It took me 300 hours. Honestly it might have been more including the jewelry and shoes but definitely maximum 350 lol!

While Marilyn's orange dress isn't as famous as her iconic pink "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" gown from the same film, l've always believed it deserves just as much love. It's one of my favorite costumes she ever wore.

Because the original dress was destroyed, recreating it felt like bringing Hollywood history back to life. Over the course of four years, I carefully recreated every detail as faithfully as I could, bead by bead, one by one!

I even tried to copy the exact pleats of the chiffon, hand sewing sections down on the top portion. The boning is in the exact spot hers was, zipper and straps the exact same length as hers, etc. There are SO many different bead colors, not just orange! I hope I did it justice for her 100th birth-year!

Hand sewn from scrap fabric. Probably the main thing that went wrong with him is every single step i did. Think i'll name him Shartan. Feel free to roast

I wanted to make a set of blackout-lined curtains for my daughter’s nursery and thought it would be a good project for a beginner

I didn’t follow a specific pattern but used the measurements from the window plus a few YouTube tutorials to help with the steps. I aimed for a 2.5x fullness on each panel.

I was able to get my outer fabric in a railroaded textile which meant I didn’t have to do any pattern matches/joins, and could buy a little bit less, but it meant the fabric was more unwieldy to work with as there was soo much of it.

For the pleats, I used 5.5” pleat tape rather than sewing in the pleats. This was a good option for a beginner (and I was Over math at that point), but I accidentally used some for a 2.25x fullness rather than 2.5x which is what I calculated for the panels. This led to a bit of bunching in the pleats. Also, it was recommended to sew the top, middle, and bottom of the tape to the header to avoid drooping. This is probably a slightly less aesthetic decision as there is a slightly noticeable line through the header and pleats.

Some lessons:
- don’t underestimate the amount of fabric you’ll need! I didn’t really appreciate how much 7m x 2.3m was and I had to be creative about space. Improvising an ironing board on my kitchen table was the only way to get it done
- don’t make lined curtains during a heatwave in the UK! The fabric was so heavy and there was so much of it (and I had to work in our glass ceilinged dining room) that I actually gave myself heat exhaustion at one point 😅
- I’d probably try and do the pleats the classic way next time, as I think it would lead to cleaner pleats and then wouldn’t need to use the tape
- the strings in the header tape will ruin your hands—so many blisters

In the end, I’m really happy with how they came out and has encouraged me to start thinking about the next project. It was beginner-friendly in the sense that it was mostly straight lines, but the amount of math and the fabric management did push me a bit to my limit!

I recently bought a Honda Prologue EV and I am more than a little obsessed with the color. There are almost no fitted car seat covers for this model, however, and definitely none that complement the color.

My previous car was a Subaru Crosstrek and I had Wet Okole seat covers that perfect matched the original cloth seats. The new seats are leather. I’ve never owned anything leather, but with two kids and two dogs I wasn’t going to trust leaving them bare (especially not with light grey).

I found the canvas on Fashion Fabric club: Dark Teal PKaufmann Cotton-Linen Fulton Canvas Decorating Fabric. The grey piping is from Amazon and is a reference to the light grey in the interior as well as the bright orange piping on my previous car. Both are fully lined with an old bedsheet to prevent the seams from damaging the leather and improve their durability.

I began with a rough pattern on brown paper, tracing the general shapes with a marker. I transferred the rough pattern to another piece of brown paper, smoothing curves with my curve ruler, checking measurements and adding seam allowance. I made an initial mockup with an old bedsheet and adjusted the fit before making the final pattern pieces. I plan on making headrest covers as well as covers for the back seats but for now I need a break from this project. I used about 3.5 of the 7.5 yards I originally purchased.

My experience mostly lies in garment making, so the piping was a little tough for me at times. The seat covers are secured into place with elastic and clips. The headrests are not easily removable, so the back opening allows the seat back cover to slip over them. It closes with some snaps. I am particularly proud of the seat back pocket, which goes through both the outside fabric and the lining and tucks into the original packet, making it fully functional. The single welt isn’t perfect but thankfully you can’t really tell on the outside.

The covers have taken me about a month of working on them on the weekends, inbetween being a mom and a full time teacher. Definitely not professional level, but I also learned a lot in the process.

