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Messages - suburban

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1
Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 14, 2022, 18:57:18 PM »
The original looks like its been machine stitched.
If you don't have access to a sewing machine then don't use a hand running stitch like that (it won't ever look right), do some sort of invisible stitching on the inside.

Thanks, I'd worried about that.  I'd watched someone on YouTube promising, "How to hand sew like a machine " and I looked at her efforts at a hem and wasn't entirely sold on the idea.  Still, she was talking at the same time as stitching so I thought...well I won't be compromised and can go at my own pace.  I think you're right and some sort of invisible stitch is the way to go.  Trouble is, that "just pick up a few threads from the outside of the garment" seems a bit risky on a pair of jean-like pants.  Would it be a weak hem?  I know I said the chinos were only practice sewing - but I'd want to get it right for other trousers etc. 

I looked at the images I attached and I'm sorry they're such monster sized!  My bad. 

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Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 14, 2022, 18:27:31 PM »
  [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  
Defiitely 'darn sarf'  in Kent.

Edit:  Hello, I've tried to post this three times - with 3 different attachments JPEGs - and no joy.  I hope you don't mind if I reply to you specifically - because the board might accept a "reply" and not a new post etc.  Here goes:

           Hello it's me again.  I've forgotten how to reply to the right person.  I remember it being a bit counterintuitive last time I was here. I'm not complaining though, I'm very thankful for any responses.

OK,  I've read the label of the pants - they're Chinos - I had took them to my brother's to try for size. They are 98% cotton and only 2 % "Stretch" .  The word "stretched" troubled me y'see.  So, they've seen better days - they're Practice Pants. The first picture I'll post is the original hem.  It is a short hem and the stitch appears to be a kind of running stitch.  Is it also a Top Stitch?  The second is a very crude hem stitch I did - just to see if I'd got the length right.  I had, but it could do with further shortening by half a centimetre.

So, I'm between sewing machines and I'd like to try and replicate the original hem.  So I'd be sewing by hand - some sort of running stitch (?) on a fabric with a very slight stretch quality to it. Any advice?


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Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 13, 2022, 09:04:40 AM »
I agree with the others that what you are describing is overlocked seams - or serged seams in American English.

I'm intrigued by your use of the word pants - and see that you are in Manchester; presumably Manchester England, but are you English? 

In England the word pants (in clothing) means underpants.  Outer garments to cover the legs separately are usually called trousers; possibly trews, slacks, chinos, jeans ... but not pants.

Yes, I'm English. "Pants" is probably what I've picked-up watching American films / sewing tutorials.  It's a good thing we talk about definition - because I'm not sure which "trouser group", as it were, that I'm sewing.  Hoping to be able to post a picture soon, because I subscribed 24 hrs ago.  ( If I lapse into pants it's just shorthand )  So it's hard to know which tutorial to watch online.   

4
Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 13, 2022, 08:56:13 AM »
Are you hemming by hand or machine, if by machine what sort of stitch are you using?

If you are not used to doing this it might get boring really quickly, perhaps suggest a local drycleaners or alterations place and get your brother to pay for it himself.

Honestly, I don't mind boring.  I'm simple-minded and doing something repeatedly sounds like my kind of fun. I might have given the wrong kind of vibe about my brother.  He didn't order me to hem his pants or anything, he's a nice person.  I've got time to spare and he cooks dinner every night, whilst I'm on a long visit.  I'd actually like to do it.  Also, it's a skill I should've mastered like - 40 years ago! 

5
Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 13, 2022, 08:51:46 AM »
If it is too bulky to just fold over and hem, you can snip into it at the fold line, and have some one way and some the other


Ha! That's a good trick, I didn't think of that. However, with it running the length of the leg of the pants, I'd be worried that it would compromise the strength of the side seam. 

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Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 13, 2022, 08:48:56 AM »
Just posted this pic in another thread.  They vary a bit,  depending on how many threads are used, but this is what over locked seam finishes tend to look like. This stitch can also be used to stitch the seam.


If you need to unpick,  it's fairly straightforward. The stitches you need to break are the anchoring needle stitches that enclose the loops - they just look like a normal straight stitch from one side.

Great thanks.  I now remember reading about overcast stitches years ago.  I think that's what you mean. 

7
Technical Help / Re: Modern Pants
« on: August 13, 2022, 08:42:07 AM »
An overlocked or serged side seam might look like this




Yes, thank you. That's exactly what I meant.  I had an idea it was something to do with overlocking, but I just wasn't sure. 

