I’m having trouble with the “cut on fold” markings on patterns. When I fold the fabric, mark the pattern on top, cut it, and then unfold it, the top layer is usually cut exactly along the pattern, but the bottom layer ends up being off by 4–5 mm.

For straight lines, I just use a ruler and a rotary cutter, which helps, but for curved lines I have to use scissors, and I just can’t seem to get both layers perfectly aligned.

The only solution I’ve found so far is to make another copy of the pattern as a mirror image, tape the two pieces together, and then cut the fabric with the full pattern laid out flat. But that seems like too much extra work.

Any tips?

I have a number of heavy work pants that are mostly fine except the crotch always blows out on me. I want to Frankenstein a couple into useable pants, but some know if my machine or any of the needles can handle the heavy fabric. How can I tell?

So for the last couple of years I’ve found myself wishing for a sewing machine to tailor my own clothing.

I’m talking very simple tailoring (t-shirts, jeans and sweatpants). Knowing I could use it to make a tote or some EDC stuff is nice, but realistically not something I’m looking for.

I was gonna go for a Singer Heavy Duty since every YouTuber seems to be pushing it, but local reddit wisdom states otherwise.

My current options are
Brother ST371HD
Janome 1522

I can get both for around the same price through Amazon.
I don’t think vintage or semi-industrial machines are needed for my use case.

Since my goal is to do light tailoring, should I be looking at cheaper machines, or would the Brother/Janome (or even Singer) would suffice?

Hello everybody, I am a married man to a woman who sews. However, she is only real knowledgeable in Jersey cotton denim corduroy. You know, thicker stuff. And she doesn’t have much experience with waistband elastic.

So here is my dilemma. I really want to make undies and lingerie. Specifically looking to make man thongs at this current moment for myself. I’ve never sewn anything in my life. At this point, I’m pretty proficient with the surgery but when it comes down to trying to put quarter inch elastic in my man thong or woman’s thong I can’t keep everything straight.

Does anyone have any resources or tips on how I can complete my projects? I have about 15 undies that would be great until I got to the waistband elastic and the leg band elastic.

I have been using up cycle tencell model and other thin stretchy soft materials that she’s not used to using. Ultimately, I would love to use silk, but I have to master these other materials first.

Thank you in advance. I’ve been a long time reader of all these sewing sub credits, and I appreciate each and every one of your knowledge.

Hello! Looking for videos/book/ etc on how to properly use beaded lace & drape it over a dress. I want to make something similar to these just need some guidance because I know satin,silk, and beaded lace are tricky! Thanks in advance

Hi, so far I've made scrunchies, a blanket and a pair of dragon wings for my toddler. I'm going to try a paper pattern, I have traced over the correct size onto tracing paper. Now do I put the pattern on the right side or wrong side of the material? Thank you!!! 😊

Hi I’m trying to take sewing up a notch and learn embroidery…. Any tips on videos and kits I can by on Amazon to try to learn?

I’m super proud of how that came out! I was so scared to do the clothes and details but that turned out soooo good. I still wanna make their weapons but the leather cuffs and honestly hakons whole outfit took forever. I might remake Aiden’s after more practice so I had to make his with the ability to take them off. I also might give him a tail but I’m not sure. I love them so much I’ve been working on them all month and can’t believe they’re done! I’m making celebratory brownies!

Hi there.
Im a total beginner to sewing but looking to learn.

I lost my nan earlier this year and my grandad offered me her two sewing machines. I wish I’d shown interest while she was around but I think it’d be a nice skill to pick up in her memory now.

One is an Elba 31c and the other a singer g77. Both appear to be in working order.

I wondered if anyone had any opinions/preferences on which would be better to learn with.

Hey champs,

I'm still beginner and I am sewing a cover for a headset (my product). I would like to make a hole for the cameras (that part which is streched out on front side). Could you advise me what would be the best approach?

The fabric is really stretchy and overall I can handle the fabric well. Just want to make sure I would not f it up.

Ideally I would like to make it in a way that the thread would be invisible on the sides of the camera part.

Appreciate any help.

Edit: thank you all so much!! The problem is that the thread is way too thick! I didn’t even realize I bought thread for jeans, I just picked a color which was a rookie mistake!

First time sewer looking for help. And by my first time I mean, I just bought a machine and opened it up. Can anyone tell me why this is happening whenever I attempt a backstitch? I’ve checked the bobbin threading a bunch and as far as I know, it’s not that. Sometimes it just becomes a tangled mess, but sometimes it becomes such a mess that my fabric won’t move anymore and my needle has broken twice because of it. I’m not sure if I’m starting the stitch correctly. And by that I mean, I’m not sure if I’m placing the needle in the correct starting position When I attempt the stitch. I really don’t know anything and I’m trying my best.