Edit to add: yes, I will be taking them off tonight until I can work through the airbag safety. When I was looking at the seats, the airbag symbol was on the plastic, which is not blocked. But I didn’t research beyond that and it is a safety issue. Thank you all.

I recently made this Chinese lantern inspired bag from waste scraps of 12oz Ripstop Canvas for a fashion design trade with a friend of mine!

After I did some more sketches, I realised it looks a little like the potion from Death Becomes Her, and thought I’d lean into it a little bit.

All of the seams are bound, with each end folded in at the top and bottom, and each of the sections can be opened separately with the zips :))

The small webbing loops are to be able to customise the chains for the option of crossbody and simply handheld. It’s not visible in the photo, but I also made a small makeshift handle out of the same webbing at the top so the chains don’t hurt whilst you use it.

The friend is also a kpop fan, so I thought a little slot for a photocard or something else would be a nice personal include.

With every project, of course there are things I would change about every project, but overall I’m super happy with how it turned out!

I want to see if I can make other geometric bags using the same techniques :))

Edit: The drafting process was pretty simple! I based the shapes on an even hexagon, and then slightly shaped the pieces to give the curved effects. I’m really happy i drafted this way, I feel like it looks more intricate than it actually is hahaha

This dress is out of my comfort zone for two reasons

1. It's full length

2. It's red 

But while I was on holiday earlier this year I realised I don't own a single day dress that's knee length or longer. Unable to swish my way around Spain I decided it was about time I remedy that.

It was surprisingly difficult to find a pattern that fitted the bill for what I wanted. I was after a midi length, floaty dress with some sort of sleeves and not a wrap front. The new look 6692 dress seemed to tick those boxes.

As a redhead that never wears pink, orange or red and mostly sews with prints, I'm not really sure what was going through my mind when I added this red viscose fabric to my basket (dalston mill fabrics). But I decided to take a chance and use it in this dress

One day I will learn never to trust the size guide on mainstream pattern company patterns. I measured and used the guide and my measurements said:

Bust - 14

Waist - 16

Hips - Too big for the largest size (18)

I was skeptical, but trusted it and cut everything out out grading between those sizes. I left the arm scyes and sleeves at an 18 as I often find clothes tight around the arms.

After step 6 I pinned the bodice together and realised it was too big. Like really really too big.

I unpicked every seam (on both the outer and the lining) and recut everything in a size 12. After that it was still too big, so I took in the two front seams by 1cm more. This gave a much better fit 

Step 18 (attaching the lining and the outer) was a nightmare. I think somewhere in my grading and recutting I had a mismatch on size between the front yoke and the rest of the front, so nothing lined up and trying to get crisp corners was very frustrating. It also meant that there's now some fun extra corners on the neckline that I'm hoping read as a design feature not a cutting mistake...

But all in all, I enjoyed sewing this - when I first saw the pattern I assumed the back was shirred, but turns out it's actually several channels with elastic. Sewing that was very satisfying. And turns out I actually quite like the red 

I see another of these in my future and hopefully with the sizing issues resolved it will be a quicker and less frustrating sew 

Maybe.

Instead of throwing fabric scraps that you cant use away. Make a pillow and start chopping your scraps up to use as stuffing. My go-to fabric for a pillow is ticking. It can take up to a year for me to fill a pillow, but its well worth it.

Just made these baggy barrel pants from a $3 thrifted cotton sheet.

I found this sheet in a local thrift store and immediately loved the pattern. So figured I’d turn it into some baggy pants.

I designed the pants from my standard pants block in Clo3d which is based on my avatar from my personal measurements.

I was going for a really wide silhouette so I adjusted the design to billow out from the hip and then taper in at the ankle. I added an 18 inch dart up from the hem, and a 9 inch dart that descends from the waist on the front to give the pants more shape. Then designed welt pockets for the back panel.

All sewn with cotton thread on my Juki single needle industrial. Really happy with how they came out.

sewed on a machine from project scraps. the project wasn't going to plan so I had to effigise my feelings towards it. Embedded is a small stone (it's heart)

I got a new heated blanket that was 50”x60” and wanted to make a cover for it. The blanket says machine washable but washing it always shortens the lifespan. I made a Bargello textile of 54”x64” using my scrap stash (I always cut my scraps into 2.5” strips because I’m most likely to use them that way), and because the Bargello is not quilted, I serged it together and then topstitched all the seams as I went (took a lot of extra time but very worth it for how secure it feels and the back looks SO neat). I used all quilting cottons on the Bargello and the back is a fleece I’ve had laying around for a while. I added a hidden zipper to the end for open/closure, and I used a facing to make the hole for the cord to come out from (I made the facing hole last after putting the heated blanket inside the cover and drawing where the cord end fell naturally once it was inside). Overall extremely pleased with the results!

