Mastodawn

Ailbhe Jun 22, 2023

This project has reached the stage where all instructions resort to "now draw the rest of the owl." I have to sew this into a box but there's no information on how to get the corners into the machine -- each panel is at least three layers, more at the sides where the pockets reach the bottom, and the bottom corners are DENSE.

Ailbhe Jun 22, 2023

50% My God, it's full of stars! and 50% I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that. Time for a break.

Ailbhe Jun 22, 2023

This is a Learning Experience. (1) I can't cut out with scissors and need to stick to the roller blades. (2) I have two loop turners but for straps with interfacing inside I need to go back to the safety pin method, which I got good at when my mother was sewing scrunchies for her market stalls at various times. #sewing

Ailbhe Jun 22, 2023

Aaaaaaand stopping for the day. Turning it right way out shows me where I need to redo some of the MAJOR STRUCTURAL SEAMS because I didn't catch all the layers. *whimpers*

Ailbhe Jun 22, 2023

Basting by hand is easier and quicker to remove BUT basting by machine is much less painful and the time saved in sewing is much greater than the time lost in unpicking.

Ailbhe Jun 23, 2023

I'm annoyed at the waste in this pattern. For each of the front, back, sides, and base, you cut a piece of outer fabric, interfacing, batting, stabiliser, and lining fabric. And then at the end it says to cut 1 cm from every edge of every piece of stabiliser before inserting it. You could just cut the pieces 2cm shorter and narrower to begin with.

And one of the pockets has interfacing you cut in half and throw half away, because the fabric is folded over the half you use. It seems ridiculous.

Ailbhe Jun 23, 2023

So this is for an English teacher and first I thought I'd put three novels in A Handbag and then the whole idea evolved but ALSO it's definitely looking at the stars so really I think I should just be glad I didn't buy any guttering. It's three books in a bag and nobody needs to know it came from Wilde ideas. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jun 26, 2023

Starting something new today. I've unfolded my big table and extended it by putting an A1 drawing board on top. It's fine as long as I don't lean on the edges. And now I'm cutting the paper pattern and reading the instructions.

So far, it seems really good. Lots of helpful notation for how to cut out and assemble for best results. I expect this to teach me much more than I thought it would about making a shirt. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jun 26, 2023

This is the first time I've drawn a thread but the instructions (first image) are very clear so I'm following them. The linen I'm working with is shoddily spun so the thread kept pulling apart, rather than breaking -- like teasing cotton wool apart. But I managed in the end so now I have a straight edge for my fabric. It was extremely wonky before. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jun 26, 2023

I've ironed the pattern and half the fabric on a towel on my tabletop so we'll see how we go.

Ailbhe Jun 26, 2023

I've cut the back piece. The instructions include detailed notes on how to mark up the fabric so I'm hoping to rest my hands and then give it a go. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jun 26, 2023

I'm pausing for dinner, watching Rick Astley at Glastonbury, and eating spaghetti with tomato based sauce on my cutting surface because there is nowhere else in this room to sit or to put a plate. That's white linen.

Ailbhe Jun 27, 2023

I'm now unpinning the paper pattern from each piece one at a time, checking I've transferred markings as I go, and sewing each stage in strict order of instructions. Because my fabric has no right or wrong side I've already made an error. I've topstitched the wrong side of the yoke so the pleats for ease are wrong. Unpicker time. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jun 27, 2023

I fixed that, but the next stages involve ironing, for which I will have to stand, so I'm having a break.

Ailbhe Jun 27, 2023

I've ironed the yoke seams and topstitched them down, and stay-stitched and basted all around the neckline and armscyes, and lost my sewing machine manual, and fixed the issue with repeatedly breaking thread by replacing the needle with a finer one. I think I was using a jeans needle. Oops.

Next time I make a shirt I'll use a more rigid fabric or starch it first or both. This is excessively drapey.

Ailbhe Jun 28, 2023

I've attached the facings to the sleeve turnups and realised I should have trimmed the seams inside the yoke before I sewed the shoulders on. Oops. Too late now. If it's terrible I can add Decorative Topstitching to hold them in place. I'll remember next time. But I've just done ironing so I'm resting again.

Ailbhe Jun 28, 2023

The sleeves are ready to pin - baste - sew to the shirt but this will involve finding a large surface and then basting by hand, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow. I'm tired enough that I might make ridiculous mistakes.

The instructions say at one point to baste everything and try it on and then sew, but I think that might only apply to the side seams?

Ailbhe Jun 29, 2023

The sleeves are attached to the shoulders. Next I need to press those seams, trim, and fell them. I can't figure out what that's going to be like; there are five layers where the yoke is attached to the front or back, and that's going to be folded over inside?! But lots of men's shirts actually exist, so it must be POSSIBLE.

Ailbhe Jun 29, 2023

Oh dear, ironing really does help, I resent this fact so much. I also need to figure out how to baste fabric that's slithering like an overexcited toddler covered in sunscreen they squirted on themselves.

Ailbhe Jun 30, 2023

I'd like to thank my physiotherapist for enabling me to grip a handsewing needle and the fabric so that I could do all this horrible basting so that I can do some annoying ironing so that I can get to the SEWING part of this. My hands ache but I can rest for a while now. #Sewing #SewingWhileDisabled

Ailbhe Jun 30, 2023

To sew near the edge of the folded seam, I set the needle over to the left -- when I try to sew a fold like this with the needle centred, the right hand side of the presser foot often picks the edge of the fold up slightly. This way stops that.

