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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.

Helen: Hello and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: And I am Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew, and it’s all we ever talk about.

Caroline: We’re back for the fall 2025 season with a brand new call-in episode. We answer sewing questions from our listeners: how to choose your size based on a fabric’s stretch percentage, what patterns to pick for a work capsule wardrobe, how to sew a curved French seam, and lots more. And we’re also gonna catch up about our summer break.

Helen: If you love to sew, this is your show.

Caroline: Hello?

Helen: Um, hello?

Caroline: Um, hello?

Helen: Can you hear me? Are you there?

Caroline: Hi Helen. Welcome back. How are you?

Helen: Hello! I’m doing well, thanks. How are you?

Caroline: I am so good. I’m so good. Cooking in my room, here, recording. It’s a hot day here in Vancouver, but I’ll do anything for our listeners.

Helen: Yes! It feels good to be back. Honestly, I love our seasonal podcast because I feel so excited for each season. And it’s nice to just chill and take a little bit of a breather.

Caroline: Mmhmm. And now, here we are, starting a new season once again.

Helen: Yeah, and we just passed our eight year anniversary, Caroline! Eight years of Love to Sew.

Caroline: Eight years is wild, isn’t it? I can’t believe it’s been almost a decade.

Helen: I know. We are, like, OG podcasters at this point. Somebody give us an award or something.

Caroline: I know. We’re, like, fast approaching 300 episodes. Can you believe?

Helen: Yes! And we’re gonna make it there. I believe in us.

Caroline: Oh, we will.

Helen: How was your summer? Tell me some of your highlights.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Okay. I had a really good summer. It was jam-packed. I went to Croatia at the end of May and had a beautiful family trip there. The weather was perfect. Everything was great. It was wonderful, wonderful. We made great memories. And I, obviously, did a ton of last-minute sewing before leaving on my trip. And I brought a little capsule wardrobe, and I shared all about this on our bonus episodes, so if you wanna hear more about it, you’re gonna have to go subscribe over there. But it was great. I loved it. Lots of linen, lots of knits, lots of mixing and matching. And it was a perfect little capsule wardrobe for my trip. And my trip was great. So yeah, that was definitely the highlight, I would say, is my trip to Croatia.

Helen: Wait, which one? The trip or the capsule wardrobe?

Caroline: Both. Together.

Helen: Yeah. It’s smart that you had this trip at the beginning of the summer and you sewed all these fun summer clothes, and then you, like, you’re set for the whole season.

Caroline: 100%. I have been wearing them all summer. It’s so true. Yeah. I did all my summer sewing at the beginning of the summer. And then, aside from that, I’ve been obsessed with gardening. I’ve been growing vegetables this year. So that’s been really fun. And lots of flowers, too. And probably my favourite vegetable that I’ve grown is potatoes because they’re so cool. And it’s just, like, the most thrilling thing ever, to dig up potatoes.

Helen: They are cool. And they’re delicious. And so versatile.

Caroline: And they’re so delicious. Yes. And you can grow so many. And we actually, this is, like, breaking news. We have berries on our potato plants, on some of our potato plants, which means that we can save the seeds and have our own potato variety.

Helen: Whoa, wait, how come it’s your own variety? What’s different about it?

Caroline: Because when you save seeds from a plant, the next year, it’s a new plant because of cross-pollination. So, because we got the berries, it could have been that, like, that berry could have been pollinated with another one of the potatoes. We’re growing, like, several varieties of potatoes. So, chances are, these seeds are gonna be a new variety. And you can grow potatoes from tubers, so you can grow them, like, from a potato…

Helen: That happens all the time in my cupboard.

Caroline: Yeah, that’s how you, how most people grow potatoes. But you can also grow potatoes from seeds, kind of like other, like, flowers and things, like dahlias. You can grow them from seeds or you can grow them from tubers.

Helen: That’s so cool.

Caroline: But yeah, so Shea’s, like, really pumped about that.

Helen: Yeah. That’s pretty exciting stuff.

Caroline: Yeah. And we’re gonna try to grow our own potato variety. We’ll see how that goes. But yeah, we’ve been spending a lot of time at home. Shea built a really cute puppy patio in our backyard. It’s like a little covered deck kind of thing, just for the dogs. So it’s sort of, like, mini, but it’s also pretty large, ’cause it fits both of our dogs. And it has like a living roof, so there’s, like, a planter box on the roof that we’ve planted, like, flowers and some mint and some clover. So it’s very green and lush and just was definitely a highlight of the summer.

Helen: Aw. That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. I love it.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s so, so cute.

Helen: It’s like, okay, you know how when people have cat patios, they’re called catios? Why don’t you call it like a, it’s a dog patio, so it’s like a daddio.You heard it here first, folks.

Caroline: We were trying to come up with cute names. We were like, “Puppy patio? Dog deck?”

Helen: Dog deck. No. Dog deck is no good.

Caroline: No?

Helen: No, it’s too, you know, I don’t know…

Caroline: Yeah. Okay, okay. Because of, because if you combine puppy and patio, it’s just patio,

Helen: Yeah. That’s boring. No, I do think the alliteration of puppy patio is, is the winner. You, you nailed it.

Caroline: Yeah. This is reminding me of Love Island. Oh, you won’t get this reference. Never mind.

Helen: I won’t.

Caroline: I am sorry. There’s a couple on the show that everybody, all of their fans call them Nickolandria, but they don’t know that. And on the show they call themselves Nolandria and it’s just not as good. Like it should be Nickolandria, you know? Sorry for the Love Island segue, it’s just been my life for the last little while, so.

