Which one...the jackets or the shirts?

Oops, sorry!  The shirts, on the left.

Lovely - very clever! 

She's a lucky soon-to-be daughter-in-law!   

I really love that.   

Ooh, thank you - that is very useful.

I realised recently that I have 8 to 10 machine needles stuck in my pin cushion, which means they have been changed because I needed a different type of needle, not because they were old.  A very stupid thing to do, since it meant I had no idea what sort of needles they were.  However, they are mostly Schmetz needles, so I should be able to work out what they are from the colour coding.

Thanks Low - so really you can minimise the waste by careful folding.  I was concerned that you had to use a 5 inch wide strip to cut 3 inch wide pieces, or something like that.

I think I've got it now.

The ordinary dies just cut one shape (or 2 or 4 triangles, but one set) through however many thicknesses of fabric.  The extended dies - which were being used in the video I managed to see - are effectively a row of dies, so all next to each other.  The machine isn't using one die more than once as you turn the handle, which is what I assumed (and was very confused by!)

So if I had a Big Shot Plus and I was using a die for 4.5inch squares, presumably I'd use a strip of fabric a bit wider than that.  How much space would be left between the squares?

And if I was doing triangles, presumably a triangle would be left between each piece, plus a gap (as for the squares)?

Liberty have some fabulous silk/viscose velvet.  Not cheap, if course, although some are reduced to £29 a metre!

That sounds fantastic Arrow.

I've been saving bits of velvet and fancy fabrics to make a patchwork jacket for quite a while.  Curtain weight velvet is great for that, but it might be a bit heavy/stiff for a robe.  I think silk velvet is the most luxurious feeling fabric there is.