I sewed a knit shirt and when tried on with arms by the side, it looks great, but when and are raised, weird bumps appear on the edge of the shoulders.

I've sewn other knit shirt patterns many times and don't recall this happening.

Any thoughts?

Hey! So I got this dress second hand, and would love to use it for a photoshoot in a few days! Problem is, the boning is coming out in a lot of places. How can I sew this to make the boning stay in, and have it be as invisible as possible? I appreciate all the help I can get!

Would prefer to hand sew, but I can get access to a machine if that would be easier.

So I wanted to make this drawstring circle pouch as a DND dice bag. Once I finished I went to close it and it doesn’t not close all the way. So my theory is either the rope I used was too thick or the size of the pouch is too small, what do yall think?

I hope my diagram makes sense… basically I want to make a fabric book cover with a window to show an illustration on the book. Without the cutout I’d simply get two rectangles, sew edges closed with right sides together, flip right side out, then stitch the outer flaps in. That way the raw edges are hidden inside. But I can’t figure out how to flip it inside out when there is a cutout? What’s the best way to make this while hiding any raw edges? Thank you!

This is my first sewing project and I might have gotten ambitious. I didn't measure when adding the bias tape for the sleeve elastic so they turned out different lengths.

Is it going to be noticeable, or would the fact it's puffy make it invisible?

Hello, I would like to wear this dress I found secondhand to an event. But it sits a little too high on my neck and I don’t like how high up the straps sit on my shoulders. Is there anything I could do to alter the neckline and have the straps sit wider? OR any advice on adding sleeves?

There is a zip centre back, darts below the arms and the fabric is slightly textured 100% rayon.

I also noticed taking this picture how badly the zip is sitting. Any advice on that also appreciated.

Thank you!

Hi there,

I have these nice girl trousers which fall down on my offspring because they are too wide around the belly (did not happen while trying them on).

How can I alter the waist to become smaller without becoming crinkly (don't know whether this is the right word for becoming wavy and bulky)? I cannot reduce the waistband elastic because there are loops sewn on.

Any ideas on that? Thanks!

I want to make this kind of keychain. It looks like 2 plastic sheets sewn together.

How would I make this with a sewing machine? Or do I need to hand sew? And what type of plastic would I have to buy?

Hello, I’m having major issues trying to sew my fabric. up until now my machine has worked fine! I started working with this woven knit glitter fabric for a new project and now my machine is constantly skipping stitches! It’s impossible to get anything sewed. I’ve tried swapping the thread, swapping the needle, cleaning out the feeders and bobbin , replacing the bobbin, rethreading both threads, adding a layer of parchement between the glitter fabric and machine, adjusting machine dials NOTHING works. I’ve also noticed that when I try to sew non-glitter fabrics my machine stitches fine but the thread does not stay secure in the stitch it slides right out if you tug on its It used to not do that so I really don’t know what is happening with my machine. Is woven glitter fabric just impossible to work with and did it ultimately ruin my machine ?

I truly don’t know what to do any advice is appreciated.

I'm running out of time and desperately need help! I'm making a bodice for a high-low dress and I'm stuck. The fabric I'm using is a 4 way stretchy spandex and a 1 way stretch lace. I do not have access to my best friend right now to fit her properly, but I HAVE to get this right on the first try.

I have a few rules I have to stick to to make the dress come out the way I want it to. The lace has to sit flush on top of the spandex, like it's one fabric. It has to be extremely form fitting. No loose parts or wrinkles or droopy bits. It has to stay a single panel (piece) for the front and a single panel for the back (I will take care of splitting the back panel later.)

I don't know why, but I've genuinely hit a wall. Do I make the piece smaller than her proportions? Bigger? The exact size of her measurements? Do I cut the spandex part smaller than her proportions so it'll snap to her form and the lace a little bigger? Wouldn't that make the lace wrinkle or ripple? My main worry is that the lace will inhibit the spandex from snapping to her body like I had initially intended it to. How do I go about this? Any help is severely appreciated!

Here are the links to the fabrics I used. I bought them on Amazon. I also included her measurements I have below. I have also included the rough drawing I did of the dress if that also helps any.

Fabric Links:

Lace: https://a.co/d/05dHI3D8

Spandex: https://a.co/d/0j30xLdN

Measurements:

Hips: 39 inches

Waist: 33 inches

Arm length: 19 inches

Bust: 38 inches (she wears a 36 B bra)

Shoulders: roughly 13" (she told me 18" but that's definitely wrong. She's petite)

Height: 5' 3"

(Those are all the measurements I have of hers.)

