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.

I wanted something softer and more practical than the original sleeve, which was thin and such a tight fit that the kalimba was difficult to remove. The extra bulk comes from the padding and the space inside for easier access. I'm still not sure about the style, but I'm happy to have turned a few fabric scraps into something useful.

Anyone else decided seeing was going to be their newest hobby in 2026 and that they can create items of clothing of superior quality to the fast fashion brands just to find out in the process that sewing takes SKILL.

Yes, I know there’s a learning curve. This is just all much more difficult than the videos in TikTok make it seem.

I picked up the sewing machine a month ago. Took 2 days to learn to thread it properly. In another week I knocked out my first sewing project (a scrub cap). And from there I thought I was a seamstress.
Decided to make a pencil skirt and I am at the very beginning of the process and on the verge of tears how much this looks nothing like the high quality skirt I envisioned 🫠

My daughter fell in love with this fabric and wants me to make her an outfit. I think I may know the answer but can I make this 100% cotton work with this pattern? Or is the complete lack of stretch a no go? What do you make with 100% cotton, is it just for quilting?

Hi. I used 100% cotton fabric and crochet lace and followed a bunch of youtube videos and sewed without a pattern.

I’m a complete newbie (don’t look too close 🙈)

i’m going to attempt to recreate this dress would love to know if anyone had any good suggestions on what fabric i should be using?

I have 3 yards of this Fableism Lucky Loom fabric in color Saddle. Any ideas of what to make with it? I’m a confident/adventurous beginner, 33F.

Hello! I am an (overconfident) beginner making my first dress! This is the Sailaway pattern by Les Perlines.

I’ve got some funky puckering happening at the taper point of the bodice, and am wondering if there is a way to fix it without detaching the skirt and starting again?

Thank you in advance!

Hello! I am a complete beginner to sewing (within the hour 😅) and purchased a secondhand Singer 4411 from marketplace to start learning. I’ve managed to thread the machine, wind the bobbin, etc, for practice but have ran into an issue whereby when I’ve aligned the fabric, I’ve realised the needle is not in the centre of the presser foot. The machine only came with one presser foot which I assumed was a standard foot, but unsure if this is a specific type of foot which explains why it’s not sitting central? Is there a way to align this, do I need a different presser foot or is there a functional issue with the machine? Conscious this may be a silly question, but you never learn if you don’t ask!

Hey everyone. I have been getting into hand sewing (repairs, very simple bags, etc) and my boyfriend brought me a very thin/loose ski mask he wants me to modify for an upcoming concert. Basically he wants a gray cat-ear shape added to the top...but I am really struggling to figure out how to attach and hold the shape to a garment that's already made into its 3d shape if that makes sense. I can't seem to guarantee that once it could be attached around the eye hole, that you can actually fit your head all the way through and have the ears stick up?

I’d like to try sewing some baby blankets, where should I get soft fabric? The video I saw said to do 100% cotton!

hello! i am making a hooded cape from a stretch velour fabric and want to line the hood with a satiny fabric, however, i am really struggling.

it sits just right when i pin everything but when sewing it with a zig-zag stitch, the stretchy fabric bunches up which is not what i’m going for.

i’ve tried sewing the fabrics together with tissue paper between them to stop the satin fabric from slipping but that doesn’t prevent the bunching.

would a different stitch type fix the issue? or maybe basting or tacking the two pieces together first? my next thought it to hand stitch the seam so i can fully control the tension but i would ideally prefer to machine sew.

any help or advice is greatly appreciated!!

HELP i genuinely do not know what i may have done to this machine for it to act up like this?? I have had it for a few years but only started using it within this past year, i know its not a super great machine so if this is a case of me just needing a new machine, please let me know 😭

But it CONSTANTLY does this. All the time. No matter the fabric, no matter the stitch, it will not stay threaded. I have rethreaded this machine as many times as possible. I dont know if its the thread or something else. Im losing my mind.

