Show threadAilbheJul 16, 2023
When I sew, I put my thread offcuts into a little bag clipped near my sewing machine. Very tiny snippets of fabric go in there too. Only 100% natural fibres though, because of the reasons.
Show threadAilbheJul 16, 2023
I got my cardboard bobbins of old basting thread, which I save for handsewing, and started stuffing and quilting the ball. #Sewing #ScrapBusting
Show threadAilbheJul 18, 2023
I finished my pincushion! Now we find out if it's better than holding everything in my mouth until I get back to a table. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 19, 2023
Yesterday I went back to this top. I slit all the seams from hem to under the bust, and pinned wildly. I clipped a few curves to make things work better. Today I'm going to sew up the amendments and have a think.
https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110300145057261071
Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Stage one, the bust alteration is good. Next, waist alteration, I think.

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Show threadAilbheJul 19, 2023
I started by sewing yesterday's modifications and taking photos so I could see. It's basically the right size -- the places where it was much too big have been almost eliminated. After taking these photos I spent the rest of my sewing session trying to fix the shape of the bust, but I stopped before I got tired enough to make mistakes. Even before modifying today, it fit the various essential measurements well enough to allow for following my basic shape and allowing movement, breathing etc.
Show threadAilbheJul 19, 2023
I did wake up tired today so it was all very slow. But that's an #mecfs thing, not the fault of the garment.
Show threadAilbheJul 20, 2023
I've started today by unpicking the seams either side of the back panel, from the hem to near the armscye, and pinning to make it slightly wider across the hips. I think that will remove the triangle in the small of my back. But I'm expecting to need additional fabric, not just what's in the original pieces, so I'll try this on pinned rather than baste. When I can stand, I mean. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 20, 2023
I pinned the back again and I think this works. I definitely think this works well enough to attempt to make a new pattern. So now I'm going to iron it to eradicate my pen marks and then go over both sides of every seam with marker, unpick it, and trace it.
Show threadAilbheJul 20, 2023
... first I'm sorting my scraps of tracing paper on case any will be useful
Show threadAilbheJul 20, 2023

I had used orange frixion pen to mark the fabric as I was pinning it etc so I used black to trace along all the basted seams on both sides before unpicking them.

Then I could lay the fabric flat under my tracing paper, and copy the new black seams in orange. And finally I used the original pattern under the newly traced one to see how different it is -- very. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheJul 21, 2023
Truly I can procrastinate this process forever. I know doing this work now will lead to years of blissful clothes-making but I want to skip this step.
Show threadAilbheJul 22, 2023
Yesterday I transferred the pattern to paper and cut the pieces out, but today I realised that I'd been so tired I skipped all the marks, and also I'd cut the edge furthest from me really poorly, so today I fixed that and started assembling. I'm again really tired so I didn't get much done. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 23, 2023

I did it! It's not ironed but I'm so pleased with myself. I want to finish it off now -- seams and neckline and buttons -- but I'm satisfied that my paper pattern is good enough.

After taking these photos I had a phonecall in the warmest bit of my space before changing out of it and now the underarms are a bit ick. I'm going to rinse them in cold water and then finish sewing. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheJul 23, 2023
I'm going to try to design a sleeve. The sleeve head in the sheet at the back of "The Collins Complete Book of NEEDLECRAFT" (1981) is about the right size to start with, and there's a diagram of how to change the shapes inside.
Show threadAilbheJul 23, 2023
I used the green gingham mockup to test my sleeve shape, because I have ZERO spare fabric, and then made sleeves. Tomorrow I might get as far as facings. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 24, 2023
I'm trying to decide how much I need in terms of facings. I might only want to bind the collar and reinforce the placket to hold the buttons. I'm not sure how to decide.
Show threadAilbheJul 24, 2023
... I don't have any buttons I like. I think I'm going to cover buttons instead. Somebody stop me.
Show threadAilbheJul 24, 2023
I've made pattern pieces for neckline facings and cut them out of the fabric scraps.
Show threadAilbheJul 24, 2023
I've done a button and a buttonhole. I'm so close to finishing. It's just that the finishing is the time consuming, fiddly part. And involves a LOT of ironing. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 24, 2023
I've typed up instructions so that next time I make this I know what order to do things in so that all the felled seams are neat, and tomorrow I'll do more actual sewing. I need to do buttonholes and attach and cover buttons, fell down the seams, and finally hem it.
Show threadAilbheJul 25, 2023
Mended jeans -- belt loop tore a hole in the back so I reinforced both rear side belt loops and reattached the flapping one. #Sewing #Mending
Show threadAilbheJul 27, 2023
Today I mended a duvet cover using my new vintage sewing machine from 1940 (not to be confused with my old modern machine from 1990-ish) and it was SO EASY. The extra space in what I believe we call the "harp" made a huge huge difference.
#Sewing #Mending #SewingMachine (link to thread with pictures of the vintage machine: https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110780146951341100)
Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 4 images The case of my 1940 Singer 201K handcranked sewing machine. The way the storage and case works is so, so simple and clever. #SewingMachine #Sewing

