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Transcript: 

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Helen: Join us today as we troubleshoot your sewing problems! Welcome to our sewing helpline.

Caroline: Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m great. How are you?

Caroline: I am good. It’s a bittersweet episode ‘cause this is the last episode of this season. Can you believe it?

Helen: Oh, my gosh. This season actually flew by with so much fun recording.

Caroline: Yeah, it was so fun. We had tons of great topics. It was just the two of us this season, which was a little bit different, and I think we had a great time. And the season also marked our five year podcasting anniversary. Like, wow, I can’t believe it’s been five years. I was looking up some stats before we came on to record, and I wanted to ask, did you know that in five years we’ve had 5 million podcast downloads?

Helen: Whoa! 5 million?

Caroline: 5 million.

Helen: Holy. Wow.

Caroline: It’s absolutely wild.

Helen: That is so cool. I love that. Five years, 5 million.

Caroline: Yeah. I wanna thank our listeners for being here and supporting us and downloading the show and listening to the show and loving on us all the time. It’s so fun to make this podcast with you, Helen.

Helen: Oh, it is so fun. Caroline, I love making this podcast with you, and I love sharing it with our listeners. We have some real super fans out there. I know there are lots of folks out there who have been listening since the beginning, so thank you so, so, so much for contributing to that 5 million downloads. That is amazing.

Caroline: Yes. One of my favourite things is seeing those Love To Sew podcast babies. Uh, when folks make one of your patterns with a Blackbird fabric and tag us and we get to see the podcast babies. It’s so cute.

Helen: Yes. #LoveToSewPodcastBaby.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Well, this is our last episode of the season, but if you want to hear from us during the off season, you can find us over on Patreon. We make our full-length, fun, chatty bonus episodes and sewing-focused mini-episodes all year long over there. Plus, depending on the tier that you subscribe at, you can get behind-the-scenes photos and discount codes to Blackbird Fabrics and Helen’s Closet Patterns. Visit patreon.com/LoveToSew to check it out, and if supporting us isn’t in the cards right now, that’s totally okay, too. We just appreciate so much that you listen to the show.

Caroline: Yeah. Thanks everyone for listening. Okay. Let’s start this episode off with some feedback! We got a lovely letter from listener Rosie, which we shared in the questions section of our History of Sewing Patterns episode! Rosie was struggling with life direction and wondering if she should follow her passion and go to fashion school. After hearing that, Karoline wrote to us with her own perspective. We loved it, so we wanted to share it with you. Karoline said hearing Rosie’s letter was like “reading a letter from (herself) 20 years ago.”

Helen: Oh, I love this. And just to be clear, this is Caroline with a K, not Caroline, host of the show.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Caroline says,

“Dear Rosie,

“I too didn’t have anyone to teach me sewing, so I stumbled through it by myself. This was before YouTube, but I got books from the library, found some sewing blogs, and did a lot of trial and error.

“My favourite subjects in school were maths and crafts. I started dreaming of a career in fashion when I was 12. At 19, it was time to choose higher education. I looked into fashion design, but chose the sensible option of computer programming. After half a year, I realised this was not for me, and again, started looking into fashion schools, and this time even sent a few applications. I chose a school that focused on construction and sewing over design. All fashion schools will teach both the design side and the more practical side, but not in equal parts. For me, the transformation of a flat piece of cloth into a three-dimensional object was the most fascinating. Pattern construction is a lot of maths and a lot of fun. So what’s your favourite part of the whole process? Find out what it is, and then, find a school that teaches.

“Fashion school was so much fun! Sure there were people there who were better at sewing when we started, and most were way more creative than me, but I sure aced the pattern drafting. So my designs might have looked boring, but the quality was high. I wasn’t designing for the runway or the next fashion trend, I was designing for life. Find what’s important to you and make that your first priority.

“After school, I got a design gig with a startup. It didn’t go anywhere, but it was a great experience. I then set up my own sewing company for a while. That too, didn’t really go anywhere. Eventually, I got an office job, and fast forward 20 years, now I have a degree in economics and a career in accounting.

“I never regretted getting that first degree in fashion. It taught me so many valuable skills, and even if I don’t earn money from my sewing, I get a lot of other valuable things from it. Seeing the joy in my kids’ eyes when I make them a costume is at the top, but also friendships and fun adventures and the knowledge that I can always clothe my family. And being able to care for our clothes means less shopping and hopefully, a better future. I still dream of one day making a living off sewing, perhaps teaching future generations to sew.

“So I’m here to tell you to follow your dreams. There is plenty of time to change your mind or get a second degree later. Trying new things is always scary, but it also leaves you richer than you were. Think about what’s important to you, and then, go get it.

“Wishing you the best of luck, Karoline, from Norway.”

Caroline: I have goosebumps.

Helen: Me, too. I love this so much.

Caroline: Yeah, thank you so much for your response, Karoline. It’s so great to hear your story, and you have such an encouraging, positive perspective. I love all of this advice, and yeah, I hope Rosie gets to listen to this. We’ll make sure Rosie gets this.

Helen: Yes, definitely.

Okay, I think we’re ready to open our sewing helpline. Operator, can you patch in our first caller?

Emily: Hi, Helen and Caroline. This is Emily calling from Bellingham, Washington, and I’m so excited to call the helpline. I always have so many questions bumping around in my head about my sewing projects, so it’s really nice to ask them out loud. Um, I have two fitting questions today but different projects and different issues.

So, my first issue is that I wanna make a Zadie Jumpsuit, but I often have issues with a V-neck or wrap style being too low on my chest. I have a very small bust, and it’s also high set. Um, I dunno if that’s the right term for it, but, like, the distance between my high bust and my collarbone is really short. And I’m wondering what would be the alteration you recommend if I find that the neckline on the jumpsuit is sitting too low or too wide and not giving me enough coverage? I have a similar issue with the McCall 7969 faux-wrap style dress, which I’d also like to make again this winter and be able to wear without a tank top underneath the coverage.

