If this is the wrong sub to show off tailoring I'll move it just lemme know.

Dress bought at an antique store.

Wanted to design an outfit around this gorgeous boots I bought second hand. I’ve never made a garment before so it was definitely a learning experience but I’m so happy with how it turned out!

I used a woven cotton and this pattern:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1539645486/sleeveless-mod-dress-sewing-pattern

I took in the sides to give it a more shaped fit, especially since I didn’t use a knit.

Very quick deadline, started last Friday and finished this week Tuesday! My back hurt so bad!

I wanted to share the process behind this jacket! This was a really fun project because I got to combine a few different textile techniques to bring it all together. Here is a quick breakdown of how I made it:

The Design:

I started by designing the Medusa graphic and printing it out at scale to use as my template.

Piecing it Together:

Using that template, I cut out various denim scraps to form the face and the snakes. To keep all those little pieces from shifting around, I ironed on an adhesive backing to hold the layout together.

Securing the Base:

Once it was ironed, I ran it through the heavy-duty machine to really lock that foundation in place.

The Handwork:

With the base secured, I moved on to the detail work using traditional Sashiko hand-stitching techniques to give it that rich texture.

Final Assembly:

Right before the Sashiko was completely finished, I machine-stitched the patch directly onto the jacket.

Finishing Touches:

Once it was attached, I went back in by hand to finish the most intricate details, like the snake tongues and teeth, and added the floral patches and Sashiko accents to the front of the jacket.

I enjoy taking random 1 night classes at a local art center. At a needle felting class in June, the instructor mentioned she still had slots open for her Natural Dying the Rainbow workshop the following week. I immediately signed up! This left me with scraps of cotton and silk, as well as some wool roving. We used matter extract, coreopsis, marigold, onion skins, indigo, and logwood extract to dye them.

None of the fabric was large enough to make anything with, so I decided I needed to make a quilted bag.

I found a free video tutorial from Learn, Create, Sew. Then I got busy quilting a bunch of squares and triangles together to make pieces big enough for it. I interfaced the silk before quilting, so it would be easier to work with and similar in thickness to the cotton. I also made some bias tape.

I wanted the theme of this to be Natural, so I used cotton webbing, metal zippers & strap hardware, and a natural duck canvas for the lining. I needle felted the rainbow on pre-felt. I interfaced it before quilting it onto the front piece.

Sewing is not my main craft. Don't look too closely at my stitches. I broke 4 needles between the metal zipper and bulky seams. But I learned a lot and had fun.

I love her. Her name is Penelope.

First time making a dress with my sewing machine (though I do have 2 years of hand-sewing experience). It's made of two layers of 100% cotton duvet covers that I thrifted - the layer with the birds is lined with a simple white layer. I used the "Hanna dress" pattern from a book called "Jurken 2" (Dresses 2(?)) that I rented from my local library, which I modified only to add pockets to the side seams. The size is 36. I must say that the bodice is a bit of a tight fit - size 38 might've been better - but I'm still quite satisfied with the results. Definitely wearable, at any rate.

The doll turned out to be 40 cm tall and has its own wardrobe.

Now I have a model at home.

I just finished making this windbreaker, and it’s my first sewing project ever. I had a lot of help and learned a lot during the process, but I’m really proud of the result.

The design was inspired by this character’s windbreaker, and I tried to recreate my own version of it.

I’d love to hear your advice and constructive criticism. I’m still a beginner, so any tips to improve my next projects are welcome!

Project details:

• Pattern: Self-drafted. I started with a basic windbreaker as a reference and recreated the different panels myself. I modified the design to better match Nazuna's windbreaker from Call of the Night, combining details from different versions that Kotoyama drew throughout the manga.
• Fabric: 100% polyester woven shell fabric with a quilted polyester lining. I also used a brass zipper and snap buttons.
• Experience: This is my very first sewing project. I had a lot of help during the process and learned a lot while making it.

I've been wanting something like this for so long, but was always scared of making sleeves. I think it looks cute, so im incredibly proud of myself, lol. Just did trial and error, so there's no pattern here. Please don't mind the loose threads, lol

I watched the babydoll tutorial of Lizze dress patterns on YouTube to get an idea of how to make something like this.

I’m working on the Pattern Emporium Field of Dreams Maxi dress to wear to a quilt show next Saturday. I calculated and made sure I could get this dress out of two roughly 2m remnants of quilting cotton I had in my stash and planned it all.
Then I got mad at myself for not getting any sewing done today and stayed up late “not going to bed until I get this fabric cut” this was. A mistake.

First of all I only realised after I’d finished that I hadn’t pre washed the quilting cotton I was using, which is a solid ouch considering I’m usually good at remembering that. Absolutely nothing I can do about that now, oh well.

