I’ve been sewing on and off since 2009, mostly making simple unlined knit dresses or pajamas. This project is my most challenging yet, and I’m very proud of it. I chose the Closet Core Patterns Kelly Anorak because it’s a popular pattern with plenty of resources available. I initially planned to make it for myself in green British Millerain Waxed Cotton, interlined with recycled wool, and lined in silk twill. However, I knew the cost would be much higher than buying the Barbour jacket I wanted, so I decided to test it on cheap fabric from a bargain bin. My 10-year-old daughter had outgrown her fall jacket, so I bought what I thought was basic 10oz. cotton canvas from an online retailer, which turned out to be LL Bean deadstock with a DWR finish. She chose the color and lining fabric, a cotton/viscose blend, which isn’t interlined for warmth since she prefers layering a sweatshirt or sweater on cold days.
The trickiest part was getting that tiny sleeve onto my machine arm so it would attach to the body. I also had a bit of trouble with the flat felled seam on the second sleeve seams. The sleeve was just too small, and the fabric was too thick, so I only managed to do the flat felled sleeve on the most noticeable one.
It took me about 10 days to complete, and sourcing all the notions was a bit difficult, but I feel ready to make it for myself now. I sewed her a women’s size “0” and didn’t shorten it because she’s tall and thin, so she’ll likely grow taller before wider, allowing her to wear the jacket for a couple of years.

I’m a contestant in a local sewing competition, Project Runway style. Our prompt for the unconventional materials week was to create a costume using non traditional sewing materials. I cut down the maiden grass seed heads from our yard, sewed it onto some old craft paper I had saved, and secured the reverse side with brown duct tape. The head dress was constructed out of cardboard, an egg carton, and more maiden grass. The grass got progressively fluffier throughout the week and o really loved the texture it gave!

Made my first pair of overalls!

I bought a pair at a market in France and absolutely loved them, but after wearing them throughout my pregnancy, the seams started coming apart. So I took them apart and used them as a pattern.

So pleased with how they turned out! Just sad that I have to wait until next summer to wear them 🥲

While I technically have made garments before, this is the first time in nearly 20 years I’ve made anything to wear and decided to draft this here tomato costume for Halloween after struggling to find one to buy.

My partner is going as Denethor from Return of the King. IYKYK.

Got my machine serviced a few months ago after decades of disuse, got her all tuned up, and have been taking classes.

The front and back are just two ovals and two tapered 6” gussets with a neckline. Cut a 5” slit in the back I taught myself how to sew a continuous placket on (she’s ugly, but she’s finished, lol). Sort of free formed the collar, then taught myself how to make bias tape to finish the neckline. After realizing that bias tape really does mean you have to cut it on the bias (lol), I decided to buy bias tape for the hem. We won’t talk about how that went, just don’t look too close.

Hook and eye in the back because I misread my collar measurement by a bit. I still put a button in the spot where the collar gaps just for fun (yes, it is a tomato button).

I used only quilting cotton, thick fusible interfacing for the body, and thin for the collar. I thought about lining it and decided there were already enough new lessons in this project, lol.

I made a quilted tote bag with a waterbottle compartment and compartments for a sketchbook and my writing utensils. The best part of making your own bags is that you can customize it however you want!

Self drafted and first time sewing a structured bodice, strapless dress, horsehair hem.

Made for my wife to be ahead of our wedding in a months time.

As with any project, it could be neater. But she’s very happy and looks beautiful in the try on.

I posted previously about the horsehair hem (wasn’t a fan of it showing in the hem) but decided to leave it. Think it looks fine once it’s on.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Mikado. Steel boning. Taffeta lining. Self drafted using Clo3d and a months of research on how these types of garments are constructed (very much an amateur)

Construction comment:
Pattern: Suit Vest thing: inspiration was Butterick 5384.
I also used a suit jacket and vest from men’s warehouse and took it apart and traced pieces I wanted, like the lapel. Other pieces like the back piece , I drew a piece that fit the side pieces and did mock ups until it all fit together and fit him. I am not a professional so I really don’t know how to fully describe what I did.

Train/skirt and draped sleeve pattern: a large /long circle skirt.

Lace Sleeve: I used the men’s leotard pattern from Rayena on Etsy.