My second fit question is about pants, and I’m really excited about your new jeans pattern, Helen. Congratulations. My basic challenge with pants is that I have a small waist and muscular legs, so looking at your size chart, and most size charts, I see that my leg measurements are a size, possibly two sizes, larger than my waist and hip measurement. So would you recommend that I start by grading between my hip and waist to the leg? Or would you suggest that I start by adjusting the front leg piece because that’s specifically where my fit issue is? Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions, and I’m so excited to move forward on these projects potentially with your advice. Thank you!

Caroline: Thank you for calling in, Emily. We’ll answer your first question first. For your high set bust, we would recommend trying to shorten the bodice pattern above the bust. If the armscye fits well, you can draw a diagonal line from the centre front above the bust to the side seam under the armscye. And when you cut along that line and overlap the pieces to shorten the bodice, it’s not gonna alter the shape of the armscye, which is what you want here.

However, if the armscye is also too big, you can draw a horizontal line above the bust into the armscye, and then, slash, overlap the pieces, and redraw the armscye curve. If you do this option, you will also need to alter the sleeve pieces. Megan Nielsen has a tutorial for the Matilda Dress Sewalong that shows how to make these adjustments. Of course, the diagrams of the pattern pieces won’t look exactly the same as the pattern pieces you’ll be using, but the principles are the same!

And after you shorten the bodice above the bust, you will want to check the fit of the waistline. This is because the waistline will be raised. So try on your muslin and make sure that the waistline is in the right place. If it’s too high, you’ll need to lengthen the bodice below the bust. That thorough Megan Nielsen tutorial shows how to do this as well. It’s much simpler because there are no armscyes involved! So just some good old slashing and spreading should help you out here.

Helen: Yeah, this is an adjustment that I think a lot of people aren’t aware that they can do. Like, we lengthen and shorten a lot, you know, in the tummy area or on the legs for, like, a skirt or pants, but we don’t often lengthen and shorten above the bust. And it can be really helpful, um, in either direction, depending on your fit issues. I also think with a wrap top, you could, like, curve that front wrap a little bit outwards. So it’s almost, like, a sweetheart wrap, and that will give you a little bit more coverage in front as well. It’s something you could experiment with.

And for your second question about pants, let’s deal with the waist to hip difference first. So think about how your body from your waist to hip is distributed. If the difference is due to the width of your hips, grading between the sizes from waist to hip is the best choice for you, and this is because it will add width at the side seams of the pattern pieces. If the difference in sizes between your hip and waist is mostly due to your butt extending out the back, then you might wanna choose a pattern based on your waist measurement and do a full butt adjustment instead. This will put extra fabric where you need it without changing the placement of that side seam or potentially adding too much fabric to the front of your pants.

And for that waist to leg measurement, since you know the width is due to your quadriceps. Here’s what Colette recommends in their pants fitting cheat sheet, which is a great resource. We’ll link in the show notes. You can “add width at the inseam of the pants front, close to the crotch and tapering down towards the knee.” Your hunch about adjusting the front pants pattern piece is totally correct, and we just wanna reiterate full piece of advice from Alexandra Morgan. You wanna do one adjustment at a time from the top of the pattern to the bottom. So start with your waist to hip adjustment. Get that worked out before you move on to your hip to leg adjustment. Pants fitting does typically involve making muslins, so it’s low pressure, low stakes. Get some, like, cotton and just get going, making some muslins, and you can go from there making adjustments.

Caroline: I think you can also, if you’re wanting to have a little bit of extra security for, like, your real fashion fabric that you end up using, add a little bit to your side seam seam allowance so that you can make some adjustments on your final garment if that is needed.

Helen: Totally.

Caroline: Next caller?

Kristen: Hi, there. My name is Kristen, and I am from St. Louis, Missouri. And I am more of a beginner sewer, uh, confident beginner, but I am having some neck gaping problems on some of the tops, the blouses I’ve made, and I have made them in different sizes thinking maybe it was too small, and I’m just not quite able to figure that out. And tailoring is, is a little bit of a beast, uh, for me to wrap my brain around. So for a more beginner sewer, um, how can we eliminate neck gape? Thank you. Have a great day.

Helen: Aw, thank you so much for your call, Kristen. Neck gaping is a common problem, so you’re definitely not alone. And we have tips for woven and knit garments. So let’s start with the wovens.

If your garment has a neckline that’s cut mostly on the bias, like a wrap dress or a V-neck, you need to take steps to keep it from stretching out. First of all, don’t skip any stay stitching, and we’re not accusing you of skipping the stay stitching, but just in case, we’re gonna mention it. This is when you sew basting stitches around a quarter inch into the seam allowance. This keeps the neckline from stretching along the bias and gaping later on.

Secondly, you might want to consider stabilising the neckline edge. You can sew in twill tape or grosgrain ribbon. You can fuse a thin strip of interfacing along that edge to stabilise it. You’ve got various options here.

Caroline: Yeah, and if your neck line is gaping, mostly in the front, there’s actually a pattern adjustment you can do that moves some of the neckline fullness to the dart if you have a dart. So Tilly and the Buttons has a tutorial for how to do this, and if your neckline is gaping at the back, you may want to add a dart or a curved seam at centre back or along the back neckline. Muna and Broad sometimes work a curved seam into the centre back of their top and dress patterns because a lot of plus size sewists have a rounded upper back, and you can do this for wovens or knits. And as a last ditch effort on woven fabrics, you could pinch out the extra fabric and add a small dart or two to cut down on the gaping.

Helen: And I know you mentioned that tailoring is a bit of a beast and a bit intimidating for you as a beginner, and that’s totally normal. But I wanna reassure you that pattern adjustments are very doable. They are actually really fun once you get the hang of them. And initially, you’re just gonna be working with paper. So, again, the stakes are low here, give it a try and just see what happens. You might find that you really enjoy making pattern adjustments. I, personally, do.