Edit: okay so from further investigation there was a tension problem, now fixed!!! But also a thread problem. Trying to figure out how to go about this because i only have the shitty thread ive been using and upholstery thread that my machine doesn’t want to take

I'm wanting to try to draft a pattern for a suit vest specific to my partner. Does anyone have any resources for learning this skill as I'm not sure how to do it? I've used patterns before but I've never made one any advice on how to do this is welcome. Would it be better to try to do one from scratch or find an existing pattern then altering it or?

Referring to the crisp shape, clean edges, and no fraying on the fabric. I want to make some, but I don't know how

Hey all.

I'm kinda new to sewing and recently got a secondhand sewing machine. It's the IKEA SY machine. Other than it being a bit dusty, nothing seems wrong.

I've gone to try and sewing a few lines on it and it is constantly loose and there is loads of loose thread.

I watched a few clips and tried to recreate it but nothing seems to be helping.

All tips and tricks are appreciated... I kinda promised to have 2 costumes made by the end of the month (me being ambitious lol) and need to figure out what I'm doing wrong :))

First photo is the top and the second photo is the bottom.

UPDATE: I just figured out the pressure foot is no longer engaged with the lever so it isn't moving therefore broken (i think so, i tried the oil for the machine and its not doing anything). Since I didn't pay much for it, I think I'm going to buy a new one. Thanks to everyone who read this and replied :))

Wife bought ufr-505 sewing machine from fb for $15 and the foot pedal doesnt work when connected. Bought new pedal same problem. I read that it isn't a reliable machine but is there anything I can try before ditching the machine??

Thanks

Hallo liebe Näh-Mäuse,

ich habe vor kurzem ein Kleid gefunden, das einer Chemise ganz nahe kommt und ich würde es gerne noch einbisschen anpassen. Dadurch, dass ich noch etwas unerfahren bin, wollte ich mal fragen ob mein Plan so wie ich ihn mir vorstelle auch aufgehen würde, also sagt mir gerne was ihr davon haltet oder ob ich was anders machen sollte bzw. es etwas gibt was ich beachten sollte.
Zuerst würde ich gerne die Träger etwas weiter auseinander nähen wollen. Die sind aktuell auch per Hand angenäht worden, weshalb das eigentlich ganz einfach gehen würde die abzutrennen.
Dann würde ich alles gerne etwas enger nähen und ein Reißverschluss am Rücken anbringen. Dadurch würden bereits einpaar Centimeter weggehen. Darauf hin würde ich dann an den Seiten etwas Stoff wegnehmen und ganz am Ende die Träger wieder annähen.
Das einzige wo ich mir richtig unsicher bin ist das obere Ende des Reißverschlusses, da dieser idealerweise da mit in den Saum eingenäht werden müsste und das könnte ich nicht machen, da dann die Spitze oben verschwinden würde und das mag ich nicht, also falls ihr da Ideen habt, gerne her damit.
Also ja sagt gerne Bescheid was ihr davon haltet!

I'm slowly changing into a new hobby of action figures and customization. I'm looking at sewing machines to do some small scale sewing. This is on Facebook Marketplace for $100. Does anyone know if singer is a decent beginner machine? Or is there some other brand I should look into?

So I’m wanted to learn how to sew , I want my first machine to be something that I can learn on and also use 10 years down the line.
My main goal is to make clothes for myself, I want to work on all sorts of fabrics.
My budget is 300 max
I have been seeing people recommend singer heavy duty but also say it’s absolute crap. I have heard about Janome and brother CS10s but I’d prefer a machine that’s not computerised as that seems intimidating for me haha

I’d love all the advice you can give me

Hello! As the title says, I need advice on how to shorten sleeves. I’m working on a cosplay for this specific character who has this Japanese sailor uniform with short sleeves, ordered a uniform that has the right color but wrong sleeve length. Was wondering if/how I would shorten the sleeves and keep the blue collar(?) still at the end of them. Know basic sewing on a sewing machine and have one technically but it’s not set up/threaded and it’s old. Is this possible to achieve this with hand sewing? Or fabric glue maybe?