes, Dorisan, I agree that darts would work best in making a coat/frock fit the female curves. A double sided dart on each side front and back (longer in back and shorter in front to accomodate bust size and butt size accordingly) if you want it really clean and straight or pinch pleats if you want a little more swing to the coat.

Found a pic of my wedding dress

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Dorisan

And I'd seriously plotz if I could ever afford a Steampunk PC conversion.

I'm not into steampunk - but that is a gorgeous computer. I'd write a futuristic steampunk movie, just so I could have a scene with somebody using that.

I bet the keyboard keys sound delightfully clicky.

OH MAH GAWD CRAZYCATLADY THAT IS BEEE-YOO-TEE-FULL!!! So elegant and refined! The dress looks off-white or cream-colored, too, instead of traditional bridal white - is that the case? If so, what a lovely stroke of vintage design and maturity! I personally love wedding dresses that aren't bridal white just because it's such an unflattering color for a lot of people (plus it stains so easily).

At any rate, I have my first sewing class today at a local sewing lounge, so we'll see how it goes! I'm a little nervous that I won't grasp everything as quickly as the rest of the class and will wind up looking like a complete tard, but I'll let everyone on here know how it goes!

I took my first knitting class back in June and really enjoyed it. We all looked like tards. As long as you're learning and having fun that's all that matters.

@crazycatlady, when Hubby and I renew our wedding vows I want to recreate Queen Elizabeth's wedding dress. Any advice? Am I insane to try that when I've never taken on such a big project?

So, I finished my class today.

It was actually somewhat underwhelming, all things considered, since the program was designed quite literally for complete sewing noobs who don't know a sewing seam from their buttcrack, so me and my friend spent most of the lesson learning terminology (most of which I already knew). Dear Friend (DF) was a bit disappointed that we didn't actually get to mess around with a sewing machine, but I told her that it's probably better that we start completely from the basics and move ourselves up.

There were three other people in the class, all working on different "levels" of the program that the lounge teaches. There were two at the next higher-up level (level 2), and one all the way up at level 4 (about halfway through the entire program). I pointed out to DF that if the program really were that cruddy, that there wouldn't be people who had continued with it - they'd have all dropped after level 1. They were also making some pretty cool things (level 4 lady was making an LBD for her birthday - it looked like something you could buy right off the rack! very nice). So even though our first lesson was a bit more "book learning" than we'd have liked, we still feel pretty positive about it as a whole.

Will keep everyone updated with next week's class! Have lots of sewing supplies to buy this week.

Lorelei, that is something to be proud of! Good for you and I look forward to seeing your future projects! Sewing is such an awesome skill and one I'd like to learn--and you have inspired me! I actually own a sewing machine but have never learned to use it; I just like it because it's old (1920s electric with foot pedal; I like old stuff). I also have a treadle from 1889 and the thought of learning how to use it (both still work!--they built this stuff to LAST!) to make my own simple tablecloths, &c. using nothing more than my feet gives me a real thrill. My mom was a skilled seamstress and I treasure the tablecloths, &c. that she made for me. I think your project has given me the motivation to get going!

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"we three found joy in the belly while filling out the police report..." --myrna minkoff

Ooo, that's awesome, lorelei! Pillows, in my experience, are a right bitch to sew. Especially if you do what I do and make them out of old shirts.

I kinda sorta sew, but I'm not very good at it. I've made plush dolls (and customized already-made ones). I have a sewing machine I've never used because every time I try to use the fucking thing, it gets messed up. Like the thread gets tangled in the gears or the thread falls out of the needle. So I sew everything by hand and it takes fucking forever. The last thing I made was a Pokemon doll and I made it out of a shirt. It ended up looking deformed because the fabric stretched....so, lesson learned: Use non-stretching fabric. I intend to re-use the same pattern and try making the same doll again with fleece.