On a knit garment, you could shorten the neckband. The neckband pieces that are provided with knit patterns are, kind of, averaged out over different types of fabrics that you can use with varying degrees of stretch. So it’s not going to work on every single fabric with every single type of stretch out there. You do need to customise these neckbands. So if you sew up your neckband and find it’s too big, you can unpick it and shorten it. Or as you get better at sewing more practice, you’ll know as soon as you start pinning that neckband on that it’s too short or it’s too long, and you’ll be able to adjust before you even sew it.

Caroline: Yeah, and remember to use your iron and lots of steam when you’re pressing out these neck lines cuz that can help a lot to, sort of, shrink everything up.

Helen: Totally.

Caroline: Next caller?

Tanya: Hi, guys. Tanya here from Sunny Melbourne, Australia. Just wondering, how do I know when I need to turn my work to keep it at the same seam allowance. For example, on a pocket I’m top stitching, how do I know if I’m doing five-eighths and then turn? When do I stop? How do I know when to turn? Sometimes it’s a bit more than five eighths. Sometimes it’s a bit less. I’m not sure how to make it nice and neat when I turn. Love your show. Thanks so much. Bye.

Caroline: Hi, Tanya. To be honest, the only way to really know for sure when to pivot your top stitching is to mark it beforehand. So you can either mark out your top stitching lines completely, or you can put a little dot at the corner points so you know where to stop and pivot. Just make sure to test your marking tool on the fabric you’re using first, so you know it’s gonna come out completely.

And also, in case you haven’t heard it, we have a whole all about marking tools, which is gonna help you know what your options are there. But to be honest, a lot of the time I just eyeball it. If you’re an eighth of an inch off, it’s not gonna be noticeable anyway. Just remember the three foot rule. If you can’t tell a mistake from three feet away, it doesn’t count as a mistake.

Helen: It’s so true. I always just eyeball it, and sometimes, I turn that corner on that pocket and I was wrong. And that’s okay. That’s totally fine.

Caroline: Yeah. It helps to really slow down, obviously, as you approach the corner, and…

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: …even, like, with your needle in the fabric, you can lift your presser foot and, sort of, see what’s going on under there as you approach that corner to see, okay, I need to maybe do two more stitches before I turn around and that looks about right.

Helen: Yeah. Alright. Next caller?

Katherine: Hi, Helen and Caroline. This is Katherine calling from Boise, Idaho, and I have a question about pre-washing fabric. So I do always pre-wash all my fabric. Typically, I like to do it as soon as I get my fabric home just to get that first step out of the way. But I’m often buying more than one fabric at once, and so I find myself wondering, do I need to wash each fabric individually even if they have the same care instructions? It just takes a really long time, and it feels wasteful, but I also really don’t want the colours to bleed between fabrics and ruin all my new fabric.

Uh, so I’m wondering if there’s a better way to do this. Is there a way to know if the dye will bleed between fabrics? Basically, just wondering if I need to continue to wash all my fabric individually, or if I can throw it all in the wash together. So thank you so much. I’m really obsessed with your show. I started sewing about a year ago, and it’s been really helpful and informative for me. So thanks.

Helen: Hi, Katherine. So much for calling, and I’m so excited that you just got into sewing a year ago. That’s so awesome. Thank you for listening to the show, and first of all, we want to applaud you for always pre-washing. This is a step that we consider non-skippable for most fabrics, but you’re right that it can be a bit overwhelming washing everything separately, especially if you have small pieces for quilting or something like that. There is a way you can get some information on which fabrics will bleed and which won’t. You can do a test for colour fastness.

So take a small swatch of each fabric you want to test. It doesn’t have to be big. It could be about an inch square. Line those up on a piece of white fabric and just stitch them on willy-nilly. Wet the whole thing thoroughly, and just lay it out to sit for about five minutes. Lift up the swatches to see if they’ve left any dye on the white fabric. Any fabrics that leave dye behind need to be washed alone. The ones that don’t leave dye behind can be washed with a laundry load of similar colours. This is one way to test for colour fastness. I also just tick, stick a corner of the fabric under the tap…

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: …and wet it and squeeze it and hold my hand underneath to see if any dye comes out. Uh, it’s not nearly as scientific, but that’s my method, and it’s been working pretty well.

Caroline: Yeah, we do this at the office a lot when we’re looking at fabric samples from suppliers, or if we get shipment samples from something that we have coming in, we wanna test out the colour fastness. We’ll just, like, throw it under the uh, faucet and see what happens.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: A little squeeze.

Helen: Exactly. I often will batch wash my fabrics, like with like. So I have a lot of dark colours, I’ll wash those together. It doesn’t necessarily have to be all knits or all wovens. I’ll typically just throw the light colours together, and that will work out fine. If a fabric is bleeding a little bit, throw it in with a colour that’s similar, and it will still be fine. I don’t think it’s a big deal if some of the colour leaks out onto a fabric that’s similarly colored.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. Next question?

Renee: Hi, my name’s Renee from Temecula, California, and I have a refashioning question. What is the best way to hem ready to wear jeans? Thank you so much.

Caroline: Hi, Renee. This is a great question. The classic way to hem jeans is to simply cut away the excess and do a single or double fold hem. A single fold hem is probably gonna be the easiest to manage on a machine because it’s less bulky, so you just trim away the excess, finish the raw edge with a zigzag or a serger, press it up once, and top stitch it down. The only issue with this option is that it’s not gonna look as neat if you cuff your jeans.

A double fold hem is gonna look neater for that option, and it’s the traditional way jeans are finished. You’re gonna want a stronger needle than usual, like a denim needle or a size 90 regular point needle. And for the top stitching, take your jeans to the store and try to match the colour and weight of the top stitching thread used on the rest of the jeans. This is the finish that’s gonna allow you to get those really nice, kind of, like, fade lines when you wash your jeans. Um, it’s just gonna really replicate that ready to wear look.

Helen: Exactly, and that will happen faster than you think. When you first hem your jeans, it’s not gonna match the rest of the jeans. It’s gonna look weird. Don’t worry. A few washes is gonna sort that right out. But if your jeans are pre-washed or pre-worn and you really don’t wanna lose that nice wear that’s on the hems, there is a method of hemming that will help you to keep that.