Helen: Yeah, you and the rest of the internet. I’m glad I avoided that one.

Caroline: But yeah, other than that, we’ve done a lot of camping. We had a family trip to Ontario, which was wonderful. We went to a party at my mother-in-law’s house with a bunch of family. I brought my brother and his family and my parents there. and that was a total blast. And yeah, y’all have been keeping us really busy at Blackbird, so it’s been hectic and fun and jam-packed and sunny, and just a really wonderful summer.

Helen: That sounds so good. I love summer. It’s the best.

Caroline: Me too. Okay. Tell me about yours, ’cause I know you’ve had a lot of swimming in there.

Helen: Oh, so much swimming. You know, we are dedicated, in the summer, to swimming every day. Dedicated.

Caroline: Yeah. Swimming is like your Love Island.

Helen: Yes.

Caroline: At least one hour a day.

Helen: Oh my gosh. Yeah. We literally plan our lives around when we’re gonna go swimming. And we try to go to a different swimming location every day. Not, like, a different one every day for the summer. But, like, if we went to the beach yesterday, we’re not going to the beach today, we’ll go to the river or the lake or we’ll go paddleboarding. And we like to mix it up. So we’ve been doing just a ton of swimming and trying to explore and find new places to swim, too. And we’ve already uncovered, yeah, a few new spots, which is always really exciting. Especially in a smaller town where, like, there is just endless places to go swimming around here, and it’s my favorite thing ever.

Caroline: Oh, yay.

Helen: It’s just so good. But yeah, lots of summer vibes. It’s been great. We had a really nice visit with my family. They came, it was my niece’s 11th birthday, and we had such a nice time hanging out on the beach and celebrating her birthday with her. So that was a real highlight. Went to Hornby Island with my family, which was really great. And yeah, we’ve just been soaking up the sun, honestly. It’s been pretty chill. We did launch a couple of new patterns this summer over at Helen’s Closet, which was really fun. I still can’t believe we pulled that off after such a busy spring. But I really wanted to get these out there, ’cause I’ve been working on them with Sam for a while, designing, like, basically his perfect summer outfit and then having some variations on those designs, so there’s options. And so the Tofino Top and the Ukee Shorts came out in July and we’re just super excited about them. They’re both really adorable. I love the cargo shorts view. I’m becoming a mid-rise girl, which is wild. Never thought that would happen.

Caroline: Wow, Helen.

Helen: But the Ukee Shorts, they’ve converted me. I’m into it. I’m feeling it. It’s great. Come on over. The water’s warm. But yeah, that was really fun. And I’m glad that everyone liked them so much. So that was a highlight of my summer, for sure. And yeah.

Caroline: Congrats on the launch, that’s awesome.

Helen: Thank you. I can’t believe it’s fall already. I mean, it still feels like very much summery vibes, so I’m still enjoying that. But looking forward to fall and whatever comes next this season. More jeans and jackets in my future, I’m sure.

Caroline: Yeah. I’m gonna try to squeeze in some more camping trips before the end of, the full end of summer, you know?

Helen: The full, full, full end of summer. Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. And I feel like this pattern launch is appropriate because I’m gonna be going to Tofino and Ucluelet, so…

Helen: Oh!

Caroline: Love those names. That place is so special and magical.

Helen: I know. Yeah. It, it is so special and I feel like those patterns capture the laid-back surfer vibe. So it just felt very appropriate and I’m super happy to have them in the collection.

Caroline: Awesome. So you’re gonna squeeze in a couple more this year? A couple more patterns, Helen, come on!

Helen: We’ll see. Yeah, I probably will. I probably will. Yes.

Caroline: Yeah, you can pull it off. I know you can.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh, awesome. Yeah, no, it does feel crazy that it is already September, and honestly, I’m not mad about it. I do love this time of year, y’all know I love this time of year.

Helen: That’s the nice thing about seasons, is every time they come around you’re like, “Oh yeah, fall. I like fall! Fall’s great.”

Caroline: I don’t really feel that way about winter, though.

Helen: Really? Even west coast winter? It’s barely winter.

Caroline: Yeah. I guess it’s just so dark and gloomy, you know?

Helen:Yeah, but the holidays?

Caroline: I do love the holidays. I love December. I do not like January and February. You all know this. We’ve talked about this on the show before. No one cares about what months I like. I’m sorry.

Helen: Maybe you need to be one of those people who goes to Mexico in January every year.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. Let’s see if I can get Shea to leave the house.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Oh, yeah. Well, we have a really fun episode that I’m excited to get to, but first…

Helen: Yes. And if you enjoy hearing us chitchat about our lives, we do it all the time over on Patreon and Apple Podcasts, and it is the best way to support Love to Sew. So you can join us on Patreon or Apple Podcast subscriptions if you want to hang out and hear what we’re up to every month.

Caroline: Yeah. We do this every single month and we just love our catch-up sessions. And I know we’ve heard from listeners that they love them, too. And it just means so much if you’re able to support us, even if it’s just for a month or two. You can totally cancel if it’s not within your means, or for whatever reason, after a few months. And, honestly, if that’s not even in the cards for you right now, we totally get it. You’re here, you’re cheering us on. We appreciate you listening to the main show. The main show’s always our main squeeze. Right?

Helen: It definitely is. It is and will always be.

Caroline: Awesome. Okay, well, should we get to the sewing help line?

Helen: Let’s do it. Hello, you’ve reached the Love to Sew help line. What’s your sewing problem?

