u/PhedreSews

I just started making bags, and this one is far from perfect, but I’m so proud of it! It’s the perfect size for our upcoming Universal trip—just big enough for my phone and a couple other little things.

Pattern: Fennel Fanny Pack by Sarah Kirsten Patterns

Fabric: Linen from Mood for the exterior, quilting cotton from Hawthorne for the lining.

I wouldn’t normally use linen for a bag, but I just love this particular fabric so much. I interfaced both the linen and lining with Pellon SF101, and it’s structured enough for my needs (light usage).

I’m making the Noodlehead Quarry tote using a waterproof canvas fabric (omitting the short handles), and I’d like the cross body strap to be something more “lux” looking than nylon. I have the 54” leather precut strap from Noodlehead in my cart, but I wanted to ask you more experienced bag makers—how comfortable is leather as a crossbody strap? Should I go in a different direction?

I picked up a yard of red 80/20 nylon/spandex on a whim at hobby lobby yesterday, it felt perfect for a cosplay gown I want to make—it’s shiny and silky and flows beautifully. I threw together a mockup of McCalls 7349 view E, using the red fabric in the front and a random knit in the back. Basically, I wanted to see whether I liked the fit before buying more of it. (I’ve made this dress a bunch of times btw, it’s amazing, works with so many types of knits, highly recommend).

Anyway, the dress came out GORGEOUS—it’s like a (half) red carpet gown, so flowy and drapey and silky. But, as I suspected, it’s not at all flattering to my midsection. 😭😭

I love it so damn much though that I’m seriously thinking of driving my ass the hour down to Mood to see if I can find fabric similar in feel but a bit more forgiving. Any suggestions regarding what to look for?

I suppose I could also use this fabric and just get some shapewear instead, lol.

Dragon con is in T minus 5 days. I’m going as Lune from Expedition 33. I actually have my shit mostly together, except I can’t figure out how to keep this damn baguette connected to these damn suspenders.

I would dearly love to be able to easily remove the baguette for photos. It’s soft by the way, made out of PU. So I sewed on three snap clips to the suspenders and hot glued their counterparts to the baguette, because I could not for the life of me figure out how to sew them on. I have a curved needle, but it is not curved enough (or idk what I’m doing, which is very possible) Anyway, shortly after this photo was taken, my poor baguette’s snaps snapped under the pressure.

Any advice? Either on how to make the snap clip concept work or how to permanently connect the baguette to the suspenders. I’m willing to absolutely hot glue the shit out of it if you all think that would be best.

Thaaaaaanks!!

Dragon con is in T minus 5 days. I’m going as Lune from Expedition 33. I actually have my shit mostly together, except I can’t figure out how to keep this damn baguette connected to these damn suspenders.

I would dearly love to be able to easily remove the baguette for photos. It’s soft by the way, made out of PU. So I sewed on three snap clips to the suspenders and hot glued their counterparts to the baguette, because I could not for the life of me figure out how to sew them on. I have a curved needle, but it is not curved enough (or idk what I’m doing, which is very possible) Anyway, shortly after this photo was taken, my poor baguette’s snaps snapped under the pressure.

Any advice? Either on how to make the snap clip concept work or how to permanently connect the baguette to the suspenders. I’m willing the absolutely hot glue the shit out of it if you all think that would be best.

Thaaaaaanks!!

I would describe myself as an intermediate beginner. I’ve made plenty of garments. But I don’t have any experience with this type of fabric. My friend asked me whether I could hem this dress for her. It’s polyester, the fabric looks shifty and annoying, it’s somewhat sheer, and also I hate hemming. I want to say no, because my gut is telling me that this will be really hard.

But maybe not? Maybe I’m overestimating the difficulty, and it’s an easy hem?

Edit just in case this causes any confusion: she already cut it to the length she wants + hem allowance, hence the current raw hem

I just (mostly) finished the Sidekick Tote by Noodlehead patterns. I’m decently happy with how it came out, but I have some questions on the process if anyone has the time to share their thoughts :) I used cotton canvas from Hawthorne Fabrics for the exterior and quilting cotton for the lining and pocket (as recommended in the pattern). I’m new to bagmaking, but I want to get good at it.

- There are some wrinkles in the canvas. I’m thinking I didn’t do the best job ironing on the interfacing? Although I really did make a big effort. Or maybe I just need to press it all better? I used a medium weight cotton fusible interfacing, as called for in the pattern.

- The exterior pocket has a snap button on the inside flap. You can see the indentation from the button on the exterior of the flap. How do I avoid that happening in the future? Please ignore the terrible pocket topstitching lol, I know I need to practice my topstitching in general 😅

- The instructions had me zig zag finish one raw end of the strap, loop that strap through the hardware, and then stitch it down. But the zig zagged raw edge is showing, and it doesn’t look great. Where did I go wrong? I attached a picture of the instructions in case I missed something there.

- The recessed zipper. This is the worst looking part, TG it’s recessed 😬 Any advice at all is welcome here, but specifically I don’t understand the last step, where I’m supposed to attach some kind of tab thing to end of the zipper. Can someone please explain it like I’m five? Preferably with diagrams? lol. I don’t know if my zipper tail is supposed to be out or tucked in.