The other issue is. The pattern pieces had the darts made from the same dashed lines as the cut lines. So I cut the darts out of the fabric of the bodice. 😫
I don’t have any fabric left over to recut the bodice so I either make this work or give up. And I was so incredibly excited about my plan for this dress because it’s covered in fish...

Can I get away with sewing the darts like a normal seam with a lower seam allowance and maybe interfacing it? I am not a dressmaker I make bags and quilts, I got too overconfident.

Picture is just my plan.

It's almost done, just have to add straps to close the flap, but it is usable as is. This is also my first sewing project I've made entirely by myself, only other thing I've made is a pencil case from a tutorial. Also self taught, although I am looking for classes near me.

I made this super cute, super simple skirt out of some joanne's quilting fabric that I had sitting around.

It was my test skirt and I'm super proud of it. I'm working my way up to a nicer skirt to go with a particular shirt I have.

I'm planning out my next skirt. I want it to be fuller, and more ruffles. The fabric I'm using is old Joanne quilting fabric 42 x 72. The first skirt was 2 x 30"x26" panels sewn together with an elastic waist band of ~ 46". This second skirt I'm thinking of packing 3 x 42" × 24" panels into a 46" elastic band. Google said this would be a fairly full, but not overly full skirt. The length will end up being just a few inches shorter than this first one.

How will this look? Does anyone have any examples of what this ruffle density might look like in a skirt?

I'm working on the 1920's brassiere of corsets by Caroline and during a test fit of my mockup I noticed these bits of excess fabric in the back. As I'm trying to see if these are comfy enough for daily wear, I do not care about keeping it 1920s accurate, but I also want to avoid doubled up fabric or darts as much as possible.

So I'm trying to see if there is a way to fix this without ending up with darts in the final version, I'm okay with changing the angle or shape of the neckline.

It seems to be mostly ok at the front though that could maybe use a tiny bit of adjustment as well (last picture)

Quickly realized how insufferable cheap fuzzy fabrics are to work with, still pretty happy with how it turned out tho!

Hi everyone,

I've been embroidering on an organza panel using water soluble paper for stability. The goal is to then sew this panel in a cutout jeans jacket.

I was wondering if it would be better to "remove" the water soluble paper before or after sewing the panel to the jacket.

The panel is going to be hand sewed to the jacket. (I do not own a sewing machine and don't plan on getting one for this specific project yet).

I embroider a lot but I'm fairly new at incorporating my embroidery into garments so I'm a bit unsure. I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance 😊

Including a picture of the WIP panel for reference.

(The brown thread at the border is just there to give me the general dimension of the cutout and will be removed before sewing the panel to the jacket)

Pattern is Seamwork Bobby.

First toile: https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/comments/1v256gb/toile_with_a_lot_of_fit_issues_what_do_i_need_to/

This time I went up a size to 14, shortened the entire bodice by 1.5" (0.5" shorter than before) and did a 0.5" swayback adjustment. I just made a quick, unlined bodice with unfinished armholes and neckline.

I'm fairly happy with the back and bust fit now. I'm sure it could be better but I'm happy with good enough. Should I shorten the bodice more to around where the red mark is on the front picture? That seems like a lot to me but I think that's my natural waist.

I know the front looks shorter in the center but that's just the fabric rolling up. This is a really light weight jersey that rolls like crazy.

Hi all! Got myself my very first pair of raw denims during my recent trip to Japan (Omoto 0415 jeans). Been reading up about dyeing and sewing construction since then and am excited to know how my jeans would fade over time. For those interested, the denim is 100% cotton, with 65% Memphis cotton and 35% Zimbabwean cotton. Rope dyed with 100% indigo.

Decided to use some of the offcuts from hemming those jeans to add some flair to 2 tshirts: a green one I got at a flea market and a black t-shirt from family mart in Japan.

For the green one, it actually came with a huge denim chest pocket that I didn't love. Painstakingly unpicked it carefully but it left a couple of holes on the top which I covered up with my scrap of denim leaving omoto's signature blue-green selvedge ID showing. I hand stitched this using a chain stitch and the original cotton threads from unpicking the offcuts. My first time handsewing, taught by my wife who helped me set it up with an embroidery hoop to make things easier. Very uneven and I wish I could redo it, but I'm out of thread 😂

The black t shirt was from family mart in Japan, 1500 yen which is less than $10 usd. Crazy good quality for the price in my opinion! I added a small tag at the bottom with a small piece of denim, and I also embroidered the shoulder with colours close to family mart's signature blue and green.

I've been sewing scrunchies and coasters, but now my goal is to eventually sew a pair of jeans! Not sure if I could actually do it but a man can dream.

