#coverstitched

[artemisbarnowl]

Unpicking my own sewing: worst. Terrible. I'd rather die.

Unpicking things other people made so i can harvest the parts: yay fun. Enrichment. Meditative.

[kirbyagainstvore]

My controversial opinion is that people need to get way more comfortable with the idea of diy binders. We shouldn't be relying on companies to sell us the resources we need to survive. I shouldnt have to be paying upwards of $50 just to leave my house.

[ehgood-enough]

Decided to break out the coverstitch for this set of clothes

Praying I managed to thread it right the first time

[slommy]

Black stretch velvet wrap dress

I’m so excited to share my latest creation!  I’m so pleased with this black velvet dress, made using the GBSB Wrap Dress pattern.  The velvet fabric is luxurious, and the knee-length silhouette is flattering and versatile. The beaded embellishment on the shoulder adds a touch of glamour - I can’t wait for more opportunities to wear it out on the town!

Fabric: black stretch velour from eBay

Pattern: wrap dress from the Great British Sewing Bee

Beads and satin binding from my stash.

Sewn with my trusty Janome overlocker and finished with my Janome coverstitch.

Notes on sewing: 

I only had 2m of this fabric, bought for a different project I abandoned.  I was really careful with my cutting out!  In an ideal world, I’d have added some length to the pattern for the waist ties, but this wasn’t possible with the fabric available.

In my haste to make the dress and get all the pattern pieces laid out, I messed up and accidentally laid the pattern out “upside down” so that the velvet nap strokes “up” instead of “down”.  Aside from the tactile element for the wearer, not a disaster - but it does mean that it collects more fluff!

Next time I make this dress, I won’t bother with the binding - it’s far to stiff and alters the shaping of the dress around the neckline.  Instead I’ll add an inch to the pattern around the collar and front, and finish the edges with a 1/2” hem.

The binding was a real faff to apply, and I didn’t like the finish.  In an attempt to press and shape the binding around the neckline, I had a complete disaster.  I pressed with a cool iron, through a towel - but the iron burped steam and damaged the velvet pile right in the front of the dress.  It looked like a permanent splash of liquid on the front.  In the end the only way to recover the situation was to deliberately and lightly steam-damage a wider area of the fabric, so that the single spot of damage was blended in.

I had already planned to decorate one shoulder with a beaded pattern, and this further distracts from the damage to the pile.

Definitely will make again, this time in a purple stretch velour.

[gloriaglamont]

Overcoming Sewing Snobbery or How I Learned to Love my Serger (and new coverstitch machine)!

[pterribledinosaurdrawings]

I've been asked at least twice if I can do knitwear, and no! no we do NOT have the equipment to redo that industrial edge finishing that's done by some sort of fancy knitwear specific machine! If I can't do it on this industrial straight stitch machine, or the blind hemmer, then take it away please.

And yeah, a few times I've been asked to do something that I CAN do, but isn't really worth the time, and costs the customer quite a lot.

"Can you shorten this shirt by 5" and use the extra fabric to add a patch pocket?" I did do that one, and matched up the plaid perfectly, but why couldn't he look somewhere else for plaid shirts with pre-existing pockets?

I also did take the shoulders in on a blazer once for a rather oddly shaped old guy, which was pretty miserable but turned out alright.

And I've shortened blazers multiple times too, which isn't so hard, but it's a bit slow and fiddly to get the bottom edge to look the same as before.

I work at a suit store too (Jos A Bank to be exact and before that Men's Wearhouse) and boy howdy. Our alterations are always a mess so I feel you bro

It's so annoying! So many people don't know how to mark things correctly, or don't fill out the card properly, and sometimes they completely forget to mark a hem (so I have to go track them down and ask if they remember how much it needed to be shortened by), or they don't circle something on the card (so I might miss it completely).

OR they say "yeah we can do that!" about something unusual without first asking me if it's possible to actually do such an alteration, which hasn't happened very many times, but even once is too many >:(

A lot of the time it's new employees, but there's a guy who's worked there for years who also messes up fairly often. Fortunately when that happens it's not my fault, and I don't have to interact with the customers, so I don't stress about it.

Overall my co-workers are nice and I like them, but they are still capable of being very foolish and annoying.

[himikochan]

I've been kind of putting myself down lately because I feel like I haven't done anything but that's NOT TRUE! I do shit! So I'm going to keep a little log of stuff I do.

Today I fixed my mama's ripped fitted sheet and made her three pillowcases

Here's the ripped sheet- it's pretty bad. The biggest rip was about 24" long: she said she wanted it fixed, "however is the easiest", and didn't care what it looked like or if it was bumpy. She gave me a matched sheet to work with.

