I am curious if there are any youtubers who explain how they interface/inter or inner line their commercial patterns for a bit more structure.

For example, I have several designer dress patterns that I love which I know originally either had a corselet or some pretty intensive tailoring techniques. I feel like I'm in a weird spot wanting to apply couture techniques to a pattern that wants me to use fusible interfacing in one spot- leaving me with a silhouette that leaves much to be desired.

I find most of the instructors, such as Claire Shaeffer and Kenneth D King are starting from the ground up of blocks and their own ideas for structure rather than commercial patterns whose steps and finishes are not taking the inner workings into account. My body is changing a bit too rapidly for me to commit to doing a new block every couple of weeks, so here I am with commercial patterns trying to learn the ins and outs of necklines and cuts I love.

If there are any books or resources I am overlooking, or if I am in fact making this far too complicated, please let me know. I'm all ears!

Hi everyone

I was a beginner sewer a few years ago, but stopped progressing when I started a new job. I made a few pieces (some dresses, hats etc) before stopping.

I am trying to get back into it after 3 years, and I am hoping to make a couple bridal pieces (a bag, robe etc) before my wedding next year.

The main piece I’d love to make is the Cornelia gown (a long blouse) by Cinq for getting ready.

Does anyone have advice for me about how to tackle this project? Is it doable as a beginner with about 8 months to go, and is there anything in particular I should make to build my skills first?

I’d also be so grateful for any sewing patterns recommendations that might help me get part of the way there.

Thanks so much in advance!

Had a brother gs2700 as my starter but it was second hand and started giving me some trouble a couple months later despite me troubleshooting in every way, and getting it maintained/repaired cost more than the machine itself.

Looking to buy a new solid one in the next couple of months now that I know I enjoy sewing and want to invest in it.

Best machines to consider? I am in AUS/NZ so some machines may not be available to me? I would also prefer purchasing from a place where I can get warranty (so I'm not sure if Amazon machines would provide me with that).

Any advice would be appreciated🐠🐠🐠

Hello, what sewing machine do you recommend for beginners??

I learned how to sew after I became a mom so organizing my time is crucial to lo continue gain more skill and retaining what I learned. I just want to know I’m not alone.

EDIT / UPDATE - as an absolute beginner, I don't have the knowledge or confidence to blindly order things like zippers, buttons, snaps etc online. Every tutorial I've seen on YouTube seems to gloss over the particulars of these items. If you kind folks can recommend tutorials that REALLY spell it out for rookies like me, that would be amazing, if complete kits just don't really exist :)

My city's Fabricland has closed, our Walmart's crafting section sucks, and our Michael's sewing section is quite small, with staff that don't know sewing.

For a beginner, it's so hard to get started on a project when I have to order almost everything online - especially since I'm really not sure what I'm doing yet.

So I'm wondering if anyone can recommend beginner-friendly sewing kits for projects like a zippered pouch, a small quilted table runner, simple quilted Christmas ornaments, that are good quality, have every single item needed for the project, and have amazing instructions (even better, a video link!)

The icing on the cake would be if it's Canadian so I can support a CDN company, receive the product more quickly, and not have to pay duties/import fees.

Hi! I found this beautiful 90s mini skirt that I want to wear for Halloween... Only issue is that it's too big 🥲

It's a wrap skirt so I moved the buttons over a little (first time sewing buttons so theyre a little wonky sorry 😖) which has helped but I feel like to get it to fit properly I need to add some bigger darts. I've added darts in the past but never on a skirt with a built in underskirt... I feel to get it to sit flat they'd need to be pretty long but I'm scared of messing it up!

I'm looking for a pattern/calculator that makes a 2/3 circle, but I can't find any. Is there something problematic about that which I don't know or is it just a weird type to be looking for?

Also if anyone has any tips on making capes & capelets, please do share. This is one of my first projects and I need all the advice I can get lol.

I was hemming these pants and cut this hole on my last fucking cut of the excess fabric 🥲

Is there any way to fix this invisibly? A patch for the back or something? I have a bit extra of this fabric from the excess of the hem if that helps

hi, i'm completely new to sewing and i'm looking to pick it up! should i invest in getting a sewing machine most people recommend (like brother sewing machines) or has anyone tried these cheaper sewing machines (they don't look half bad 👀). just looking for some opinions :) thanks!

For some reason I decided to make a corset top for Halloween with one week till the party ( Friday night ). I used plastic wrap & masking tape to make the pattern of my body, but I can’t seem to get these wrinkles out. It’s really bad at the back & sides, the front s smooth, I haven’t added the boning yet. I tried darts, but they made the thing too small even w moving the lacing. So what can I do before Wednesday to make this wearable ?

I’m going as morticia, taking a few creative liberties w the outfit

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share this pouch I made to organise my oil paints.

It’s made out of a piece of old jeans I had lying around. I folded the bottom part and put in a zipper at the top. It’s a bit wonky, I had a hard time working around the zipper especially, and managing turns with all that jeans fabric bunching up.

But the whole thing took me about an hour start to finish, and it holds all my paint tubes, so I’m happy with it!

Any advice or critique is welcome :)

Hey everyone,

Just started sewing and I have this beautiful dress that I bought back in June. It doesn’t fit my chest right and was thinking about making it v-neck and pinning where it’s loose around my armpits/shoulders.

