Monday, 15 June 2020

10 storage tips for your sewing space

With many of us still stuck in various forms of coronavirus lockdown and encouraged to spend more time at home, now is a great opportunity to get your sewing space in order (if you haven't done so already!). Here I'm sharing my tips for organising your supplies, to tidy your space and save time hunting through the mounds of fabric, notions and patterns.

1. Organise your patterns by garment type.

This really speeds up the rummaging process in your pattern box or drawer, since patterns generally come in quite similar sleeves, indistinguishable until you pull them out individually. I sort mine into: coats, dresses/jumpsuits, blouses, trousers, skirts, lingerie/swimwear, childrenswear and accessories. I put a good thick piece of mounting board at the front of each group, tall enough to be visible above the patterns with the category written at the top so I can immediately jump to the right section.


2. Save yourself  time untangling threads with a bobbin box.

This was a stocking filler I received last Christmas. Made by Prym, mine holds 32 bobbins and cost about £5 (although I've seen cheaper alternatives online), and has been really helpful. Previously, I kept them all in a tin, and found they regularly unraveled themselves and then became entangled in one another. Having them all sat on their sides like this also makes it much easier to see which colours I have in stock.


3. Use bead boxes to organise your hardware.

I've become somewhat obsessed with these! You can get all manner of compartmentalised boxes for sewing supplies, but I highly recommend these ones that are designed for bead storage. Many boxes have annoying little gaps at the top that allow small bits to hop across into the wrong compartment. The walls on these go right up to the lid, so even the most mischievous of notions stay securely separated if the box gets shaken around.

I find these perfect for hardware, which often comes in a plastic film on a bit of cardboard that once opened can't be resealed. More recently, I have started ripping the hardware details from the cardboard and popping them in the compartment too, so that I don't forget what I'm looking at.


They are also wonderfully satisfying for organising buttons. My stash has built up quite substantially in the last few years after inheriting tonnes from both my grandma and a friend who has moved abroad. I whiled away an afternoon (or three!) matching them up and colour-coordinating. So therapeutic :)


4. Keep half-used sheets of tracing paper under your bed.

Or on any other nice big unused floorspace. This is actually my favourite tip since it has saved me a ridiculous amount of time and also cut down waste. I always copy patterns I've bought onto tracing paper and keep the original intact so that I can cut it in a different size in the future. I buy Burda dressmaking paper, because it is fairly cheap and the sheets are larger than most; big enough for pretty much any pattern piece you might need to cut out (150 x 110cm).

I used to iron each sheet before tracing a pattern, and then meticulously fold the leftovers to slide neatly back into the packet. And then get them back out and iron for my next project, get annoyed that the leftovers weren't big enough, and then have to iron a new sheet. This also attracted glares from my husband trying to watch the TV next to me while I rustled away with my enormous sheets of paper!

But now, I have shunned this needless, tedious leftover-folding ritual and instead store the scraps flat in a pile under the bed that I can just pull out and look through for perfect size pieces for whatever project I'm working on. (I put them on top of a piece of mounting board, so they're easier to slide out and back under afterwards).


5. Similarly, keep your printed PDF patterns flat.

These can be really bulky depending on how luxurious you decide to go with your printing paper! They also don't fold well because of all the overlapping paper joins. Again, you can shove them under your bed, or hang them on a coat hanger hooked on the wall as a proud display of your collection.


6. Keep bigger items out of the way in hanging baskets.

If you have a serger, you may have found that the spools very quickly start to take over your sewing area. Even with my fairly humble collection of mainly white and black, the need for four of each takes up significant space. I've found these hanging baskets super useful, both to free-up shelves and to keep the threads colour-coordinated. You could use them for various other bulkier craft items too - fabric or yarn particularly.


7. Package your cut PDF patterns in sandwich bags.

If you buy a lot of PDF patterns like I do, sandwich bags are absolute heroes. Cut the pieces out in tracing paper and use the printed instruction book as the "front cover" for the pattern so that you can easily identify it in your stash.


8. This one's for the knitters - a tip for keeping your needles in pairs.

I keep some of my needles in nice paired rubber point-protectors, particularly if I'm travelling with them. But they are fairly expensive and the thinner needles constantly fall out. For most of my needles that just sit in a bag in the sewing room, I instead use what I'm going to call rubber hair-braiding bands (the internet doesn't seem quite decided on their name...)

