Beginner: where to begin?

[Jade]

A Joann fabrics near me was moving, and they had all their patterns for $1.99. I've been reading a lot of the threads here, and you've managed to convince me that sewing garb is the way to go.  So I picked up several patterns. Complete outfits, but chemise and bloomers as well, which is all I need for now. So the problem...the most sewing I've ever done is putting a button back on.

I have a sewing machine I can use....but where should I start?  Any helpful hints, books, etc?

[LadyFae]

Welcome to the crazy wonderfulness of sewing your own garb!  Having a pattern is a better start than I had.  Heck, having a sewing machine is a better start than I had!  The first gown I made was by hand and with a duct tape bodice "pattern!"  I haven't graduated far from that, I still use the duct tape "pattern," but now I have a sewing machine to help!  I learn by doing so I say just jump right in (but think things through before you cut) and feel free to ask questions! Also, we expect pictures.  Lots of pictures.  =D

[isabelladangelo]

Welcome!

Most sewing patterns are made using modern methods and made to fit over a modern body type.  Ie, they probably won't fit you the way you want.  ALWAYS make a mock up of any pattern you try.  A mock up is just the pattern cut out of a cheaper fabric and basted together to see if it has the possibility of even fitting you.  You can then figure out where it needs to be taken in, taken out, lengthened, ect. 

Know that things like princess seams and darts are not correct for anything before the 19th Century.   It's not a huge deal if you aren't going the historical way but making things the historical way tends to allow for a better fit.  You can draft out darts pretty easily as well as princess seams.   

Your new favorite fabrics are linen, wool, silk, and cotton.  It has to do with the ability for your skin to breathe and not anything h/a - it truly is a health thing.   When you are starting out, plain fabrics in lovely colors are always best - it has to do with being able to mix and match easily (plain color plus plain color is always a win win) as well as not coming back to the piece two years later and going "Dear God, what was I thinking with this pattern?".

Don't freak out when you mess up.  EVERYONE still messes up.  I sewed the bodice upside on to a skirt for a modern dress a couple of weeks ago which leads me to another rule - one I personally need frequent reminding of....

Do NOT sew after 10 pm.  It's bad.  Seriously.  No cutting, not sewing.  Not even that button.   It will, inevitably end up wrong and you'll just have to fix it in the morning. 

To start with, go with a chemise.  They are super easy and the most basic piece of apparel in any garb wardrobe.  Both muslin (cotton) and linen are good but linen is the "period correct" of the two.  It also is very useful to have a linen chemise on a hot day.   

http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/chemise.html  <-free online chemise pattern

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/  <-Smock pattern generator

Check out http://isabelladangelo.webs.com/links.htm for a ton of links to various free patterns online.  I know you just bought a bunch but the online tutorials tend to have better directions than the patterns.  Which leads me to another rule...

Ignore the directions on any commercial pattern.  It will confuse you.  For most patterns, you should only have some sort of bodice front (possibly a side front as well) and bodice back.  That's all you need to cut out.  The skirt is very easy to make by pleating or gather the rest of your fabric to the waist of the bodice. We can all help with further instruction from there.   

Zippers are not only not period but they are evil. Stay clear.   Handsewing eyelets may be a pain but it looks 100% better in the long run. 

Duct ties are fabulous.  They work well for boning any bodice.   They can be bought at any home depot or lowes and duct ties are much thicker and much longer than any cable tie. 

Those are the big points I can think of for now....  I'm sure you'll have a ton of questions as you go along.  :-)  Just come and ask.  Someone will have an answer.

[Cilean]

Where should I start?  Any helpful hints, books, etc?

Where to start? Research!

1. Check out portraits online to get what you want and from what time period.

2. Janet Arnold's books can be found at least the Period of Fashion books at local Barnes and Noble, and you can order them in for a look see as well. Jean Hunnisett's Books are awesome.

3. See if your Local SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) has a solar or Arts & Sciences night in your area, you don't have to join at all and people LOVE to help you out!

4. Since you are new? Might I also suggest Margo Anderson's Patterns -www.Margospatterns.com, I know you stated you picked up the Big 3's patterns, but for a beginner, in my opinion? Margo's extra information would be invaluable, for you to make great garb. Plus she has a yahoo group, that is very helpful and chatty!