So first you’re gonna figure out how much length you need to lose. Let’s say you wanna hem them two inches shorter. You draw a line half that length, an inch or so above the fold of the hem that’s already there. Fold the hem up along that line with right sides together and use a zipper foot to sew a stitch line right up close to the existing hem, and then you’re gonna trim away the excess seam allowance.

Finish the seam allowance with a zigzag or serger over the edge, and then press it up towards the pant leg. And then your final step is to use a matching thread to the jean’s fabric to subtly top stitch the seam allowance to that pant leg to get it to lie nice and flat. And that way you keep the original hem of the jean. So it’s such a cool method. We’re gonna link a tutorial for it from Sustain My Craft Habit in our show notes if you wanna check this one out.

Caroline: Yes. I was, kind of, blown away by this tutorial cause I hadn’t seen this method before, and Lisa put this in here, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this is so cool…

Helen: So cool.

Caroline: …cause it’s really invisible, but you’re preserving that beautiful worn in look. So love it.

Helen: Alright. Let’s hear from our next caller.

Carly: Hey, Helen and Caroline. My name’s Carly. I’m @SewingYourWildOats on Instagram. I have a question about a couple jeans patterns I have. They call for a ponte knit or a stretch denim of 30%, which seems really high. I did end up finding some stretch denim that was 30%, but I have some that’s less than that. I was wondering if I could size up and use the one with, like, maybe 10% stretch and just size up. Is that possible? I don’t know. I’m so nervous. I want to, but I just don’t know if I can. I don’t wanna ruin it, so, um, let me know. Thank you!

Caroline: Thank you, Carly. Another jeans question. I love it. Thank you so much for calling. Um, it sounds like the pattern that you’re using is for, kind of, like, a jegging style or legging jeans style with 30% stretch. You can sometimes switch up your stretch percentage and size up, but using 10% stretch for a pattern that calls for 30% stretch seems like too big of a difference to me. If you had some 20% stretch denim, I think you could go up a size and be fine. But I think the results of sizing up two sizes to use this lower stretch denim would be too unpredictable for me to recommend it.

You could either find some 30% stretch denim for this pattern, or find another pattern for your 10% stretch denim, and we’re talking about stretch percentage, not percentage of spandex here, you’re not really gonna find denims with 30% spandex in them. But, um, when you use your little ruler to do a stretch test, this denim needs to stretch 30% for this pattern. So you’re really looking for something that has really good stretch and recovery here.

Helen: Yes, definitely. Sorry to, uh, give you the news you didn’t want to hear here, Carly, but hopefully, you can use this great denim for another project.

Alright. Our next couple of voicemails are from my lovely mother-in-law, Laurie. Let’s play the first one.

Laurie: Hi, this is Laurie calling from Victoria, and I was about to call my darling daughter-in-law but thought, wait, I could call the podcast while the two experts are together. I am about to embark on my first Pona Jacket, very excited, and I’ve bought a gorgeous wool blend and merlon blend anyway, to be dry clean. But the people have said you could also wash it, though it might shrink a little. So my question is, do I pre-wash wool blend material. Thanks a lot. Love your show. Bye.

Helen: Oh, thank you Laurie. Always lovely to hear your voice. Um, and I did get back to Laurie already with an answer to this question ‘cause I’m eager for her to start her project . She has got some wool melton, which is almost like a felt-esque, uh, wool material. That’s great for making coats. And I would pre-wash, uh, your wool blend fabric.

It’s common for fabrics off the bolt to have stuff on them, like sizing for crispness and powders to prevent mould growth. Plus, you absolutely want to get any shrinkage out before you sew up your jacket if it’s something that you want to be able to quickly wash and wear in the future.

Generally, wool blends are easier to care for than pure wools. With that said, you are gonna wanna follow the care instructions for your specific fabric. So usually this is on the product listing online or the bolt in person. If you don’t have access to the care instructions or they’re sparse, here’s what you wanna do, and it’s probably a good idea to do this regardless if you’re working with wool and you’re gonna wash it, is to test a swatch in the washing machine.

So cut a five inch by five inch section of your fabric, throw it into the wash, and then check the fabric for any changes after it comes out. Some wool blends can be washed with cold water on a gentle cycle in the machine. Some need to be hand washed with gentle detergent. If your fabric looks like it’s gonna fray when it’s in the wash, you can finish the edges before you throw it in there with zigzag or serger to keep them from fraying.

Usually, wool blend fabrics are best dried flat, so you can lay out some towels and arrange the fabric, so the grainline is straight. Flip it over every 12 hours or so so it dries evenly. If it seems pretty stable, you could also hang it to dry instead. A shower curtain rod is great for hanging large pieces to dry.

Or if you plan to throw it in the and the dryer, do that with your test swatch and see what happens. We’re looking for shrinkage, we’re looking for texture changes, colour changes, anything that changes from the existing fabric to the washed fabric. And then you get to decide if you’re okay with those changes.

Caroline: Mhm. I’m just imagining, like, laying out a, your yardage of wool fabric for several days on the floor to wash. I know. Honey, what is this fabric in the middle of the house? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.

Helen: Don’t worry about it. Yeah. Oh, that just needs to be there for, like, 24 more hours. Don’t worry.

Caroline: Don’t worry. Keep the animals away,

Okay, let’s hear Laurie’s next question.

Laurie: Oh, hi, Helen and Caroline. It’s Laurie from Victoria. And my question is about cutting mats, and I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, or if you might think I’m just being too precious, but I cut on a table and I have a, sort of, standard size cutting mat, and often my patterns are too big, and I have to go over the edge. So there’s that little glitch where the pattern goes off the edge, and I have to move the material or do something or cut it with scissors. I’m just wondering what your clever expert tips are for managing a pattern piece that is bigger than your cutting mat. Thanks for your help. Bye.