I'm sure a lot of people will already use standard rubber bands to keep their needles paired up, but I like these because of their size. You only need to stretch and wrap them around your needles two or three times and they hold very tight. I've heard that some brands have a habit of snapping easily though, so maybe go slightly upmarket (they are still really cheap - Toni and Guy's are £0.85 for 50...)


9. Sort your fabric (and scraps) into similar types and/or weights.

I have a set of IKEA cupboards for mine, and separate into: lightweight cottons and polyesters (top-left), stretch (top-right), heavyweight and technical (bottom-right) and haberdashery fabrics - interfacing, wadding, ribbing etc (bottom-left).

I like to do the same with scraps too, putting them into separate shoe boxes. In both cases, this really helps to quickly see what options you have for different sorts of projects.


10. Keep a record of fabric details.

Cut a small sample from each fabric you purchase and store it on a pinboard or in a scrapbook along with all the details you have about it. I started doing this so that I could check the washing instructions for the garments I made. But it's also a great way to learn about different types of fabric and can act as a fantastic source of reference when buying fabric online. What is trieste again...? Gaberdine? Tulle?


I must confess, I have not been terribly disciplined with this over the years, but with the sudden necessity to buy fabric online during the pandemic, I wish I'd done a better job of it. With all of my recent purchases I have started a scrapbook, where I note down the website I bought it from, along with the fabric type, washing instructions and weight. Weight is something I've found particularly hard to envisage when shopping online - how heavy is 200g/sqm? It will be so helpful to build up a book of samples that I can rifle through and say "Ok, this one is 210g/sqm, so it'll be kind of similar to that".


I think many of us have been really missing being able to touch fabrics before we buy them. But I'm trying to look at it optimistically as a chance to learn more about textiles.

I hope everyone is hanging in there during this difficult time, and making the most of the slower pace of life to enjoy their sewing and catch up on things they've been putting off for months (or years!).

Monday, 8 June 2020

Pattern Review: Sew Over It Libby Shirt


I fell in love with the Libby Shirt during #MeMadeMay, after seeing a beautiful version shared by @canningmakes on Instagram. I immediately headed to the Sew Over It website to look at it in more detail. It is only available as a PDF, but this is fast becoming the norm for me in pattern purchases during the pandemic anyway. It does mean you will need access to a printer.


I will get my criticism of the pattern out of the way first, since the reviews I read before buying seemed to simply rave about the finished Libby. It is only through reading them again retrospectively that I realise they have each implied having the same problem as me, but have generally brushed over it and blamed themselves.

The Sew Over It website describes this pattern as "a manageable, fun-to-make and of course stylish intro into the world of shirt-making". I'm afraid to say that I disagree, taking particular issue with the word "intro". If you have not made a shirt before, I would not advise this as the first.

The challenge comes when inserting the collar. While the construction itself is more straightforward than for some collars, the instructions to help you do so are poor. Poor to the point that I had no idea what they were talking about, leading me to put them aside and use my previous knowledge of shirt-making to insert the collar instead.

I found it particularly frustrating because it seems to word things in a more complicated way than necessary - for instance, referring to a mysterious "inverted corner of the neckline", which it turns out is the most subtle of corners, simply a bend once cut out in fabric. This inverted corner is marked with a circle, but they fail to mention that it is on a different pattern piece to the one you've been working with, so you're left very much guessing which corner and which circle you should be looking at. (**SPOILER** It's on the front bodice; it's the middle circle).


I don't think it helps that the instructions are accompanied by photos rather than diagrams. And in the photos, they use a patterned fabric, making it harder to see what's what. This is especially difficult once printed out, which I always do so that I don't have to run back and forth to the computer, or squint at the instructions on my phone.


Sew Over It themselves appear to have acknowledged that there is a problem with these instructions, adding a Libby Shirt collar "sewalong" to their website. I was hopeful that this extra tutorial would solve the problem, and assumed that a "sewalong" would involve a video. But it didn't. It is simply a longer description with more steps and more photos. It may be that these are adequate to muddle through as a newcomer to shirt-making, but I must confess, I was annoyed enough at this stage to simply look at them blankly before deciding I was going to do it my own way instead!

Okay. If you're still here, and you're not perturbed, I will at last get on to what I like about the Libby Shirt...

FEATURES

It is a very casual, easy-fitting shirt which will work well in most lightweight fabrics. No darts to worry about, it just hangs loose and boxy. The collar - once inserted correctly ;) - is both neat and relaxed, sitting open until pulled together by the top-most button at mid-chest. The back has a yoke, and just a very subtle gather at the centre. The shirt has a slightly curved hem, with the option of cropping it to be a straight hem across the front. There are five or six buttons down the front, depending on whether you opt for the cropped version or not (I used fewer - see alterations section for details). The sleeves end midway down your upper arm, and have a fold-up cuff attached. They have a nice easy fit too, in no way restricting you from flailing your arms around like a mad thing, if that's what you like to do.