5.Smocks (what you called a "Chemise") can be made from several sources online, check out Drea Leed's Excellent Site- www.ElizabethaCostume.net  In fact? You can find color choices, how to make sleeves, information on all aspects of clothing of the 16th Century, so that is a really good source!

6. Mode Historique - www.modehistorique.com


6. On Facebook there is a lively Page called "Elizabethan Costume" we are doing all sorts of blathering, so do join in the fun!

7. Not as many people online with good fabric however, Fabric Guru www.FabricGuru.com has some awesome amounts on sale sometimes you can get Damask 7 yards for under $50.00.  I love eBay but that is a hit and miss option, and DenverFabrics is not the people in Colorado but Fashion Fabric....which had horrible reviews and their search engine is really nasty.  I like Fabric.com because they will have some fabrics that are awesome.

Types of Fabrics to use?
It depends on your pocket book, if you can afford silks, for for it, if you have a cotton budget, you need to do research clip coupons and work to get to know the fabric stores in your area! Woollens are great and if you can't do those, because of heat issues in your area or not able to get anything, not to mention price? Check out cottons as well, Linen is another option that is period. I have found that Linen is awesome for smocks, it really makes it comfortable. 

As to colors? Well look at the Renaissance Colors and some meanings- http://renaissanceclothing.blogspot.com/2011/02/meaning-of-renaissance-and-medieval.html they have some and there is also one on Drea's Site as well.

Another Site:
http://historicalnovelists.tripod.com/rencolor.htm

So I do hope these will help you out!

[Anna Iram]

Hi Jade. Welcome! Which patterns did you pick up? If you list the numbers here I bet someone will have worked with it and can give you helpful advice for that particular pattern.

If you have no sewing experience at all visit your library and get some basic sewing books. They'll explain how to lay out the fabric for cutting and so forth, how to work with patterned fabrics and general terms you'll find on pattern instructions.

[Kate XXXXXX]

If you have sewn little or nothing before, you need to start at the very beginning.  Start with equipment:

Scissors.  You need three pairs:

Dressmaker's sheers for cutting fabric.  Buy good quality ones (they don't have to be expensive.  Fiskars are good medium priced ones), and use them only for your fabric.
Paper scissors.  You'll need these for cutting out paper patterns.  Get something cheap and cheerful about the same size as your sheers.
Small scissors.  Not embroidery scissors, something good quality and with sharp points.  You'll need them for doing things like clipping threads, cutting buttonholes and sniping into seam allowances...

Tape measure.  60" is traditional, but 120" is more use when costuming.

Pencil and note pad.  Write stuff down!  measurements, notes about patterns, things to ask us...

Pins.  Basic dressmaker's pins will do to start with.  I prefer something longer and finer, and some BIG pins will be needed for thicker stuff later.  Just get good quality ones like Prym rather than no-name cheapies that are usually blunt!

Thread.  Good quality thread is essential, even with cheap, budget, or bargain fabric.  Cheap thread causes problems.  Match your thread fiber with your fabric fiber as close as you can.  I have a whole treatise somewhere on Live Journal about thread...  http://katexxxxxx.livejournal.com/33372.html

A good steam iron, pressing cloth, and ironing table.  And learn to PRESS rather than IRON! 

Most beginners make the mistake of thinking that 'sewing' is just stitching two bits of fabric together, but I am here to say that if you want your garment to stay sewn once that is done, and you want it to fit and be nicely finished, at least 75% of the process is not actually sewing!  You need to learn how to read a pattern, how to cut the garment out, how to fit it, and how to press it, as well as the different seams and finishes.  Here is not the place to explain that.  Get a really good, comprehensive general sewing guide, and something about fitting, and do some reading.

And get some gash fabric.  Cut straight bits and curved bits and practice different shapes and types of seam with the machine.  Learn not to watch the needle.  Start slowly: speed comes later, like with driving!  I always think it's a better use of my time to sew something more slowly and not to have to unpick it, than to crash on ahead and get in a mess that needs to be undone before corrections can be made.

