Mastodawn

Ailbhe Aug 20, 2023

Cut out one set of underwear pieces. Need to find more fabric for another.

Ailbhe Aug 21, 2023

I did make the pants yesterday, and mended some others. I need a slightly different pattern now that I'm not lying in bed all the time. I originally started making my own because shop ones gave me bedsores at elastic and seam pressure points. #mecfs #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 2, 2023

Today I've started ironing my dungarees. The legs are wider than my ironing board. They are vast and will contain multitudes. I'm taking lots of breaks from standing but ironing is one of those tasks which make a clear and visible difference so it's good for feeling like I'm achieving something. #sewing

Ailbhe Sep 2, 2023

I ironed, finished some of the piecing seams, added the straps, and put in buttonholes with my Greist buttonhole maker. Tomorrow I hope to tidy the stray threads, add buttons, and wear it. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 2, 2023

I think it wants appliqué.

Ailbhe Sep 3, 2023

FINISHED. I will probably do nicer seam finishes inside sometime, and it will probably grow appliqué over time, but I'll be wearing these now! #Sewing #dungarees (Yes, I can just about fit in one leg)

Ailbhe Sep 4, 2023

I got so bored I made a remote control holder for my freshly-covered armchair. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 11, 2023

To go with my armchair cover, a desk-chair cover. The red was ok but clashy, and adding the black just made it miserable to look at. So I'm using the last few inches from the roll to make it a matching cover. First pin/clip to get an idea of what shape I'm going to need, then I'll baste, then decide on hems and sew it on the machine. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 11, 2023

Finished! I don't know why I put in a little pocket, other than that it saved me from having to cut and hem the selvedge? #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 12, 2023

Today's #sewing was ironing. Three metres of cotton shirting in preparation for making another from my McCall's pattern. This one will be longer and have sleeves, but will be of a reasonably civilised fabric, so that's exciting. The first one was made of extreeeeeeeemely slippery linen and was like sewing a teflon-coated octopus.

Ailbhe Sep 19, 2023

Today I'm lengthening the shirt pattern - starting with two inches front and back and on each sleeve, and I'll see how that suits my victim.

Ailbhe Sep 19, 2023

Cut out the fronts, back, and sleeves. Smaller bits tomorrow. Tired now.

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

The blue I'm using for this shirt is School Uniform or possibly Nurses Scrubs. But the pleats are in the back and the yoke is on. Attaching the fronts to the shoulders now. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

I've topstitched the yoke facing into place and it involved more ironing. Next is more basting, then putting away the body of the shirt and starting on the sleeves.

I have read the instructions for the continuous lap next to the cuffs and I strongly suspect them of being very "now draw the rest of the owl."

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

I'm sewing this at 15 stitches an inch, as a compromise between easy to undo errors and small enough to look ok. I can see myself doing the next one at 20, with 30 for topstitching, if none of this one needs unpicking. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

Last time I made a shirt, the collar confused me until I had finished it. This time, the sleeve end and cuff are extremely confusing so I hope they'll also become obvious as I plough through.

But I am afraid of the continuous lap. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

I think I have sewn the continuous lap but I don't understand how it's supposed to look. There's no mitre at the top of the split or anything.

Ailbhe Sep 22, 2023

Ohhhh, I *see*!

Ailbhe Sep 24, 2023

Today I'm attempting to attach sleeves. I used fabric clips to match notches, then pins to get the pieces lying flat together, then machine-basted, then unpicked puckered bits and rebasted them, and now I'm having a rest before I change the stitch length and nail them on for good. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 25, 2023

I was sufficiently tired to double double check and *anyway* attach one sleeve inside out. So I'm glad I only basted. I'll unpick today.

Ailbhe Sep 25, 2023

Today I have unpicked and rebasted one sleeve, fully stitched both sleeves, and unpicked both sets of basting.

Next is trimming half one side's seam allowance, ironing in the other side's, and stitching all THAT. So I'm not congratulating myself on my lack of puckering just yet.

Ailbhe Sep 25, 2023

The only downside to my beautiful sewing machine (see link below) is that using one hand to crank it means I only have one hand to guide the fabric. I'm considering my options. #Sewing 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

Mastodon.ART

Ailbhe Sep 26, 2023

Trimmed seam, ironed seam, folded seam, pinned seam, ironed seam, basted seam, ironed seam, stitched seam (swearing elided for brevity).

