DISQUS

Lissa Allcock · 6 months ago

I have a friend who shares these opinions and problems. She has recendtly discovered Debenhams' Concierge Service however, which she says is excellent. It's free (IIRC) and you sit down, discuss what you like, they look at your body shape and then go off and find things in the store that should work and bring them to you.

It takes a lot of the agony out of it apparrently. I think there was another store she mentioned as doing it too - let me know if you want me to ask her which store that was.

bsag · 6 months ago

I'll look into that. It would certainly improve the trying to find clothes bit, though I'm not sure it would help with finding something that fits/suits if the fashion doesn't happen to be in my favour. Worth a try if it's free though.

Penny · 6 months ago

I feel very similar about clothes shopping and have really flirted with the idea of learning to make my own clothes! I don't really have the time at the moment, but I'll still be watching the comments here with interest!

bsag · 6 months ago

Time's a problem for me too, but I reckon it has to be worth a try at least.

Jonathan_Briggs · 6 months ago

And you have a brand new Debenhams all dressed up like a Pearly Queen not too far away.

I have the unmatched ability to put on a brand new suit and within 10 minutes look as if I'd emerged from a drunken night in a shop doorway; so worry not, you can't be as bad as that.

bsag · 6 months ago

You're thinking of Selfridges, I think, with the silver cladding, but Debenhams is at the other end of the Bullring. I'm sure I'd rival you with my scruffy-fication ability. For one thing, everytime I put on something clean or brand new, I inevitably spill food on myself. Every. Time.

Victor Stevko · 6 months ago

First -- don't try to get a party outfit ready on a deadline as your first sewing project -- that way lies madness.

If you're looking for patterns that fit, there are a number of pattern-drafting programs out there which will produce a custom pattern from your measurements. The best one we've found is unfortunately a Windows program -- Wild Ginger's PatternMaster software. There are free demos from their website -- I'd recommend giving them a try.
You can also check out PatternReview.com for reviews of paper patterns.

For construction, any modern sewing guide should do -- I like Sandra Betzina's "Power Sewing Step-by-Step". For fitting issues on skirts and tops, check out the three oldest sewing guides in your public library -- sewing of fitted clothing peaked as an object of discourse sometime around 1949, and the older books have stuff the modern ones don't. Of course, the modern books discuss trouser fitting, so there's a trade-off.

bsag · 6 months ago

Thanks for the tips - very helpful! Don't worry - I wasn't planning to try to make something for the first event (which is next week), but I might have a go for the next one which is in October.

Clair · 6 months ago

Similar problems here, and I have got myself a sewing machine and am working my way through making my first top... trouble is I don't have a large enough table in my flat!

bsag · 6 months ago

I'd love to know how it turns out! Can you use the floor to cut out the pattern, at least?

Clair · 6 months ago

I've managed to cut most of it out on the little coffee table. I'm hoping that I've got it right! I'm slightly confused by the pattern though... I'm sure it will all make sense as it comes together.

Victor Stevko · 6 months ago

The best thing I've found for cutting is a rotary cutter (Olfa or competitors), with the biggest cutting mat you can find/afford/store. The mat can store upright behind a bookcase or something, and you can cut out on the floor. (You may want to bar the cats from the room while you're cutting, if you do it on the floor). I've never cut a project with shears since we got the rotary and mat.

I'm still not great at figuring out how all the flat pieces come together to make a 3-d object, but it does get easier over time.

JulesLt · 6 months ago

If you're after vintage patterns, the obvious place is ebay (seeing as it is rare to find much that old in charity shops these days) - my other half has boxes of them, and a group of her similarly (vintage) inspired friends have been running a sewing circle for the last couple of years - although they had the advantage that one of them was already experienced.

A good/fun starting book is 'Yeah, I Made It Myself' mostly as the author used to be in C86/DIY band Talulah Gosh, so coming very much from a non-fashion angle. Then again, that tends to mean simple A-line shapes (as one of M's friends remarks, she keeps trying to make the perfect dress - for a 6 year old at a party). A search on Amazon for this turns up similar titles too.

The other option is to go to dress makers, shirt makers and tailors - if you're lucky and you have ones that still cater to an 'everyday' rather than special occasions market (and I am sure Birmingham does), it's more expensive that the Primark-to-Next end of the high street, but usually cheaper than (say) Karen Millen, and at least you get something unique AND you're supporting independent business.

(The last shirt I had done, 3 people tried to buy it off the shirt-maker, as the fabric was from Liberty. It ended up costing nearly as much as a Liberty shirt, but wasn't baggy/over-sized like many Men's clothes today).

But it has to be said that it's more intimidating than clothes shopping, in that you need to have a good idea of what you want, and to know the terms or at least a photograph or drawing. Best of all is having something existing you just want copying.

Oh, and if you're getting serious, a variform dummy that you can adjust to your body shape is a good idea, as it beats trying to adjust what you're wearing.

bsag · 6 months ago

Those are all great tips. I'd love to get something made for me, but I think that the intimidation factor has probably stopped me for now. The only think I've ever had tailored for me was the top layer of my wedding dress. I bought a simple gold satin bias cut dress for the bit underneath off the shelf (not intended to be a wedding dress, and therefore quite cheap) and bought some thin white silk in India, which a talented friend of my Mum's made into a long, simple coat thing (still find it quite hard to describe!) fastened with one button on the bodice, which allowed the dress underneath to show through. It worked pretty well and wasn't (this was my primary aim) a meringue.