williamsews

 I keep all the cut threads and snipped off fabric pieces in a container on the workbench, and a friend has turned them into a piece of art...I like it. It's a reminder for me of some of the things I've made. Of course, I now have enough threads since this lot to make several more - but one's enough. I'm starting on the three shirts today; the polka dot is first. That's my lot for today, Regards, Will.

  Three new shirt lengths, they have now been washed, dried and ready to go. I also bought more interfacing, heavy and light, I'm trying a different light brand. I like the Birch brand, although it doesn't fuse very well, it's OK, but it ends up a battle on the collar stand because it wants to escape - but it's all certainly much easier than the time before fusible when the interfacing had to be basted on. I usually use Semco, don't know why I changed and I hope the new type isn't too stiff. I use the heavy for collars & cuffs and the light for the front placket and pocket tops. The lightest possible is best for the front, if it's too heavy, the front sticks out and doesn't bend with the body. Almost finished a shirt, lemon with a fine pattern, it's not great fabric because it's very fine and doesn't have much body...but it is looking OK. Rain, rain, rain, will it ever end! It is perfect sewing w...

  My newest machine; the Brother TY600C. I’ve had this for almost a year and I can’t fault it, it’s an excellent machine, easy to use and truly heavy-duty, it sews several layers of denim easily. It’s great on bulky seams, with no manually cranking to go through the fabric. It is a heavy machine, not too plastic and has the usual, needle up/down (easy on this machine, it only needs to have the button pressed for a second) and tie-off button I like the needle down for most of the sewing and up for buttons and buttonholes. This was medium-weight denim and it was a pleasure to sew, it just glided through the fabric. The only thing I have an issue with is the dial. I have knocked it a few times and taken it off the setting–at least it beeps to let me know and I’m able to readjust the settings before I sew on. I have a very soft, thick fabric that may or may not be good for a shirt. I shall experiment by making a collar. It’s raining very heavily, I hope it’s not so bad in the already f...

  I found this among the quilting fabrics. I like small florals, but brown is not a favourite colour. I see brown as an old man’s colour; autumn tonings, fawn and brown, the colours that older women choose for their husbands. It’s true that I fit into that category (elderly) but I don’t want to dress that way. Anyway, I do like this, the roses help. That’s it for today, No more fabric, no sewing, how sad. Regards, Will.

  These are the markers I use or have used in the past. My favourite now is the Sewline. It fades after a day or a few hours, depending on the fabric and weather. I tested at night, and the lines were almost gone by morning. These are good. They disappear when the garment is ironed, they come in blue, red, black and white. The black doesn’t last long, and the white is no good at all. They are refills, but I’ve never bought the pen; they work just fine. These are water erasable and are OK to draw around a pattern or on the wrong side of a piece, but I wouldn’t use them where the marking will show. The top one has a little brush in the other end to wet and remove the markings. For dark fabric, there is good old French chalk and a rotary marker which works very well, it’s filled with powdered chalk and leaves a dotted line. Once again, the white pen doesn’t work. I bought a French Chalk sharpener; I find that the action of dragging it across the fabric not only blunts it but polishes ...

 I was looking for patterns for someone and rummaged among the shirt patterns, and I'd forgotten that I have so many in my size. I prefer vintage patterns because they are designed to fit better. I use my favourite constantly instead of any of these wonderful patterns. Simplicity 8711 is an all-time favourite and have been using it for years, adding yokes, varying the front placket (placket or no placket), so now it has a collection of variations. I also have a few ancient patterns, not in my size, that I like to keep because they are great pieces and they need to be protected. They are very hard to find now. There is a storm brewing and MORE rain. Time to sew. Regards, Will.

  I made a waistcoat a while ago and liked the action of making it, so I made seven. They can only be described as garish. Well, most of them. I have worn one, once, but maybe this winter I’ll wear them. I’ve rummaged in the quilting fabric collection and have found a shirt candidate, but I will have to face the outside world and go to the big fabric shop in the city. That’s it, Take care, Will.

 The last of three lengths of fabric I bought recently. Stripes can be difficult but not too bad with a lot of preparation. The bottom of the pockets are rounded and the best way to do that is to sew a basting thread close to the edge of the rounded part and gently gather it. Take care to iron it to the seam allowance going from one straight side, through the curve and up the other side. Another thing that gives a good finish is the 'collar thread pull' technique. Place a piece of thread between the two collar layers before the last stitch, then stitch and pull the thread out of the way and continue. Do the same for the other point. Trim the excess, turn the collar and gently pull on the thread, this will give perfect points. I have already posted this in more detail on this site some time ago. Now to face a trip to buy more fabric...fraught with Covid danger these days. That's my lot. Take care, Will.

 Shouldn't wear green because, as my Grandfather would tell me, he was a 'Loyal Orangeman'. I thought that was a strange thing to say because he wasn't (orange). I'll have to settle for white; the colour of peace, between the green and the orange. There was a bed of Shamrocks in the garden but they have been smothered by other plants, they have survived and now need to be transplanted. This sad one was still fighting. I never found a four-leaf one. My Grandfather, Andrew, used to chat on in Gaelic. It sounded beautiful, but I didn't understand a word. Listening to the group, Celtic Thunder singing in Gaelic reminds me of him. St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland; we could do with him here. Anyway, have a great St Patrick's Day. All the best, Will.

 My workroom is very sunny and the sun can be ruthless in summer, so I prefer to keep fabric and notions in cupboards and drawers. Kmart has excellent bamboo drawers that are perfect for threads. I keep two colours in each drawer and can take the drawer to the fabric to see which is best for the project. They are inexpensive; each two drawer set costs $15.00. They hold A4 paper for the printer and a lot of other stuff, I have three towers. The bamboo was still a bit green when they arrived with a strange smell - I wondered how Pandas could eat something that smelled so bad, but it's gone now. St Patrick's Day on Wednesday. Take care, Will.

  This is a shirt for a friend, a medium size, 96cm. It is nice to have fabric that’s easy to sew, although I like a challenge from time to time. I often use the same pocket pattern because I like it but used a rounded pattern this time and they turned out OK. Glue has come into play on shirts these days, it’s Sewline glue and may be ironed if it’s between layers of fabric. It holds ends of seams and holds the thick parts of shirt-tails in place. This is the glue, it rolls out for use. I always used as few pins as possible, or none at all if I could get away with it but now I pin a lot, it’s helpful to pin the whole length of a pleat and the ends of cuffs before sewing. Makes the job easier. The new owner of this shirt is happy. That’s my lot today, Take care, Will.

  Found a nice check fabric; it was wider than the usual fabric, 2.4m, a strange measurement. It was difficult to align, but the battle was won in the end. Size 107cm. I bought three lengths of fabric and now two have been made up. The last one is a stripe; 2.4m wide again and the stripes run from selvedge to selvedge, so I’ll press it cut edge to cut edge. The striped one is probably polycotton and should be easy to sew. I will be back to Spotlight (the only big fabric shop in town) for more fabric and interfacing next week. Regards, Will.