williamsews

Vintage patterns. I have been sorting old patterns, changing them from plastic bags to envelopes, which are acid-free and will preserve them. Fashion and styles evolve, but some men’s fashion is constant, these clothes would certainly be fashionable today. These are from the late 1930s to early 1940s – I’m so glad the date is included on patterns. I won’t make these garments, but I do love old patterns. I have some from the 1960s that I will wear. Charity shops used to be a great source of these patterns, but it not anymore, pity. Back to sorting these treasures. Please visit my YouTube channel:  williamsews - YouTube Take care, Will.  

  I mainly use one shirt pattern and vary the collar, cuffs, yokes, etc., to create different looks. The collars can vary, along with many parts of the shirt. A lot of possibilities. Take care, Will.

  An unexpected purchase. I was shopping in Aldi and saw this big machine, I thought it was a Coverstitch machine, so I bought it – but it is just an overlocker, albeit a very good one. It’s a Stirling, which is Aldi’s brand. This overlocker seems to do quite a few things, I shall have to play with it for a while and figure it out. Take care, Will.

  I discovered the thread pull method of making shirt collars many years ago and loved the results. It’s simple but creates perfect points. I’ve made a video of the method; I hope this video is helpful. I use the one pattern, Simplicity 8711 from 1979, and vary the collars, buttons and cuffs, the check shirt has the pattern’s original 1970’s collar. Please like and share this post, Thank you, 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.

  …in 25 seconds. I have been practising with Movavi Video Editor. I am enjoying this, but it means I’m not sewing, tomorrow I shall definitely start treadling away. I hope you like my video, AND give me a like for it. Thank you, 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.

  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 ...

 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.

 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.