Emma: Hi, Helen and Caroline! It’s Emma here, calling from the Lockyer Valley in Australia. I love your podcast and I’m a massive fan of both of your work. I have a question for you. I’ve made the same dress pattern, the Ellie and Mac Staycation Dress, at least three times. And every time I make it, if it’s in a slightly different knit fabric, it’s a knit fabric dress, it just fits slightly differently. So the first time I made it was in just a normal kind of cotton jersey with spandex in it. I made the size that I, um, I measured, and it fits great. The next time I made it, the knit fabric that I used was lighter and a bit more drapey, and I made the same size. And that one turned out, it’s a bit heavy. It’s okay to wear, but it stretches out a little bit more at the neck, and the tiers on the dress means that the dress kind of is a bit heavier in the, in the skirt. And the next time I made it, I made it in a wool jersey, and I made the same size again. And I’m wearing this one at the moment. And it is quite snug around the bicep area and the bust. So I understand that different knits will have different stretch percentages. I’m just wondering, is there kind of a rule of thumb when I should size up or size down if I’m making the same pattern, but in a different stretch? Thank you for all that you do. Cheers. Bye.

Caroline: Hi Emma! Thank you so much for calling. This is a really good question, and there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re choosing your size in a knit pattern.

Helen: Yeah, so the first one, as you guessed, is the stretch percentage. So the Staycation Dress calls for a 50% stretch, which is a pretty stretchy knit. Um, so it’s always good to make sure to check this info on the fabrics that you’re purchasing. You can always go higher in stretch percentage than what the pattern recommends, but you might need to size up if you go lower in stretch percentage. And you asked if there was a general rule of thumb, and there is. So for every 10% of stretch you go down, you wanna size up one size. But also, remember, the further away you get from the original stretch percentage, the more the look of the garment will change. So while there is a general rule, it’s not necessarily going to work for everything. Like. if you have a really stretchy pair of leggings, you can’t just make it in a fabric with no stretch and then size up like 18 sizes. It just won’t be the same garment and eventually it will not fit properly.

Caroline: Yeah. The proportions will change, the different openings will change. So yeah, absolutely. The second thing to keep in mind is two-way versus four-way stretch. So the staycation calls for four-way stretch, but even four-way stretch fabrics are gonna stretch more in one direction than the other direction. So it’s important that you align your pieces to the direction of greatest stretch. So this is also known as DoGS. DoGS, get it? Direction of greatest stretch? So the issue with the tight sleeves on your wool dress might be that they weren’t cut with the DoGS in mind. And any good knit pattern will have the DoGS direction marked on the pattern pieces, just like the grain line in woven patterns. If it doesn’t, usually it’s just the cross grain from the grain line. Right, Helen?

Helen: Yeah, like the horizontal across the body direction, yeah, would be the one you want the greatest stretch on. And the third thing you wanna keep in mind is the fabric’s recovery. And this is where you wanna look for spandex, elastane, or lycra in your knits. They’re gonna help your fabric keep its shape rather than getting stretched out and then just staying stretched out. The fiber content can also affect how much it bags out. Rayons are the baggiest, whereas cottons and synthetics keep their shape a bit better. And if you’re using a knit that bags out, you might wanna size down to make up for it. I do think this is a really interesting question and experience to have had. Like the, the feeling of making something multiple times in different fabrics and the realization that it is very different every time is a really good sewing lesson to experience. Because it’s so true. Like it, it impacts the final garments so much, the fabric that you choose.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s actually really fun. It’s kind of like you did an involuntary experiment and now you can, like, gather data.

Helen: Totally. Yeah. And it sounds like they’re all wearable in the end, so it’s not like there’s, you know, anything lost in the experiment. But yeah, especially with knits, I find, like, there are so many different variables and some of them are really light and some of them are really heavy, like you talked about that gathered tier kind of weighing down. That can definitely happen with knits.

Caroline: Yeah, some knits have such a heavy drape that they just, like, aren’t really gonna work that well for something with a lot of tiers or a lot of volume. ‘Cause you’re just always gonna feel weighed down that, you know, whether you make one size or another isn’t necessarily gonna fix that. So, assessing the drape and the weight of your fabric, I think, is also an important factor. But one thing I think you should do, Emma, is since you’ve made the same dress over and over, you can use what you learned. So you can figure out the stretch percentages of the fabrics you’ve already used and compare how each one made the dress fit. And then maybe you can take some notes about these makes and use them in a future project if you make this again.

Helen: Yeah, exactly. That’s why it can be really handy to keep notes about your makes, even if it’s just like a little notebook that you’re scribbling things down in. And if you find a fabric that you like that has a similar stretch percentage to your wool dress, for example, you could size one up so that it doesn’t end up being a bit too tight.

Caroline: Okay Emma. So we’re gonna link a tutorial for how to figure out your fabric stretch percentage in the show notes. And we’re wishing you all the best with sewing knits. Enjoy.

Helen: Yeah. Thank you, Emma.

Caroline: Next caller, please.

Shelby: Hi! My name is Shelby and I’m from Nebraska, in the center of the United States. And I have this really awesome block print fabric that I got secondhand that has, like, produce on it and some ducks and it’s so cute. But because it’s a block print with those kind of icons on it that go a certain way, I’m confused about how to lay out my sleeve pattern pieces across the fabric. Should I make it so the block print icons are, like, horizontal on the sleeve or should I turn the sleeve that my arms are going up and down? I’m just confused about how to orient that block print because there is a very clear up-and-down direction that it goes. I hope that makes sense. Love the show. Bye.

Helen: Hi Shelby! Okay. This block print sounds absolutely amazing and very on-trend, I must say.

Caroline: Mmhmm.

Helen: Fruit and ducks? Perfect.

Caroline: Yeah, I wanna see a picture of this block print.