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Technical Help / Modern Pants
« on: August 12, 2022, 17:50:51 PM »
Hi,

I hemmed my brother's (casual) pants by hand as an exercise and noticed that "wrong side" of modern clothing is so different from years ago.  If you watch "Hemming pants by Hand" beginner tutorials on YouTube, they are always simple polycotton trousers with seams pressed open. However, the side seams in the pants I was hemming were so different.  One kind of ran down the side of the leg like a cord covered with many, many looping stitches. Perhaps that's an overlocker / overcast feature?  Forgive my ignorance.  I hope to be able to post a picture tomorrow to better illustrate my point.  You see, it's hard to learn or to access the right tutorial, when you don't even know what you're looking at.  Please help as he wants me to hem all his pants!  Thanks in advance.

9
Fun with Fabric / Re: Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 29, 2021, 16:20:08 PM »
I like a bandana on a dog @Deafoldbat my dog doesn't drool but after she's been to the groomers a large scar is visible down the back of her neck where a lump was removed. I put a bandana on until the hair grows a bit  :woof:

I never thought of that.   :thinking:  I mean that a potential customer would have that need.  Please don't think of me as Ms Greed is Good.  I mean, I'm sorry your dog had to have a surgical procedure.  But there are reasons why someone would like to buy dog "fashion accessories", other than for frivolous purposes...

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Fun with Fabric / Re: Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 29, 2021, 16:14:41 PM »
Why, unless it really drools, does a dog need a bandana? It's a dog, not a fashion accessory. (Joins poultry behind settee - some of you will get that ;))

You're right - perhaps no dog needs one.  I will be "marketing" what I make as a fashion accessory.  I use quotation marks because I feel a bit of a fraud, having not even established a company / small business yet!  But you know what I mean..

11
Fun with Fabric / Re: Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 29, 2021, 16:12:19 PM »
Our woofbags have fleece suits, and some thinner stretch polyester type ones, so I'd say, no, it doesn't need to be cotton.  Fleece is great, easily sewn, easily machine embroidered as well if you do that.

That's a good point!  I see those fleece body suits everywhere now. They always look great.  I suppose with spring / summer arriving I won't see them as much.  However, I never thought of that!

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Fun with Fabric / Re: Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 29, 2021, 16:10:54 PM »
If it's a gentle curve and mostly on the bias you will liely get away without clipping if you use a narrow seam allowance (1/4 inch - 6mm).  The more stable and closely woven the fabric the more necessary it is to clip.  Craft weight cotton is fairly forgiving and will allow you to do that.  If you use poly-cotton it bocomes a bit less flexible as the poly content increases.

Thank you!  I will now google 'craft weight cotton'!  I only used poly-cotton when I first started sewing, because it was cheaper.  I thought it was like the poor relation?  Or that dog owners would think I was short-changing them by not using 100% cotton. This is all in the future though, I'm just the Queen of Procrastinators...


13
Fun with Fabric / Re: Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 29, 2021, 16:06:58 PM »
Hi @suburban I have made a few bandanas for my dog, only small cause she is small.  I make them from 100% cotton with a slight curve but I make them double-sided with a small seam allowance, turning it through and topstitch around it.

EDIT: spelling

Thanks Lilian!  I do the same thing, turning it through. 

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Fun with Fabric / Does a dog Bandana have to be 100% cotton?
« on: March 28, 2021, 16:28:59 PM »
Hi

I've been sewing dog bandanas and decided the curved 'bib' type are the best fitting. I do my best in terms of following the rules.  I know about making little cuts into the curve ( in my case, it's a gradual concave curve), but I wonder if I can avoid doing that - because the seam allowance will be 6 mm and I don't want to finish the seams.

It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that (for research purposes) I deconstructed the same 'bib  / boomerang' type bandanas by a big seller on 'Etsy'.  I noticed that she didn't appear to have finished her seams.  She had zero puckering around the concave curve of her bandana.  I wonder how she achieved that?   How did she end up with no puckering without making snips?  You see, the seam, when opened-up presented no evidence of having been clipped.

If you google suitable fabric for making dog bandanas, you get "100% cotton."  Would any of you use fabric other than cotton to make a dog bandana?  I don't fancy using anything which would irritate or cause harm to a dog, nor do I want to sew with something with a lot of stretch, because I'd struggle sewing with it.

Any suggestions?

15
The Haberdashery / Re: Vecro for Fastening Dog Bandanas
« on: February 02, 2021, 18:12:11 PM »
@suburban I haven't used Velcro on dog outfits but I have used it on difficult fabrics. I used the stick on stuff to place it exactly where I wanted it and then stitched it in place if that's any help. I've just had a look at my dogs shop bought coat and the Velcro is 2" wide on that.
  Thank you for looking!  :angel:

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