Ailbhe Jul 1, 2023

I'm removing basting stitches with tweezers because my own fingertips won't grasp the thread.

By the time this shirt is finished it's going to be so handled and crumpled that it will look like it's been slept in. #SewingWhileDisabled #Sewing

Ailbhe Jul 2, 2023

I'm trying to figure out how to make the collar. I don't understand. It's complicated and I don't like it. Why did I decide to make a shirt? Why am I sewing at all? I should go and sit in a cave and eat berries.

Ailbhe Jul 2, 2023

Ohhhhhh, clipping the CORNERS. That's actually kind of magically necessary. I'm stopping for now because the next bit is clipping all the seams and pressing, and I'm a million times too tired. And I think I want the big ironing board, not the little sleeve board I've used for most of the "press one seam" stuff.

Ailbhe Jul 2, 2023

My first hand-sewn buttonhole. I used Nicole Rudolph's recent video and it works. For my first one I used a very stable weave cambric, but I'm going to practice on the terrifying slithery linen too. The shirt only needs six buttonholes total so that's ok.
#Sewing #Buttonholes
https://youtu.be/Z6C4DUW0bho

The Ultimate Guide to Hand Sewing Buttonholes

YouTube

Ailbhe Jul 2, 2023

Ok I think this is going to be a shirt one day. It needs quite a lot of work but it's basically going to function as a garment.

Ailbhe Jul 3, 2023

I've started: got out the big ironing board and I'm now ironing a bit, clipping seams a bit, ironing a bit, clipping seams a bit. It'll probably be fine. All the grey basting is coming out. It'll probably be fine. What's the worst that can happen? I wish I hadn't thought that. #sewing

Ailbhe Jul 3, 2023

I think

it's a collar #Sewing

Ailbhe Jul 4, 2023

Many thanks to @elfkin for his advice on how to achieve sleeve. This is the armpit of the shirt, where two felled seams cross over each other and I sang hymns of praise to my walking foot, which I got in September 2020 and have never regretted.

I did recently buy a felling foot, on Chris's advice, but it was completely unsuited to this job so I haven't used it properly yet. Wrong fabric. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jul 7, 2023

I finished the shirt. It's a little short so I'll make it longer in future, but it's GREAT. I'm so pleased with it. The linen is much too drapey and soft for the pattern but it's a functional garment and all the internal seams finished nicely so the wearer is almost completely unaware of the clo once clothed. #Sewing

Ailbhe Jul 7, 2023

I have found an old sheet with which to line a curtain so tomorrow I'll make a curtain. Yay!

Ailbhe Jul 10, 2023

I made that curtain yesterday, which was straightforward except for the metal eyelets at the top, and today I'm hoping to make a dress or a top in ace flag stripes. I'm a little concerned about the pattern matching but it might be fine. I may have to make the sleeves out of plain purple or black. #Sewing #Asexual

Ailbhe Jul 10, 2023

I have gone downstairs and made people help me clear the paperwork and tech debris off the dining table. This will be the first project for which I have more than an A1 sized space for drawing and cutting. I'm really looking forward to it. I have to match stripes so space will REALLY help.

I just need to wait until after lunch. Dining, after all. #Sewing

ashley Jul 10, 2023

@artbyailbhe friday afternoon i stopped at goodwill for an iron as it somehow got lost in the move, and also a lamp for sewing, and they had a huge 3x6 foot desk for $30, which i bought instantly. worked great for cutting that night! and now i’m sitting at it with my work laptop, instead of at the awkward plastic 2x4 foot table that folds in half.

Ailbhe Jul 10, 2023

@rabcyr we have almost exactly the average amount of space per person for people living in Britain, and we've already filled it too much for another table. BUT I might be able to persuade them to let me at the dining table again.

ashley Jul 10, 2023

@artbyailbhe we went from a 300 sq ft travel trailer to a 2100 sq ft home. 4 people, 1 dog. tons of space! this desk is all mine!

Ailbhe Jul 10, 2023

@rabcyr we're 5 people in almost 1000sqft. Which is about average. Unlike 300sqft/4, which is not.

ashley Jul 10, 2023

@artbyailbhe that can be pretty tight, especially if it’s an apartment and you don’t have your own outdoor space. number of rooms can be more important than overall space, as well. we have the perfect amount of rooms, but the house could be 500 sq ft smaller overall and it’d be better, as less to heat and cool!

Ailbhe Jul 10, 2023

@rabcyr it's a 12-foot-wide mid-terrace which we converted the attic of, and we do have a garden. So it's 4 bedrooms and 1-2 reception, because there's folding doors, which is useful. What I'm most pleased about is that when we had the building work done we got toilets on every floor. These houses were built in 1899 and the plumbing was all at the back on the ground floor, because the toilets were originally just outside the back door.

ashley Jul 10, 2023

@artbyailbhe sounds neat! american homes and apartments since like idk the 70s are horribly prone to bad layout. so there’s lot of space, but a good hunk is just awkward to use.

@rabcyr a neighbour with 2 teenagers advised us not to just knock the two downstairs rooms into one because they'd done that and later rebuilt the wall. So we have folding doors.

ashley Jul 11, 2023

@artbyailbhe we bought a travel trailer with a separate bedroom/lounge for the kids with its own real door, and real doors on our bedroom at the other end. there’s really only one layout like that, and even the ones larger than ours aren’t conducive to more than 2 people full time.

housing standards for mental well-being only care about room count (0.75 people per room, iirc).