Helen: Yes. And you know how we feel about block prints. Like, giant heart eyes over here.

Caroline: Mmhmm.

Helen: So in general, sleeves are cut with the grain going down the length of your arm. So in your case, the top of the duck’s heads would be towards your shoulder and their feet would be towards your wrist. So when you have your arms at your sides, down, it will look like the print is going the same direction as the bodice fabric. You can obviously cut it on the cross grain and have the ducks sideways, which would make sense if you have your arms out in front of you. But in general, you’re probably gonna wanna have them up and down when your arms are at your sides. That’s usually how it goes.

Caroline: Mmhmm. Yeah. And if you cut something cross grain, you’re not gonna see too much of a difference in the drape. So you’re all good there.

Helen: Yeah. Yeah, you can, if you want to. You can really do whatever you want. You can put them upside down just to be cheeky.

Caroline: Yeah. With block prints, actually, if I feel like there’s like too many pieces running in the same direction, depending on the print, sometimes I’ll reverse it. So I’ll do, like, some pieces facing up, some pieces facing down. I think, because this block print sounds really, like, literal, like, if you have, like, vegetables and ducks, it might look a little odd for something to be running upside down. So just follow the directions.

Helen: Yeah, it could look like a mistake. Yeah, a great question, though.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Next caller, please.

Nora: Hi, Helen and Caroline. My name is Nora and I live in Portland, Oregon. I have been working my way through your back catalog and I listened to your episode about knits. I was anxiously waiting to get there because I have a question about knits and it wasn’t answered by the episode. If you’re zigzag stitching, I’ve tried backtacking and it really didn’t work, especially around the hem. How do you finish or, like, seal off the beginning and end of your stitch line when you’re doing the zigzag stitch? Do I just need to pull the ends through and tie them off? Is that the only way to do it? Thanks for answering. Love the show. Thanks. Bye.

Caroline: Hi Nora! Ooh. Okay. So if you’re using a zigzag stitch to sew knits, you have a few options for how to start and end your seams. First, you can just reverse zigzag. So I agree this maybe doesn’t look super neat, but it will hold. A lot of the time, no one would ever notice. It can get a little bit messy. It just kind of, I don’t know, if you don’t get that zigzag to line up perfectly, it just looks a little bit messy. But no one would really notice, usually. So that is fine if you wanted to, but you do have other options.

Helen: Yeah. You could try doing some straight stitches to start off your seam. Just do a few small stitches, reverse for a few straight stitches, and then switch to zigzag. This, for some people, helps with that bunching that can happen at the start of the seam.

Caroline: And you could also pull the threads to the back and knot them off. This is a bit more labor intensive, but it gives a very neat look on the outside of a hem. I also have a function on my machine that’s kind of like a, I don’t know if it’s officially called a lock stitch, I call it a lock stitch, but it just stitches in place a few times. Do you have that one, Helen?

Helen: I do, but I don’t really like it, so I don’t use it.

Caroline: Oh, really? I use it sometimes when I don’t want to have that, sort of like, when you back stitch and the stitching looks, like, thicker and it’s more noticeable. Sometimes I’ll hit that button at the beginning and end of a seam, so it just stitches in place a few times and like, you’re not noticing the backstitch as much. So you could take a look and see if your machine has that function, but I could see that getting tricky with knits. Depending on the weight of your knit, stitching in place could make it like bunch up or feel like, like get pulled into the feed dogs or something. Or into the, sorry, the needle plate. So experiment, maybe on a piece of scrap fabric, with a few different options.

Helen: Totally. Yeah. I think a lot of sewists do have trouble with fabric getting pulled down into the machine when they start a seam, especially with stretchy or lightweight, slinky kind of fabrics. So if that’s what’s happening to you, you could try stabilizing the beginning of the seam by placing, like, a little bit of tissue paper or wash-away stabilizer under your fabric, against the feed dogs. And then you can pull away that paper afterward just to give it more, I don’t know, I guess like something to grab onto, basically, so it doesn’t get sucked down into the machine. I find that happens with, like, bamboo jersey and stuff a lot. I also sometimes just start a little further in from the edge, you know? You don’t have to start right at the edge. If you start just a little further in, sometimes you can avoid that bunching.

Caroline: True. Yeah. And for hems, I do just wanna throw in that I love a twin needle. So if you wanted to experiment with a different finish that isn’t a zigzag, try a twin needle. It’s not that hard. You just need to basically thread your machine twice. Put one thread through each eye. You do a straight stitch on your machine settings, and the bottom is a zigzag. The top is straight. And you can back stitch, no problem. It seems like it would be complicated, but it’s really straightforward to set up and it looks really good.

Helen: Yeah, it does look really good. If you want that, like, ready-to-wear finish, it’s definitely the way to go. And you can put stabilizer in the, that seam as well, if you end up with, like, some tunneling, like a bunching there, too.

Caroline: Yeah. Experiment with the tension and stuff, but it’s, it’s a great finish if you wanna give it a try.

Helen: Yeah. Thanks, Nora. Thank you for calling. And sorry we didn’t answer your question in, in the knits episode. This is a good one.

Caroline: Jordan, can you patch in our next caller?