I’m sure no one remembers any of my posts, but I’m working on the Pietra shorts (they have an elastic back), and I have STRUGGLED trying to make a toile that fits 😆 My waist corresponds to a size 14 per the pattern, my hips btw sizes 8 & 10. Anyway, I ended up going back to my original size 8 toile (no grading), but I used a way bigger elastic size than even recommended for the size 14 waist. And lo and behold—the result is almost all the way there!! Maybe the elastic I’ve been using is just much tighter than the pattern assumes.

Now I just think the butt area is a bit tight. How do I go about adding some room there without messing up the rest of the fit?

Also feel free to call out any other fit issues you see that I may have missed.

Thank you 🙏🙏

Sorry for the excess of photos 🙈 stock pattern photos are at the end.

Ok so Pietra pants by closet core patterns. Such a fun sew! Unique pocket construction. But I can’t figure out the fitting. My hip fell into a size 10 and waist a size 14, so I graded between the two. Grading was a bit complicated w the pocket, but overall think I did a good job with it.

Overall, this toile fits decently. But look at the weird, abrupt step out right under the waistband. That flare is filled by my body, it’s not like it’s excess fabric. I’m wondering if maybe the way my waist flows to my hip is different from what the pattern assumes?

Or I sewed/graded something wrong, idk. Any thoughts of something I can try with this toile, or do you think I need to regrade, and curve to the 10 a couple inches lower?

Ignore the lazy back waistband and single hem sewing 🙈

Edit: I forgot to mention that I know the waistband looks tight, but that’s only because of this weird issue. It actually fits perfect, even a little big—if I go any bigger, it won’t stay up. Also not sure it matters, but it’s the waist that’s the 14 and hips are the 10. Sewing pants has taught me that my waist and hip measurements are weird 😆

Actually, the whole thing fits pretty comfortably, at least as far as how it feels. Even that weird flary part isn’t uncomfortable at all! Just weird looking.

Yesterday (or maybe the day before that?) I asked for knit dress patterns I could adapt into a coverup. I had this beautiful cotton/lycra fabric that was too thin and sheer for a normal dress, and I’m going on vacation next week, so I figured a coverup would be a fun project.

I’m happy with how it turned out! The neckband is a bit wonky, but besides that it was an easy sew. The pattern called for exposed seams & no hemming (it’s a sleep shirt pattern), but I hid the seams and hemmed the sleeves. I also lowered and shortened the back band a bit, and I went down a size after making a quick toile. Looking forward to hanging out by the pool!

Pattern: Sawyer Sleep Dress by Petite Stitchery

Fabric: Cotton/Lycra knit from Fabric Mart

I am having SO much trouble finding a pattern like this for some reason, maybe my brain just isn’t working today 😅 I want a stretch fabric dress pattern with a v neck and some kind of loose short sleeve, preferably the type in the first photo but I’m not too picky right now. (The first photo is for a woven fabric pattern and the second is print only, which I don’t have time to wait for).

Ty!!! 🙏🙏

I’m so happy with how they turned out!

Bread Bag:

- Used tutorial from Wellspring Designs https://wellspringdesignsquilting.com/blogs/quilting-tips/diy-linen-bread-bag

- Fabric: Linen from Hawthorne Fabrics

Book Sleeve:

- Used tutorial from this YT video: https://youtu.be/D82V86JFIps?si=eT\_7eGbxAf-8FILo

- Fabric: Cotton from Mood Fabrics

I’ve tried a few times now, and the fly guard topstitching on these pants keeps coming out like this. I’ve pressed the shit out of it, and I’m using my standard tension setting that has been fine for the rest of the pants. I’m stitching on the wrong side.

At this point, I’m wondering if I did something permanent to the fabric here and if I should just nix the topstitching in this area and secure the fly guard in a different way. Thoughts on what might be going on?

Picture is just an example, I’m open to any style of caftan! Or even other types of coverups. I have some knit fabric that is a bit too thin for a shirt or dress, and I’d like to make some poolside stuff for a trip in a couple weeks. The issue is, all the caftan patterns I’m finding are for woven fabric.

There may be a reason for this, and feel free to tell me if a knit fabric coverup is a terrible idea lol. Other than that, though, I’m decently experienced with sewing w stretch fabrics, so I’m not concerned about that aspect of things.

So questions—

- Would it be difficult to adjust the woven caftan patterns for knit fabric? How should I do so?

- Does anyone know of any knit fabric coverup patterns?

Thanks!!

I’m making the Protea Pants from Paradise Patterns, and I need to grade from their size 10 in the waist to their size 6 in the hips. This is my first time doing that big of an adjustment.

Questions:

- You can see my first draft in pencil. Thoughts? Should I start higher up/end lower down? I don’t have any fancy tools, so I’m using a ruler and free handing.

- What size dart should I use? So far I’ve only traced in the size 8 dart because it seemed like a middle ground, but it would be easy enough to use the size 10 or 6 instead.

- How do I match this up to the pocket lining?

- What sizes should I make the fly guard (pictured) and the waistband (not pictured)?

Thank you! And don’t worry, I’m definitely making a muslin first!