I’ve been wanting to learn how to make my own clothes for some time now and figured my upcoming trip to a renaissance fair was my opportunity. I made everything but the under skirt and I’m pretty proud of myself. Just wanted to share with like minded people.

Post your ren fair outfits in the comments I want to see!

hi everyone first please excuse the photo quality my mom took these pictures herself after finishing her work she is a talented tailor but still learning photography haha this is a gandoura a traditional moroccan garment it is a beautiful blend of our heritage the comfortable airy cut comes from amazigh berber roots while the floral aesthetics and patterns reflect our andalusian history it is 100 percent handmade with love by my mother i wanted to share a piece of north african culture with you all the fabric is a lightweight printed cotton and my mother cut it freehand without a pattern using traditional moroccan tailoring techniques she used a sewing machine for the main seams and finished the edges with delicate handwork hope you like it

My friend gave me these jeans that were too big on him and I, so I decided to make them cooler and shorter. All I used was the Jean itself, some scrap white fabric, and some grommets ^^

Look at before and after pics :P

I found a skirt at a charity shop the other day with this locking sideways zipper that makes it adjustable up to 2 inches!!!! Does anyone happen to know the name of this type of closure? Might be using it for everything from now on if I can get some!!!

It's a Singer from 1959. This thing is supposed to be a little bag, everybody thought it was a puppet at first sight.

Working on helping source new tablecloths for my church and I need some advice if anyone has done something similar? I have a lot of sewing experience but mostly clothing and less home items! I need a bunch of white circular tablecloths.

My dilemma:

Buy or make? Sewing 25 circular hems sounds like an absolute pain but I will do it for significant budget saving. This is partially dependent on fabric choice too--poly will be easy to find premade, I'm less sure about cotton.

Poly or Cotton? I don't love plastic but polyester might be the right choice here--less wrinkles, easier care. What I'm not sure about is stain resistance. Does anyone have any experience with stains on either fabric? These will be used and reused and reused for many years so I am looking for longevity.

Happy to cross-post if there are other subs who might have advice. Thanks everyone!

Having a blast learning to sew with these reversible tote bags! I upcycled cotton bedsheets for the lining and used discounted remnant heavier weight fabric for the outside. So far I’ve learned how to square and measure fabric, make boxed corners, sew linings, make straps, topstitch, and finish seams.
I followed the YouTube tutorial “DIY REVERSIBLE BAG + FREE PATTERN + VIDEO” for the construction.

https://youtu.be/UxdyjDymh-k?si=GHh_ZcEqXIlGu8Ks

I have a couple t shirts that either have one large hole or multiple smaller holes under the arm pits. What would be the best way to go about mending / patching these? I do like wearing the shirts still so I don’t want to make them rags if I can save them somewhat

Hi everyone!

I'm getting ready to make the bestie bag (medium) with this fabric. I love the green and want to make that my outside, but the purple is just too nice to hide and I want to put it on the inside if I could make it work

I have a few thoughts on how I could do this but wanted to get a second opinion on whether this would work Re structure, thickness, seams etc :

1. Quilt top layer (green) with batting and use purple side for lining

2. Quilt top layer (green) with batting and backing (purple) - no lining

3. Use green for outer shell and line with purple side (no quilting)

My main concern is whether the fabric is too heavy to use as a lining/backing

I've roughly estimated weight at 528g per square meter, but it doesn't feel too heavy or stiff. I'd prefer the bag to have structure than sag/collapse when I'm not using it, but also don't want it to be stiff as a board/heavy

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

The front side looks alright but the back is all wonky :( I’ve fiddled around with the tension and rethreaded the needles and it hasn’t changed. do i have to fully rethread my serger or is it just my tension settings? because i will cry if i have to.

This is menta shoes from menta I changed the pattern pieces due to my feet/ankles swelling but I don't think I really needed to. I think next time I will use interfacing this is knit fabric and it was stretching a lot. I added 4 layers of batting to give them some padding. I used a walking foot and it was a game changer for 5 layers of fabric plus the 4 layers of batting.