Fabric: main white fabric: white charmeuse from Pacific fabrics in Seattle.
Lace sleeve : silk tulle from Mood fabrics
Lace design appliqués on lace sleeve: fabric for less, Renton ,WA
Lace for train: LaceUSA
Notions:
Crystal appliqués and buttons: Etsy
Buttons to make the train detachable: Etsy.
Swarovski glass pearls: Annie’s beads

So we began this project together last year with an idea and a dream. I had never sewn anything men’s clothing wise so I learned a lot during this process. We flew to Seattle for fabric since we literally have no apparel fabric shops up here in Alaska.
At the time we had all the fabric we needed for this design. However , this design changed as we did mock ups and his preferences changed. I ended up needed more fabric and mood and lace USA saved me.
I started with the suit jacket which I mentioned above how I put it all together. I took a lot of trial and error but with 3 mock ups I was able to make a pattern.
I hand sewed all of the appliqués and crystal bits as well.
The lace sleeve was the hard part. I was searching for lace that wasn’t warm or itchy since sensory issues were a concern. I found silk tulle on mood and it was a dream to work with. I then hand sewed all the appliqués where he wanted them while he was wearing it.

The train is just a large and long circle skirt. I sewed four buttons onto it and four buttons onto the top of his pants so that he could detached the train when he wanted to.
All in all it took me 10 months to complete this.

I was so honored when he asked me to make this for him and I’m grateful I got to go to the wedding and celebrate with them.

It's my daughter's first Halloween! Despite everyone asking if she's gonna be an Ewok or Grogu or something more aligned with my fandom identity, she is going to be Hornet from Hollow Knight/Silksong! I made the Ellie and Mac Nightfall Cape (retired pattern) but did a collar stand instead of the hood. Outer fabric is a pretty red brocade I got from a friend in our craft supplies swap, and the lining is from an old flannel sheet. My husband 3D printed the mask!

I made the Madrone Pants by Sew Liberated as an absolute beginner and I'm really proud about how they turned out.

I used Nylon and I love the way they sit. They're super comfortable and lightweight.

The instructions really had me questioning myself sometimes and If I look close enough I can definitely see all the mistakes I made, but it's really cool to know that no one else has these exact pants.

Hi! I am trying to find this type of plaid that kind of fades out into stripes, and I haven’t had much luck. I am unsure if I’m looking using the wrong keywords or if there’s another name for it?? Would appreciate any help!!

Does anyone here know what specific type of needle this is (see photos of both the needle alone and the card it was on), or any search terms I could use to find another? I'm desperate because I love it, and if I ever should lose it, I don't even know what to call it to try to find another.

It's a large, thick, curved needle, dual-end-point. It doesn't have quite an even curved perfect C-shape, either; rather, it is almost a J-shape, with one side being ever so slightly less curved than the other. The hole is moved up the shaft a bit and recessed along the one end, which is a bit thicker than the opposite point.

It was in a vintage, guessing 1950s-ish set of Singer hand-sewing needles left to me by my grandmother years ago (who famously hated sewing, lol). In the card that thankfully was included, it is stated as simply "Curved Needle - for repairing upholstery in chairs, car seats, mattresses, etc.", as stated on the card. But if I search for a curved needle, I get the ones you would expect: Single point, hole at the end of the shaft, just a standard c-chaped sewing needle. If I search dual-end-point or dual-pointed curved needle, I get the huge right-angle ones used for knitting. If I search dual-pointed curved upholstery needle, I just get the regular, SINGLE point c-shaped curved needles.

Please, does anyone know what the exact name of this type of needle is? Do they even make them anymore? I've never seen anything like it, and I hate to think it is solely a relic of a single run of 1950s hand sewing needles Singer made once upon a time. Thank you in advance for any insight! ❤️

I embroidered the cute bunnies on white fabric and couldn’t decide what to do with them. Found this fabric and it said apron to me.

I love the cut of the dress but struggle to find patterns where the waist is this small and the skirt flairs like this. other a line skirts/dresses usually fit my waist and hug my hips too much. not sure if i’m searching the wrong terms for the look/style I want? I know I could trace this dress to make a pattern but I am not confident enough to do that. any advice is appreciated, thank you.

I was watching a k-drama and the female lead has this laptop cover and I love it!

If you look at it it's more than a standard sleeve it's more like a quilted fabric cover? I think it has something that holds it to the top like maybe elastic straps on each side? I'm honestly not sure. At first I thought that it encases the entire laptop and wrapped around the bottom too but now I'm not sure. And it has a really cute...pocket? On the front? Not a pocket?🤷🏾‍♀️

Is there a pattern out there for something like this?

Name courtesy of my 3 year old!

