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Sewing

I've been getting into sewing clothes (with a sewing machine) a lot recently. It's been nice to do something very offline - normally wheen making stuff I'm watching a youtube video or looking up online references. I bought a few sewing patterns and a lot of different fabric and I've been making stuff completely offline (except when I need to look up a technique). It's also been nice to have some crafting time with my partner, who's usually crocheting or knitting next to me. It seems like every weekend I have a new garment!

Things I've made so far:

2 pairs of shorts - one in light blue cotton and the other in darker blue floral pattern (my new favourite shorts). After the first one I modified the pattern a lot - lengthening the shorts, deepening the pockets, adding back pockets, moving the drawstring to the inside.
Pyjama shorts and shirt, in green leafy pattern with light blue piping along the seams. These came out really nicely - so nice that I'm tempted to just wear the shirt during the day!
Waistcoat! In the same blue floral pattern - I needed this for an upcoming wedding

Photo of the floral blue shorts (295kB)

Photo of the green pyjamas (90kB)

Photo of the waistcoat (107kB) - I'm shocked at how well this came out!

How to sew from a pattern.

I'm still a beginner at this but these are the rough steps:

Figure out which pieces you need (patterns are usually for several garments or variations)
Trace the pieces you need from the pattern's thin tissue paper onto sturdier paper and cut it out. You can just cut it out of the tissue paper and use that but that makes it difficult to make a different size from the pattern next time.
Wash your fabric and iron it - this allows it to shrink a little (better now than after making the garment)
Using the pattern pieces, cut out the pieces of fabric you need. The pattern usually has a recommended layout to make good use of your fabric
Mark up all the pieces with the markings from the pattern - cut edge notches, mark dots and buttonholes with chalk
Follow the instructions of the pattern to sew it all together! (draw the rest of the fucking owl)

Random thoughts

I'd like to make some labels for the garments I make. So that if they end up owned by someone else they'll know they're handmade, by whom, and with what pattern. You can buy labels but I'd rather figure out how to print my own in a durable way. Maybe 3D printed block printing?

This is the most ironing I've done in a long time. Unlike modern fabrics used in many commercial garments, the cheap cotton I've been using gets very creased in the wash and basically has to be ironed. Couple that with the fact that while sewing you need to press each seam to make the seam allowance go the right way, and it's a lot of ironing. I'm very glad that we bought a fairly nice iron!

Speaking of modern fabrics, I want to try stretch fabrics as they're a bit more flexible and comfy. Nice for pyjamas or t-shirts. What's stopping me is partially their reputation and partially my sewing machine. They're known for being a bit of a pain to work with, stretching while you're sewing. And my machine doesn't have a stretch stitch, so it'll be hard to make the thread stretch with the fabric. The recommendation online is to use a narrow zigzag stitch but my machine doesn't let me change the width. Time for a fancier upgrade?

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