Caroline: Thanks, Laurie. You really came through for us when we asked for calls. Okay. Before we start giving you ideas, let me tell you having a custom cutting mat that covers the whole table has been amazing. We have these at the Blackbird Warehouse, and I cut all my projects there. And Helen, I know you have this at home as well, right?

Helen: Mhm.

Caroline: In your home studio?

Helen: Yes, and it really is amazing. It’s one of those things that when you’re able to upgrade, do it. It is life changing, but everybody who does not have a beautiful full, uh, length table cutting mat does have this problem. It is so, so common. You’re definitely not alone.

Caroline: Yes. So let’s talk about making smaller mats work. If you’re working with shifty fabric, you can put a layer of tissue paper underneath, and then if you need to move your fabric over so you can continue cutting, it won’t shift around too much. You can also do a, kind of, hybrid situation where you pin the pattern to the fabric in the area that’s not on the sewing mat.

You can put paper weights on the part that’s on the cutting mat, and then you can use a rotary cutter on the mat part and scissors to cut the part that hangs off. This is still probably faster than pinning and cutting the whole thing with your scissors. I do this at home because I don’t have a full size cutting mat, and sometimes, I just need to cut out a project at home.

Um, and I always try to place my project so that the most, I don’t know, full difficult part to cut is on my cutting mat, and then I’ll leave just a little bit of excess off the edge, the easiest part to cut, and then I do this, sort of, hybrid situation, and it works quite well. Yeah. What do you think, Helen, do you have any other tips?

Helen: Yeah, I think scissors are your friend here. This is where pinning and cutting with scissors is sometimes more advantageous than cutting with a rotary cutter, even if it is a little bit slower. I do think that shifting your fabric and pattern pieces mid-cut, like when you’re in the middle of cutting a piece, is not a good idea because things are gonna shift out of place. So if you need to move things around, do it in between pieces, but not when you’re in the middle of a piece. So I think Caroline, your idea of that little bit hanging off that you cut with scissors is probably the best solution here.

Another thing you can do is get a second cutting mat. This is what I used to do for years when, uh, and lived in my apartment ,and I did not have a full cutting mat on my table. I had actually three of those 24 by 36 inch Fisker cutting mats, and I had them all laid out in a line and then I taped them together on the back, just using duct tape, so that they wouldn’t shift apart and create gaps. You still get, like, that tiny little bit of fibre that doesn’t cut when you cross the line of the cutting mat. But once you get used to that, you’ll know to go in there with your snips and get it, and that has been a game changer. So if you’re able to get a second cutting mat, tape them together, that’s probably the best solution for you at the moment.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. Next caller, please.

Sandra: Hello, Helen and Caroline. My name is Sandra, and I live in Southwestern Ontario in Canada. I’m a huge fan of the podcast. I’ve listened to all your episodes and many of them several times, and I’m so thankful for everything I’ve learned from the two of you. I’m also a Patreon supporter, and I gotta say that is the best money spent ever. So my question, my sewing puzzler for you is I’ve always wondered on sewing patterns, why the lengthen and shorten line is a double line. Am I supposed to cut it at the top line or the bottom line or in the middle? Or why is it not just a line? That’s my question. Anyway, thanks so much for everything you do. Bye-bye.

Helen: Hi, Sandra. Thank you so much for supporting us on Patreon. That means a lot to us, and thanks for the excellent Patreon plug. I mean, money well spent doesn’t get better than that.

Caroline: Best money spent.

Helen: Best money spent. I love that.

Caroline: Ever. Love that. Thank you, Sandra.

Helen: Yes, thank you. And this is a super interesting question. Um, the reason I think that lengthen and shorten line is a double line is to differentiate it from being a cut line for the pattern. So it might get confusing if it were a single solid line. People might think it’s a cut line for a view or something like that. The double line makes it stand out, and it’s really obvious that it’s a length and shortened line. Uh, we couldn’t find any other reason why in our research. So that’s the answer we’re gonna stick with and go with our gut. But if any listeners out there have any resources that give any other reason, we’d love to hear it.

And as far as where to cut, you can cut on the top line. You can cut on the lower line. You can cut right in the middle. Um, it’s really up to you. There isn’t, like, a hard and fast rule here, but I understand that it’s a bit confusing as to where you’re supposed to put your scissors.

Caroline: Mhm. Okay. Let’s patch in our next caller.

Stephanie: Hi, there. Um, I would consider myself maybe an, an intermediate sewist. I’ve been sewing for quite a while now, but there’s one thing that I just cannot seem to perfect, and that’s bias bound necklines and arm holes. Uh, so I’m talking about, kind of, the invisible, where the, you know, the binding is flipped to the inside, um, to, to to ensure, like, a nice clean edge. And no matter what I do, um, it always seems to, kind of, flip out, um, you know, flip out at the curve.

And I just, I feel like I’ve read so many blogs and so many tutorials, um, and no matter what I do, I just, it, it always seems to flip out, you know, there’s some tutorials that say to tug it a bit, uh, taut. Others say not to at all. Um, and I know there must be some kind of geometry or something about it in terms of the, the shape, the, the circular, um, the circular seamline. Uh, but anyway, any help you could, uh, provide would be very greatly appreciated. And this is coming from Stephanie in London, Ontario.

Caroline: Thanks for calling, Stephanie. Bias bound necklines and arm holes can leave a fabulous clean finish, but many sewists have issues with getting them to lie flat, so you’re not alone here. We do have some good tips for you to get a flat bias finish though.

So the first tip is to use the right weight and drape of bias binding for your fabric. So for drapey fabrics like rayons and silks, the best binding is gonna be made of the same fabric as the garment. Quilting cotton is too heavy for most garments, so save it for binding on heavier fabrics like corduroy and denim and lightweight cottons like lawns, batistes, and poplins are good for mid-weight fabrics. Basically, you wanna use a fabric that’s equal in weight or lighter than your main fabric.

And you can either make your own bias or buy some of the many beautiful options online. Etsy has a lot of them. I think the classic bias tape that you find in big box, like, retail stores, I don’t know the brand, but it’s, sort of, starchy and cottony and thick and comes in a lot of solid colours. That stuff is not necessarily good for most garment making projects, I would say. I would probably not recommend it, especially if you’re making yourself, like, a top in a draping fabric. You really wanna, um, find something with a similar weight and drape to the fabric that you’re using.