First I made the pillow cases, I cut three and used the finished edges of the sheet as the opening. I did a straight stitch and used my coverstitch machine! You can see them below- after that, I also pinked the edges.

On to the rip- first I mounted the ripped sheet onto a large foam tile. I did this to get the fabric to lay flat and accurately measure the rip. I cut a piece of fabric about 1-2" wider and longer, laid it behind the rip, and pinned it down. Then I ran a zig-zag around it a few times- I ran out of my gray thread about half way through and switched to white.

Along the largest rip, I whipstitched the edges by hand. It's not my prettiest work but it got the job done in a day.

[mildmayfoxe]

ok. went to the fabric store today and successfully hemmed my depop velvet pants and successfully sewed the tiger to the jacket and successfully bought fabric glue because i need to admit that i have to take some shortcuts in order to make my life easier. i simply cannot hand sew the rest of my appliqués. everyone was very suitably impressed with my Vision™ and had many compliments 👼🏼 i had to hem the pants twice because the first time i didn’t cut off enough fabric so now i’m basically an expert 💅🏼 i also got to use a coverstitch machine for the first time and by god those things are amazing. also i got a burrito from my favorite taqueria bc i was in my old neighborhood and now i’m going to EAT IT!!

[20dollarlolita]

Sergers are cool. A serger, or overlock machine, is a specialty kind of sewing machine that uses 3 or 4 threads to sew a seam. Instead of two threads locking together like they do on a standard sewing machine, a serger wraps two threads around the top and bottom of the fabric, and secures those loops with one or two more threads. This makes a seam that is stronger, does not fray, and stretches. In addition, sergers cut the edge of the fabrics before they loop the threads around the side of the fabric. This lets the loops be the correct size and tension to make a beautiful seam, and also evens and shortens seam allowances for a professional, consistent look.

Fun serger technique that no one talks about:

Flatlock hems.

A real flatlock is a stitch made with a specialty type of machine. It uses 2-4 needle threads and then a cover stitch looper on both top and bottom. Most people don't have a flatlock machine, so we're going to just talk about the mock flatlock.

A mock flatlock is a kind of serger stitch. It's used either for construction or decoratively. When you join two pieces of fabric with a flat lock, they join together edge-to-edge. Instead of having a seam allowance sticking up between the joined edges, they're flat. The stitches are move visible, but the seam itself has less bulk.

You set your serger up for a flat lock (low needle tension, low upper looper tension, high lower looper tension, righthand needle, narrow cutting width, medium stitch length), and then you serge the seam with the two pieces stacked. Because you have your tensions set very loose in certain places, you're able to open the seam up and have the two layers of fabric sit flat next to each other. The stitching will pull all the looper threads onto one side. This is called the flat lock side. The needle stitches will stretch out into longer stitches. This side is called the ladder stitch side.

Flat lock seams are great for bulky fabrics where you don't want a lot of thickness in the seams. Decorative flatlocks are very common in things like athletic apparel. A flatlock seam is flat and flexible, but the thread is very visible. That's the trade-off you get with a flatlock.

So, let's take this a step farther.

Sometimes, you have fabric that needs a little bit of stretch in the hem, but that is also very bulky and can't be done in a double-turned hem.

If you want a stretchy single-turned hem where the raw edge is encased in an overlock, the proper tool for that is a coverstitch machine. I don't have a coverstitch machine.

But I do have this.

Fold your fabric like you would for a blind hem. Set your serger up for a good flatlock. (Ignore that serging you see there. That was round 1 and I should have trimmed that off before photographing that)

Here you can see the raw edge of my hem, which is the part I'm trimming off with the serger. My serger needle is just barely hitting the folded part of the fabric. I want that needle to just barely catch the edge of that fold.

And then, when we open our hem back out, we have our flatlock and our ladder stitches form. We get a stretchy, fully-enclosed single-turned hem. The hem is a consistent width and there's no raw edge hanging around.

If you want this to be less visible than my sample here, here's a few ideas:

a. use a blind hem attachment for your serger. This will let you more carefully prepare the fold so that the needle just barely hits the fold of the fabric.

b. use monofilament ("invisible thread") in your serger needle. I'm not a fan of this one because I find monofilament to be really annoying to work with.

c. slap some lace on the front and call it good

d. use a needle to run a piece of thin ribbon through the ladder stitching to use it as a place to attach more decoration.

I don't have ribbon narrow enough to do this with right now, but here's an an example from this post.

Anyway, I can't believe that I didn't make a follow-up to the other post, because I did actually buy a second serger (I want to say it's so that I can be a control freak and switch between specialty stitches and the things I do on my Babylock with its auto-tension, but I actually bought it because I knew I was going to quit my job and it was going to be my last chance to get something at a fuckoffhigh employee discount rate at that job). and then just never make this flatlock hem post at all.