Heather: Good morning, sewing help line! It’s morning for me, anyway. I’m in Bristol in the UK. My name’s Heather and I’m hoping you can help me. I’ve recently got a new job, which is very exciting. And one of the very exciting things about it is the opportunity to sew a new work wardrobe. I want, like, a kind of a work uniform, like a capsule work wardrobe. Um, the rest of my time is spent by being grubby with my small children, so I am quite keen to have, like, separate stuff. It’s not a super smart workplace, but it’s a relatively senior job and I need to look kind of professional, presentable, put together, and I’d like to add a few new items to my wardrobe to help with that. And I was thinking of a couple of jackets, maybe, like, not suit jackets, but maybe. I’ve seen the Sienna Maker Jacket, something like that. And some comfortable, but sort of smartish looking trousers. I’ve got quite a lot of blouses, but any shirt or blouse suggestions that are, like, not too prim, um, would be awesome. I’m hoping you can help me out with some good patterns and any fabric suggestions that you’ve got as well would be amazing. Thanks so much. I love the podcast.

Helen: Hi, Heather! First of all, congratulations on your new job. Very exciting. I wonder if you’re starting it just as this episode is airing, perhaps. So, sorry for a little bit late with our answer, but I imagine you’ll still wanna do some fun sewing for your new job, so. This is a great question.

Caroline: Yeah, I would definitely recommend trying out some suiting fabrics for pants. This is gonna instantly make them look more professional. And suitings usually come in wool, poly or a blend of the two. And poly is gonna be a lot easier to care for, but wool will be more breathable. And if you’re not the type to get messy at work, you can go pretty long in between washes by, like, spot cleaning and airing out your wool pants. And then you can just hand wash them occasionally. So I feel like there’s a lot of newer suitings out there that can look a little bit cooler than, like, your classic, you know, I don’t wanna say boring, but maybe, I don’t know, the gray and navy and black suitings that you might see in ready-to-wear stores. There are some pretty cool, like, pinstripes or plaids or things with texture that you could experiment with that would maybe elevate a really simple garment and make it feel a little bit more sleek and a little bit more professional. I also love a Tencel or Tencel/cotton blend. If you wanna get a little bit more of, like, that sleek workwear look. These fabrics are less durable, but I think they look super smart. So depending on your, like, comfort level with caring for your fabrics, how much you wanna wash them, I would recommend a Tencel or a Tencel/cotton blend. I think those can work really well. I also, personally, love a rayon/poly blend suiting. I think the rayon gives it a little bit more softness, the poly lends durability, and you can get more of a wool look with a rayon blend versus just like a straight poly. Poly can sometimes be a little bit shiny or not as warm of a handfeel as a wool does. But the rayon will give some of those, you know, “wool-like” qualities to a fabric if you’re not into wool and you want something that’s easier care. So, lots of fabric options out there if you’re looking for something in the suiting range.

Helen: Yeah! And I think an easy way to make work pants comfortable is to have at least a partially elastic waistband. If you like wearing long shirts or blouses, you can go full elastic and still look super professional. No one will ever know. The Birchgrove pants by Muna and Broad could be good for that. Or you could do an elastic back waist like the Pietra Pants from Closet Core. And the Meriam trousers from Cashmerette have a fitted waistband, but they actually have this cool hidden elastic bit at the sides. So that’s a big win for comfy work pants, too.

Caroline: Those pants are so cool. I remember when they came out, I just thought that it was genius how they had that elastic in the side. It just makes sitting down so much more comfortable in those pants. I also wanted to throw out one of our patterns, the Taylor Trousers. If you want something that looks a little bit more tailored, but still is super comfortable, these ones have, like, a classic trouser look, but the back waistband, even though it looks like a regular waistband, it has elastic in there. So it adds a little bit of comfort and helps with that gaping that you can sometimes get at the back waist of a pair of pants. And I think both the flat front and the pleated front would look really, really great for a work setting, depending on the fabric that you use. I love my Taylor Trousers at the office. I think they look really good.

Helen: Yeah, totally. That would be perfect. I love a pleated front trouser for an office look. It just feels very like, “I am in charge here.”

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: The more pleats you have, the more in charge you are. Everybody knows that.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: I think, also, like, a classic button-up is always a good look for work. And it’s definitely not, you know, too prim. It just works well with everybody. The Assembly Line has a couple of really cool ones: the Cap Sleeve Shirt and the Oversized Shirt. And your fabric choices will keep your tops from feeling prim, too. Like, just look for nice, classic cotton shirtings. Lots of fun vertical stripe options out there right now. I just love sewing button-up shirts, too. I think they’re really fun. Working with cotton is always a dream, so that could be a nice one to do.

Caroline: Yeah, and cotton, like, washes and wears so well. So it’s something that is gonna probably stay in your wardrobe for a long time. I love this idea. I love an oversized button-up shirt with a pair of, like, tailored trousers. I think that’s such a cool look for work. We also wanted to throw out Itch to Stitch, ’cause they have a lot of patterns for knit tops with interesting details that would be really cool in, like, a work setting. So they would feel like wearing a t-shirt but look like wearing a nice blouse. So there are lots of options from Itch to Stitch. I also feel like a trouser, like, a work trouser looks so good with a vest.

Helen: Yes!

Caroline: And as you all might know, vests are definitely having a moment this year and there are so many cool vest patterns in the sewing world. So I just wanna throw out, I know you didn’t mention vests, but I think a vest could be a really cool addition to this capsule wardrobe. And if you wanted to make, like, a couple pairs of trousers, maybe a skirt, a vest would mix and match really well with those things. And you could even throw a vest on over a button-up.

Helen: Mmhmm.

Caroline: And yeah, there’s just, like, so many styling possibilities there.

Helen: Absolutely. I think a blazer, too, if you wanna get into making something that’s a little bit more involved. But making a perfectly tailored blazer, you are gonna get a promotion. I mean, how could you not?