Helen: Yeah. And often, I mean, look no further than the fabric that you’re using ideally. You, if you’re making a linen top, you just use that same fabric for the binding, and that’s probably gonna give you the best result.

Our next tip is to, again, stay stitch your neckline and arm holes. They could be stretching out when you’re handling them before attaching the bias binding, which could be what’s part of causing the gaping.

And we found that the bias tape method where each half of the tape folds into the middle does end up lying flatter than the method where you fold the tape in half once and then line up both those raw edges on the edge. They’re both good methods of bias binding. So if you prefer one over the other, that’s totally fine. But in our experience, the one where you fold it towards the middle, which is a little bit more cumbersome, does tend to pay off in the end.

Caroline: Mhm. And you wanna make sure you’re understitching. This is gonna keep the tape from rising up and being visible from the outside of the garment. It helps to just keep everything flat and in place.

Helen: Yeah, and our last tip, actually, our second to last tip, is to leave some slack in the tape when you’re pinning and sewing it onto a curve, especially a really extreme curve. We have a pattern, the York Pinafore, that has a pretty extreme curve around the lower neck, and it trips people up because it does take a lot of slack in the tape to be able to turn it to the wrong side of the fabric successfully without it, kind of, puckering and wanting to flip out.

So the more you’re going around a curve, the more slack you wanna leave in the tape. And I’m not talking about, you know, gathering amount of slack, just making sure that you’re not pulling it taut as you go around that corner, possibly even pushing it so you’re leaving just that little bit of extra so you have room to turn it to the wrong side. Um, and this is something that will become easier to gauge over time as you make more garments.

And then after you finish, of course, you’re gonna wanna use a steamy iron to press your neckline and arm hole flat. Steam is definitely your friend here, so go for it.

Caroline: Yes. Next caller?

Allie: Hello. Thanks for taking my voice note. My name’s Allie. My sewing Instagram is @A_Made_. The question that I have for you relates to mainly jeans making, but also pants making. Um, I have this issue where I am two sizes smaller in my waist, so I have to grade out for the hips, and I find that my thighs in the pants that I make are too big, and there’s just a lot of fabric around there, and I can’t find anything online about how to grade back through the thighs. So what I’d like to do is have say a four at the waist, eight at the hips, then back to a four at the thighs. And I’m wondering if you have tips on how to grade back through the thighs. It’s a little bit of a tricky curvy area on pattern pieces. So if you have any tips, it’d be appreciated. Thank you.

Helen: Thank you, Allie. You can definitely grade back down for the legs of your pants. The first step is to mark your pattern at the fullest point of the hip, uh, at the size that you need. You mentioned a size eight. And then mark at the size eight line just below the crotch seam right after it pivots to become the inseam at that point there.

And then move down and mark a point on the size four line at around the mid-thigh on both the inseam and the side seams, and then make a smoothly curved line between the hip mark and the mid-thigh outseam mark and grade between the crotch mark and the mid-thigh inseam mark.

A little hard to describe over the podcast, but Cashmerette does have a great tutorial for grading between sizes with images that make this really clear. It is totally doable. I understand what you’re saying about the crotch area becoming a little bit confusing. There’s so many different curves happening there. Um, and a lot of times we think that the sizing for pants especially is all happening on that side seam, but it’s also happening on that inseam. So that’s an area that you can grade as well, and it’s definitely not something you wanna overlook.

Caroline: Yes. And happy sewing, Allie.

Helen: Happy sewing. All right. Let’s hear from our next caller.

Katherine: Hello. My name is Katherine from Victoria, BC. I have a question about wool coatings for outside jackets. A friend of mine who has recently passed, bought me the most beautiful wool fabric I ever did see, and I have made a tester jacket with another wool coating from Blackbird Fabrics to see if I like the pattern. And I love the pattern, but it’s just the front is, like, a little bit wavy, and it’s not quite as structured as I would like it. And I can’t add interfacing, I don’t think, because I can’t iron onto the wool because it will melt the wool.

So I don’t know how to make the jacket look structured as, as I’d like. And I really wanna sew this jacket as a process of grieving my, my dear friend who purchased this jacket for me, or who purchased the fabric for me because I made him a jacket. So that was our little trade, and I just want it to be perfect, and I don’t know who to ask for help for this, so I’m happy to have somewhere to ask. Thank you.

Caroline: Hi, Katherine. Thank you so much for calling. This is such a sweet way to honour your friend. I’m so sorry for your loss. You can actually use fusible interfacing with wool fabric. It’s not going to melt. Now, I don’t know the exact fabric that you’re working with, if maybe it’s a wool blend, maybe it has a high polyester content, but typically, wool can definitely take some heat. It can take ironing. It can take a beating. So you want to definitely fuse your pieces if you can, and maybe test on a piece of the fabric first, just to make sure.

But Core Fabrics recommends using a fusible weft interfacing, which adds soft structure without compromising the drape of the fabric. And their second tier recommendation is to use a fusible knit interfacing. However, we’ve also seen some wonderful coats that have used fusible woven interfacing. Lauren from Guthrie & Ghani recommends block fusing for wool fabrics. This is when you interface a large piece of fabric and then cut out the pattern pieces afterwards. Always use a press cloth when you’re applying interfacing. Silk organza is a classic choice for this.

Helen: And if you really don’t like the idea of using fusible interfacing, you can use sew-in interfacing. Instead, you baste the interfacing to the fabric all along the edges of the pattern pieces within the seam allowance, basically adding a whole other layer of fabric to your fabric. And make sure everything is lying very flat when you do the basting so that you don’t get wrinkles and rumples. Then, you’re gonna treat the interfaced fabric as a single layer of fabric when you go ahead to sew the garment.