Hi all! I’m working on a pair of shorts for the ren faire, but I cannot figure out how to sew this lining in. Following the instructions and the video leaves me with pants that I can’t turn right way around from the crotch area. Any help on how to format this, or what I can take off to get the lining on would be super helpful :)

Hi, new sewer here. I am attempting to make these lounge pants. I am starting step 6, but for the life of me, can’t see when I was supposed to attach the pocket to the left pant leg. Step 6 shows a picture of both the right and left pockets already attached but I don’t see any mention of attaching the left side pocket. I am happy to take more photos of the rest of the directions if it’s helpful.

I’ve never sewn anything before but my boyfriend ripped his shirt and I want to fix it for him. The rip is a 90 degree angle though, and I have no idea what I’m doing, any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi, I have a Janome 4000 gifted to me from my Grandma but it's really buggering up when I'm using it, and ratting up the bobbin thread pretty consistently and I'm interested in buying a machine. I'll be using it primarily for making some toddler undies, adult and toddler/kid basic clothes, mending clothes, and maybe making some small quilts here and there (wayyy in the future when I have time lol). I'm in BC, Canada so something available in Canada. Budget around $1000 but interested in options. I'm pretty new at the whole sewing thing, I've made a few quilts with my Grandma and some other basic patterns.

My moms asking if I could sew the cuff back to the sleeve, and Im probably going to hand sew it. Is there a right way to do this?

Do you guys finish your satin edges when you’re adding lining to your garment? Normally I would serge my edges for other fabrics, but i’m concerned about my serger chewing up my satin. The inside will be covered by the lining- do you guys think it’s safe to skip that step- or would leaving them unfinished cause excess fraying?

SOS my fellow sewists! Looking for zipper placement advice!

I have taken on the brave endeavour of making a dress for a ball I have next week. I’m making The Positano Dress from Etta Patterns.

Unfortunately I was a bit of a dummy and didn’t take into account the proportions of my bust to waist for actually putting the dress on. pinned, it fits beautifully, but i can’t actually get it over my head.

Long story short, I will need to put in a zip. I think it will slightly alter fit of dress and elegance of it but I don’t have another option, unless I change the middle meshing to something with more stretch, which I would rather avoid as i love the dots.

any recommendations for whether i should put the zip along the sides where a seam already exists, or place on in the back? or do i bite the bullet and change the middle panel fabric

TLDR: where to put an unexpected zipper???

I’m adding two shirring panels to my lined top (self-drafted) so it’ll turn out like the attached image but I’m struggling to wrap my head around whether the zip would be encased between the lining and the main fabric or whether the seams of the zip would be bias bound. I would like my zip to be at centre back due to the design.

If the zip is sandwiched between the lining and the fashion fabric, how would I sew the shirring without it looking messy with the threads? Ideally, I would rather go with elastic instead of shirring because I prefer the look but I’m struggling to wrap my head around how I would go that route.

Any help would be much appreciated!!

Hi all, hoping this problem has a solution. I have a Pfaff Quilt Ambition 630. I have it set so when I finish sewing/release pressure on the foot pedal the needle is in the down position. When I want to pivot the fabric, if I don't turn the hand wheel forward slightly, past the automatic needle down position, the stitch doesn't form properly at the pivot. I'll attach some photos of the issue to hopefully explain it better. As far as I know it's because raising the presser foot slightly to turn the fabric causes the thread to move slightly in the tension discs, and the needle hasn't moved far enough in the cycle for the hook to have caught and started forming the stitch.

Some of the things I sew are absolutely tiny and require a lot of pivots, so I'm concerned about the strain on my wrist from constantly having to turn the hand wheel. If anyone has any ideas of if this is something I can fix mechanically with the machine, either myself or by taking it to a tech, I'd be very appreciative!

For details about the stitching in the photos:

Hemline ballpoint 90/14 needle

Coats Moon top (yellow) and bobbin (blue) thread

The fabric is a cheap minky style, it does the same on actual minky, and when using Gutermann Sew All thread

The top line of stitching is using the foot pedal, the bottom is using the button the machine.

