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.  

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 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.

  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...

  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.

 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.

  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.

 Made a shirt out of light-weight denim and was going to use the wrong side for a contrast yoke but decided against it. The wrong side is a nice grey, but it didn't work. Will be using the block shirt pattern; Simplicity 8711, issued in 1979. I occasionally think I'll use one of the other vintage patterns in the collection, but it always ends up this one, I know it fits and have made lots of extras for it, different yokes, pockets and collars, etc. One thing I like about it is the back yoke/lower back, the back is curved and the yoke is straight, this pulls it into the neck at the back. After watching Seinfeld in the '90s where Jerry wore a lot of shirts made with great fabric but they pulled away from his neck at the back which isn't very flattering (apart from the looseness and big sleeves of shirts in that era). It's going to have a placket front. I bought some embroidery threads recently, mainly because they are shiny...