[isabelladangelo]

I honestly use the same scissors for my patterns and my fabric.   The only "special" scissors I have are the ones for cutting the duct ties.   The seam ripper works well for buttonholes and other small straight cuts.   

My tape measure is a pink one you can get in the $1 bin at Joanns.   It's 60".   

I have also never pressed anything a day in my life.  Honest.   I use the iron and the ironing board to get out wrinkles but that's it.  Most people should have an iron and an ironing board at home even if they aren't sewers, I hope!  ;-)

I do agree about the pins though.  I like the 1 1/2" to 2" kind with "colorful" tops because, if you are pleating, they show up.  And they will hold the pleat.  You will need silk pins for "light" fabrics but it's not a huge deal if don't get them right away.  The vast majority of the time, a quick "pinch" of the fabric where the pin was will get rid of any perceived hole. 

[Hoowil]

Don't forget the seam ripper. It will be at times both your best freind and worst enemy. I think I have completed maybe three projects total without needing to take at least part of it back apart.

[operafantomet]

Don't forget the seam ripper. It will be at times both your best freind and worst enemy. I think I have completed maybe three projects total without needing to take at least part of it back apart.

THIS!!!! 

Seriously though, you've gotten tons of good advices already. If I'm gonna add something, it'll be to visit your nearest Ikea and buy tons and tons of their plain unbleached cotton. It's dead cheap, and perfect both for mockups and for body linings (but for the latter you have to send it through the washing machine two times, so it shrinks). That cotton is probably the basis for all my costumes, in one way or another.

[Kate XXXXXX]

I honestly use the same scissors for my patterns and my fabric.   The only "special" scissors I have are the ones for cutting the duct ties.   The seam ripper works well for buttonholes and other small straight cuts.   

I don't because paper blunts scissors horribly fast.  You get a far better and more accurate cut if you cut the pattern out first and then the cloth, with scissors saved just for that, and sharpen them regularly,  so this is what we do.  And for the same reason we usually use a chisel and a hole punch for cutting buttonholes.  It's far too easy to cut too far with a seam ripper or scissors.

My tape measure is a pink one you can get in the $1 bin at Joanns.   It's 60".   

If it works for you, that's fine.  I just find a good long 120" one is easier for larger customers (both taller and wider) and for garments that go to the floor and beyond.  And veils.

I have also never pressed anything a day in my life.  Honest.   I use the iron and the ironing board to get out wrinkles but that's it.  Most people should have an iron and an ironing board at home even if they aren't sewers, I hope!  ;-)

I find it makes a HUGE difference to the accuracy of the sewing and the finish of the garment if you press seams properly as you go.  And there are many tailoring processes where you shape the cloth by pressing before you sew it to the next bit.  You just can't do it afterwards.  There are also things like sleeve ends and pressing linings up that cannot be done well after the garment is completed and you can't get inside it.

I do agree about the pins though.  I like the 1 1/2" to 2" kind with "colorful" tops because, if you are pleating, they show up.  And they will hold the pleat.  You will need silk pins for "light" fabrics but it's not a huge deal if don't get them right away.  The vast majority of the time, a quick "pinch" of the fabric where the pin was will get rid of any perceived hole. 

I only use the big pins for big stuff.  I usually try for as slim a pin as I can without it falling out of the cloth.  And some pins will mark some cloths no matter WHAT you do!  We have so many different types of pins for different processes...  But yer basic long fine steel pins do most jobs nicely.

[Jade]

Wow! Disappear for a weekend and so much advice is offered up!  Thank you so much for your help.  I do have most of those things listed-correction my mom does, but she can't sew anymore due to arthritis, so I have access to them.  Only thing missing is the seam ripper.  And that's great advice about cotton from IKEA.  I'll have to look into it.

[Hoowil]

If there is a Walmart nearby that has a fabric section, you can usually find 100% cotton in their cheep bin. I'll find some in a nuetral color, and use it in place of muslin for mock ups. $1/yard is cheeper than any non-sale price muslin I can find close to me.

Rolls or brown paper used for packages can be used to modify or draft patterns. Durable, and not very expensive.