Caroline: Yeah, and you can also add twill tape along the neckline to stabilise it further. This is a really typical, um, material that you might use with tailoring and coat making. So you would just, um, attach the twill tape by sewing it on along the seam line, along the neckline, and that’s just gonna help it from stretching out or being wavy. You could do this instead of interfacing if you really don’t want to or can’t interface your fabric or alongside it.

Helen: We’re so excited for you to make this coat. I hope you think of your friend with love all through the process and every time you wear it. I just love the idea of sewing being a part of grieving process. I think that’s amazing. So best of luck with your coat and share it with us when you’re done. We wanna see it.

Caroline: Yeah, please do. Okay, let’s patch in our next caller.

Hannah: Hi, this is Hannah calling from Seattle, Washington, USA. I’m calling about, like, standard fitting adjustments that you tend to need on a lot of patterns. Um, how do you know whether to make that adjustment before you cut into your fabric? And is there a way to figure that out without making a muslin for every single thing? I have really narrow shoulders apparently. I didn’t know that until I found out that most patterns are drafted for wider shoulders than mine. Um, so apparently I have narrow shoulders. And should I always be doing a narrow shoulder adjustment? Um, I often will make a muslin and find that, oh, yep, the shoulders need to be narrower, but that might not be the case every single time. But it also seems like a waste to make all those muslins. How do you approach this? Help! Thank you. Love the show. Bye.

Helen: Hi, Hannah. Oh, this is such a balance, isn’t it? Like, you wanna get the right fit, but making a muslin for every single garment is just not realistic for a lot of us. So there is a third option out there since you’ve already done successful narrow shoulder adjustments on past patterns.

Take a pattern that fits you really well and lay it over the pattern you’re about to work with. If there’s a big difference in the shoulder fit, you can tell that you’ll need to make a narrow shoulder adjustment. Of course, this depends on the style line of the pattern, so you’re gonna wanna match a similar style when you’re doing this. Um, and it may not always be a hundred percent accurate, but this is a bit of a shortcut that you can take.

Caroline: Yeah, and another strategy is to measure the pattern pieces and compare them to your body measurements. This might not be a lot of help with deciding if you need a narrow shoulder adjustment, but it can help with other adjustments. Just remember to subtract the seam allowance and leave room for ease. There’s an article on the Thread’s website that tells you how to assess fit by measuring pattern pieces, so we’ll link it in the show notes.

I also just wanted to add, I feel like it’s so relatable when Hannah said, well, apparently I have narrow shoulders. I feel like as sewists, we all have that realisation when we get into sewing multiples of patterns from different companies where you’re like, oh, okay, this is a trend.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And just remember your body is perfect. There are no two, you know, bodies that are exactly the same, and pattern drafters often will sort of draft for what an a-, the average is, but you know, you can’t expect for every pattern to fit you. I find it really helpful to take a look at the instructions and see if there are any fitting notes or information on perhaps what height the pattern is drafted for, if you are often making adjustments, for example, maybe for a long torso or something you, um, you might wanna take a look at the height and see how different that is from your height and that could help you to figure out how many inches to add…

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: …or remove from a pattern. So you might find that you end up making the same adjustments to a lot of different patterns. And that is A-okay and very normal.

Helen: Totally normal. I mean, I always lengthen a pattern before I sew the muslin. Um, lots of people always lower bust darts because they’re drafted for younger busts, and typically, as we age, that changes, so that’s a really common one. Narrow shoulders is definitely a common one. Sway back is a common one. I mean, there’s just so, so many out there. So if it is something you’re encountering a lot, I mean, go for it. Make that adjustment ahead of time. I still would recommend making a muslin and I don’t think that muslins are a waste of time, but I totally understand your desire to get right into the final project. I am with you there.

Caroline: Mhm. Me, too. Alright. Let’s hear from our next caller.

Natasha: Hi, Love To Sew Podcast. Hi, Helen. Hi, Caroline. My name is Natasha. I am a first time caller, long time listener, and I have a question for you, too. Is it true that using a handwheel too much can mess up the timing on your sewing machine? I hope not. Thank you so much for all that you do and love you two both.

Helen: Oh, thanks for calling Natasha. We love you, too. And this is partially true. You always want to turn the handwheel towards you. You can turn it away from you a little bit, like if you need to release the tension from a bobbin when there’s a bobbin thread nest and everything’s caught up in there. Sometimes you are gonna have to jiggle it backwards a little bit, but try to avoid turning backwards otherwise.

You can turn it towards you as much as you need. Um, it can be a really good way of getting through a tough spot on thick fabrics, but if you turn it away from you too much or too often, it can mess up the timing of your sewing machine. This means that the bobbin and hook won’t catch at the right time, and you won’t be able to stitch at all unless you take your machine to the repair shop to get that timing sorted out. So, proceed with caution. Or backtrack with caution, I suppose.

Caroline: Yeah. Next caller?

Silvana: Hello, Caroline and Helen. Um, this is Silvana from Montreal. My question is regarding sewing, uh, corners, uh, angles, or curves on, on a pattern usually that requires a little bit of a sniping, uh, on one side, so that when we turn the fabric over, we can have a smooth finish. Uh, my question is regarding the snipping. Sometimes I’ve over snipped, or I find that it’s some fabrics, it looks very messy. The finish looks very messy. So is there a way to avoid that? Is there a trick that, uh, you could suggest or maybe I’m just not doing it well. Anyways, I would appreciate, um, your suggestions. Thank you. Bye.

Caroline: Hello, Silvana. This is actually my mom. Thank you so much for calling in, Mom.

Helen: Hi, Mom.

Caroline: Hi, Mom. Um, so clipping into curves and on points can be really helpful, but I think many of us have had the experience of accidentally poking through when you turn it out, which can be so heartbreaking. And when you clip, it’s a good idea to keep an eighth of an inch away from the stitches, kind of, like, a little bit of security so that you’re not clipping through.

Usually, when you’re clipping, you would clip into a convex curve so that the seam allowance can spread out and notch little V’s into a concave curve so that the seam allowance can fold together. However, if the fabric isn’t super bulky, clipping is probably, um, gonna do fine for both. You might not need to do those little V’s.