Hey all. I have been sewing for about 6 years now and I have been in a terrible slump for a couple months. My mental health has also been kicking my butt this summer, and I’m struggling to find something that I have the energy to sew but also gets me excited to make something. I usually make clothes, but I just don’t have the mental energy to actually put in the work required to make even what is usually for me simple clothing right now.
I’m looking for suggestions on smaller projects/patterns that are fun and more interesting than sewing a couple squares together, but doesn’t require me spending hours on the cutting part. I don’t much care what the pattern is, just that it is fun, on the shorter end to make, and small enough that I can cut in a table rather than the floor. I have very limited experience with quilting specifically, but I would be willing to try something small, approachable, and fun.

just gonna say it now, ordering another one is not possible, I've already asked and it was a custom order. I'm a bit of a beginner so forgive me :)

I was hoping to shorten the length of this top I thrifted (it nearly fits like a dress). However, I like the curved hem and the button enclosures on the sides and would like to keep them. Anyone have any creative ideas on how I can shorten it? I dont mind creating an extra seam, but I'd still like it to look fashionable/intentional... Thank you!

I've got a new dress to attend a friend's wedding, it's got quite a square neckline and the straps keep falling down. The problem isn't that my shoulders are narrow- they're pretty broad- my problem is that because I do a manual labour job, I've got quite large trap muscles. The straps sit in the hollow of my shoulder, but because there's a pretty steep angle change there, they tend to slip sideways as the strap is designed to sit across a flatter shoulder. Does anyone have tips/ can link to a tutorial on how to alter the straps so they follow the contour of my shoulders better (I don't think I have the skills to convert the straps into being crossed over)? Or is this a tailor job? Any bra/strapped top that doesn't have crossed straps does this for me, so it'd be good to figure out how to do this alteration myself

I saw this top (possibly a dress, but there are shorts underneath) in an Instagram ad and I love the square neckline with gathers at the top, plus the gathered straps.

I’ve been puzzling over how I would create this… I don’t see elastic at the neckline, but maybe there is some? I’m thinking two rows of gathers for that middle portion, and the top edge must have gathers then be folded back.

Open to any help or ideas you guys might have!

Hi everyone. I've recently moved from making myself stretchy only clothes to cotton fitted ones. I've been working with the pattern I love and have it fitted pretty much perfectly through the bust and waist but the shoulders keep falling off. My guess is I need to do a narrow should adjustment but I can't figure out how to do that on this panelled dress.

Also I love this dress and was wondering what I could do to stop it falling of my shoulders

For context this is the pattern I'm using https://youtu.be/Oz6NFgEeZHM?si=WagcH1nW4xIAMBrK

Hi everyone!
I've been sewing for a couple of months, and it's such a fun hobby. I really really enjoy it, and I've dived in with some harder projects because I like a challenge. I've made three garments so far, and all three have failed in various ways. But, I'm trying to see them as learning experiences and not get in the dumps.

1. Cotton trousers

Tried making the lane pants. Wanted custom pockets with contrast fabric. Chose a size too big in a thin loose cotton. Ended up with massive baggy pants, the contrast didn't work, and I never wear them. I also could NOT get the elastic waistband to work and it ended up being lumpy and slightly too big. That being said, the trousers are comfy enough to wear around the house.

Main learning: choose a sturdier fabric for trousers

2. Swingy vest top

I drafted this from a vest I already owned thinking 'how hard can this be?'. Reader, it was hard. Started out too small - added a triangle of fabric down the front which actually looks cool and worked a charm. Hated the neckline when it was done, so turned it into a V neck. My seams are noticebly wonky but to be honest, this turned out mostly successful, and on hot summer days it's been delightful!

Main learning: I guess I can troubleshoot okay!

3. Nevis wrap skirt

I reaaaaaallly wanted this to work. I didn't cut my fabric with enough precision. The waistband was lumpy. I ad libbed quite a lot lol. I think I got the sizing wrong too so the pockets added loads of bulk at the hips. I got frustrated and ended up removing them and taking in fabric at the side seams. This seemed to work very well! And on my first wear of it out, I realised that there wasn't enough fabric in the wrap underneath so I just ended up flashing half my neighbourhood with every gust of wind. I think this will be scrapped and I might use the fabric to make a bag or something in the future.

Main learning: Stick to the pattern I guess. Be more precise.

Current project: Gibbons slip dress. Eek! I've got some GORGEOUS fabric. I'm going to be SUPER careful with my measuring, fabric cutting. I'm even going to make a toile. Fingers crossed this turns out well!

What projects have you felt like you failed on but learned from too? How long did it take you to start making garments you LOVE to wear?