The pattern was pretty straightforward! I struggled with the zipper and the gathering of the bodice and the sleeves. Overall pretty happy with it :)

I feel dumb, Ik ur supposed to turn it Inside out but how? Ive seen some people cut a small slit at the side but idk

For context, I'm trying to make a spaghetti strap and hand stitched some parts of it, most of it is machine stitched tho, it's just I ran out of the bobbin thread so went and handstitched 🫩

Also the hook is a crochet hook

Hi folks! I used dress developer's Bolero Mallow Cover and A line dress SVG files to make my pattern. As a beginner sewist her step by step videos and pattern files have made it very very convenient for me to sew my own clothes! Thank you dressdeveloper for sharing AMAZING patterns with us for FREE.

https://www.dressdeveloper.com/sewingpatterns/bolero-mallow/

I have bought a very basic no-name sewing machine, but can see that it is identical to the Hobbycraft Midi/12S. The only one I ever used in the past was my mother’s fancy one as a teen. On that one, when the power was switched on nothing happened until I pressed the pedal and that controlled the speed.

With this cheapy now, when I switch it from OFF, there are two options L (Low Speed) or H (High speed) and the machine immediately starts sewing. Nothing happens when I press the pedal and it is so frustrating that the only way to switch it off is to remove my hands from the fabric rather than just lift my foot from the pedal. It’s especially annoying because the Low speed is too fast for me to remove the pins holding the fabric together as the foot reaches them. What am I doing wrong? How can I use the pedal rather than the annoying hand switch?

I have this satin skirt that I love and I want to make another one in brown. The brown fabric that I want to use is also satin but it’s a bit thicker than the red one.

I thought about just folding the skirt and cutting the fabric on the bias but since the fabric is a bit thicker (not much really) idk if I should do another thing

Hi everyone! First time posting here 🙂

I made these pants and I feel like they are too big, but I’m wondering if sizing down is as easy as taking a CM off of the all 4 outside length seams (seams going up the outside of my legs? By I also kind of like the width elsewhere 😭

There’s just too much fabric at the top, and I also think they’re too high. There’s easily a couple cm between the fabric and the skin above my butt, which kind of flattens me out. Maybe I need some darts?

Also also, I think I need to take some cm off of the waistband.

Anyways, please let me know what you think and how I can make them fit better because I really like them otherwise!

Edit: when I pull them tighter the pockets stick out like in pic 6

I made these Syd Graham Lane pants and they feel too big. I went with my sizing on the chart, but I should have gone down at least one size. Outside of disassembling them and starting over, any recs on how to make them less wide overall?

Hi! So I left 1/2 SA, then sewed along the perimeter using 3/8sa to leave room for the zipper tabs. But it’s still tucking!!! What am I missing? When I press it flat it seems like the zipper wants to lay on one side? Ugh. Please help me? I have a craft fair coming up and am worried I’m going to have a bunch of messes.

Hi everyone. I am looking for a beginner machine, but not looking for a steep investment. I have hand sewn quite a bit, but never with a machine and I am just looking to start a new hobby. If anyone has insight on either of these machines please let me know. I am leaning to the M1000 because it is cheaper but don’t know much about it.

In two weeks my husband and I are invited to a wedding and I made my own dress. I am really proud off myself even if it’s a little too large ☺️

I'm having trouble picturing how the pieces are supposed to go together. Like, am i supposed to sew the two back panels together? Should i have more than one wrap panel? Should the waistline/tie/strap/thing be longer on one side? My brain hurts.

Recently I got some tips on how to get my old New Home model 545 working again and after some kroil, cleaning, and oil it's been running great. So I started out sewing some stuff! I got some thrift store scraps and an iron and after a few projects I got a rotary cutter, mat, and rulers. It's been a lot of fun, I've made a lot of mistakes, but I'm getting usable working goods already! I'm so thrilled. I thought about trying sewing for so long and honestly I'm less than $100 in (even with the $30 bottle of Kroil which should last me forever) and I feel like I have a lot of what I need!

First project was an ultralight backpacking pillowcase for a puffy jacket at my brother's request. I didn't understand hems or anything but it works!

I mocked up a bike bag (which I had to unpick about a million times), made a cover for my audio amp, and a tote bag

All pretty rough. But I'm starting to get better! I made a pouch for my macbook charger, a medium sized box bag, a drawstring stuff sack, and just finished a flat zip pouch!

Haven't bought any fancy fabric and just got some cheap nylon zippers by the yard from amazon, which might be for best as you can see my sewing is far from perfect. But I feel like these things are all good, durable, usable and I made them from cheap scraps! I'm thrilled. If you're on the fence, go get a sewing machine! I made all this in the past two weeks!