Caroline: Yeah. I know. And, like, your mention of the Sienna Maker Jacket makes me think that maybe you’re not looking for, like, the most classic, because the Sienna Maker Jacket has some really interesting details. Like, that’s what Closet Core is known for, is their really great drafting, but also their, like, interesting, sort of different details in their patterns. So if you want…

Helen: Something a little more funky.

Caroline: Yeah, like a, a more like a, if you did the Sienna Jacket, but in a suiting, it would definitely give it a blazer look. But you’re getting those fun details. So yeah, have some fun with it. I feel like work wardrobes don’t have to be boring. They can be really fun. So yeah, I’m excited to see what you come up with.

Helen: Yeah, me too.

Caroline: Share. Please share, Heather.

Helen: Yes, please. All right, Jordan, we’re ready for our next caller.

Danae: Hello, my name is Danae. I am in Chicagoland. I’ve been sewing for a few years now, and I’ve always identified as an ambitious beginner. I really like a challenge. I like to go where the inspiration strikes, and sometimes that means…recently I have taken on a couple more intermediate projects. This year I did a formal gown and had to learn a lot of new things in order to, to tackle that one. Then I did an intermediate outerwear vest after that. And I am kind of having an identity crisis. And I thought, this is something that maybe we don’t talk about too much in the community. And I’m really curious about your own experiences with this, which is kind of just leveling up. And when do you feel confident calling yourself intermediate or advanced? I’m really curious about your experiences with this. If you’ve got any stories to share. In my case, I feel like, you know, I’m, I’m working towards intermediate. That’s certainly my goal and maybe I’m getting there. And I just would really love to hear your own thoughts. Thank you.

Caroline: Hi Danae! I have some news for you. You’re not an ambitious beginner anymore, and you probably haven’t been for a while.

Helen: It’s so true. If you’ve made a formal gown and a vest, I feel like that ship has sailed. You know? You are at very least an intermediate sewist. Honestly, I would probably place you at the advanced end of intermediate. And I wanna encourage you to claim your experience and your skill. You’re doing amazing things, from the sounds of it.

Caroline: Yeah, absolutely. I think it can be tough to acknowledge our own accomplishments. A lot of us have a tendency to treat ourselves worse than we would treat others. And if your best friend had accomplished all that you have, would you still call them a beginner? Probably not.

Helen: No, I don’t think so. And it’s possible that you’re imagining, you know, a mythical advanced sewist who knows everything there is to know about sewing. But in reality, you know, the more advanced you get, the more specialized you tend to get, too. So there are lots of experts out there on smocking and there are experts on tailoring, and there are experts on outerwear and suit making, but usually they aren’t experts in each other’s fields, necessarily. So you can be an advanced sewist and not know everything there is to know.

Caroline: Yeah, and I think it’s also worth mentioning that calling yourself a beginner, intermediate, or advanced sewist is only useful to you if it’s helping you in your sewing practice. If it encourages you to learn new things and level up and you enjoy that, that’s great. Or if it helps you choose which patterns and fabrics you’re comfortable with sewing, that’s good, too. But if it’s about evaluating yourself in a negative way, I would just forget about it. You don’t need that kind of energy in your life. We don’t need labels. Just sew what you love.

Helen: Yeah. I totally relate to this, though. Sometimes I feel like I’m not an advanced sewist. I don’t know if I even feel comfortable claiming that term, because the word “advanced” just feels so final. You know? It does feel like you’re saying, “I got it. I know it all. I’m good.” But that’s really not the case. It’s just, like, the experience level that you’ve built up, you know, handling the fabrics, understanding the tools that you’re going to use. It’s all of the little things. It’s not just knowing, you know, that you could make something with your eyes closed, no problem.

Caroline: Yeah, even just, like, understanding all the different sewing terms and approaching, like, a set of instructions with confidence, where you’re not feeling like it’s a different language. Like, that’s the biggest battle, I think, for beginners. And if you’re past that, then like you’re not really a beginner anymore.

Helen: Yeah. Welcome. Welcome to Intermediate Town.

Caroline: I don’t know. Helen, I think you’re advanced. You need to take your own advice here.

Helen: I know, I really do. Okay. Caroline? I’m an advanced sewist.

Caroline: Woo!

Helen: Yeah!

Caroline: I support that.

Helen: Is there a level past advanced? Because I’m a pretty competitive person and I will get there.

Caroline: Yeah, I know. I was gonna say, I feel like when you’re advanced you’re probably thinking like, well, what’s next? We should make one up.

Helen: Expert. is expert after advanced? I don’t know.

Caroline: I think so, actually.

Helen: Yeah. I think so.

Caroline: Like, yeah. Expert. I like that. Expert. Extraordinary.

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

Melissa: Hi, Helen and Caroline! I absolutely love the show. Um, I do have a sewing question for you if you can help me. I have a problem with pants. I’ve made a couple of different pairs of pants and most of the time I’m frustrated and then I give up and I don’t wanna do it again. And my problem is that I have a butt that is bigger than the normal size that people are drafting patterns for. It’s just a little more junk in the trunk. So then, when I am doing these patterns, they’re not fitting in the back. There’s not enough fabric. So over the years, I’ve tried a bunch of different ways to adjust this: sometimes adding to the back rise, sometimes adjusting the crotch curve. And I generally have been able to make it so that I can get a pair of pants that fit. I made some Free Range Slacks last year that fit a little bit better. And I like them until I sit down. And when I sit down, I feel like the pant leg rises, like, halfway up my calf. So it’s like I have all this leg exposed. And I’m a person that tends to get cold a lot. So I really hate this. I often wear jeans because they have stretch content, and then I don’t have that rising when I sit down at my calf and I’m able to have full coverage of my leg. So I guess my question is: is everybody experiencing the same problem where their pant leg rises, like, a huge amount to accommodate their butt sitting down? I feel like I never see anybody showing themselves seated in these pants in the Instagram posts I see of all the pants that I like. And I’m just not really sure if this is something that everybody’s just dealing with. Or are we just all wearing really long socks? Or is this just a problem because of my butt? Anyways, any feedback would be great. I’d love to know what’s going on. Thanks.

