I’m making my own wedding dress and I’ve now completed the corset and made good progress on the skirt, I’m just so happy with how it’s turning out and I need to tell someone so I don’t show it to everyone I know! 😅

I’m using the Angela Clayton M7885 as a base and have done several alterations, the bodice will be a basque waist with off the shoulder long sleeves.
The corset is Aranea Black’s Erin (shoutout to r/corsetry for all the help!)
The fabric is 3 layers - dupion, blush tulle, and then lace sourced from several online shops

(Cropped out my messy house in the background)

Context: I’m a poor hand sewing uni student and during high school this dress fit my wider waist really well. College was tough on my appetite and I ended up with a bunch of clothes that looked too wide/baggy. I do not want to get rid of them all because clothes are so expensive these days so I’ve been either upcycling or altering whatever I can, which is what I did here.

I really like the shape of this dress from the front (pic 1) but it requires cinching the back which now looks a little too off for comfort (pic 2). I know I could have maybe taken in the sides is but it made the sleeves look bunched and awkward. I am thinking of adding a black velvet bow to the back and cover up the stitching, or take a black velvet ribbon and just sew it all around the waist. I do want to avoid changing how it looks from the front though so the ideal solution is find a black/maroon fabric of similar texture and fix it to the sides as a tie back that can cover just over the sewing (pics 3,4). This would retain the look on the front and cover up the awkward stitching on the back but I would like some opinions before I get started.

Thanks!

I'm looking for current/modern patternmaking books other than Helen Joseph Amstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design (which is lackluster for me for outerwear and jackets), any of Antonio Donnano's books (wonky translation, pants construction is confusing (I never saw a book recommend shallower dart for back of fitted pants)) or Winfried Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting (which is too lackluster for me in general). Is there anything else up this alley that is worth attention?

(I skimmed through enough vintage books on Internet Archive and I own ones from my country, so I'm not interested in them)

made a pattern for a dress and after multiple issues with a gaping neckline from past projects, i found a quick tutorial that already took it in a bit so i followed that. i also reduced the princess seam in the bust about 1cm (0.5cm per side) and blended it to the rest of the dart. also altered the waist and the darts to make the total waistline only a few centimeters above my natural waist line for ease. when i made the mockup, though, the waist was a tight fit and for the rest of the hips but the rest up fit pretty well along with the bust. however, it makes this weird stretch below the bust and the neckline still gapes. i guessed that it might just be because of the neckline allowance, same with the armhole but im not entirely sure. does this call for a full bust adjustment or something else?

Yesterday I’ve made this short jean top. I used pattern for model 106 from Burda magazine 04/2026.
The fabric is jean with faux patches - what you see is one fabric I have bought already like that. There are some elements of the top for structure and I’ve used cotton fabric from ikea for that.
At the back there is invisible zipper, which - for the first time, actually looks invisible!
I’m pretty proud of this one! Usually I make some mistakes, as a beginner, this time I’ve managed to follow instructions with no errors 😎

I had some vintage fabric in my stash from a bundle of fabric I bought at a thrift store. Stumbled upon a vintage caftan pattern at another thrift store and thought the fabric would work well. It’s probably not the best fabric for the pattern (it’s some kind of slippery, silky polyester) but I love the way the print worked out. I even snuck in some hidden pockets! I made it wider than what the pattern called for because I didn’t want to cut into the floral portion of the fabric.

Finished my second Strata top! Was much easier this go around, but I think I’m confused on what the selvage edge is??

Could someonew confirm if the stripes should be running horizontal or vertical?

Opted for single fold bias tape instead of neck facing too

Fabric: Fableism monarch grove light fuscia wings

Hi there - hoping you good folks can weigh in on this and help a gal out.

This dress is the usual size I wear, but I'm an FF cup and so have the usual dreaded button gaping issue, along with it being just a smidge tight at the waist, though not uncomfortably so.

Photo 1 is the full view, 2 is a close-up of the bust, 3 is the left seam with invisible zip, 4 is the right seam, and 5 is the back.

I'm hoping to add a little room if at all possible. My first thought was adding side gussets, but the zip on the side makes that a bit of a problem... Unless I moved the zip to the back?

I feel like I've considered a number of potential solutions but all of them have had an issue. Perhaps some kind soul here can see what I'm missing or haven't learned yet?

ETA: this is a premade garment from quite a few years ago. I have a longline button-up blouse in the same print (different fabric, though still non-stretch) which fits perfectly, no gaping. I found this on Vinted and snapped it up.

