July's Dressmaker Social Meetup and The Ask It Basket!

Thank you to everyone who came along on Monday evening and helped 

make it another successful meet up. 

The Pattern Amnesty (#patternamnesty) was fantastic. 

Here is Wendy with her donations and Barbara with her new pattern!

Lots of patterns went away with someone new and we have a great stash to donate to the emerging dressmakers at The Fashion School. 

Thanks to your feedback we will have more amnesty sessions in the future. 

We ended our evening with the group answering questions from The Ask It Basket (thanks Croianna for the idea)

I thought the Ask It Basket was fun and a great way to share our knowledge and experience with each other. We had some interesting questions and lots of fab answers and suggestions.

1.

"What paper can I use to trace off patterns? I want something available locally and not too big a roll (no storage space). Have tried different things - all too small, too crispy or too thin"

Suggestions included...

• Using greaseproof paper (not baking parchment as you can not stick pieces together)
• Using Freezer Paper, available on Amazon and in small rolls at C&H Fabrics. Freezer paper can be ironed on to your fabric making it easier to cut out and then peeled off leaving no residue. Probably best to do a test on your chosen fabric first. Great for appliqué too. 
• Buying 10m packs of dot and cross paper from Amazon
• Buying packs of pattern paper from Fabricland. I think they also sell by the roll. 
• New Fabric Flair also sell pattern paper.
• Use garden polythene, the reasonable thick clear stuff used by gardeners ...?! I don't know. Trace your patterns with a marker pen. 
• To reinforce tissue paper patterns iron on light interfacing to reinforce them.

2. 

"Does anyone have any tips on how to sew darts on slippy fabric?"

Suggestions included...

• Tacking the dart to make it easier to machine stitch.
• Using tissue paper or dissolvable tissue paper used by embroiders underneath the dart when stitch and then gently pull away or dissolve. If using the dissolvable test it with your fabric to make sure it will work.
• Make sure you have the right needle and tension for the fabric.

3.

"What is the best way to adjust a pattern for a sway back?"

• Check that it is a sway back adjustment and not too much fabric between the shoulder and waist. If it is reduce the excess from here.
• If it is a sway back, Barbara from The London Dressmakers Club demonstrates how to make the adjustment in this video...

4.

"Do you have an unfinished project in your stash? Would you like to a, hand it on to someone else or b, swap it with someone else's secret unfinished garment and finish theirs instead? 

Is anyone interested in doing this? Maybe we could have a ufo amnesty? 

Our next Meetup will be on Monday 17th August, from 6pm at Bar Valentino, New Road, Brighton.

The theme is Frocktails, pop on something you made and join us for a cocktail or mocktail!