A Long Gestating Hobby…
A quick note before I start. This post is going to be updated over time as it’s very long and just a quick mind dump of things I’ve learned so far. Hopefully I’ll be able to break it out in to separate, easily digestible posts once I have more time, but I just wanted to get this down while I was feeling productive!
So to start to fill out my site, I thought I should focus on putting some of the thoughts that I keep in my head out in to the world and to kind of use this space as a public notepad; one I can regularly look at to work out what I’m supposed to be doing, as I tend to get distracted fairly easily.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to make my own clothes. I’m not entirely sure where the urge comes from, but it’s probably some combination of frugality crossed with a desire to look perfectly stylish in a way that’s impossible for most of us mere mortals unless you’ve got riches and a tailor at your disposal.
Luckily for me, I’m pretty good with my hands, so I’m optimistic that it’s something I can become good at in time.
I’m currently at the preparation stage still, but I’ve been learning as much as I can about construction and fabrics to help me on my way.
In fact, I decided to write a document to help me with the why, how, and when of it all!
Goals
– To make higher quality, better constructed clothes with premium materials that I might otherwise not be able to afford.
– To allow me to express myself fully through my clothes. This means inevitably making unique and one-off non-derivative pieces.
– To enjoy making stuff!
Discussion
In support of the above stated goals, some smaller steps will need to be taken to start with.
While it’s obvious that I’ll need to stock up on the various tools of the trade and it’s tempting to start with that, it’s probably better for to create a “clothing schedule” and then buy the various required tools on a per project basis until I’m fully equipped.
Initially the focus shouldn’t be so much on expression as much as it should be in just gaining confidence whilst supplementing my workwear wardrobe.
Starting off with a focus on workwear is useful because there’s much less room for artistic mistakes and workwear tends to focus on de-sexualising the body, so less accuracy is required as loose fits are helpful with that.
The initial focus should be on perfecting something simple and then moving on from there (but don’t take shortcuts with construction regardless of how simple the garment is…example: skirts should always have zips even though elastic could be used).
Start with skirts as they are just a section of fabric looped with a zip placed in. Also belts. Again, just a loop of material with a buckle and holes.
After the skirt / belt stuff, next comes the shift dress, as the construction is generally fairly simple, and they can be made in lots of different patterns with minimal effort.
Unfortunately there’s always going to be an increase in difficulty to cope with after the shift dress. The most gradual increase in difficulty would be met by next doing dresses/tunics with short sleeves and open necklines.
After short sleeved, open-necked dresses have been tackled, the next thing to focus on which would give the most bang for the buck would be collars. That means short sleeved, collared, dresses and tunics.
Finally, long sleeved and collared dresses and tunics gets us to a place where most tops can be built easily. Time for some shirts!
Schedule
– Skirts.
– Open neck, sleeve-less, shift dresses.
– Open neck, short-sleeved, shift dresses.
– Collared, short-sleeved shirt dresses.
– Collared, long-sleeved shirts.
– Collar and cuff experiments and variation. – Pie crust neck and cuffs, v-neck, boat-neck, square-neck / pinafore, halter-neck, tuxedo-collar, lettuce / ruffle, scallop,
The Perfect Skirt
– Examine all skirts in wardrobe and settle on desireable construction features:
– What stitch has been used on the seams?
– What stitch has been used on the hem?
– Is the waistband rigid and explicit or not?
– How has the zip been attached?
– How is the lining attached?
– How do they account for ease? Stretchy fabrics? Stretchy stiches?
– Examine all skirts in wardrobe and settle on desireable design/aesthetic features:
– Required stitches? Straight, zigzag etc.
– Required notions? hooks, buttons, zips, etc.
– Pockets?
– Examine all skirts in wardrobe and settle on desirable colour, texture, thickness, rigidity and patterns:
– Dark / light / small / large features?
– Smooth / rough texture?
– Thick / thin?
– Stretchiness?
– Geometric / organic?
Resources
Zoe Hong’s channel on youtube is great. She’s very knowledgeable. The video where she talks about the various fabric types is especially awesome!
The Made to Sew channel has some great tutorials by a nice lady called Aneka. There are some nice focussed videos for familiarising yourself with the terminology and specific techniques that are worth watching before watching the more general garment construction videos.
West Valley College in Silicon Valley has some old but great Fashion Design tutorials that are worth checking out. The blazer and trousers construction ones were particularly illuminating for me.
This might seem backwards, but after you’ve watched enough videos on making garments, you’ll have incidentally absorbed enough information to realise all the different bits and pieces that are required to do so effectively. It’s at this point you’ll want to understand the difference between sewing machines, overlockers, and cover stitch machines.
At this point it should be fairly obvious that you can get by with very few stitches in the main. A lot of construction is done with a simple straight stitch. Zig zag stitch is useful for things that stretch and take some stress on them. A blind stitch is useful for hemming. A button hole function is useful too, though I imagine you could probably replicate it with a satin stitch (a satin stitch is just a tight zig zag stitch that is used for embroidery) if you really had to.
On the subject of finishing hems, pinking shears are necessary for woven fabrics if you don’t have an overlocker. Knit fabrics won’t come undone, but if you want a garment to look store bought and last a long time, then an overlocker is necessary and makes the job easier than it otherwise would be using a zig stitch.
Cover stitching is more like a complicated sewing machine than an overlocker despite appearances and a lot of what they’re used for is decorative. Basically, anywhere where you might want to do a top-stitch is also a candidate for a cover stitch. Obviously there is extra strength due to the extra stitches, so it’s not just decorative, but patience, a sewing machine, and a straight stitch can cover the same ground most of the time, albeit with a more laborious approach.