williamsews

  Check. It’s taken a while to finish this shirt; too many distractions. Anyway, it’s done, the fabric is a loose weave and a little difficult, plus I find dark colours hard to work with. I used glue and quilting clips to hold the tails as the fabric was bulky and didn’t want to behave. I am certainly glad it’s finished, it hung around (literally) for far too long. On to the next project. I had a Covid shot last week,; AstraZeneca and no ill effects, the system was quick and efficient, I rang to make an appointment and had the jab that evening. The weather is growing cooler, it will soon be winter…the shirt was finished just in time. That’s it for today, take care. Will.

 I haven't been able to sew for a while and it's great to start again. The shirt I shall be making is for winter (which is almost here). It was a remnant from a charity shop - I didn't think much of it until it was started but now I like it. Only the collar so far, for me, it's always the trickiest bit and best done first. It has been raining non-stop today, so perfect for sewing - May is the last month of Autumn, so winter is on its way, my favourite season. Back to the machine. Take care, Will.

 I have developed sewer's block with the Levi jacket; the muslin is basically finished and it is alright but I don't feel like continuing with it right now - the collar method is strange and I shall probably look at other patterns and see if I can make it easier. This is it so far: It's an old sheet, so the fabric doesn't have much body, it does fit, it's an '80s pattern so it's a bit full but that'll be good for winter with knitwear underneath. Anyway, I decided to look at some of my quilting and templates; I have two favourites, the 9-Blade Fan and Drunkard's Path. Originally, I wanted to make a fan but couldn't find a template, so I made my own and it worked out well. The only trouble was that it needed to be in something tougher than pattern cardboard if I wanted to make a lot of them...so, back to searching online and I discovered just what I wanted from Fons & Porter. It consists of three pieces, the la...

 The last Levi jacket I made a few months ago was alright except for the sizing; the large was barely a medium, and it was the largest size on the Mimi G pattern, so perhaps things will be better with a Kwik-Sew pattern and if it doesn't work, there is an extra-large to try. I made a cardboard copy of large because I didn't want to cut up the pattern. A muslin is ready to sew.  Levi jackets are tricky, so putting together the muslin will be an excellent test run. That's all for today - it should be a treat to put this together. All the best, Will.

  The weather is too perfect and I just have to be outdoors; it’s the nicest summer, neither too hot nor too cold – plus the lawn grows in days. I’ve planted tonnes of seedlings and and prepared a lot of cuttings. Anyway, the latest shirt is finished, or at least, a muslin. I copied the pattern using the 1.5cm original seam instead of ‘my’ 1cm seam and ended up in a bit of a mess. After decades of using 1cm, it was difficult to adjust, apart from sewing the larger seam, anywhere I had to press under an allowance was tough; I usually just press without thinking about it but had to keep measuring as I went along. This was a sheet in its former life but it’s a nice, soft fabric. It is too small for me but a friend liked it, so I added shell buttons, he thinks it’s great and it isn’t wasted. I don’t know if the shell buttons are bad environmentally, I think not (hope not). The pattern is Simplicity 8753; ‘B – Modern Fit’ – It seems that I must be ‘A – classic fit’ because it was too ti...

  I’ve copied Simplicity 8753 and shall make a sample to ensure that it’s right, there have been a few alterations – I am doing view B, not too loose and not too tight. I have to make the same shirt for someone else but in a 38″. I usually use a 1cm seam but have left the 1.5cm or 5/8″, it’s easier than altering it, I’ve been sewing a 1cm seam for so long, so I shall have to concentrate. I visited the big fabric shop in the city and bought a shirt length of denim. I want to make a Levi jacket as well, but this denim is quite lightweight and not heavy enough for a jacket, so that means another trip to the shop–it was a rushed trip last time but maybe more time next visit. A visit to the Op shops (charity shops) was fruitful this week with a hoard of wooden cotton reels and two enormous cones of thread, I used a normal cone to show how large they are, I won’t use them up in my lifetime but I shall use the Day-Glo orange soon, perhaps on the denim. More pattern transfers to card this ...

  A new collectors’ term. I’ve been buying vintage patterns from charity shops for years but, because not many people sew anymore they are becoming rare, so I turned my searching to eBay and Etsy and have found great patterns. The patterns are sometimes sold as ‘Factory folded’, which means that they’ve never been used and are in their original state. I thought that’s good because they’re complete in all sizes, although some are sold as complete but used and honestly, I didn’t care either way. BUT now I have discovered that serious collectors want factory folded to add to a collection, like people who buy toys, etc. and never use them or even take them out of their box. I have grappled with this because I buy them to use; I bought a Simplicity a few days ago and I want to make it…but it is unused. It’s impossible to deal with two huge 2m sheets of tissue paper… so, I cut it, I did feel guilty but the desire for the shirt overrode that. This is the pattern hacked and ‘ruined’ but it...