[tiktok-singularity]

sewing machine vs overlock machine vs coverstitch machine.

[doubleunion]

Join us! Double Union applications are now open!

Double Union is accepting new member applications. Read on for more information about our application process and our community space for nonbinary people and women. Please share this post with friends or community groups who might be interested too!

To apply: go to the membership info page and click on the pink “Apply to join” button.

What is Double Union all about?

We are a community workshop that centers women and nonbinary people who are trans, cis, intersex, queer, straight, and not-fitting-into-those-labels, no matter what you look like. You don't have to prove you belong here.  Today we have about 150 members and are planning to accept many more. Our space is located at 77 Falmouth St. in San Francisco, on a side street near 5th and Folsom in SOMA.

Double Union is a great spot for reading, coding, writing, making art/crafts, or for quiet coworking. The space is an ADA-compliant street-level room, about 775 square feet, with a mini-kitchen and a bathroom. There are couches, tables, and chairs that members frequently reconfigure to fit the needs of workshops and events.

We carefully try to minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission by having mask and vaccination requirements, air purifiers, and a CO2 monitor to help us ensure good ventilation. See summary here.

DU members host a wide variety of events in our space (you can see photos and announcements of past events on Instagram). Some events we’ve hosted include: feminist book club, game nights, mending workshops, working on income taxes together, researching ballot items to prepare for voting, lockpicking workshops, and circuit hacking.

Members have joined our community for a variety of reasons. DU might be for you if you:

Have a small living space and are interested in having an alternative space to spread out while working on creative projects.

Are new to the area and are interested in finding a place to work on and talk about shared interests with new people.

Work remotely and are interested in an alternative to working at home or coffee shops.

Are job searching (including under/unemployed) and may be interested in collaborating with other people who are also job searching.

Just want to meet people or make stuff for any reason.

Equipment and materials

Besides events, members can visit the space at any time to use the shared tools and equipment. Inside the space, Double Union’s equipment includes:

sewing machines, serger, coverstitch machine, large ironing board

Glowforge laser cutter

black-and-white and color printers

adjustable-height sit-or-stand desks and adjustable office chairs

standard tools like: drills, files, saws

two 3D printers

Silhouette Cameo vinyl cutter

Roland CNC machine

screen printing items (exposure unit, large paper cutter, screens, squeegees, drying rack)

library with a focus on books on: programming, design, how-to/DIY, feminism, zines

mini kitchen (sink, microwave, electric kettle, refrigerator and freezer)

big paper cutter, lots of paper, long stapler for zinemaking

We purchase additional equipment and tools according to member interest.

How much does it cost to be a member?

Double Union is a volunteer-run non-profit. Dues are sliding scale: $10 to $100 per month (you choose what to pay based on your financial situation, and you can change the amount whenever you need to). We also offer scholarships ($0 dues) for members who can't afford to pay. We use Stripe to automatically process credit/debit cards.

How to apply

Go to https://www.doubleunion.org/membership and click on the pink “Apply to join” button!

After clicking the button, the next page will ask a few questions about you and your interest in DU. We don’t make decisions based on accomplishments, interest in tech, or income level, but we’d like to know who we’d be sharing our space with.

As part of the application process, we would like applicants to have met at least one current DU member, so if you haven’t met some already (such as at past events), try to meet members (such as by attending an upcoming DU public event). We plan to respond to your application within six weeks or sooner.

Here are some upcoming events open to prospective members

Please feel free to come by if you’ve applied for membership or are interested in applying. The address, directions and other details are here: https://www.doubleunion.org/visit

Saturday February 4th, 11-2 pm - Mending time: bring your clothes and socks with holes or rips

Sunday February 5th, 1-4 pm - Have fun with stamps and markers: Make a card (or cards) for someone.

Saturday February 18th, 11-2 pm - Make your own fridge magnets using our laser cutter

There will be more upcoming events announced on this blog, our announcements mailing list,  Instagram, and Twitter!

Have questions?

Email the membership coordinators: join@doubleunion.org - we’re happy to help.

[thaliawashere]

Honestly, get a serger. It's life changing. Look for second-hand machines if a new one isn't in the cards yet. I say yet because once you serge your first seam and then realize all the other stuff it can do, there's no going back. Then it's a slippery slope to a coverstitcher, so don't say you weren't warned.

[chic-cheapcom]

Harry Potter Women's Half-Blood Prince Vintage Junior's Raglan Pullover with Coverstitch

[thespectaculargirl]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NWT Madewell Semi-Sheer Mockneck Tee.

[reflectivearchive]

Dime

Coverstitch Sherpa Fleece - (Mauve)

Source: https://dimemtl.com/collections/dime-fall-24/products/fa24-coverstitch-sherpa-fleece-mauve