Simplicity Crafts 7542. Year 1997

I found the pattern for this frog at a thrift store and couldn't stop laughing. Their eyes are just ridiculous. Why are they so long? Who decided this was a pattern we needed in the 90s? I had to make one.

I learned a lot from making this frog, such as:

1) when making plushies it's very important that cutting is correct and seam allowances are even so the seams line up.

2) how to line up curved edges and sew them

3) how to hand embroider eyes for a toy

It's for my son, so he won't mind the imperfections where I forced the seams or trimmed them to make it all fit together. The tongue was his added request at the end, and I did not have it in me to open the mouth seams to hide the end. He keeps asking for teeth too, but that's NOT happening.

I hope you enjoy Froggy the Long Frog!

I have pants, well a onesie really, that has a strip of stretch fabric (the dark brown) running up the inseam off both legs and through the crotch. The pants are well more than large enough. I want to rip out the strip of stretch fabric and then resew the inseams. I've never done anything like this before so I'm wondering if this might have any effects that I'll regret later. Thanks!

Does this match ok or should I try to find a different thread? Sorry, I am new to sewing. I ordered both online. Is there a system you use to buy matching thread?

I’m starting on Christmas presents and here is a scarf I made for a relatives son! He likes cars! Woven cotton fabric with a fleece inner layer to keep him warm.

I got a free motion embroidery foot for my Brother XM3700 machine and I’ve been playing around with it. It’s much harder than I thought and I found that my cotton poly fabric is bunching up a lot. Is this something that will get better with practice or do I need to change the tension? It’s set to 3 now

I saw the Minerva blazer pattern and could not get it out of my head! I’ve only sewn from a pattern one other time so I was nervous, but with enough patience and trial and error, it was doable. And fun!!!

As a note, I used 100% cotton and omitted the shoulder pads, almost all interfacing, and both types of fusible stay tape (still don’t know where to buy it? Or what it is?). I also had to use a cord for the button loops since I couldn’t get my fabric thin enough and was lucky my fabric store had a green that mostly matched.

I have 3 yards left to make matching trousers so please drop your recommendations below!

TL;DR: For embossed collar and belt parts, do I need a stretchy fabric when sticking and pressing in the 3d design?

I am currently trying to make a cosplay for the latverian witch in the upcoming avengers doomsday movie but I am stumped on how to make these embossed collar and belt pieces

Photos 1&2 are from commercially sold cosplay sites for reference

Photos 3&4 are actual photos from the costume display ( unfortunately I couldn't find anything in great image resolution)

My initial plan is to use wool fabric for the whole costume( as I thought with the role this character has, they work for essentially a royal position so I guessed the material would be probably something high quality, I'm not good at identifying the fabric in the picture), and do a sandwich of:

- wool fabric

- medium weight interfacing

- 2mm foam cut out with the embossed design

- wool fabric

Using the 3M super 77 multipurpose spray adhesive (I've seen posts where people said they've used this for sewing projects)

But now I'm thinking when I need to press in the embossed designs by sticking the fabric, will it have weird folds or kinks akin to if you did binding without bias cut fabric? If so, should I just get some stretch fabric or would cutting the fabric on the bias give enough stretch?

Extra questions:

- Is wool a good choice of fabric for the costume or should I pick something else?

- Should I do a stitch around the embossing for durability? Cause I see the stitching for the commercial designs but don't seem to see anything in the actual costume photos

I'm open to other methods of crafting these if my method isn't feasible! Thank you for reading 🙏🏻🐢

I want to invest a little bit of money into buying bolts/half bolts of interfacing to have stocked up rather than buy-per-project. I’ve pretty much just used Pellon SF101 for bag making and a couple others by the yard to make garments. Which interfacings do you always try to keep on hand? What’s worth buying in large quantities? I figured having a heavy, medium, and lightweight would be sufficient. I planned on sourcing from WAWAK but am open to other options. Thanks in advance!

This was my first ever self-drafted dress I sewed and it was a labor of love. It took me 3 days and it’s not perfect, but I’m proud of it! It was also my first project using my serger 🥳🧵 I was inspired by a dress I saw in an ai ad - I made the bottom portion with a simple full length half circle skirt, and top was done by simply sewing two rectangular shapes together and cinching the top portion! Fabric is a floral rib knit cotton ☺️

I wore it to a friend’s wedding and learned a lot from the self-drafting process. Kudos to the sewists that self-draft all their me-made clothing items!

Edited to include draft process and fabric details.