Back to the Beginning

My first 100% successful garment!

If this blog is going to be a true representation of my sewing journey then I need to skip back in time a little before I go further forward. I’m going to share the very first garments I made!

Before I began down the path of making my first garment I had taken ‘Intro to Machine Sewing’ part 1 & 2 at Ray Stitch. In this course I made a tote bag and a half scale skirt muslin and picked up many of the basic skills. This course gave me the confidence to go out and buy a sewing machine, a necessary first step! Being able to make my own clothes was really my goal so I booked in for the ‘Intro to Dressmaking’ course (also at Ray Stitch). Unfortunately the next course with times that suited me wasn’t for a couple of months. I wasn’t going to let my new sewing machine gather dust, so I set out to find a pattern to follow on my own.

I decided pyjamas were the perfect choice because I knew I would wear them even if they were less than perfect. With the help of the staff at Ray Stitch I chose the Grainline Studio Lakeside Pyjamas and some navy blue cotton with white spots. I also bought the very long length of bias binding that the pattern requires. This was a brilliant first pattern since the instructions were very thorough. However, looking back I'm lucky the time spent sewing bias binding didn’t put me off sewing for good!

Despite the mistakes, these Grainline Studio Lakeside Pyjamas are definitely wearable.

Lessons learned:

Pattern sizes are different from shop sizes.

I had just cut myself a size 14 automatically since that’s the size I usually am in UK stores. Luckily the pyjamas ended up too big rather than too small, so I can still wear them.

Clothing (and pattern pieces) should be symmetrical.

It seems so obvious now! But when the instructions showed the bias binding coming up one side of the shorts I did it the same side on both. Of course when the shorts are sewn together this means the bias binding comes up from the front on one side and the back on the other side. Thankfully this does not impact their wearability.

Think about how the fabric feels and drapes.

I don’t think I made a bad choice of fabric necessarily, since it was easy to work with for a first project. However with a pattern like this where the top is rather wide and should drape down, something a little lighter which feels softer against the skin is probably a better choice.

I did actually make these pyjamas again as a Christmas present for my sister from a gorgeous Liberty London cotton/linen blend. Sewing for someone else really brings out the perfectionist in me and I think these might still be the neatest piece of sewing I have done to date.

My sister's Christmas present.

The next 3 items I sewed were all during the Intro to Dressmaking course at Ray Stitch. I have to preface this with the fact that this course was brilliant, any problems I have with the garments I made are from my own choices! I was definitely taught all the skills to make my garments technically correct. While I don’t think taking a course is essential to learning to sew garments, it did increase my skills much more quickly than if I had been learning myself. I was able to ask any and all questions that came to my head and the lovely Luisa was happy to answer them.

The item of clothing up first was the New Look 6217 Top. It was a very simple top with a bias bound neckline. There was an example of this top in what I now think must have been a linen hanging in the Ray Stitch store. I thought the boxy look was kind of nice so I figured a thicker fabric would be fine. What I ended up finding was a cotton twill in a lovely purple colour. I now know that cotton twill is not a great choice for a top… but mistakes are the best way to learn! The other problem was that I wasn’t at a stage to make my own bias binding so lacking a perfect colour match, I went for black.

The colour is lovely but the fabric creases and does not drape.

So although this top is technically correct and I learnt a few new techniques while making it (french seams!) I unfortunately haven’t worn it since. Fabric choice is important - lesson learned!

Next up is the New Look 6843 skirt. I chose to make the A-line skirt view. After the problem with fabric choice for my top I started searching online and reading and learning a lot more about fabric. I thought a wool skirt would be nice for winter and I found a lovely red and black houndstooth from the New Craft House. After discussing with the instructor we decided a lining would probably be necessary so I added an unknown ex-designer fabric labelled simply ‘white lining’ to my basket.

A successful skirt, however the fabric looks like a mottled grey from afar.

Lessons learned:

Cutting slippery fabric with scissors and pins is a nightmare.

This was the experience that made me run out and buy a rotary cutter and cutting mat and I haven’t looked back since. Luckily it was just a lining so even though the pieces I cut barely matched the pattern, it somehow worked out.

How a fabric/pattern looks from afar is probably more important than up close.

I realised once I put this skirt on that the tiny red and black houndstooth that I had fallen in love with actually looked more like a greyish blur when standing more than a meter away from me. Not ideal.

The choice of pattern and style is important.
Obviously in this course the patterns are pre-selected but there is variation within that. I should have known that most of my winter skirts are straight rather than A-line and gone with that. Also I was never sold on the tiny width of the waistband, something like that is probably the simplest pattern alteration so I should have at least asked the instructor about adjusting that.

A close up of this fabric shows the tiny red and black houndstooth pattern. 

I learnt so much making this skirt and I’m very proud of how invisible the zip is. I have worn it a few times, but because the style isn’t quite right and the look of the fabric from afar as discussed, I haven’t reached for it very often. Also the wool seems to crease so easily and some of the creases are almost impossible to iron out!

The final garment that I made during this course was the New Look 6262 dress. I made it with the V-neck and t-shirt sleeves. I finally made a garment with an appropriate fabric in a style that feels like me! It’s obviously not perfect and the gathering could be more even but I spent a lot of time (after the course had finished) adjusting the fit and adding pockets.

I made a dress!

When I was in New Zealand for Christmas it was exciting to be in suitable weather to wear this dress for the first time. I’m sure I’ll pick it up again when the sun finally decides to make an appearance here in London.

It was fun to look back on the progress I’ve made already in just a few months. And it is interesting to realise that almost all of what makes me want to wear a garment is the fabric, feel and style - not whether I sewed a particular seam perfectly straight!