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Show threadAilbheJul 28, 2023
Today I tried to fell the seams on the top I'm making and when I was trimming the seam allowance I cut through the actual garment in TWO places, though I'll be able to mend it by sewing it down to the folded seam inside, and then when I tried sewing it I went WILDLY wrong. I think my felling foot can only really handle straight lines and *mild* curves, not the bust on this shirt's princess seams. I mean the princess seams on this shirt's bust. I'm so tired.
Show threadAilbheJul 28, 2023
Yes, of course I'm basting them *from now on*, I just thought I didn't have to. Pff.
Show threadAilbheJul 29, 2023
Felling down the curves on princess seams for a bust that is 25% bigger than the underbust is *tricky*. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheJul 30, 2023
Hemmed it. Only buttons and buttonholes yet to do. Memo to self: sort out hem length on the pattern pieces, they were crenellated like a moderately well-defended English church.
Show threadAilbheJul 31, 2023
The top fits. I can do my hair while wearing it, which involves a lot of moving my arms right around behind and above my head. I can stand up straight or slouch -- which makes it look slouchy but doesn't make it tight anywhere or seem to strain any of the seams.
Show threadAilbheAug 1, 2023
So today I'm looking at my chair cover. I bought the fabric AGES ago -- possibly years? -- but I was going to wait until I had rewebbed the seat. I'm not going to do that. The cover I'm replacing was made with a remnant which wasn't quite big enough but it will still give me a good idea of how to start, I'll just have much more in the way of seam allowances so I'll be able to finish it better. I think my mother made it 15 years ago. #Sewing #Mending #Upholstery
Show threadAilbheAug 1, 2023
Unpicked AND LABELLED the two seat side pieces, both of which were originally pieced because there wasn't enough fabric and my mother wasn't working from a pattern of any kind. I'm too tired to trace them today but I can do it tomorrow perhaps. I notice that they're not identical. #Sewing #mecfs
Show threadAilbheAug 2, 2023
Today I am mending and altering: first, shortening bra straps 3½"/8.5cm (folded length)
Show threadAilbheAug 3, 2023
And today I did some hand mending, because this shirt is too feeble to darn with a machine zigzag but not quite destroyed enough to go into the rag bag. When I got it, it was smart enough to wear for parent-teacher meetings. #Mending #Darning #Sewing
Show threadAilbheAug 4, 2023

So I'm back at the chair cover. I've unpicked all the pieces I think I need to, to make pattern pieces, and I've started tracing around them. But I've realised I need to learn a lot more about inserting a zip, because this looks very neat and I don't know how to do that.