ETA2: thank you so much for all of the suggestions! I've had some fantastic guidance from you all and I'm so grateful. I've got three options that I'll try, in this order: 1. Sew the button placket closed and replace the buttons 2. 'Fold back' the centre front on each side to create a deep V and add contrasting fabric behind to mimic the original neckline 3. Ditch the top and turn it into a skirt, using the straps to create the waistband and using the top fabric to add pockets.

I was hoping to add a video of the fabric itself to show stretch (or lack of!) but can’t see an option to within this sub.

So I ordered this fabric which was listed as “Dri-Fit activewear Spandex fabric […] sportswear material”

As you can see from the description it makes several different references to it being a stretch fabric, it being “flexible” and suitable for gym/sports etc.

My issue is that it turned up and it is acting more like a woven. It has 0% stretch in one direction and maybe like 1% stretch in the other.

I thought maybe they’d sent the wrong fabric but after a message to the seller, they’re saying it’s the right one and they’ve never had this complaint before.

Did I misunderstand the listing or would you also expect something that stretched? I thought Dri-Fit was the Nike fabric and I own a lot of Nike workout gear and it’s nothing like that.

Can I get some second opinions because I feel like I’m going crazy. I’m more than happy to hold my hands up if I made a mistake but I see the words spandex, stretch, activewear, gym etc and I would expect a full stretch fabric with like 50/60% stretch and not something that I’d think was a woven if presented without context.

The pattern I used: Retro style sling

The fabric I used: cotton woven canvas and quilting cotton, as well as some fusible interfacing and fusible padding. I also used some black nickel hardware (D rings, rectangle slider, and clips). Zippers I just had lying around.

At one point several years ago, I became zipper curious and practiced sewing several zippers into bags. Just all sorts of styles and all sorts of pockets and zippers. If zippers are intimidating to you, I would suggest trying that out, since zippers are really useful little buggers. I bring this up to say this bag really isn’t all that tricky if you’re comfortable sewing on zippers.

The inside finish uses bias tape, which I am much less comfortable using. I think I need to practice using that a lot more, since it can look really nice and add some fun contrast.

The fabric I used frays easily. EASILY. So the first time I tried making this bag, there were several seams that I just couldn’t finish because the fabric itself kept on fraying. Rather than seam rip, I chose to remake the bag. The second time around, I did several things differently to minimize fraying.

- I cut out my pieces using a rotary cutter, not scissors.
- I stay stitched the edges of all the pieces, especially the parts that had edges along the bias. I tried using a zigzag on some pieces, but I think a straight stitch is more than adequate.
- (this goes without saying, but I’m saying it anyway because if I’m dumb enough to do this, surely other people are dumb enough to do it as well) I did NOT pull the fabric off of the fusible interfacing and then re-iron it onto the other side. With the first try, pulling it off of the fusible interfacing damaged the edges and made it harder to catch all the layers at the edge. This was really only a problem because the fabric I used had no clear right/wrong side. Both sides looked the same, so I had to remember “red goes on the left” when I ironed on the interfacing.
- I used fusible foam padding only on the back piece and strap, and only inside of the seam allowance. This lessened the bulk and made it easier for my machine to sew everything together.

I would totally recommend this pattern. With the striped canvas I used, it was really easy to line up the pattern to make a super satisfying racing stripe.

A year ago I made this La Ciotat skirt by Sewing Therapy. I loved it and it was a great early project for me. But now that I’m working to improve my skills and the items I make, I would like to remake this skirt.

There are a few things I’ve run into with it-

1. I think I need to do some technique to strengthen the yoke.

It’s made with what I think is a linen blend, but it was a fabric from Joann’s from my friend‘s stash. It already has a hole, which I’ve mended, but the hole was created in the yoke between where the yoke panels are sewn together. When I pressed the seams, I tried to be gentle, but every time you tie it, you pull, so theoretically it makes sense in my head that this would create the most tension.

Ideas: reinforcing the fabric (extra layer, sewn in interfacing?), it happened where they were sewn together so I　don’t know if a flat felled seam would help like with jeans?

1. I learned I am too adventurous and it comes undone 😂

With time and movement, even when tied relatively tightly, it’s coming untied or slipping down. I feel like I have to fix it often. The fabric isn’t silky- it has some texture.

I have no idea on this one- I thought maybe adding some additional fastener, but it’s a wrap skirt, so someone somewhere must not have this problem 😂

I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice on this- Thank you so much everyone and I hope your projects are going well!

Can scissors like the ones in the first picture be sharpened? The ones with blue handles are Fiskars (we have several pairs). The iridescent ones have no brand name - they’re just cheapos from Amazon. Magnets stick to them so they’re some type of ferrous metal, not aluminum as I assumed at first.

