Thursday 19 August 2010

A question for anyone who sews

I am having a problem. On 2 out of the 3 dress patterns I have made so far the side seams don't match up when I sew the bodice to the skirt. It was really noticeable on the Vogue one. I matched the centre seams and then pinned out from there. One side was off by maybe 1/4 of an inch. The other must have been out by at least an inch if not 2. I have no idea what I ma doing wrong.

Anyone suffer a similar problem or have any advice for me?

5 comments:

  1. That happens to me as well sometimes...

    One mistake I can think of is that I have used a different seam allowance for the skirt and the bodice. Of course I did not remember that when I started sewing and the pieces did not match.

    The other reason this happens to me is sloppy sewing. If you have 4 or 6 seams in the bodice it quickly adds up when you don't sew accuratley (I do not acuse you of sloppiness - I'm talking about me here ;)

    Sometimes this can happen if the bodice is made of other fabric than the skirt, is this the case?

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  2. I think that "sloppiness" is definitely the right word. Makring seam line made it better but doing it with thick tailors chalk doesn't seem to work. I think on my next version I'll have a go at thread tracing. A major effort but I'd really like something that is as close to perfect as I can manage!

    Thanks for the advice hun, much appreciated.

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  3. I would be lost without marking seam lines. :)
    Sewing straight is so difficult!

    Since most of my stuff is lined I simply use a pencil or a ball pen on the interface but you could also use something like the "Magic Marker" by Prym. It vanishes after washing and you would be able to draw very thin lines.

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  4. Ooh a water soluble marker. What a good idea. I have an air soluble one and it's great but, obviously, it doesn't last all that long. I don't line if I can get away with it. I'm a very warm person so adding an extra layer of cloth is not my favourite thing :o)

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  5. Well I do avoid lining in clothing as well as much as I can because I'm a lazy bum - I was talking about the bags and pouches I make for my shops...

    I do not sew much clothing anyway because I am given lots of second hand stuff from family and friends. This usually covers all of our clothing needs in combination with the occasional refashion.

    The last tailored dress with a pattern I made was my wedding gown - of course in this case I was really motivated to do it well... :)

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