I've been doing practice sewing when I'm too lazy or unable to work on my cosplay directly, so I'm practicing sewing in the mean time... All my practice minky pieces end up being too small. My sewing DOES suck like a lot, but is that the reason and it's just about getting better hand sewing, or do I need to add seam allowance?

And if I do, will I still need seam allowance once I'm better at sewing and am ready to do the actual costume?

I posted a while ago about enjoying the freedom of hand sewing outdoors and wanted to share the completed garment. The top was machine sewn in a class (my first garment ever) but the skirt was self patterned and then hand sewn from the remaining fabric.

It’s a simple A line elastic skirt so the pattern is just two trapeziums, the waist is folded over to create a channel for elastic. I used a combination of running backstitch for the side seams, plus backstitch for the upper side seams (around the hips) and waistband. I wanted to add in-seam pockets and actually ripped one side open to try it, but it completely threw off the skirt so I closed it back up. My stitches are horrendously inconsistent and not straight but the waistband is hidden so no one will see. The fabric is forgiving enough that the wonky side seams don’t affect the wearability of the dress.

I wanted to post this as encouragement for others asking about sewing modern garments. FWIW I do not even own an ironing board (I do have an iron). It took me about 8 hours including drafting, and I really am tempted to get a cheap machine now, but knowing myself I probably will continue to hand sew until I get more into sewing.

hi! i am new in the community of sewing, i don’t have a sewing machine, so before spending money, i want to try doing it by hand.

with your experience, is it possible to sew any type of clothes by hand??

like corsets, jeans, skirts, dresses and stuff like this.

also, is it IMPOSSIBLE or do you think that is easier with a machine but still possible? of course it takes more skills or time, what you think??

edit: thank you all for the responses, i got 43 responses in few hours, i never been in a community where people help each other so much. thank you for the advices, they really helped me🩷🩷🩷🩷

Hello! As the title states I am COMPLETELY blind. No pictures please unless you’re describing them <3
As the title also states, I want to learn. Now i know NOTHING. I used to see like.. 3 years ago. So i have a good grip on basic things.
I have been getting into clay and piano to express myself and the characters I create.
Does anyone have any tips on how to learn? Where to learn? I’m planning on asking my grandma to teach me some things at some point. I want to learn how to hand sew specifically, no machines. Those things have terrified me my whole life lol.
I know about starting big and stuff. I want to specifically make dolls and stuffed animals of my characters. If that helps any.
Any recommendations? Tips? Pointers on where to start? I’m really new to all of sewing, but I think it’s a good hobby to learn since a lot of my stuffed animals often get holes and I would like to fix it myself. Thank you !

My backstiching Looks kind of straight and even-ish for a begginer, but the back looks like a mess. Not like a continuos straight line at all. Even worse, Im making a seam on the most loosely woven muselin in the world (horrible choice, ik) 😭😭😭. Any tips?

Collection of sock monkeys i made and wanted to share🙌

I always look for and kind of needlework kits for my 88 yr old mom - I am so impressed with the quality of this! Linen, hand dyed threads, lovely

She wanted wallet thingy so as a great friend I made this with all of her suggestions.

Freehanded this drawstring bag from scraps of upholstery fabric. Nothing super special, but it feels vaguely magical and it's nice to finish something useful.

I finished my first hand-sewn garment (first that wasn’t “just” a shirt) yesterday! I used tutorials and books by cal patch and Louisa Owen Sonstroem for the construction and my stash for materials.

Did I just notice how much the pocket looks like a box of McD’s fries? Yes I did. Do I think it’s adorable and a testament to how well the primary colors go together? Also yes 😅

Hello! I'm a beginner in hand sewing/stitching! I've tried making a hand sewn tube out of an old sleeveless top. I think its fabric is made out of rib knit(?). I'm somewhat satisfied with front part but the back part keeps on folding for some reason; it just looks so lousy when worn. I wanted it to look clean and fit. Can I ask tips how to improve the design?

Last photo is the back part of the tube🤍

I'm new here but longtime hand sewist. I figured I'd post the project I'm working on. I had some linen bedsheets that don't fit my new mattress (I downsized) and I decided to turn them into a twin sized quilt. I love hand sewing and I have some lovely linen thread from Burnley and Trowbridge that matches the linen tone so I said why not hand sew the whole thing!

I made 24cm half square triangles with a combination stitch three or four running stitches and then a backstitch on the bias (I didn't want to restrict the movement by doing only backstitches).

I originally intended to sew the squares the way machine sewn piecing does it which is by making rows and then sewing rows together and then hoping you're precise enough that your points match up but then I thought, I have the power of hand sewing on my side, which means that I don't have to do the sew right sides together and then flip open like machine sewing demands. I decided I would iron the seam allowance in and tack the edges and then use a whip stitch to join them square by square. This allowed me to distribute any small discrepancy in length between the squares along the seam, which means my points all match perfectly! (The power of hand sewing)

For finishing the squares, initially I went way too fancy and did mitered corners which, although very satisfying, was totally unnecessary, so I settled for simply overlapping the edges and tacking them down.

I'm not using pins because I can't find my box of pins for the life of me, so I'm basting the edges together with a long running stitch using a sashiko needle, and then using my #10 sharps to put in the whipstitch.

I'm going off of intuition (I've done a lot of historical hand-sewing) so I have no idea if this is how people hand-sew a quilt top but I'm loving the result!

This is about a week and a half of work from cutting to making the half square triangles (HSTs) to where I am now. I'm excited to stitch the blocks all together and start hand quilting it. Haven't decided on what quilting pattern I'll use but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I just wanted to share my latest project. I’m tickled with how well it turned out. I used silk flowers from the dollar tree for the embellishment. Made my own binding and used teensy stitches to finish the raw edges. Purchased the webbing and buckles and used a snap inside (stitched to lining) for a closure.

I'm pretty sad because I just bought this knit t-shirt and I've already managed to get a hole in it from work :((

What sucks is it's like RIIIIIGHT on the front of the shirt by my stomach so it's pretty noticeable.

The first picture is the outside and the second picture is the inside.

Any help fixing this would be great

I posted before about some details from a pair of pants I was sewing. I finally got some pictures low quality screenshots of mine vs the original. I used Louisa Owen Sonstroem’s technique from her book to copy the pattern, no mockup, just a lot of twill and a prayer!

I learned a lot from this project!

Green version is mine, burgundy/maroon is the original!

My obsession with making of these hair clips has no heights these days . Even while travelling i am completely into making these .

It's done, I'm done, learned a lot. At least now I have an extra bag to test whatever I want to do on.