Lightning McStitch

I don’t know anything about fabric shopping, but as a fellow cyclist, if you’re brave enough to do the rond-point at the top of the Champs Elysee then go for it! If that sounds horrifying then I’d check out the velo-libre system and whether they still close the road along the Seine on Sundays. That’s a great scenic route.
Or, head out to the Bois…[Read more]

The only one I’ve made was flannel and i thought it worked very well. The Woollies flannels are lovely, I made a Music Class shirt in a herringbone flannel from them and it washed and wore perfectly. I say go for it. It will be more a heavy shirt weight than a jacket but the fabric will behave just fine.
You’ll be able to spot my flannel Sunday…[Read more]

@roundtheworldgirl I bumped up an old thread that might help.
But, yeah, I want a coverstitch machine.
Best wishes to everyone who’s having a crappy time.

@roundtheworldgirl I bumped up an old thread that might help.
But, yeah, I want a coverstitch machine.
Best wishes to everyone who’s having a crappy time.

Bumping up this thread…
What’s been mostly working well fir me over the last year of sewing lots of knit clothes is this:
1. Woolly Nylon in the bobbin
2. Having a second bobbin casing with tension backed way off so the bobbin thread really does zig zag fully
3. Using the walking foot to get over side seam bumps

None of that means I don’t want…[Read more]

Bumping up this thread…
What’s been mostly working well fir me over the last year of sewing lots of knit clothes is this:
1. Woolly Nylon in the bobbin
2. Having a second bobbin casing with tension backed way off so the bobbin thread really does zig zag fully
3. Using the walking foot to get over side seam bumps

None of that means I don’t want…[Read more]

I’ve had a fabric.com order fail to arrive. They promptly reshipped it. Another had the wrong fabric in it. They quickly sent the correct fabric and let me keep the other stuff. I would count as one of the “did not complain” customers, but gee that’s a bad business model they’ve got going on.
@motherof5 that would be a great use of that wool.…[Read more]

I’ve had a fabric.com order fail to arrive. They promptly reshipped it. Another had the wrong fabric in it. They quickly sent the correct fabric and let me keep the other stuff. I would count as one of the “did not complain” customers, but gee that’s a bad business model they’ve got going on.
@motherof5 that would be a great use of that wool.…[Read more]

@sayiamyou I LOVED those red skinny Sketchbook jeans of Nicole’s. They’re soooooo good.
I think almost any pattern can look jeans-ish if you use denim, an appropriate topstitching colour and do something jeans-esque to the back pocket. At least that’s my theory.
I was thinking maybe back pocket decoration might be a good idea for an Oliver + S…[Read more]

I recently used the Sketchbook for jeans for my daughter: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79480359@N03/14699004800/
And After School for my son:https://www.flickr.com/photos/79480359@N03/8668350104/
But my all time favourites were made by mixing the After School back with a modified Field Trip front:…[Read more]

I’ve gone right off cutting notches as sometimes the seam allowance is small and a vigorous notch could land me in trouble!
I make all markings with ceramic pencil (cloverline) about the only fabric it struggles with is fluffy wool or fleece.
To mark dots within the pattern I stick a pin through all layers, pattern tracing and fabrics and then…[Read more]

I may be lacking imagination (it’s early morning here) but my thoughts re the placket is that you can’t.
If you want the lining attached attached at the top but free at the bottom you’d need to make the placket only half length or have an almost separate under dress with it’s own placket. Both would be icky solutions I think.
How about underling…[Read more]

Here it is. It wasn’t the most invisible of invisible zippers

I think the problem with a button placket would be that it will need to cross the waist seam. Since the bodice and waistline are fairly fitted I’m not sure a partial button placket would allow you to get the waist past shoulders or hips.
My very first fairy tale dress was a sheer crinkly fabric which I underlined and then lined. It wasn’t any more…[Read more]

Darn autocorrect. M equals me. I equals if.

Ok! Done @dubhels2003 and done @with-love-Heidi
Just send M your postal addresses, either through forum private message or email to lightningmcstitch at gmail dot com
I have some postal satchels from the last round of generous recipients, so up to you I you care to send one in return not required. I’ll be happy to imagine them being well received.

Bumping this up before the dresses go in the charity bag….

You’ve nailed it re the paper situation @todd. First time I asked the local print shop (franchise of a well known chain) they looked blank. Suggested printing sideways on A0 and taping two sheets together.
Second time I asked they recognised existence of 36″ rolls but said they didn’t stock them.
A year later, with new management, they now stock…[Read more]

I read this post just today and I think it might help. It is mostly referring to increasing room in the front crotch but as they say at the end, if you do the same split and spread to the back that works for the back.
I imagine if you create a bit more room at the back there’ll be less strain and pulling down with squatting and bending.
But gee…[Read more]

@todd that’s fabulous news about the paper size change/addition. now I just have to work out how to split PDF files so that I can put all my large pattern sheets into one file. The local printer has a $15 per job minimum so printing one file would still be too expensive.

far be it for me to pick an argument 🙂 but I’m afraid the list of countries…[Read more]