williamsews

There is never enough fabric of course, I am in love with some of the designs and quality of the fabric I have been buying lately. Most are jelly rolls, which in a way, is limiting but I’ve ordered larger pieces. There are other pieces of equipment on the way as well, bought on eBay, these days it’s a long wait, several weeks with tracking, but it’s worth the frustrating wait. This is my idea of a ‘scrappy’ quilt block, its made from 2″ squares and it a great way to use up scraps. This is a 10″ block. It looks complicated but it’s easy and quick. I will make a video of it’s construction soon. These are other blocks I have been working on; Same layout with a different look. This one has a name; ‘Air Castle’. This is the latest lot of fabric; beautiful, lush colours and designs. Also started a shirt, I have started a video of the construction, I’ll probably make several videos of the process in depth. This is nice fabric as well, soft and colourful. That’s my lot for today, Regards, Will...

  I have finished another shirt, I’ve been videoing the process but still have a lot to learn, I bought a camera boom to video the sewing part and it has just arrived, haven’t tried it yet but it looks sturdy, I think it will hold the DSLR camera but if not, the small camera will be OK. This is the boom arm; This is the video; And that’s my lot, it’s a perfect day for sewing because it’s raining heavily. Take care, Will.

  Not sewing but figuring out the new camera, it takes wonderful photographs, I’ve been out in the garden practising and took a few macro shots. It is fun, and I see the garden from a different perspective. I made a small video using Movavi editor; If you enjoy this video or any of my posts, please ‘like’… Thank you. Will.

  I’ve been fiddling with a new camera and gimbal, I’d never heard of a gimbal until one was bought for me, it’s a Feiyutech AK2000C and I think it’s great, it’s early stages as far as learning what it’s all about but after wandering around the garden with it this morning, I can certainly see the advantages of using one, so smooth. The local Heritage Fair is happening at the end of the month, so I’m hoping to be proficient enough to do some filming. Anyway, here’s a video of a shirt I have started, using the new camera. The photographic stuff has seriously distracted me from sewing but hope to rectify this tomorrow. Winter is on its way, cold today and raining, perfect sewing weather. 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...

 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.

  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.

Please visit my site at; William-sews.com My new sewing machine is heavy duty, big and powerful and I love it but it only has a thin plastic cover which attracts dust - so I made a new cover for it, I usually only sew clothes so this was going to be different. I had plain , medium-weight off-white fabric and plenty of other fabric for piping, I bought wadding because I couldn't find the stash I had somewhere (I found it today... too late).  The part I dislike when quilting is the 'sandwiching' but decided that it's just a small amount for this project and good practice.  I cut the pieces into a rectangle the right size for two sides, two outsides and one of wadding.  I used a polyester wadding which is a bit  creepy to handle; I don't like synthetics. The sandwich. I pinned it, ready to mark the pattern with a heat sensitive pen. I marked it in a diaper pattern.  And sewed it, two sides, the top is in one piece, a ver...