Just subscribed after watching your patchwork dress. Im 68 and been sewing really since 10 with patterns but on my mothers treadle at age 5! Im kind of wing it being from the late 60s, 70s hippie era. I was a nerd hippie. Ive used thrift clothing for a lot of my sewing. Back then we used vintage table cloths for skirts. Things like that. As material got more expensive and lower quality Ive really been remaking thrift clothes for last 20 years or so. I will buy clearance or low cost items. I have to alter my clothes anyway. Short legs even for my 5'3" height. Mum tummy from big babies so I have to nearly do some kind of adjustment for that on most tops. A lot of side V insets. Now upcycling is a thing! I retired to small southern Californai desert town. They have a small thrift store and a small farmers market here so Im in heaven. A hardware store and im good to go with crafts too! Walmart is an hour south so that helps. Anyway. I have never got shirring to work. In middle of video so hope I can do it now!
Love your dress. I have two machine's, one will not shirr no matter what I do. Luckily my other basic machine shirrs perfectly. Thanks for reviewing this pattern. X
Excellent recovery. Appreciate you normalising sewing errors and sticking with it to overcome the fails. My Nan always said the best successes come from fixing fails and your dress is beautiful 😻.
That is so true! It wouldn't be authentic of me to pretend that didn't happen! and I am hoping from my blunders others can learn from it and not experience the same issues :) I'm so glad you appreciate it. xxx
I love your honesty how you are feeling and when sewing goes slightly and how you had sorted out the issues. Keep at the good work but also look after yourself
Thank you!! I've been struggling over the past couple of weeks to work out why my shirring sometimes works, but often doesn't, and couldn't work out why, which has been really stressful as the dress I'm making (not Mabel) is for a special occasion. It is all about putting the bobbin in correctly - once you taught me that it worked a dream, and is a massive relief. I have watched to many tutorials, but yours is the only one that addressed this issue. I am so grateful to you😊
Aww I’m so so so glad that helped! It’s such a small thing that people don’t realise and I didn’t for a while either and I spent hours getting frustrated at that! Xxxx
Thanks for great sew along. I couldn’t wait to try this pattern but am really struggling with the Shirring, I can’t get it tight enough at all. Have spent all day trying, so have given up for now. Will double check my bobbin is loaded correctly. Watch this space! ❤
I enjoyed watching your video, I was curious about this pattern when I saw it released. I had the same issues with my shirring last summer, and then I changed my tension from a 4 to a 7 and it made a world of difference! I'm glad to see your dress turned out so well! 💙
Your dress is beautiful, thanks for the shirring tips I’ve only tried it once before and mine ended up a bit too loose I’ll follow your tips next time thank you 😊
Oh my god .. I thought I was the only person who had trouble with shirring … I have a Janome as well , I’ve followed every handy tip I could except the bobbin threading …. I’m getting on that Janome first thing in the morning ,,,,, fingers crossed or I give up
Thank you for posting this vlog. So helpful to know about the shirring and I have the same machine as you so I am going to use your tips next time I do some shirring. I do love the look of your dress so I might give this one a a go 😊 Your dress turned out beautifully and well done for sticking with it. It's so frustrating when you feel like you're not getting it right xx
I have been sewing for years and recently followed their tutorial for shirring (I like to try new techniques!). I have always used a 3.5 stitch length when shirring and never had issue other than it taking forever. After following their instructions it also didn’t work for me with a longest stitch length. It was a bit quicker I guess but I will be sticking with my tried and true 3.5 stitch length 💕
This has been really helpful, thank you. I am a beginner and I have made this dress and am just about to attach the top to the shirred skirt, for which I'm nervous!! Thankfully I did do no 5 stitch for my shirring, nearly did 4 but that was pure luck I think as Ive never done shirring before. Do you have any tips on attaching the top to the skirt pls as I didn't see it in the video?
I’m experiencing anxiety approaching my sewing machine at the moment and have lost all confidence with my sewing, Mabel pattern arrived a few days ago and I’m terrified 🫣 Your video popped up at a perfect time and I am so impressed with how real you are, explaining what went wrong and the why. Real life happens and it’s great to escape into the sewing area for a while. Thank you so much for this video ❤ Your finished dress is gorgeous!
Yesssss I had the worst cold afterwards but I’ve been super run down anyway, started braces on the Friday of the stitch fest AND started new meds for my arthritis all in the same week 😅😅😅 why I sound so awful lol xxxx
When ever I do shirring I never increase the stitch length beyond 2.5 or 3 and I never have a problem with the finished result??? I just used scraps and tested it out and it seems to work for me now.
Just subscribed after watching your patchwork dress. Im 68 and been sewing really since 10 with patterns but on my mothers treadle at age 5! Im kind of wing it being from the late 60s, 70s hippie era. I was a nerd hippie. Ive used thrift clothing for a lot of my sewing. Back then we used vintage table cloths for skirts. Things like that. As material got more expensive and lower quality Ive really been remaking thrift clothes for last 20 years or so. I will buy clearance or low cost items. I have to alter my clothes anyway. Short legs even for my 5'3" height. Mum tummy from big babies so I have to nearly do some kind of adjustment for that on most tops. A lot of side V insets. Now upcycling is a thing! I retired to small southern Californai desert town. They have a small thrift store and a small farmers market here so Im in heaven. A hardware store and im good to go with crafts too! Walmart is an hour south so that helps. Anyway. I have never got shirring to work. In middle of video so hope I can do it now!
