First time posting here and definitely a beginner but need some advice! This is my wedding dress and it’s HEAVY! It also has a train. My issue is I want to wear it for the reception, but I’m not sure how to keep it off the ground ? I’ve seen bustles and the wrist thing, I’m open to either! But I just don’t know how to do it on this dress. It has a ton of layers (I think maybe 5?) I don’t sew very well but my mother does and is willing to help, but has never done this type of thing before. I just don’t have the money to get it professionally altered unfortunately. Any suggestions would be great! Here are some hopefully good pictures of the from and back. If you need more pics it’s called “Cressida” on Azazie’s website

Hi everyone! I've been sewing for just over a year (but pretty much non stop lol) and I've been using my mum's Lucznik 438 from 1985, but as I'm moving out I'm in search of a machine of my own. I'm currently looking at second hand machines as I don't want to spend too much.

Right now I'm sewing all kinds of things: cosplays, casual clothes, corsets using all types of fabric from silk and organza to thick upholstery? fabric, you can see some of my works in the first photo.

I've heard that older machines are supposed to be better because of their metal parts, but I also want the pretty decorative stitches that newer models offer, I feel like I'd use them, even though I know technically I only "need" straight and zigzag stitches.

Here are some of the machines I've been eyeing and I'd love some feedback, but any other suggestions are more than welcome too!

The brother nx200 is being sold by a sewing machine technician in the city I'm moving to so I'm guessing it should be in great condition as he says.

The singer brilliance 6180 is in a city farther away which is not really a problem but I've read some not too great reviews about it that have me wondering if it's worth the money.

The pink Singer 2002 (I think) had me really excited and I almost decided on it but the seller isn't very cooperative and when I asked if the machine works and has its accessories like the pedal at least they just said that everything is shown in the photos and this is the only photo that shows the machine, the others are close-ups of the Singer logo and after farther questions they just said it comes with a case and a cable and I'm suspecting they just got it from a flea market and don't actually care or know anything about it and I was also planning on going to one too to check if I find anything.

Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance to anyone that comments!

tldr: help me choose a decent not too expensive sewing machine for all kinds of projects

Hey there! I’m looking for some pattern-making advice, especially if you guys have experience with hats or pet accessories

I’m trying to make a small baseball cap for dogs and cats that looks as close as possible to a real human baseball cap :) especially the relatively high front shape

I started from an existing pet-cap (the yellow cap I bought, image 3) and modified it to get a pattern (image 4)… but the problem is that every version I make still looks very flat compared with a normal baseball cap

the animal’s head obviously has a very different shape from a human head, so I know I probably can’t reproduce a human cap pattern exactly, but I’m tryin to can get very close to it

So far, I’ve tried:

• shortening the back pieces to leave more volume toward the front
• changing the shape of the front and side pattern pieces
• adding darts to create more volume
• experimenting with a homemade internal “shoulder”/support piece to hold the front up
• making several mock-ups with different proportions (see image 5)

The main problem is always the same: once the cap is worn/tightened around the animal’s head, the crown tends to collapse or flatten instead of keeping that higher, boxier baseball-cap silhouette.

I’m gonna test Decovil/interfacing on the front panels to see how much of the problem is simply a lack of structure in the fabric

would you approach this by changing the pattern itself, adding internal structure, changing the panel construction, or a combination of those?

I’d especially love advice on what you would change in the front/side pattern pieces to create more height and prevent the crown from collapsing

I’m be super happy to redraw the pattern completely if my current construction is working against me lol

please help meee <3 thank you!!

Hey ich habe heute durch etwas dickeren Jeansstoff genäht dabei hat meine Nähmaschine oft gestoppt deswegen habe ich mich mit dem Handrad durch den Stoff gekämpft (ich weiß das hätte ich vielleicht lassen sollen🥲).
Danach hat sie angefangen so komisch zu klingen. Ich hab schon die Nadel ausgetauscht, den oberfaden neu eingefädelt, komplett sauber gemacht und geguckt ob Faden Reste irgendwo sind, ich hab auch den unterfaden gewechselt. Ich weiß nicht warum sie sich so komisch anhört beim nähen.

I'm struggling with step 14. Both photos are from completing step 13 without starting 14 (will have to repress because all my messing around trying to figure this out has made the original pressing moot). I just don't understand where that bottommost horizontal seam in the diagram comes from. Please help!

i’ve been on a massive off the shoulder(s) neckline kick lately and i’ve messed up quite a few times when it comes to making the necklines too wide. is there any easy(ish) fix to this?? like could i tighten up the neckline to make this shirt wearable again?? ;-;

Hey sewing folks,

I am a volunteer for an association where we have a sewing atelier. All machines are donated that's why we have quite an interesting mix of different machines. I test the machines, do little maintenance jobs and make sure the settings are correct since we have a lot of beginners using the machines . I do sewing myself but I ran into the problem of organizing and labeling the different bobbins. We have machines where the bobbin lay horizontal and others where it is vertical. We have mainly Singer machines but also some others like Brother, Pfaff, toyota, Elna and some no name stuff. Some of them are from around the 50ths and others are more modern. If I understand correctly the bobbins for vertical and horizontal are not interchangeable. At least I had problems with the machines before. Now the question is what different bobbins exist, for standard household machines? And how can I sort them so it's super easy to understand( "idiot proof" )? So far we only have plastic bobbins for the horizontal ones and a mix of plastic and metal for the other machines . If it makes sense I consider to change the vertical bobbins to all metal in hope it's easier for the users. What other tips and ideas do you have for a sewing atelier with changing users?