#Sewing

https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110813772022830155

Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 3 images So today I'm looking at my chair cover. I bought the fabric AGES ago -- possibly years? -- but I was going to wait until I had rewebbed the seat. I'm not going to do that. The cover I'm replacing was made with a remnant which wasn't quite big enough but it will still give me a good idea of how to start, I'll just have much more in the way of seam allowances so I'll be able to finish it better. I think my mother made it 15 years ago. #Sewing #Mending #Upholstery

Mastodon.ART
Show threadAilbheAug 4, 2023
I have cut out the three pattern pieces for the arms of the chair and only needed to make one change when I draped the paper on the chair, so I'm confident that when I cut the fabric and baste things together it will work ok. I wrote on every paper piece NO SEAM ALLOWANCE so I hope I remember that.
Show threadAilbheAug 5, 2023

Decided to prewash at 60C, so started the day by putting 400cm x 141cm of fabric in the washing machine. Now I'm back on my bed with coffee, looking at the last pieces of the previous chair cover which I have yet to transfer to paper pattern pieces.

The label on the parcel says 100% cotton but the website info panel says 52% cotton 48% polyester. #FibreContent

Show threadAilbheAug 5, 2023
My fabric is drying, but not yet dry, because it's folded over. Four metres is a lot. And I finished tracing all my pattern pieces, in spite of getting bored and covering up the unused holes in my pegboard as a break. https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110837783377549859
Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image I got tired of transferring chair shapes to pattern paper so I decided to improve my sewing space. This desk is permanently in the room, but when I need to I can clamp an A1 drawing board to a little folding table for a large flat surface. #SewingSpace #Organising

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Show threadAilbheAug 6, 2023
I had to iron and trace around it with chalk in stages, because although the pattern piece fits on my A1 drawing board, that's because it has no seam allowance. So that was a bit fiddly. But once the piece was cut out, I could sit and watch telly while I threadmark it. #Sewing #SewingSpace
Show threadAilbheAug 7, 2023

My elbow hurts from threadmarking but I've done the back of the back, the front of the back, the seat, the front of the front, and the backs of both wings so far. I've cut out the fronts of the arms but not marked them, and I've yet to cut out the fronts of the wings, the insides and tops of the arms, and the outsides of the arms.

Then I need to make a pattern for the seat cushion, and use that as a practice for making and attaching piping, and fitting a zip.

Then I can assemble the cover.

Show threadAilbheAug 7, 2023

All the pieces are cut out and only the two smallest have not been threadmarked. Tomorrow I'll make a pattern for the cushion (I bought the foam ages ago, wrapped it in a sheet temporarily, and have been sitting on it ever since) and hopefully cut the cushion pieces.

I will need to teach myself piping. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheAug 8, 2023

I've cut the pieces for the seat cushion. I think I'm going to make the bottom of the cushion from scraps pieced together. The two pieces for the three long-zipped box sides were as long as the width of the bolt of cloth so what's left is *extremely* tidy and I have lots of interesting scraps for antimacassars and so on.

Having a little rest now and then I'll see about finding my rolls of zippers.

Show threadAilbheAug 8, 2023
Found a zipper roll and cut a bit of zip long enough to open all three sides of the cushion, then added a second slider in the opposite direction so it opens from the middle to both edges. Hopefully that will make it easier to get the cushion in and out when I wash the cover.
Show threadAilbhe
Made the rectangle for the bottom of the cushion using three scraps from cutting the wiggly shapes for the main chair cover. I've run out of ways to procrastinate the piping. Hm. #Sewing
Aug 8, 2023 at 12:53pmWeb
Show threadAilbheAug 8, 2023

PINS ARE SHARP

*bleeding very slightly*

Show threadAilbheAug 9, 2023

Basting in the zippered panel for the three sides of the cushion, which is fine until I reach the curved nose. I do not like sewing the curved nose. But I think this is ok?

When I've finished basting the top edge with the curve, I'll do the bottom edge and see if the cushion fits. It *should* but I'd rather find out before I sew a million tiny stitches with a hand cranked machine. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheAug 9, 2023

Finished the fiddly basting, put the inside-out cover on the cushion and pinned the base in place, and *unzipped the cover* so I could just sew everything.

It's not perfect, and the internal seams are not finished, but it's done. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheAug 10, 2023

I've started basting and pinning the pieces of the chair cover together. The wings are ok. Both sides of the arms are ok. The front of the arms seems to be too big but it's hard to tell how much right now.

