Sewing naked

[susandennis]

It you've ever watched a show where people sew clothes, you know they always have these handy manikins to work with. (yeah, yeah, womanikins). They drape the fabric and tweak here and tweak there on headless statues.

I got no such option here. I actually had one once but it was always in the way and never useful so Goodwill got it.

Mostly I sew from patterns that I know fit me anyway so no need. But, this PJ Pant top design is available only in my head. So this morning, I did my sewing naked - well, I had on pants. Sew a couple of seams, try it on, tweak it, try it on, pres out the wrinkles, now let's see how it looks, etc.

Worked great. I finally basted it all together (sewing using long stitches that you can easily rip out for making changes) and it works!!!! And it looks pretty neat. Now I need to make the seams for real and add pockets and it will be done. And, yes, there will be photos, of course - who do you think yer talkin' to??

I am delighted.

Comments

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I've long been mystified that you can't by a custom mannequin. The standard ones are definitely not human-shaped (even the plus size ones have flat stomachs!) and isn't part of the point of making your own clothes being able to tailor them to fit? I looked this up a while ago (every time I watch Sewing Bee I start having delusions about how great it would be to sew, even though I hate sewing and am terrible at it) and the best I could find was a homemade version. It was ingenious (wear that stretchy jersey stuff over underwear, get a friend to cover you with duct tape, cut it off down the side and retape it, fill it with plaster of Paris and a stick/stand), but that's quite a level of commitment. You'd think there'd be a more tech-forward (involving 3D printing, maybe?) solution by now.

[susandennis]

There have been a couple of companies that have tried this but none that actually got it right. The ones I know about are now gone. I'm not sure there really are enough sewers out there to justify. There sure aren't enough sewers to justify the quality of fabrics like we used to get. You can still find them in New York and LA but really nowhere else. There was one in Portland, OR until a couple of years ago when it shuttered.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

:( On one of my New York visits I went to Mood. WOW! That and the surrounding shops with all the buttons, embellishments and stuff were incredible. I didn't realise how unusual that was. We still have some decent fabric shops here, but Kiwis have always been crafty (the inheritance of remoteness where it was make it yourself or go without).

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

[susandennis]

Nice!!! Way better hair, tho.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

hee!