CONSTRUCTION

Well, you've heard the bulk of my comments on this already! Otherwise, construction is fairly straightforward, with few pattern pieces for a shirt, and easy-to-attach sleeves. I managed to squeeze mine out of a metre of fabric since I was working in a plain fabric with no nap (direction) to it. I cut out and constructed it within a day.

One thing worth mentioning, because this is a loose, airy shirt suited to lightweight, drapey fabrics - I'd recommend going for a reallllly lightweight interfacing for the collar and facings. It always feels like it will do nothing, but it stiffens and stabilises the pieces just enough. I've used heavier interfacing for similar shirts in the past and the buttonstand tends to look uncomfortable, and juts out awkwardly when sitting down.


FITTING & ALTERATIONS

I made this shirt as a Size 12. I would usually be a 10, but with the pregnancy I thought I'd give myself some extra room. I chose the cropped version, which maybe wasn't wise with my growing belly already starting to poke out from underneath! But the fit is good - easy without swamping me. And looks great from all angles.




The only alteration I made was to reduce the number of buttons from five down to three. I used chunkier ones than the pattern suggests (20mm rather than 12mm), started slightly lower down between the official top and second-from-top button positions, and spread them out more too. But this is just is personal aesthetic thing. There weren't any necessary alterations for me.


VERDICT

I still feel a bit unhappy with Sew Over It, both for the confusing instructions and for advertising it as a good introduction to shirt-making. So my enthusiasm to buy more of their patterns is somewhat muted. However, I do concede that this is a nice pattern, resulting in a very successful and comfortable shirt. And if my review were based solely on the end result, I would really sing its praises, since I think I will get a lot of wear out of it, and plan to make it again in the future.

Monday, 1 June 2020

Inspiration from Me Made May 2020


Well, I have surprised myself! Never before have I managed a full month-long Instagram challenge. Perhaps it was the slower pace of life in a pandemic. Perhaps it was the laidback nature of Me Made May, without the pressure of a daily theme or a weekly sponsor I was supposed to follow... I just full-on enjoyed myself, digging out me-made garments that I haven't worn for years, and experimenting with outfits, something I haven't really done since I left my 9 to 5 job in 2015. Normally I just sling on the same outfit I've been wearing for the last few days, or I mooch about in my PJs or exercise gear.

It's been lovely to find new sewing friends to follow. With many of us posting each day, it's felt like I've been able to get to know them a bit - or at least quickly come to recognise their faces and styles. One has even very kindly gifted me some maternity patterns, after I announced my pregnancy partway through the month.

The #memademay2020 hashtag has been an amazing (/dangerous!) resource for finding new patterns I would like to make, as well as new fabric websites to explore.

I've become aware of how incredibly popular certain patterns are: the Sirocco and Zadie jumpsuits, the Persephone and Hudson pants, the Ogden cami... Part of me finds it surprising, because often we talk about dressmaking as a way of "being different" and having clothes that no-one else has. But I also recognise that it is a way for us to connect with each other, to get excited and inspired by each others' creations, to share advice and pattern hacks, and to ask for suggestions and second opinions. This definitely leads to pattern trends forming within the sewing community and I think Instagram has really helped to boost the smaller independent pattern companies, which is wonderful.

As the month has gone on, I have built up a pattern wishlist, and have already got too excited and bought three of them!


I made the Libby Shirt in an existing fabric from my stash. I made two Wilder Gowns - one again in stash fabric and the other in a brand new viscose I ordered from the Sew Me Sunshine website - also discovered through Me Made May. I'm just waiting on a couple of swatches from Funki Fabrics before I make the Stride Athletic Tights.


There are plenty more patterns on my wishlist, which I've share below including links to the patterns, and to my Instagram inspiration. For now, with an increasing need for more roomy garments as my belly grows, I will be prioritising those that are maternity-friendly. The rest will just have to wait til I'm post-bump, sigh.












Thank you to everyone who's taken part, to those that have liked and commented on my posts, and particularly to Zoe, who created the Me Made May challenge. It really has been an incredible source of inspiration, and a great excuse to get dressed up a bit during the pandemic. Of course now on 1st June, I am still sat around in my pyjamas at 3pm. Well, after a whole month, I figured I'd earned a day off!
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