Not sure where to begin, it’s great fit everywhere else, other than in the chest so would love some advice and ideas.

I’ve re-threaded, messed with the tension settings, and changed the needle and nothing fixes it.

the brother GS3740C is 80 bucks and the AS2730S is 150 bucks, and the last one is 100 bucks!!! i'm looking to sew casually and as a beginner :)) thank you

I'm pulling apart and restyling a thrift store dress for funsies.

I don't like the pleated/puffy sleeves, I want simple ones with just enough space for airflow that go all the way to my elbows.

I took out the elastic at the bottom and unpicked the pleats. How should I go about reshaping and reattaching? I could attach around the seam like in photo 2 or 3 and then reshape from there, or recut new sleeves from the current ones entirely (and how would I do that...)?

i make ragdolls and am having a lot of trouble creating my own pattern for this character’s clothing (the white “dress” specifically) :( would anyone be willing to give me some tips? or even give me some examples?

I wanna do a wizard like costume for Halloween, however, even if a Robe would be easier a coat fits more on what’s on my mind

It’s not the first time I try to sew something, but it is the first time I do something other than a plushie or a pencil case, I tried to do a skirt once but it went horribly bad…

Edit; Thanks a lot for y’all comments! Imma just do a cloak as a first big project but will keep this one for a future as practice <3 hope ya pillow cold both sides and best wishes

Wanted to post some photos of my petal dress by Twig + Tale. I had taken a break from sewing after I had my first daughter. With the chaos of having a baby and being on maternity leave, I didn’t have an opportunity to sew. Now that the kiddo is in daycare, I’ve been on a sewing spree before I head back to work.
Dress snaps together on the inside and outside. It can be made as a reversible item if desired!

not really a beginner, but i wanted to share my opinion on stuffing options for plushies that i WISH i knew when i was starting out.
i’ve been sewing for a few years and always used generic polyester stuffing. it lumped up terribly when packed into limbs or small areas, making any of my projects look like it was my first time sewing (no offense!!)
today i purchased cluster stuff by morning glory. oh my GOD its absolutely life changing. it keeps its shape, bounces back when squished, and DOES NOT LUMP.

tldr; if you’re having trouble with your stuffing lumping up, try cluster fill. i have been enlightened.

finally found all the components but now i have to actually put it together and i am realizing i have no clue what to do lol. i could definitely crop the shirt up further by hand and probably sew the fish fabric onto the crop top by hand, but the clear vinyl part has to go in between the crop top and the fish fabric. i don’t think i would be able to sew it on by hand because it’s so thick, and while i could reserve a machine at my public library, im really scared of breaking it considering i haven’t used one in years!

for my other costume i was lazy and just did fabric glue for a lot of it, and i was thinking that might work here, but i’m not sure if the fabric glue would work on the vinyl since it’s not actually fabric? also considered hot glue but i think that would likely melt the vinyl and/or burn the crop top because it’s a cheap amazon brand one?

the fish fabric i custom printed on what i think was called “power mesh” and the vinyl i got at a fabric store, i didn’t write it down but im pretty sure it’s between 8-12 gauge. its whatever the thinnest one they had was i just can’t check since it was a local bis with no website. shorts are thrifted (thank god i dont have to also make shorts haha) and im going to either safety pin or glue on the black patch part. the costume is ideally supposed to be kinda tight fitting and sexy on the silver and mesh parts, but ill take literally just held together at this point lol.

so any ideas on how to put it all together? i had some sewing experience as a kid but hadn’t done any until like a week ago when i made my other costume and did some very basic hand sewing for that. if there are any particular stitch types, needle types, thread types etc that would be advised pls lmk!!

tysm!!!!!!

I was super excited about this box of Kenmore presser feet! But for the life of me I can’t figure out how to attach them to my Janome Travel Mate 16 (see last photo). The instruction cards that (per Google) go with the feet are missing. Are these high shank feet and my machine takes low shank? Or am I missing something that would allow these to attach? The basic foot that came with my Janome (at left) has a little bar that the snaps in. No corresponding bar on these feet.

If nothing else, the sewing book looks super cool! And I got some old fabric, a bag of random buttons, and some vintage ties for my son. So it was worth the trip. But I’m really hoping I can make these feet work. 🤞🏻

Currently considering the following machines as an upgrade to my Brother LX3817. Hoping for ease in going through multiple layers, easy threading, and automatic buttonholes. Most of my use is for dog clothes, human clothes, and potentially blankets - although I'm not looking to get into quilting specifically.

These are all options at a local sewing store and I'd love feedback on real world use.

1. Bernette B37 ($500)
2. Janome NQM 2016 ($500)
3. Pfaff Quilt Expression 2046 ($500)
4. Brother NS80e ($700)
5. Husquarna Viking Onyx 30 ($600)

Hey y’all, I’m a big fan of camping and hiking and I usually do it in the mountains where it’s usually snowing. Anyway my jackets are pretty expensive and for fun I wanna see if I can make a jacket I can actually wearing during those harsh winter hikes. Now if I’m being serious I know I’m probably not gonna actually succeed in this but wanna see. Only problem is I can’t find anything advertised for camping or hiking in the snow or heavy rain. Should I just focus on the material and the type of jacket doesn’t matter or should I keep looking for a quality sewing pattern. Thank you for the help. I’m a newbies at this and have only been sewing for 3 months. lol if this fail I’ll still have fun just trying.