Helen: Hi, Melissa! First of all, loved your voicemail. I love the feeling of, like, “Is it just me? Is everyone else just not talking about this? Like, what is happening? What are you doing out there? How are people keeping their legs warm? I don’t understand.”

Caroline: Yeah, when I was listening to this, my first thought was, “You need to wear longer socks.”

Helen: It seems like Melissa knows that.

Caroline: And then you did bring that up, Melissa. Honestly, I have this experience too with pants, especially looser fitting pants, especially woven pants without stretch. So I don’t think you’re alone in this, Melissa. What do you think, Helen? Have you also experienced this?

Helen: I don’t think you’re alone in this. I, personally, have not noticed my calves feeling exposed or cold. But that might just be a personal preference thing. It’s not, I guess it’s not something that impacts me. Or it could be a body shape thing. I do feel like when you sit down, of course, the fabric shifts. And with looser pants, I find I have to kind of hike them up my thighs in order to feel comfortable sitting down so they kind of sit in the right place. And so, of course, when you’re hiking them up, you’re gonna end up exposing the bottom of your legs.

Caroline: Yeah. When you wear the pants standing up, the fabric just hangs pretty much straight down, right? But when you’re sitting down, that fabric has to bend around the curves that weren’t there before. Body proportions move when you sit. So many things move around when you sit. So that’s why pant legs are going to ride up. And I’m sure it does happen for some people more than others. But there are a few things you can do to minimize that, if you don’t wanna just wear long socks, which I would totally understand, because short socks can be cute, too.

Helen: Yeah, I mean, I think the looser the pant, the less the riding up is probably gonna happen. Like, the more ease there is, the more the fabric can drape around the curves of your body, the less you have to do that little move where you hike it up your thighs to get it to sit in the right place so you can sit down. Or you could make your pant legs a little longer, and wear, you know, higher cut shoes or longer socks with them, like you said, just to give yourself that extra coverage.

Caroline: Mmhmm. You could also try making pants from stretch wovens or stable knits. So you were saying that you often wear stretch jeans and you don’t have that problem. It’s because that stretch is allowing the fabric to accommodate those extra kind of curves and bumps that happen when you’re sitting down. So you can try out a stretch woven, or like I said, a stable knit like a ponte would work really well, because it’s gonna be able to move with you.

Helen: Yeah. And there are patterns that are designed for stretch wovens, like the Jude Flare Jeans and the Ginger Jeans from Closet Core. Those will be the easiest to fit and sew. But you can also use stretch woven fabrics with patterns that are designed for regular wovens. Make sure to choose fitted patterns without a lot of ease around the waist and hips. You also might wanna consider sizing down a size. Don’t use stretch wovens with patterns designed for knits, though, ’cause they probably won’t have enough stretch for that. So we’ll link up an article from Seamwork about sewing with stretch wovens in the show notes. The techniques are a little bit different from sewing non-stretch wovens. But often, like, stretch wovens don’t have so much stretch that you can’t just sub them for regular wovens for, like, an elastic pair of pants or something. And that might just give you that extra little bit that you need when you’re sitting to feel more comfortable.

Caroline: Yeah, for sure. There are also some really great pants patterns that are designed for stable knits, like a ponte di roma. So, the Palmer Pants by Seamwork. They have a wide leg and slash pockets, and they look really beautiful. You would never guess that they are as comfy as they are, because they’re made out of a knit. Christine Johnson has a few pants patterns that we’ve heard good things about, too. Personally, I love the Calla Trousers. This is a Fabric Godmother pattern. Very trendy. It’s a wide, like, ponte pant and it has those, like, sort of Adidas-style stripes down the side that I’m seeing a lot in ready-to-wear right now. So if you wanna get that look, the Calla trousers are a great option.

Helen: So cute. You also mentioned wanting to see more seated photos, and there is a hashtag called #SewnShownSeated, which is a mouthful to say out loud. Um, and sewists have been using this on Instagram for years. So I know that searching hashtags is a bit of a mess right now. A bit of a mess always. But maybe you could follow a few of the sewists who use this hashtag regularly. And we wanna encourage all of our listeners who do post their makes to include a picture sitting down. It’s always really helpful for other sewists.

Caroline: Yeah, for sure. Next caller please.

Amy: Hi, Love to Sew. This is Amy calling from Raleigh, North Carolina. I love your podcast and it really helped invigorate my love for sewing after learning as a kid. My question is specifically about taking a pattern with an unlined bodice and turning it into a lined bodice when there is a line of buttons going down the back of the dress. Oftentimes in patterns with a button closure, the panel is interfaced, and I’ve been confused about how to line the dress using the traditional make two bodices, put them together kind of method with that lined buttonhole closure. Do you still need to interface it? What are your thoughts on that? Thank you so much. I look forward to hearing from y’all, and I really appreciate the work that you do.

Caroline: Hi Amy! I love a button down the back detail and this sounds like a really great project. So to your question about whether you should interface the button placket: yes, absolutely you should. You should pretty much always interface a button placket. It’s gonna need structure to hold its shape, and the stability makes buttonholes turn out better, too. If you don’t wanna use, like, a fusible interfacing, you could underline with a stable fabric like a muslin, or a lining if you’re doing, like, an eyelet fabric or something like that. But you always need to add stability to a button placket.

