Welcome! I'm based in brum too  I'm sure you'll find it very friendly and helpful here.

What a good idea! The embroidery looks really nice too

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know the V&A were on youtube so will probably be going down that rabbit hole soon. 

The blue of the flower at the end is amazing.

Hello everyone. 

I'd like to make a couple of sets of dungarees, mostly for garden work. This Heydey pattern is quite well reviewed, and also doesn't require hardware on the straps, so I'm leaning towards that.

For the first attempt, I've ordered some dark grey denim.

I'm very taken with this beetle fabric from Dalston Mill, but having ordered a sample I'm feeling unsure about whether it's suitable or whether something less stiff/with a bit of stretch is going to be more comfortable. Advice gratefully received, or I will probably be in a better position to make a decision on it once I've had a go with the other fabric.

The only trousers I've made before are pyjamas so it should be a good learning experience regardless of the outcome.

Hello everyone, long time lurker this side of the forum  but think this is my first time posting a make. I've made a few t shirts and button up shirts in the past, and some pjs, but I am still facing new (to me) challenges and learning a lot every time I make a garment.

I picked up this free turtleneck pattern from Jalie a while ago and have recently used it to try out the overlocker I was given for Christmas, using some black cheapo jersey I wasn't too concerned by the concept of ruining through incompetence.

I did manage to accidentally carve a hole into one of the armpits with the lil overlocker knife but it was pretty easily fixed, and apart from having to rethread the whole device twice the assembly was very painless. I think it's a good beginner pattern as all of the sides are straight including the sleeves, which are not only straight at the top but also attached to the body while it's flat so there's no setting in (which I find very fiddly). All in all I'm very pleased with how it came out:



It came out a little bit over sized because I couldn't figure out how to print the pattern so that the 'test square' measured exactly the correct size so after about 4 attempts with different settings I ended up settling for close enough. I might just get the pattern printed and posted next time as it seems like less faff. Any advice you might have on that front (or general overlocker tips for a newbie) would be very gratefully received!

Och! C'mon folk. Who was it? Pweeeeeeeze?

T'was I.
There should be a lil label loop sewn into the binding at the back as well... unless it's fallen off because I didn't catch it properly... which is a very real possibility 

Mine was posted a few days ago and appears to have been received. 

Someone will pop along with better advice shortly as my experience is a bit limited but for what it's worth I've used an old thin fleece blanket as the batting for coasters and placemats (for budgetary reasons more than anything) and it's worked really well - I did hear that fleece shrinks a lot more than normal batting though so pre washing is advised.

I think the decision is mostly how thick you want the sewing mat to be, as it's not going to be used for warmth. I've found cotton stuff less annoying to work with than poly because I ended up with much less fluff everywhere (including in the machine) but it is a bit more expensive. The key word for thickness seems to be 'loft' - low loft means thin.

You can buy small amounts on eBay (and probably quite a few online sewing shops). I just needed a long thin piece for my latest project (a table runner) so this is the one I bought.