I'd love to learn to sew clothes - maybe not necessarily make whole garments, but do shit like customize existing clothing. And I think it would be nice to learn how to sew better should I cosplay again. My first convention was a few years ago and I went as Shadow The Hedgehog. My costume was glued together and I wore a character hat I already had. The outfit still looked fine, but I felt so cheap.

This is a ragdoll I made a few years ago of Klaus Nomi:
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs39/i/2008/352/9/8/Klaus_Nomi_plush_by_MidnightCambion.jpg

I gotta tell you, I love this doll, but trying to turn pleather inside out was a royal pain in the ass. Only because the tuxedo was so small - were this thing done on a larger scale, it wouldn't be so bad.

Ranty CF goodness (updated 6.10.2013)
Caffeinated Childfree

i need to learn basic sewing sometime- I don't want to make clothes, just sew patches on the clothes I already have!

In the steady stream of nature documentaries I have viewed since childhood, I have never once seen footage of a shark wearing a button-down shirt with tasteful tie or a pair of jeans. Nor can I imagine where a shark might keep his wardrobe organized, in the ever-swirling currents around the coral reef. But "live and learn" is my motto. All of those sharks on PBS must have been nudist sharks.

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"we three found joy in the belly while filling out the police report..." --myrna minkoff

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clematis
Lorelei, that is something to be proud of! Good for you and I look forward to seeing your future projects! Sewing is such an awesome skill and one I'd like to learn--and you have inspired me! I actually own a sewing machine but have never learned to use it; I just like it because it's old (1920s electric with foot pedal; I like old stuff). I also have a treadle from 1889 and the thought of learning how to use it (both still work!--they built this stuff to LAST!) to make my own simple tablecloths, &c. using nothing more than my feet gives me a real thrill. My mom was a skilled seamstress and I treasure the tablecloths, &c. that she made for me. I think your project has given me the motivation to get going!

That's awesome! The older sewing machines are actually the best; their parts are made of metal, not plastic, so they're less likely to break and your machine as a whole is a heck of a lot sturdier than a new one.

If you do decide to attempt some projects of your own, feel free to post your progress here! We can learn and help each other as we go along.



EDIT: @ Cambion - my sewing machine gave me massive shitfests when I was first learning how to use it; the truth was, most of the time I had either succumbed to a.) threading the machine (usually the lower thread/bobbin) incorrectly, or b.) using really cheap bargain-bin thread (this actually makes a difference!). When I bought some really nice %100 cotton thread and CAREFULLY re-threaded my machine making sure to follow EVERY. SINGLE. STEP even if it seemed stupid and redundant, lo and behold! The thing worked! Sewing by machine is waaaaaaaay more efficient than sewing by hand, so maybe pick up yours again and give it a try? I had been ready to give up on mine too, before I made my pillowcase. But I re-threaded and re-threaded until I finally got it right, and now it's amazing how fast the needle goes! I don't think I could ever sew by hand after finally using a machine instead, lol.

The worst part is it WAS threaded at first - I had someone who sews for a living (a quilter) thread it because I'm a moron and can't do it. Somehow I fucked it up trying to turn the thing on. And I learned long ago not to use cheapo thread - I make sure my shit stays together, so I use upholstery thread. It's more expensive, but it stays in one piece. I keep wanting to try it again, but even when I follow directions, I still manage to mess it up. The worst part is I have a novice's sewing machine. It's a small Singer model and it even says it's for beginners. And it's fucking outsmarting me.

I think I might actually need someone to show me step by step because I am just not getting it at all.

Ranty CF goodness (updated 6.10.2013)
Caffeinated Childfree

The tension might be off, Cambion - at least that is what I've found to be the problem if the thread tangles.

Cambion, that Klaus Nomi doll is awesome!

I don't sew (at least not yet, my roommate is planning to teach me sometime this year), but I do a bit of leather work (so far it's been a wide leather belt and a few small pouches out of scrap leather) and have recently taken up embroidery and am not half bad.