Helen: And I’m not sure if your pattern has the button placket in the design already or not, but if not, Seamwork has a tutorial for how to hack a bodice to add one. So we’ll link that for you. And there are different kinds of button plackets. There’s the ones in this tutorial, which are faced button packets, and that means that there are two separate pieces that get added to each center back piece. And those separate pieces are the ones that are interfaced. And after you’re finished sewing, they’re kind of hidden inside the garment. So this method would work well for the lining situation that you want to do.

Caroline: Yeah. And to line your bodice, you’re gonna cut out a second bodice from your lining fabric. You don’t need the button plackets in your lining fabric, just the bodice front and bodice back. There’s a tutorial on the blog Kitschy Coo for sewing a lined bodice like yours. So we will link it for you. And if we talk you through the steps, we would just all get super confused. So we’re gonna link that up for you. But we do want to add one step for you. You wanna make sure to understitch around the neckline and armscyes so that your lining doesn’t show from the outside.

Helen: Yeah, that’s always a great tip. And after all that, you can add your button placket and just treat both layers as one once you’ve got your lining in there. You can do it. We believe in you!

Caroline: Yeah. Good luck, Amy. Alright. We have one more caller.

Lisa: Hi, Helen and Caroline, it’s Lisa here. Um, I’m originally from the UK, but I live in Toronto, Ontario. Side note: please do a meetup in Toronto. That’d be amazing. But my question is about French seams. I’ve been sewing for a number of years, but I still don’t have a serger yet. So I do a lot of French seams. And I feel like, even after I get a serger, I probably would keep doing French seams just because I really like the kind of couture nature of it. I like the look of it, I like the feel of it, and it just makes garments feel extra fancy. But one thing I’ve never been sure about is: is it okay to do French seams, like, will it work to do French scenes on a seam with a pivot? So, like an inseam in a pair of pants or an all-in one seam with, like, a sleeve and, uh, the side of a bodice, kind of thing. I can’t tell. Like, sometimes I’ve tried it and it’s been okay, but it, like, it kind of drags a little bit. But I was just wondering, like, is it okay to do French seams on that kind of a seam? And if so, like, is there anything I should be doing differently to make that work? Thank you. Love the podcast.

Helen: Hi Lisa! Thank you for calling in with a question. This is a really great one. French seams are so pretty and they’re such a great resource for people out there who don’t have sergers, but it can be hard to figure out how to do them on curves and angles like you’re saying. So we’ve got some info for you, and there are definitely ways to do it.

Caroline: Yeah. So for a curved French seam, the key is making it narrow. So when your fabrics are wrong sides together, you’re gonna sew three eighths of an inch from the edge and then you’ll trim the excess down to an eighth. Yes, that is very small. And then turn the fabrics right sides together, press and sew a quarter of an inch from the edge. By Hand London has a tutorial on their blog that we’ll link up for you. And if you’re using a fabric that you don’t feel comfortable trimming down to an eighth of an inch, you might wanna do a different seam finish like a zigzag. Or, honestly, choose a different fabric if you think it’s going to fray too much. You want to definitely be careful of that.

Helen: Yeah. I mean, the nice thing is it is tucked in there, so chances are it will still hold. And also it’s not your main seam. ‘Cause your main seam is the second one you’re sewing. So I do think you can get away with trimming that close. For an all-in-one seam that goes up the side of a bodice and down a sleeve, you might have some luck with sewing a diagonal line across the part where the sleeve meets the bodice. That should give you a curve rather than an angle. And a narrow French seam could work really well there too. And there’s a tutorial on the Hundred Acts of Sewing blog that will show you how to do the diagonal line that we’re talking about.

Caroline: And while we’re talking about tricky French seams, there’s one more that I want to talk about. Grainline Studio has a tutorial for sewing French seams at a right angle. So this is useful for projects like the Alder Shirtdress, which has a gathered panel in the skirt. First, you’re gonna mark out your pivot point. This is the point on the seam line where the angle will be. And then draw out your seam lines on either side of the angle. The part where they cross is your pivot point. And then sew the first part of your French seam on one side, then clip the fabric down close to that pivot point at a 45 degree angle. Finish the French seam on the first side, and now that you’ve clipped the fabric, it opens up enough so that you can do the French seam on the second side. And it turns out really nice and pretty. Again, probably confusing to just listen to instructions for that. So definitely check out the tutorial that we link up.

Helen: Even me, an advanced sewist, is confused.

Caroline: You’re like, “What?”

Helen: “What?” Pivot, pivot, pivot.

Caroline: Pivot, clip!

Helen: It is all possible. Oftentimes Googling exactly what you’re doing, plus “French seam,” somebody’s done a tutorial for it. You know, I’ve done French seams on in-seam pockets, zippers and stuff like that. Like, it’s doable. But it does take a little bit of brain work, mind exercise, to figure out how to approach it.

Caroline: And you might need to adjust your seam allowance, right? For whatever, the width of your French seam that you’re doing. So keep that in mind, too. Alright. That’s all the calls we can take for this episode. Y’all, we covered a lot of ground.

Helen: Yes, we did. We did. Fitting fabric choices, nitty gritty sewing techniques, ooey gooey self-love stuff.

Caroline: Yeah, we’re back. We’re back, baby!

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love To Sew. You can find me, Helen, at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. and Caroline at Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns. We’re recording today in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalog of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew! Go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.

Helen: Head 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, you can leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Caroline: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you all for listening. We’re gonna talk to you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye!

Caroline: Bye!

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