The inside isn't great but the outside is fine. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 27, 2023

Today I finished the seams up the sides and along the sleeves. Is there an easy way to handle sewing the seam flat along the arms? I tried two different ways of scrunching the tube up and sewing kind of inside a tunnel/bucket but neither was satisfactory. And wouldn't be possible with a slimmer sleeve, like on one of my own garments. #Sewing

Ailbhe Sep 28, 2023

I was really tired when I cut this out and today I discovered that a lot of collar pieces were cut with the folds in the wrong place. Luckily I have enough spare fabric to redo it. Yikes. https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/111093363364440828 #sewing #mecfs

Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Cut out the fronts, back, and sleeves. Smaller bits tomorrow. Tired now.

Mastodon.ART

Ailbhe Oct 1, 2023

I've started on the collar and it says to trim seams and turn right side out and baste but I'm pretty sure I have to press it first. I can't imagine how I'll baste it neatly without pressing it. #Sewing

Ailbhe Oct 4, 2023

I've been too cold and tired for anything requiring precision but my feet got cold so... #Sewing

Ailbhe Oct 12, 2023

I'm still too brain fogged to tackle the collar and cuffs in the shirt, but I did make a cover for my A1 drawing board, various cutting boards, A2 sheet of heavy interfacing, and other things that are big and flat and need to be stored upright because that A1 board on top of a folding table *is* my large horizontal surface and I don't have one for just putting things on.
#sewing #organisation

Ailbhe Oct 12, 2023

I'll finish the internal seams one day.

Ailbhe Oct 17, 2023

So it's day 35 of making this shirt but yesterday I did iron the collar pieces and pinned the outside and facing to the inside already on the shirt. So I'm making progress. I really do find the collar very confusing, both times I've made it so far, and I need my brain to be unfoggy to attempt it. #Sewing
https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/111053979534985785

Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Today's #sewing was ironing. Three metres of cotton shirting in preparation for making another from my McCall's pattern. This one will be longer and have sleeves, but will be of a reasonably civilised fabric, so that's exciting. The first one was made of extreeeeeeeemely slippery linen and was like sewing a teflon-coated octopus.

Mastodon.ART

Ailbhe Oct 17, 2023

This is the previous attempt, in drapey linen instead of crisp cotton. A new shirt every 2½ months might be excessive but how else am I to learn? https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110672112282380483

Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image 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

Mastodon.ART

Ailbhe Oct 17, 2023

I think I need extra instructions for the collar. I don't know what they are though.

Ailbhe Oct 17, 2023

It's the bit where I attach the lapelly parts to the placket facings. That's where I do not know what the instructions intend me to do even after I do it (other confusing bits become clear after I've followed through in bewilderment). #Sewing

Ailbhe Oct 22, 2023

Well, if I've learned anything from this project, it's that "too tired to sew" is "MUCH too tired to cut out." #Sewing #mecfs

Ailbhe Oct 24, 2023

I think it's day 42 of making a shirt and today I ironed and hemmed the facings and the, er, hem. So that's something.

Ailbhe Oct 26, 2023

All that's left to do is attach the cuffs and do the buttons and buttonholes. I just assembled the cuffs just now. The victim tried the shirt on yesterday and it's a good fit -- I added 2" to the length of the body and the sleeves, and although next time I'll add another 3" to the body this length is fine for most things. I think it will come untucked when cycling uphill. #Sewing

Ailbhe Oct 27, 2023

Buttonholes on the Singer 201k with the Greist buttonholer are an absolute doddle. I'm not yet completely accurate with my starting point placement but everything else is just drinking tea and turning the handle.
https://mastodon.art/@artbyailbhe/110820830320708682

Ailbhe (@[email protected])

Attached: 3 images Today my Greist buttonholer arrived. It comes with five templates, a thingy to cover the feed dogs so that only the buttonholer will move the fabric, and a sense of simplicity and elegance. It's like a walking foot: when the shaft for the presser foot is screwed in place, the lever will fit over the screw that holds the needle in place, and the movement of the needle will operate the buttonholer mechanism. If kept oiled and free of rust, it will last forever. #Sewing #SewingMachine #Buttonhole

Mastodon.ART

Ailbhe Oct 30, 2023

Ok for neater buttons, marking my spots on the back of the fabric helps a lot. With more practice I'll get better at knowing what I'm doing.

Ailbhe Nov 5, 2023

Augh, shirt got finished, worn, and sent for laundry, all without a photo. Today I'm mending winter pyjamas.

Ailbhe Nov 6, 2023

I'm making myself a waistcoat for practice at various techniques and I just realised MY PATTERN HAS FAKE POCKETS I'm going to set things on fire #sewing #pockets #PocketsOfSedition

@artbyailbhe No jury would convict you.