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I’m making this dress for a friends wedding in July, and am currently trying to decide what fabric to use. My first thought was satin, but silk is not in my budget, and I’m worried a poly satin will not be breathable enough for the summer. Any suggestions?

Hiya so I have a brother ls14s. The threader lever isn’t moving at all to hook the thread on even when winding the handle or pressing to sew. Can’t find anything online helpful. Anyone got any ideas of things to try.

I’m worried if I just stitch it up, it’ll tear or cause the hole to open up more. Checked the tag and it says it’s 100% polyester.

I made a Hawaiian shirt using the Cameron pattern. All in all, I thought the pattern and instructions were very good. There's also an associated sew along. At two points (the sleeves and the collar), the sew along used a different process than the instructions, and i chose to stick with the instructions both times.

The collar was challenging because the collar stand is fairly narrow, but it turned out OK.

The hem isn't really crooked like it looks in my picture-that's just the way it was hanging. This shirt was intended to just be a muslin but it turned out decent enough to wear. I'm sure you'll see mistakes if you zoom in! All in all, though, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Hi all. I'm planning on making simplicity 9261. It calls for a tricot lining fabric which I've never used. What kinds of fabric do you recommend to like knit?

Made without a pattern and as the fabric i used the rest of an old blanket. Can’t imagine something better than sewing these fluffy guys.

I’m thinking about getting a new sewing machine, as the flair implies, but I’m not sure what’s really out there right now. My current machine is a Kenmore 358 (though I’ve forgotten the submodel, sorry). This poor thing has been through so much for a little machine from Sears 20 years ago.

I’m looking for what’s out there right now in terms of good, solid, unglamorous machines. I can’t really narrow down what type of fabric I want it to be able to handle because sometimes I’m sewing through multiple thicknesses of upholstery fabric and sometimes I’m hemming knits. Probably not much sheer or silk?

I do have a bit of a lead foot, so honestly something that might be dinged for being “slow” wouldn’t necessarily be a deal-breaker for me.

Things I know I want: a solid straight stitch and zigzag. Ideally, it would fit the low-shank snap-on feet I already have. A free arm.

Things I know I don’t want: an electronic machine.

Things I’m unsure of: I have a front loading bobbin now, and that seems easier than drop in, though possibly only because I’m used to it. I’ve also never had a machine that had adjustable foot pressure, which might be interesting?

I have a Juki serger but don’t know anything about their other machines.

My budget is pretty flexible. I’d imagine…a few hundred? Maybe under $500?

Editing to add: I do not quilt.

I’ve had my Brother CS6000i for a few years now and have so far only done very simple things on it. I find that I’m using it more and more now and would really like to master the automatic needle threading feature. I’ve read the instructions, watched some videos, checked my needles for alignment, etc. Still can’t make it work. If anyone who has tackled this little gremlin can share some wisdom it would be greatly appreciated!

Not sure if this type of buttonhole is just decorative or if it serves a specific purpose (like do you just sew it like a regular button so it can slide around or are you supposed to secure it from end to end?)

So for the past couple months I’ve been trying to learn pattern drafting through books and videos and Ive been trying to draft a pattern for a short sleeve button up as my first pattern and it’s been the most frustrating challenge filled with constant mistakes and unforeseen difficulties hahaha

When I get one thing right and find that there’s something in the next set of the process that is wrong when I got to try and sew the thing together.

I would love to hear any of y’all’s experiences with getting to the point where you’re drafting patterns successfully and what were choices you made that helped you get to that point?

Thanks y’all!

Hello. I unfortunately tore the welt pocket on both sides. I think my stitch length was too long when sewing the little triangles down on the inside. Would anyone have a best practice on how to mend this please? The pants are self made from a very nice Munro wool. Thanks in advance!

We are attempting to patchwork denim using curved shapes to make a jacket. We are having issues with the seams bubbling. Is there a way that we can fix this? Or do we need to seam rip? Any tips to avoid this issue? Would topstitching help?

For reference, we have clipped the seams. Thank you!

I'm currently using a Brother JA1450NT which served me well for close to 4 years now. however the machine doesn't do too well with thicker fabrics like canvas, and i have to crank the hand wheel to get through multiple layers sometimes.

I'm considering an upgrade so i can deal with thicker fabrics. i would like to get an industrial sewing machine, unfortunately due to space constraints a portable one would be better for me.

what machine would you guys recommend in this case?

I’m making a top with a kimono-style faux wrap and standing collar out of a nice, stretchy jersey and trying to figure out a way to give the collar some structure without entirely sacrificing the stretch quality as I want to make this a pullover.

I have stretchy interfacing but I don’t think that’s going to really add any structure at all. I was thinking I could get some scuba knit and sandwich that between my Jersey maybe? Do you think that would work? Any other ideas?

I was using a thicker thread for the top and bobbin on my JUKI HZL-DX7 and it was sewing perfectly. Now, it won’t catch the thread at all. I got the machine serviced for a timing issue a month ago, is it possible it’s the case again?

I’m not too sure what happened, as I was sewing with my headphones on so I didn’t hear if the machine was clunking. I cleaned the bobbin area and that did not fix anything. Changed the needle and the tension is set as usual (auto).

The needle just goes through the fabric, not catching anything and just will continue to do that. By the time I stop sewing, it’s as i wasn’t even doing anything. I even tried using regular thread and it’s still not working.

Now I wanted to check if timing was the issue because I had to get it serviced a few months back for this issue, but not sure what I am looking at.

does anyone know the best stitch and tension for sewing denim? specifically sewing denim box pleats. im not sure if its my bobbin stitch or what but ive tried basically every tension and stitch length i can. any advice?

Nothing works, nothing fits. I know I sound dramatic. But hear me out. I have 5.5 inch difference between high bust and full bust. It's not the largest difference in the world, I know that. But I starting to not liking it because nothing works. Every pattern I try obviously is B cup drafted. Before I even begin to try to understand how the thing goes together I have to get in a business of redrafting. And I'm new to this, I have no idea what I'm doing. The bust is sticking out, the waist is thicker than whatever the pattern says. Every little iteration requires a muslin. Is this a name of a game? I tried bust darts, waist darts, princess seam. I tried patterns drafted for DD cups, some of them a small and also require FBA. People say you can't really assess the fit unless you attach sleeves AND skirt. But I'm not done fiddling with my armhole and my waist. It's a continues rubics cube. I'm so tired. I want just something to work. Here I go another day trying to raise my apex again. And I am yet to make a piece of clothing. All this pretty fabric sitting there looking at me, waiting. And I'm failing. Anyone feels this way?