trying to remember how to sew!

[tarrentella]

in used to dabble with clothes making and sewing and have made one or two basic things (mainly curtains). about 2 years ago i decided to make a beutiful medieval style dress (McCalls m4378) and cut out all the fabric for it. then for some reason it all got shoved ina box and more or less forgotten about. 4 house moves later the box of fabric has reapeared and i thought 'hey it would be a good idea to finish that dress for the medieval banquet im going to next week'
have you ever tried fitting together a fabric jigsaw 2 years after you last saw it! sheesh! i somtimes think i am a it of an idiot!

[Catz]

Oh dear.I hope you are good at doing jigsaws

[PurlyGyrl]

You can do it! It'll all come back to you when you sit down and sew.

[tarrentella]

thanks for the encouragement i managed to get my old sewing machine threaded and working (its a late 70's Singer!!) yay!!

[fibrenut]

Do you still have the pattern and the instructions to go with it?
Here's a link to the page on McCall's for the pattern itself, it might just be enough info for you to figure out what goes where.

[p0tato]

Haha, I feel your pain. I haven't sewn in about two and a half years. When I moved last, I started just throwing away random pieces of fabric I'd cut out. Half-completed pleated skirt, b'bye. Shirt for someone with whom I no longer have contact, b'bye. I made a couple Halloween costumes and a few shirts, but that was it for me. I keep giving myself the maybe-one-of-these-days talks, but frankly, I'm betting I'll just cart around three times my weight in fabric for the rest of my life. Pack-rat, me? Nooooooo.

[tarrentella]

ok i remember why i stopped the first time now. My sewing machine is eating the fabric!!

I threaded it fine, then did a test piece on an spare square of fabric (actually a tea-towel that was handy :S) and the was nothing wrong at all. Then i go and start to sew my seams and it gets a snarled up. The fabric is actually stuck in the little gap under the presser foot, and im not sure how to get it out. eek!

[mwhite]

CAREFULLY! It sounds like the needle is too large for the fabric, or the thread knotted up from take up not all the way up...good luck.... loosen the feed plate and work with it gently. Hope this helps... Mary

[tarrentella]

i managed to get the abric out. thankfully it had just jammed in the feed plat and not the needle. i hadnt thought of it being the needle size, but that mght be worth a go. if not possible the tension?

[Nobones]

Remember you trial sewing piece will need to be the same fabric as the dress your trying to sew.

First change needle, then worry about the tension.