Hi everyone. It’s been a while. I hope you are keeping well and you doing more of those little or not so little things that make you happy during this pandemic. We are a second national lockdown here in the UK, I feel like we kind of know what to expect. I am well. Family is well and healthy.
Anyhow, I wanted to come on here to say hello. If I am not here, you can find me on instagram. As I had a bit of time on my hands, I have been tasting the waters of you tube. There is a new video today of this pretty skirt I’m wearing. I will show you how to pattern cut and sew it. Hope you check it out.
Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a great and restful weekend.
Most dress stands are a size 12 which isn’t a standard “12”, this is used meant for testing garments on models. So if you want to alter the sand to your body measurements or simply want to sew for friend, this is the post for you. Bear in mind you can make the stand larger.
What you need:
dress stand
measuring tape
pins
scissors
wadding ( you can this from crafts supply store or ebay
Firstly if your stand has a removeable covering, please remove it.
To determine where to fill in the wadding, measure the dress form and measure yourself at bust ( around the largest part ), waist ( smallest part ) and hip ( the fullest part ).
Cut a piece of wadding, pin and fill on the parts ensuring you smooth out the material. In my case, I didn’t have use a lot of material as I am not so full at hips and bust so it was a matter of increasing the inches around. See pic. If your stand needs more filling, build up layer by layer starting out with bigger pieces followed by small pieces.
Sew to connect the lines so the material properly contours around the stand
Thank you for stopping by. Talk to you soon. X, Leli
When I started out exploring the sewing world 2 years ago, didn’t necessarily know where to start. Having faced that challenge, I want to share a few sewing essentials you need to get you started.
1.Sewing Machine
This is probably the first sewing essential unless you want to sew by hand, which I wouldn’t recommend unless you have to. You don’t need to get the most expensive machine for the start. My first machine was from Lidl for under 70 pounds which I upgraded later along my journey. Any machine should have basic functions. Also you don’t need an over-locker/ Serger, you can use the zig-zag stitch to clean off the raw edges and keep the fabric from fraying.
2.Fabric Scissors
Only use these for fabric, yes only fabric. It makes the cutting process easy and enjoyable when you scissors are sharp and snapping not onto your fabric.
3.Paper Scissors
You can use these for cutting out your commercial patterns and pattern cutting your designs.
4.Pins
Basically I like to use pins to attached fabric unto pattern paper pieces before cutting and equally to match your fabric pieces together.
5.Seam Ripper
I honestly have a love and hate relationship with this tiny tool, but you can not live without it. Mistakes are going to be made people, or maybe you sew something and don’t like how to comes out. Since I sew in the night most of the time, it has happened a couple of times that I sewed a garment on the wrong side of the fabric (insert crying emoji), then I had to unpick the seams.
6.ClearRuler/ Pattern Master
These are good for making sure things are lining up correctly. Get a pattern master if you can, its great for defining those curves especially around the armhole and neckline.
7.Measuring Tape
I always have measuring tape around me my neck or within my reach. This comes in handy when taking your measurements and if you want to make alterations.
8.Iron/ Board
Everyone has a iron in their home. In the past I used to ignore using the iron when sewing until I came to understand how important it is to press the seams whilst sewing which makes your seams lay flat and gives the garment a polished look.
P.S: This blog post was drafted written in January, yes before Pandemic its been in “drafted”since then. I hope you are keeping well. Thank you for stopping by. If there is something you have been putting off for a while please just do it, you can not wait for that thing to be ready. You will learn and improve along the way.
In today’s post i’m reviewing McCall’s Pattern 7726. I remember seeing some amazing pictures and posts from the sewing community on Instagram and thinking, wow I really like this pattern already. So I went on and bought it. I opted for the shorts ( view A ) for the start. There’s definitely going to be more garments from this pattern, and I think view D would be perfect for autumn or so. Anyways, let me stop dreaming ahead lol. Did I mention that I’m in love with these shorts, after all I made them ( wink ).
Pattern Sizing: I cut out size 14 and altered it to fit my body
Did it looklike thephoto/drawing on the pattern once you were done sewing with it? Yes I believe it did.
Were the instructions easy to follow? I would say not so easy and that’s only because of the zip fly. I googled and stumbled upon a you tube tutorial by the amazing Brittany J Jones followed along, which was a huge help.
What did you particularly like about the pattern? The pleats at the waistline, think they quite flattering.
Fabric used? Ankara Wax Print
Would you sew it again? Yes definitely, might use different fabrics.
Wouldyou recommend it to others? Yes, most definitely.
Hello everyone. Hope you guys have are well. For those of you who have stuck with me thank you and for anyone new welcome. Apologies for abandoning this platform for months, I won’t even bore you with my excuses. I would like to know where are you guys reading from, what would you like to see more on this blog?
Today I just wanted to come on here and say hi and also share some pictures of this cool raglan jacket I pattern cut and made. Sleeve fabric is this cool cotton mix from my fav fabric store in Brixton and bodice is ankara wax fabric. Thank you for coming today.