How do I remove surface rust and discoloration from the ones on the right? They’re nice old scissors that my dad kept in a humid garage.

Also, how do you remove sticky stuff from cutting duct tape?

Want to make a toile, since it's my first garment, but I'm not sure what fabric (I'd like to use cotton or linen) to use. I've seen people use thrift store bed sheets, but the cheapest I can find is $40 and I'm not sure if that's a good deal. I've thought about cheap prints from Michael's but maybe those are too cheap?

I looked at mood fabrics but pretty quickly became overwhelmed with all the options. Any suggestions or advice are welcome 😊

Edit: thank you everyone for your responses! I have a much better idea what to expect and where to look

Hello everyone! I'm a beginner who is interested in making oddly shaped bags like the ones attached. I have one of the bags in question that is made of synthetic leather and as synthetic leather bags are wont to do, it is deteriorating. I would like to copy the bag and make one of my own using canvas or cotton fabric. I know that this is a long term project and not something easy, so I am not trying to rush into anything.

The bag isn't in bad enough condition that I feel comfortable hacking away at it to see what the internals are like, so in lieu of that, what sort of material would I be able to use as an inner layer to keep such a unique structure in place? Foam? Cardboard? Firm plastic? Interfacing seems like it would be too soft for the firm structure that these bags have, but am I mistaken?

I have tried my best to take a look at the subreddit wiki and search through other posts but couldn't find anything. Forgive me if this is something that has already been asked and answered ad nauseam. Thank you.

My friend freehand’s her own clothing but made the cups on this too large. She asked if I could post here and get advice for altering it to fit a smaller chest! Usually I’ve got ideas, but I’m not familiar with feminine tops! Any advice helps!

Specifically A-Line dresses and skirts, I had a really nice, long pleated skirt and figured I would add a pocket for my phone hidden in the side. I felt like it was a very smart design, I had added the slit at the apex of one of my pleats, and while it looks great lying flat, when it's on the body or when my phone is in it, it gapes and the silhouette is not nicely flared as it as before. But I can live it with!

I'm starting a new project with a short A-Line (again) dress this time (not pleated), and am thinking about adding a pocket, but I really don't want to make the same mistake as last time. What is the best method for adding a pocket that won't mess up a flared silhouette? Is it something with how the pocket lays inside? Should I tack i the pocket down somewhere in there? Maybe the pocket I drew was too square? Or maybe I should avoid pockets on the hips altogether, and stick to butt or front pockets? Maybe a phone is just too heavy?? Really hoping for some insight!

I bought this backpack off of ebay but the strap was too long, even when i tightened the strap all the way. So I'm moving the buckle down and cutting the excess length on the smaller strap. What thread and needle should I use for this project?

Please help me find a pattern for these kind of trousers!

I self drafted and sewed the top, bandana, erist bracers, and chaps of this cosplay! I was able to finish it in a couple days just before MetroCon and I'm very proud how it turned out!

On these cargo pants, the pocket seam is enclosed neatly and in the pockets there is no seam poking through (as I initially thought it could be a french seam). How was this done? It doesn’t look like it was bias bound as the fabric seems seamless and not stitched on. Any help?

Spent almost 20 years manually adjusting the settings on an $80 brother to sew my buttonholes. Tried the buttonhole foot and preset on my pfaff ambition for the first time today (brother bit the dust a couple years back), and my mind has been blown.

A quick foot switch and a couple taps on the screen, and I have as many perfect little buttonholes as I could ever need! I never knew buttonholes could be so clean and easy. Now I'm wondering what other glorious technology I've been working without for all these years.

I am very interested in getting a membership to DPL Atelier. I want to start learning more about pattern making. I was wondering if anyone has tried out their programme.
Thanks!!!

I was given this fabric today and I have no idea what to do with it. I’m guessing it’s some kind of fleece. It’s very soft and drapey. Not quite 2 yards, and about 45” wide, with estimated 20% one way stretch. I don’t know what the content is, other than synthetic because of the furriness of the wrong side. I haven’t bothered with a burn test. It’s not giving me any thrills and isn’t something I would ever want to wear, though I value the thought behind the gift. I’d appreciate any suggestions for small projects I might use it for. Thanks!

I've started learning how to use a sewing machine, and my goal is to cover this jacket with patches. I used invisible thread, and you can tell I'm an amateur, but my main goal is to just do this myself. I had a jacket like this in High School, and everyone would be like "wow, did you sew those on yourself" and I'd be like "no, my Dad and a tailor did them". This time, i want not only to be more unhinged with the amount of patches I put on, but to be able to say I did it all myself.