And to trim points, you can either trim around the point so that the seam allowance is about an eighth of an inch, or you can clip the pointy end of the seam allowance off at an angle. Now, if you have fabric that’s not tightly woven or that comes unravelled easily, I would hesitate to clip, try to see what you can do by turning the piece out gently with a chopstick and pressing it without actually clipping it too much, just to avoid that fabric from unravelling and getting holes in that little point.

Helen: And some people prefer to not clip at all. For example, David Page Coffin had a method of getting a lovely pointy collar by folding the seam allowance, pinching it in place with a hemostat, which is a medical instrument, and then turning the collar right side out. So you’re basically folding that corner instead of having to clip it. You can see this method in action in his article, “How to Make a Perfect Point” in Seamwork Magazine.

I have started doing this on my collars and lightweight pockets, like I’ve been putting a chest pocket on a button up shirt or something. You don’t need to be clipping those corners and cutting them off. You can just fold them, and it makes a really nice, neat little finish.

Caroline: Mhm. And the advantage of this being my mom is that I know some things about her, and I know that last time she was in town, she was asking me if I had recommendations for little snips for her. So I have a feeling that you might not have the right tool for this particular application because clipping into seams like this is not necessarily a job for your fabric shears unless they have a really pointy tip. I love using small snips for this. I have a particular Kai brand snip that is perfect. You really want something sharp and pointy that you can control exactly where that snip ends, and you’ll have less, like, oops moments.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: And I think I need to send my mom some of these little snips because they’re really great.

Helen: Those are the ones with the purple handles, right?

Caroline: Yes. Yeah.

Helen: Yeah. I love my Kai snips. I have those as well. And I also use my appliqué, my Gingher appliqué scissors for notching and snips because they also offer a lot of control and a really nice, precise snip at the end.

Alright. We have one last caller to hear from.

Anna: Hi, Helen. Hi, Caroline. This is Anna. I’m calling from British Columbia, Canada. My question is about your sew-jo. So I had my son over a year ago, and I took an unexpectedly long hiatus from sewing. I’ve definitely been keeping up to date on all the new sewing pattern releases and fabric releases. I’m looking at you, Caroline, um, but I’m just a little bit overwhelmed about where to begin. I feel like I’ve lost all of my sewing skills, so I’m just wondering if you guys have any tips on how to get back into your sewing after you take an extra long sewing hiatus. Thanks so much. Bye.

Helen: Oh, thank you so much for your call, Anna. I’m very excited for you to get back into sewing. I know it can feel nerve-wracking, like, have I forgotten everything? But I can guarantee you that you haven’t. It is truly like riding a bike for those of us out there who know how to ride a bike. If you don’t, find another metaphor.

Most sewists will have periods of time where they take a break from sewing for one reason or another. And in fact, we have heard from listeners who have taken over 30 years off from sewing and gotten back into it, so it is never too late.

Caroline: So true. So here’s what I think you should do. Dream up a project that you’d really like to make, something that makes you excited to get back into it. It doesn’t have to be complicated and difficult to sew, though it can be if that’s what excites you. Just try not to get bogged down by what you think you should make or what others want you to make. Choose something that lights you up.

Helen: Yes, and spend some time looking at inspiration images, or maybe you’ve already spent a year looking at inspiration images and you’ve got a stockpile. But this will give you a great idea of what kinds of fabrics and patterns you wanna start with. You can save pictures on Instagram or Pinterest and save them to your photos on your phone to scroll through them later. It’s such a fun way to get the creative juices flowing and get excited.

Caroline: And when you’re working on your chosen project, lower the pressure on yourself. If you don’t have long stretches of time, when you can sew, try to sew in small chunks whenever you can. Find 15 minutes here and there and be proud of yourself for doing that. This is really gonna add up.

Helen: Yes, and along that vein, you’re gonna wanna resist comparisons. It can be so easy to slip into measuring yourself against sewing influencers, or even against your past self, in this case. You have a child now. You are not going to have the same amount of time and energy, and that’s totally okay. Your sewing practice is yours. You don’t need to meet arbitrary deadlines or make your topstitching straighter than ever. It is okay to enjoy the process and let go of those outside pressures.

Caroline: Yeah, I know that there will be some adjusting. Your life is different than it was before you took a break from sewing, and that is a wonderful thing. It will probably take some time troubleshooting and adjusting to figure out how to fit a sewing habit into your life. And if you find yourself feeling frustrated and annoyed by this process, know that it won’t last forever. If you think creatively and try different strategies, you’re gonna find a system that works for your life now. I hope you have an amazing time getting back into sewing, Anna. We wish you lots of sew-jo.

Helen: Yes. We wish all of our listeners lots of sew-jo.

Caroline: Yeah. Alright, so that’s all the calls we have time for today, and that’s actually all the episodes we have time for this season. We’re gonna see you all in March for our spring season, and we’ll be on Patreon all winter long. Thank you to all our listeners who called in today, and to all our listeners who listened to our episodes commented, DMed, and emailed us this season. We love you. We love you so much.

Helen: Oh, we really do. It was so nice to hear your voices, so I wanna put it out there that you can always call us. We love hearing your voices. It’s so fun to have calls to play on the show, so if you have a question or comment, you wanna share something, give us a call at 1-844-739-9428. Or send us a voice memo if you wanna pre-record something on your phone and email it to us, that’s great, too. Send that over to us over this holiday season, and we might play your question or comment on an episode next spring.

Caroline: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com and Helen at HelensClosetPatterns.com. We’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: You can go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode, and if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@LoveToSewPodcast.com.

Caroline: If you love Love To Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon. For $5 a month, you get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pictures. For $10 a month, you’ll get all that plus a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics. Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content, so go to patreon.com/LoveToSew for more info. We can’t wait to connect with you in the off-season over there.

Helen: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. And Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you again for listening. We’ll see you next year.

Caroline: Bye.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Oh. We’re gonna miss you guys.

 

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