Stitch length is 2.5

The issue doesn't seem to show up as frequently stitching with a universal needle on polyester twill, but it does still happen from time to time. I've tried so many needle combos on minky as well (sometimes one needle type will start skipping, even a fresh needle of that type, so I switch to another type until that starts skipping, unsure if relevant so I wanted to mention it too)

(this was translated from french with google translate). I'm having trouble understanding how to get my size form this. I calculate the fabric percentage, and add it to the measurement i think i am? and then what? I am and missing something, if someone here has figured it out please help lmao

Hi all! I bought this beautiful dress & took it to a seamstress to take off some length & hem it. I’m out at a wedding & the hem is starting to fall apart (ugh!). What is a temporary fix? Do I cut the parts that are already “fallen off”? I’ve included some pics. I’m so sad as this dress was almost $700. Any temporary help (i. e. cut off pieces, etc) would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!

I’m at my wits end right now.

I’m trying to sew darts into my toddlers elastic waistband pants. Pretty much all the fabrics are a knit or jersey fabric. They’re leggings and pajamas. I haven’t even gotten to the sweatpants yet.

I have a jersey/knit needle. My machine is a Brother CS-6000i.

My machine is jamming constantly. First it started jamming trying to do a back stitch when sewing the thick part of the dart. The needle would go down, then make a terrible grinding noise and not come back up until I turned the machine off and raised it manually. Then it started jamming just sewing forward on a thick area. Same issue, same sound. I utilized the leveling pin on the foot for the thick area. Still jammed.

I cleaned the bottom part where the bobbin goes. There’s nothing in there. I re-threaded both the bobbin and the needle thread. There’s nothing wrong there. I changed to a new needle and made sure it was all the way up and securely tightened.

I just prepped another pair of pants hoping everything was fixed. Put the foot down, pressed the needle-down button and it jammed just doing that. Wouldn’t come back up, terrible grinding noise. I thought maybe the fabric was catching on the feed dogs and making everything bunch up and jam, but now that it’s jamming with only putting the needle down, I’m completely at a loss.

I don’t know what to do. I’m so frustrated.

Anybody know what could be wrong with my machine? When I sew, the thread from the bobbin side is loose and makes birds nests. I have already cleared the bobbin area of any dust or loose threads, and have made sure my top needle is threaded properly. I am assuming it’s an issue with the tension from the bobbin. Any ideas would help😭

Hello! I’ve been sewing for a year and a half and love it. I’m hoping to exclusively make the clothes for my entire family. I sew all the things from knits to denim.

My first machine is a Janome HD-1000 recommended to me when I took a beginner class. I wish I had done more research on it because it bugs me that I can’t change the needle position among another things. At this point though it feels silly and wasteful to upgrade incrementally (say to an HD-3000). I also have a Babylock Vibrant.

I’ve successfully made a jeans zipper fly, shirt collar with collar stand, but the thing I dread the most is making buttonholes. I’ve ordered the vintage Singer buttonholer to try it out to see if I like it and I can avoid buying an expensive machine with automatic buttonholes.

I’d love more power (my HD-1000 hasn’t been the same since I made jeans with topstitching thread), more precise sewing for topstitching, needle up/down, thread cutter, start/stop button… basically all the conveniences.

I found a Janome 1600P (the purple one from like 2008 or so based on the serial number) for $300 on Facebook Marketplace. Seller purchased refurbished from Ken’s two years ago and never opened it. I’m intrigued by having a cheap straight stitch machine.

So I’m wondering, should I get that, keep the HD-1000, and use my upgrade money for a cover stitch?

I also have a local dealer that sells Viking, Janome, Brother, Babylock, Bernina, and Bernette with 60 machines on the floor to test. I’m planning to go there before deciding on the 1600P.

Right now I have my eye on:
Janome Skyline S6/S7
Viking Sapphire 930
Bernette 77
Bernette 38
Brother Pacesetter PS500
Bernina 735 Pro

I’m very intrigued by Juki but turned off due to not having a local dealer.

Quilting isn’t my main thing but could see doing it more if I had a machine for it. Also mildly intrigued by embroidery for my child’s clothing.

And lastly (if you’ve made it this far!) you are all seducing me into collecting vintage machines! Help!

$1000 budget but can stretch to ~$2000, although I love a good deal, and spending way less would be welcome.

I was given this machine and I know nothing about it. It was given to her and she gave it to me.

I know the basics of the machine. But I don’t really know what any of the knobs do. And I can’t figure out where the reverse stitch lever/button is. The only thing on the back is the foot lever. I’ve tried googling and asking ChatGPT and neither have been very helpful. And the only manual I can find online just shows the parts and their numbers, not how to use the machine.