Cheers from France

Hello! I want to give one of those giant moon body pillows as a gift but they are so expensive! I was thinking of trying to sew it myself but I dont have very much experience. I've seen some patterns for small moon shaped couch cushions and was hoping for some guidance on scaling up a pattern like that. My main concern is that I want it to be fluffy enough/not too thin. Any help would be appreciated!!

I'm trying to sew a pair of shorts (never done before) and I just can't get the waistband to sit at the right length.

I made the pattern from a pair of elasticated shorts I already own so the waist was a good few inches bigger than needed. I then cut a piece of elastic about 2 inches shorter than my waist measurement.

When I attached the waistband the shorts were still about 4 inches too big around the waist I just don't understand why. Picture shows the lack of cinch.

I marked where the middle and sides would fall on the elastic and stretched it out so it reached, then did a zigzag stitch which didn't work so I unpicked and did a straight stitch which had the same result.

I know a tunnel would work I just want to know if there's a way to make it work this way?

TIA

So this is a top and there's an elastic casing above the chest area. I'd like to attach these laces but not sure how to go ab it

The only option I can think of is maybe hand stitching. Ik I should just stitch on the lace and outer layer of the casing to avoid the elastic but I'm worried that I'd accidently go to deep, plus my hand stitching skills arent the best. I don't think I can use a sewing machine since it would go through all the layers? So hand stitching it is

I don't mind hand stitching but I'm just worried bc of those reasons listed above

The other possible option is maybe fabric glue? Idk tho

Edit : If I handstitch, would backstitches work?

Getting a bunch of topthread looped underneath my fabric despite there being a lot of tension on the topthread. I've checked:

• thread is properly hooked into the pull-up lever
• thread is definitely seated in the tensioning discs and there's a lot of resistance when I have the presser foot down and pull thread through the needle.
• needle is brand new, size 18
• thread is Coats & Clark upholstery, which I believe is Tex 70 and suited for a size 18 needle
• thread doesn't appear to be getting hung up as it passes around the bobbin

Any advice for what to check next is appreciated!!!!!

Beginner here. I want to buy my first sewing machine and saw this alfa 40 at 200€.
Im based in Portugal so if you have other recommendations in the zone I would appreciate it.

I have a Singer 6211c that used to work flawlessly. Recently the feed dogs stop moving fabric from stitch lengths 1-4, and on stitch length 5, it moves the fabric as if it was on stitch length 1. Does anyone know a fix to this?

How can I crop the dress to have this round form?

Bobbin case only catches the thread without a plate, when it is on it stops.

I am trying to fix a machine for a friend and the only needle position (relative to the front and back) that the bobbin case catches the thread when the needle plate is off, seems too close to the plate when the plate is back on, and then it stops catching it at all.

I checked my threading and all, but I might be dumber than I think hahaha

Help me r/sewhelp; you're my only hope!

So, I bought this new dress for a wedding this weekend. I'm between sizes and picked the larger size that fit my hip/waist measurements best, but now it's unfortunately too large in the bust. I'd categorize myself as an advanced beginning sewist, and I want to learn more techniques, so I'm open to learning how to tailor this dress.

The gaping is mostly happening under the armpits (see photo 2). The bust is sewn with triangular cups and there are bust darts (see photo 1). The dress also has an invisible side zipper under the left armpit. I'm a little hesitant to bring in the side seams because I don't want to make the waist weird, and I'm still not confident sewing invisible zippers closed, so I'd like to avoid deconstructing the zipper if possible. I'm not sure if extending the existing dart would fix the problem. It also seems like if I pinch the top of the triangle, it closes the gaping (see photo 3). So maybe I add a dart there? Or maybe I add another diagonal dart under the armpits towards the existing dart peaks?

Any suggestions would be really, really appreciated! Worst case scenario, I'll play around with pinning it tomorrow to see what looks best, but I'm too tired tonight to mess with it more. Thanks in advance, sewists!

SOLVED: the top bobbin wasn't threaded right

This has never happened before. I was sewing some threadable fabric, and some of the threads got eaten by the bottom part of the machine. I fished it out like I have had many times before, but now my bobbin case is deciding to jump out of my machine, as seen in the video.

To my knowledge, everything is set up correctly. The thread is correctly set up, and the bobbin case is aligned as written in my manual. The only odd part is on my bobbin case where i had previously stubbed it with my needle. It hadn't been an issue so far, but it might have gotten worse without me noticing. That is the part of the case i pointed to in the beginning of the video.

I have no idea what is even wrong, so any help would be appreciated.

I oiled my sewing machine before sewing, and It must've got on thread inside of the machine and transferred to polyester satin I'm working with currently. Is there a way to clean this off?

Hello! I'm a beginner sewist. I've made a few things, but realized I've never sewn a corner hem. I'm making a vest top. It seems to be non-standard since I'm not planning on lining it. I have vintage seam tape to help with the hems, since I don't have a serger. But I can't figure out how to get the seam tape to go around the corners. It's not very wide, so I'm not planning to use it like bias tape, but plan to just use it to cover the raw edge on the inside. But I can't find any info about how to get it to go around a corner like this. Any ideas? Also, is making a vest top with no lining a fools errand? The fabric is mostly cotton iirc so it's plenty comfy as is! I want it to be an airy beach top for an upcoming trip

Hi everyone, I hope someone can help me, I have a Brother L14S and need to replace a part on the Outer Rotary Hook, I can buy a whole new outer rotary housing but I only need to replace the Hook TIP as shown in the image, does anyone know where I can buy just the tip? Seems silly to buy an entire new outer rotary when the tip can easily be replaced, I just can't find the part anywhere.

I have a Juki DDL-7000AS-7 and I’m trying to figure out the smallest needle size it can safely use. Does it support 60/8 and/or 65/9 needles, or is the minimum something larger? Thanks!