Darcy Struble

Ok, good to know. I’m sure there are some handy tips & tricks folks who have done this know from experience, I look forward to the tute.

When your 12 year old daughter comes in and shows you her new dress – that she handstitched herself, straps and all and asks you to help her “redo” it! I will after this week but not right now!

Oh, the binding, of course. Yes, I can see how that would get bulky quickly. Again, I’m not trying minimize the difficulty of something I haven’t done, but just asking because I don’t know, is it different than making a mitered corner on a quilt binding? Perhaps because of the stretchiness of the knit?

I don’t use the cross over method, too bulky. I cut a triangle out of each end and sew and turn. Perfect’V’.

Yep, I’ve seen it done with one end crossing the other at the V point, but personally I think it looks better if the ends are joined at the correct angle to give a vertical seam in the neck binding at the V point.
Then there’s just the technical aspect of sewing an acute angled neckband into an obtused angled neckhole. Ha ha, look at me, now I’m…[Read more]

I have a Black & Decker Digital Advantage that I absolutely adore. Got it at BB&B for ~$35. It has a nice heft & is so easy to fill up with water!

The trick is in the neck binding. The join is sewn in a ‘V’ to give you the neat finish.

I buy Tefal, nice and hot and lots of steam.
Fairly tough too, my current one has survived being knocked over by a football in flight!

Good to know — my inherited Rowenta is hyperactive and has burned through more things than I care to think about. No wonder I inherited it. Definitely in the market for a hot, but not too hot, iron, sometime soon.

Would you not just … cut a V? What am I missing?

And I third it, which means I should probably work out how to do it, right?!

Thanks so much, everyone, for chiming in with all your different viewpoints and experiences. Hopefully it goes without saying, but just to reiterate, nothing I’ve written about my choices should be read as a comment on anybody else’s choices. What’s right for one isn’t right for all, and I do find it very useful to hear how others think about…[Read more]

Wendy I can’t agree more about what a buzz it is seeing my made clothes being worn again. I just received a gorgeous photo from the UK of a beautiful girl wearing my daughter’s outgrown dress and it felt like such a gift to me!

Oh (slaps forehead) i have that one – it has a racerback style tank too from memory.

Could we please have a men’s version of the sketchbook pattern? Enlarging is a nightmare and I could accept my nine year old wearing Liesl and co because it would look the same as the kid’s version. I cannot jusitfy buying men’s clothes for him though.

Haha! I need to do that! I saw this gorgeous dress a friend was wearing at church a few weeks ago but of course didnt have the camera – she bought it in New York!

Another way of doing what Katybellabug said…. Using up all available hard drive space on saving pictures of garments you want to create!

When you have sketches by your kids of things…[Read more]

When your mother tries to buy your children rtw clothing in adult sizes because the kids rtw doesnt come anywhere near them and you are so disgusted with the fit you throw them in the good sammies bin and sew new ones.

When you sew a tractor costume instead of using boxes.

When you have your children heaving sighs of relief after a…[Read more]

When your mother tries to buy your children rtw clothing in adult sizes because the kids rtw doesnt come anywhere near them and you are so disgusted with the fit you throw them in the good sammies bin and sew new ones.

When you sew a tractor costume instead of using boxes.

When you have your children heaving sighs of relief after a…[Read more]

When your mother tries to buy your children rtw clothing in adult sizes because the kids rtw doesnt come anywhere near them!

When you sew a tractor costume instead of using boxes.

When you have your children heaving sighs of relief after a fitting!

When you exclaim that you need to clone the kids in order to fit the alterations properly because…[Read more]

Yes I second this too!

@Sarvi if you ever want to make something purely for the fun of it then know that i’ll be cheering you on! I seem to be about 50:50 these days on things that are practical and useful, and things that stem from an idea that just had to be made to preserve my sanity! that creative itch can be so strong.
I don’t know many people with older kids, but…[Read more]

…when you no longer have any idea what you were talking about in your own post earlier in this thread…