Really helpful tips on shirting. Thank you 👍
This was very helpful. I could not get my machine to shir my fabric, but I will try again!
yess you can do this!! Try manually popping it in your bobbin like. Ishow and see if that helps xx
Love your dress. I have two machine's, one will not shirr no matter what I do. Luckily my other basic machine shirrs perfectly. Thanks for reviewing this pattern. X
thats so good i'm glad you managed to figure it out okay xxx
Thanks so much for the bobbin loading tip I made the same mistake and the remembered the tip and rewatched the vlog 😊
Excellent recovery. Appreciate you normalising sewing errors and sticking with it to overcome the fails. My Nan always said the best successes come from fixing fails and your dress is beautiful 😻.
That is so true! It wouldn't be authentic of me to pretend that didn't happen! and I am hoping from my blunders others can learn from it and not experience the same issues :) I'm so glad you appreciate it.
xxx
All sorted, thanks so much. Obviously just hadn’t loaded the bobbin correctly. Would never have sorted it without your tip. ❤
yayy so so glad you found it to work!!! xxx
Also your dress is beautiful
Thank you. This is a really clear video that is so helpful. The finished dress is lovely.
So glad you found it helpful xxx
I love your honesty how you are feeling and when sewing goes slightly and how you had sorted out the issues. Keep at the good work but also look after yourself
Thank you ❤❤❤
It looks so pretty and summery x
Looks so beautiful 😍 well done lovely xx
Thank you xxxx🥰
Great job. Well done!
Thank you ❤
Mine looks exactly like yours. But I like it. Luckily for me it was a £4 toile. I will measure my skirt next time 😊
Thank you!! I've been struggling over the past couple of weeks to work out why my shirring sometimes works, but often doesn't, and couldn't work out why, which has been really stressful as the dress I'm making (not Mabel) is for a special occasion. It is all about putting the bobbin in correctly - once you taught me that it worked a dream, and is a massive relief. I have watched to many tutorials, but yours is the only one that addressed this issue. I am so grateful to you😊
Aww I’m so so so glad that helped! It’s such a small thing that people don’t realise and I didn’t for a while either and I spent hours getting frustrated at that! Xxxx
Thanks for great sew along. I couldn’t wait to try this pattern but am really struggling with the Shirring, I can’t get it tight enough at all. Have spent all day trying, so have given up for now. Will double check my bobbin is loaded correctly. Watch this space! ❤
Let me know if that works! x
I enjoyed watching your video, I was curious about this pattern when I saw it released. I had the same issues with my shirring last summer, and then I changed my tension from a 4 to a 7 and it made a world of difference! I'm glad to see your dress turned out so well! 💙
Thanks so much ❤❤❤
Your dress is beautiful, thanks for the shirring tips I’ve only tried it once before and mine ended up a bit too loose I’ll follow your tips next time thank you 😊
Thank you ❤❤ apparently the longer the stitch the more your fabric will gather in, I’ll be trying that next time xxx
Oh my god .. I thought I was the only person who had trouble with shirring … I have a Janome as well , I’ve followed every handy tip I could except the bobbin threading …. I’m getting on that Janome first thing in the morning ,,,,, fingers crossed or I give up
yayyy, fingers crossed for you lovely, let me know if you get on okay xx
Thanks for doing this! I have it in my plans for this month!
Amazing Raven! I can’t wait to see your version ❤ xx
Sooo helpful! Just about to sew my Mabel and this was great to watch before hand. Hope mine looks as nice as yours! ❤️
it will do! Thank you lovely :) xx
Thank you for posting this vlog. So helpful to know about the shirring and I have the same machine as you so I am going to use your tips next time I do some shirring. I do love the look of your dress so I might give this one a a go 😊 Your dress turned out beautifully and well done for sticking with it. It's so frustrating when you feel like you're not getting it right xx
I’m about to make the Mabel so thanks for all the tips x
I have been sewing for years and recently followed their tutorial for shirring (I like to try new techniques!). I have always used a 3.5 stitch length when shirring and never had issue other than it taking forever. After following their instructions it also didn’t work for me with a longest stitch length. It was a bit quicker I guess but I will be sticking with my tried and true 3.5 stitch length 💕
Going to give this a go yours is beautiful it really suits you good recovery ❤
This has been really helpful, thank you. I am a beginner and I have made this dress and am just about to attach the top to the shirred skirt, for which I'm nervous!! Thankfully I did do no 5 stitch for my shirring, nearly did 4 but that was pure luck I think as Ive never done shirring before. Do you have any tips on attaching the top to the skirt pls as I didn't see it in the video?
I’m experiencing anxiety approaching my sewing machine at the moment and have lost all confidence with my sewing, Mabel pattern arrived a few days ago and I’m terrified 🫣 Your video popped up at a perfect time and I am so impressed with how real you are, explaining what went wrong and the why. Real life happens and it’s great to escape into the sewing area for a while. Thank you so much for this video ❤ Your finished dress is gorgeous!
Tilly and the buttons said don't use the drop down button at the beginning of shiring use hand wheel instead
Oh no did you pick up a cold at the Stitch Festival? I'm still recovering 👀 gorgeous Mabel, love seeing a sewalong from you 😍
Yesssss I had the worst cold afterwards but I’ve been super run down anyway, started braces on the Friday of the stitch fest AND started new meds for my arthritis all in the same week 😅😅😅 why I sound so awful lol xxxx
Not bad I agree you need to size down try not to use your drop down button when picking up bobbin use hand wheel instead ❤
thanks lovely xxx
When ever I do shirring I never increase the stitch length beyond 2.5 or 3 and I never have a problem with the finished result??? I just used scraps and tested it out and it seems to work for me now.
Thanks for doing the sewalong. I got stuck and your tuitorial got me unstuck 🙂
thats so amazing thank you for letting me know it helped! xx
Did you have a walking foot on when you were doing the shirring?
yeah I did lovely, would you say i need to take it off then? I literally use it all the time haha xx
Great video very helpful thanks for going through the tricky bits and the resolutions so clearly.