Anyone got any ideas/links to tuts/whatever on this topic? 

I've got a big run of bookshelves round 2 walls of a room.  I want to store other stuff in there than books - DH's random tat so it needs to be fairly robust and easy to sling it in, lifting a lid is just far too much like hard work!  I want something very very simple I can sew and knock up dozens of the things in a hurry.  It needs to be stiff enough to stand up but I don't want to use card or whatever as the sorts of things DH will put in it I'll probably have to chuck them in the wash from time to time.   

My current idea is to put some heavyweight iron-on-interfacing onto fabric, make up into a very shallow tote/box bag (without handles) and then bind the top edge.  Probably I'd have to topstitch the 4 verticals at the corners to keep it squarish at the top and sitting on the shelf properly.  The main box would just be very cheap plain fabric and I'd glue/rough applique fabric shapes to the front.

Any advances on that plan?  I'm sure it's been done before and better!

I'm trying to recon an old sweatshirt.  For reasons to do with the construction, I don't want to serge it, just clip the seams and leave it.  It will be horribly bulky otherwise.  My gut feel is that - like t-shirt material - it will roll rather than fray and that will be OK.

Er... or will it?  I've never sewed with sweatshirt material before because it's quite hard to get hold of in the UK. 

I am trying to make my first Ottobre garment.  It's dead simple, with an elasticated waist.  But Ottobre seems to like to put their elasticated waists on separately and I don't at all understand the instructions.   

So it's for some pants - at this point in the instructions we have put the pants together and are trying to attach the waistband...

Finish raw edge of waist casing allowance. Measure and adjust elastic to fit child's waist. Stitch ends of elastic together to form circle and mark circle into halves

so far so good.  I think they are referring to the strip of cloth that is the waistband when they say "waist casing allowance". 

Pin elastic to wrong side of waist casing allowance, along its outer edge. Align mid -point marks on elastic with center-front and center-back seams, and machine-baste elastic to waist casing allowance by sitching-in-the-ditch along pants seamlines from right side. Fold waist casing allowance and elastic to wrong side of garment and stitch casing in place through all layers along bottom edge of elastic, stretching elastic as you sew.


Eh?  Any ideas?

I just wrote a long post about this, but lost it!

Anyone know where there is a standard conversion from continental sizes (height in m) to English/US ones (age)?  It's with reference to Ottobre patterns.  I've found a couple on French mail-order clothes sites, but I know French sizes come up a bit small so I don't entirely trust them.  eg http://www.vertbaudet.co.uk/Static/Static.aspx?page=SizeGuide1

To start with, better say that I have a basic sewing machine which will do zig-zag, but no overlocker (or serger as I think it is known in the US?)  And I have worked out that if you want to stitch a seam in a jersey garment, the thing to do is stitch it in a narrow zig-zag, and then even if it comes out a bit stretched when you sew it, once it has been in the wash it sorts itself out.  So I've done a couple little pairs of trousers on that basis, and they came out fine.

But now I want to copy a little girls' dress which has edging on it, like bias binding or the neck on a t-shirt.

So, what I could do is cut out strips of material, press them up like bias binding, pin to the edging and zig-zag over the top.  Will that work out the same?  Is that the best way to do it, given the limited kit I have?

And, I'm sure that those of you who make a lot of garments in jersey use overlockers.... sorry, sergers!  Is that much faster?  Neater?  Easier?  if so, how and why - and should I buy one?  I've never used one but am happy to be converted though I'd probably have to put it on my Christmas list!

Too many firsts!
- my first copy from an existing garment, not a pattern
- my first reversible
- my first crossover top
- my first ... no, second bit of gathering (I guess I did it once when I was 12 though it's a dim memory and I won't tell you how long ago that was)
- my first lap-and-fell seam.  At least, I think that's what I ended up doing on the fly when the frilly bit wasn't working out....

Talk about biting off more than you can chew.  I'm a mess.  Anyhow, here it is.  Apologies for dreadful photo quality, it's a camera phone.  And thanks to hooseanna and onemoreseam for their help & advice on my thread in D&Q (where you can see the thing I was trying to copy).  Which advice, possibly I should have taken a little more of....  I'm off to get a good stiff drink.  





and here's a piccy on missy herself.  Please excuse DH putting his socks on in the background.

My eldest has a little top which I love on her - she has some posture issues so a little pot belly but oddly looks fine in this.  So although it is waaaaay more complex than I would usually attempt (cos I is simple) I'd really like to copy it. 

But I'm stumped as to how to put it together.  It's reversible with cross-over straps at the back.  There are side seams, centre back seam and seams at the top of the shoulder strap.  Hang on, see the pics....

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/3189/dsc00041dn8.jpg
So that's the front, with the flowery side out.  Turn it inside out and turn it over and this is the back with the crossover straps. 
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/856/dsc00040px1.jpg

I have worked out that they probably sewed the two layers together at the bottom last.  And that the topstitching around the arm/neck seam was done after the side and back seams were put together.  Other than that ? It's like one of those optical illusion pictures, just trying to work out what order to do which seams in is making my head spin! 

Has anyone made something similar before and can advise?

Is it OK to post links to other forums here?  I know some places are a bit funny about that.  Only I've just done a couple of projects and posted them on a non-craft forum (cos folks were interested) including a VAST tut.  Which I now think maybe folks here would be interested too, but I didn't note down the links for the photos and I just can't face reposting it here and rehosting every single photo.  I would go mad!

Would it be OK to just post links to the appropriate threads on the other forum?  Or would that be bad form?

Hi there, Newbie here!    Dumb first question....

I've seen a couple of references to "shirring" - had to look it up and am still not entirely certain.

It looks like shirring used to mean the sort of gathering (parallel gathers) you do before smocking something, ie gathered up using thread but with the stitches very carefully aligned so the pleats are vertical all the way down.  But nowadays shirring seems to refer to that elasticated gathering you see at the top of little girls' dresses. 

Is that right?  I'm currently making similar dresses by making a casing at the top and putting elastic through - and if I want the shirred effect using lots of parallel lines of elastic.  But it seems to me there ought to be a quicker way.  Can you just sew the elastic on the back?   Is there an attachment for this (cos otherwise I can see it going ping very early on)?  How do you make sure it comes out the right length in the end and gathers up evenly?

TIA!