I stitch-marked the original seam lines in light blue, I'm basting in dark blue, and my pinheads are yellow. I'm really glad I stitch-marked because the chalk is almost completely invisible on every fiddly curve after basting. #Sewing

Edited to add: the close-up is a much closer colour.

Show threadAilbheAug 10, 2023
It's 27C in my room but there's lots of air flow so I don't feel too bad. I've chalked a line 1.5cm away from the first draft (using my NEW TOY prym mouse basically in mid air) and pinned that at the front of the arm, and now I'm having coffee while I recover.
Show threadAilbheAug 10, 2023
I've started the final basting for several seams - red thread, biggest stitch on the handcranked machine. When these are done I'll apply the piping to the front of the arms and wings and when THAT'S done I'll do the final stitching on all the seams, remove the three colours of working-in-stages thread, and hopefully finish the internal seams. Or at least pink them.
Show threadAilbheAug 10, 2023
The big working area of the vintage machine makes it much easier for upholstery.
Show threadAilbheAug 11, 2023
Salvaged the piping cord from the previous chair cover. #Reuse #Sewing
Show threadAilbheAug 11, 2023
Ok. I'm machine-basting the back together and then I'll machine-baste the zips on and then... Um. I guess I'll have to make the piping.
Show threadAilbheAug 11, 2023

I'm actually attempting to baste the seat into place. It's extremely gathered so that the seams won't be stressed if someone stands on the chair and all their weight is in the middle.

If I re-webbed the seat of the chair I wouldn't need to do this but that's beyond me at present.

Show threadAilbheAug 12, 2023
I've placed a zip where the chair-back joins the wing-back and the arm-side, and next I need to sew it in place. But I'm scared I'll ruin it somehow. I guess the answer is Basting Again. It's always Basting Again. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheAug 12, 2023
This shape is so complicated and the fabric is so heavy that it's EXTREMELY difficult to know what bit I'm attaching to where while I'm actually at the sewing machine.
Show threadAilbheAug 12, 2023
I'd photograph my progress but it looks like a big pile of crumpled fabric and a headache, so it wouldn't clarify anything.
Show threadAilbheAug 13, 2023

Fittings are harder on a chair because it can't hold the pins for me while I fix things.

I'm tightening up around the... armscye? where the arms join the body and I will need to figure out how to keep the skirt tugged down firmly.

Show threadAilbheAug 13, 2023
I've fitted one wing. I'll match the other to it tomorrow, and then start finalising the arms. It is INCREDIBLY hard to get the colour in photos. The camera just leaches all the colour away. It's a greyish-green but it's GREEN, definitely. Augh. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheAug 14, 2023

Matching the second ear was so easy! I've also updated the pattern for those pieces so that if I have to do this again I'm starting from a better place.

Next I'll join the arms to the wings in that wrinkly corner, then put the piping and fronts on the arms. And then it's hemming. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheAug 14, 2023
I've put the front on one arm. I haven't trimmed ANY of the seams yet and I'll have to because it's on a lumpy cushion of four layers of its own heavy fabric at the moment, but it's on and the second one will be a million times easier. #Sewing
Show threadAilbheAug 14, 2023

The world is 86% pins

And this thing I'm sewing is technically a "loose" cover but I've just done up its zips and tugged it into place and it's not loose. It's form-fitting. It's a snug cover.

Show threadAilbheAug 15, 2023

THAT'S IT

no more until September

I'm declaring Finishing Amnesty. The chair is covered, the ends are hemmed, I'm going to sit in it like this for at least two weeks before I take it off again. It's EXHAUSTING getting it on and off for fitting. #Sewing

Show threadAilbheAug 17, 2023
So yesterday I darned a shirt and today I patched a top and sewed a bunch of stitch length samples. The chair cover was such a major project that I'm going to need to recover from the physical effort.
Show threadAilbheJan 14, 2024
Today I ordered sacking and felt, because Rob helped me take bits of the original upholstery off enough to see what we need to fix the seat. Then we put the loose cover back on.
Show threadAilbheAug 15, 2023
I'm matching the second arm and it's easier but, like, not *easy*. And still all pins.
Show threadKincaidAug 8, 2023
@artbyailbhe *takes a note*