The Sewing Place

Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric

Bodgeitandscarper

Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« on: July 06, 2019, 14:42:49 PM »
Is it just me that sometimes puts pattern pieces upside down just to fit them on a bit of fabric?

I'm trying a new pattern, thinking it won't need much fabric.  Then I find I'm a few inches short for the lower halves, so turn one upside down 0_0

The upper pieces should be fine they are not very big.  Unfold fabric, find it really is only a scrap, but I'm sure I can fit the pieces on with a bit of jiggling.  I may struggle to cut the neck and armhole bands though, and these are bands that stick out past the edges, so using bias binding would probably make the neck and armholes too big.  They say they should be cut across the fabric with the stretch, so I reckon on the bias will do just as well...

Kwaaked

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2019, 16:09:44 PM »
As long as there is not a one way pattern or any nap, and it is on the same grain, yes.  I will lay the fabric out on the table and walk around it from all angles to look at it and if there is a small swatch I can cut off, I'll take it outside and look in the sun.  Most of the time, I use a linen prover/tester to look at the threads to ensure the warp and weft are the same.

All sounds like a lot of work, takes just a few minutes at most.  Glance at the fabric from all angles, use the tester, walk outside flip the fabric about.

I can only recall one fabric I've used that had no nap or one way design that it didn't work on.  It looked okay with the naked eye, but something was "off" and when I looked at it with the tester, the dye had every few threads shaded different one way from the other.  And most people would never notice the difference.

Also: modern factories do not worry about grain.  If it fits, it doesn't matter where the grain is.  So you are also pretty safe is flipping considering what they do.

Edit: you can also piece together the parts you need.  Neck with seam instead of on fold.  I have a McCalls top I like from Palmer and Pletsch, but the shirt calls for 3 yards and I have never been able to get it on with their layout under 4 unless I add a back seam.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2019, 16:11:53 PM by Kwaaked »

Efemera

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2019, 16:13:51 PM »
Any which way...I’ve shortened pieces, taken the flare from pieces, anything to squeeze it out of the fabric.

KayK

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2019, 16:44:51 PM »
Oh I'm a real squeezer - which is probably why I never have anything left over, bar a few bits for test stitching.  It started back in the 70's when I first started sewing.  I soon realised that being a mere 5' tall I didnt need anywhere near as much fabric as was suggested on dress patterns, and I soon learned to place pieces here and there with no problems.  However, this has undone me once or twice, when buying fabric to make a patchwork quilt........I never buy enough and then have to be creative!
I have learnt by my mistakes: Sewing machines now are Bernina 720, Bernina 1008, Bernina 801 from 1981, Brother overlocker, ancient but works well

toileandtrouble

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2019, 17:53:22 PM »
Me too. I take out seams, add seams, shorten sleeves, turn darts into princess seams, add cuffs and use toning material for facings.
I feel I've lost if I have more than an envelope full of scraps! 
Yarn down:  1000g
Fabric down:  29m

snoozi soozi

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2019, 17:56:03 PM »
Yes, upside down, back to front, squished up all ways. Sometimes I cut facings and pockets from a different fabric if I'm struggling. A design feature donchaknow  ;)
Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew

Lachica

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2019, 00:20:41 AM »
Back in the 70s I didn't buy my fabric until I'd laid out the pattern to ensure I bought the bare minimum. I was still at school & hard up. These days I'm just tight, I aim to be like @toileandtrouble.
Mary
2020 stash: not gonna count, not gonna feel guilty.

mudcat

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2019, 05:47:15 AM »
Funny enough there was a time many year ago where I made a skirt with fabric that seemed to be without nap but after I made it I discovered there was a nap. Since that time I always cut my pieces as if they were with nap.  So no ... I do not squeeze pattern pieces.

jintie

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2019, 06:25:50 AM »
I have split the back of trousers at knee level, on the diagonal and it looked like a design feature.
Rottweiler with scissors

Nevis5

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2019, 07:52:32 AM »
I'm with @mudcat  , I don't mess with the nap unless I'm really, really sure that it doesn't look any different.  I'm tall too, so always have to have extra length added, so the fabric requirements are generally about right for me.  I usually buy an extra half metre to be sure though.  So fabric buying is expensive for me!  I also have to make a huge FBA using up more fabric :( 

But I do try and be as economical as I can with pattern pieces; I piece bits which won't show, add gussets under arms and make facings out of other fabrics too.  I often try and make two garments out of one length of material if I can.

DementedFairy

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2019, 13:51:19 PM »
I totally ignore pattern layout diagrams and squeeeeeeze everything in wherever it will fit, I'll twist slightly off grain, shave away at seam allowances, and slightly alter skirt side seams to suit, free handing all over the shop.  Never had a total disaster lol
Oh and piecing is definitely an art form!
It's only been NECESSARY a few times, I just like to save as much as possible!  It irks my mathematical eye to be able to KNOW there's enough total area to fit everything, but not be able to squidge the pieces in...it becomes a challenge.  I don't like to lose lol
C'est moi!

Helen M

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2019, 17:30:35 PM »
Back in the 70s I didn't buy my fabric until I'd laid out the pattern to ensure I bought the bare minimum. I was still at school & hard up. These days I'm just tight, I aim to be like @toileandtrouble.

I used to do the same on my kitchen floor which just so happened to have squares in the design so ideal for laying out pattern pieces. I'd put a marker at the width of the fabric I had in mind and maybe allow a bit if it had a pattern to it. I'm only 5ft 1" so I'd already have altered the pattern pieces.
Stash Busting 2024 - Goal: 25 metres
So far:  1.5 metres  ------ Donated : 0 metres
Items decluttered: 55

BrendaP

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2019, 17:33:31 PM »
I'm another who will squeeze if I have too.  One very successful dress has a seam down the middle of the collar because I couldn't fit the collar/reveres piece onto a fold and just ocasionally I'll cut cross grain instead of lengthways if it fits better, but keep to the straight of grain; if it's skewed it won't hang right.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2019, 18:01:54 PM »
I tend to place everything the same way just in case I forget sometime and have a one way design etc.   :). But quite happy to place facings on cross grain, put a seam in them, use different fabrics for facings , collars etc.  Pattern pieces are generally butted up to other. 
Trousers have always been a problem and pretty wasteful for me.  I’m only 5ft but my pattern needs a lot of width due to  my width and the way the pattern  has developed over the years.  So I always buy twice the length if I want to make them in one hit.  But I have also been known to join pieces at the crutch extension which makes a difference.  And recently made a pair with a yoke back and front which almost halved the amount needed!  As I always wear a top outside them it’s not a problem. 

Tamnymore

Re: Trying to squeeze pattern pieces onto not enough fabric
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2019, 18:17:56 PM »
 Like many of you here I'm a squeezer and will play fast and loose with grain lines and so on. I've turned the business of piecing facings into an art form (well nobody sees them) and pockets often get made in another fabric such as a nice bit of silk. However, it doesn't always work. I'm at the top of the size range for the Big 4 and the pattern pieces won't always fit together as snugly as they would for a smaller size.
'One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.' Oscar Wilde