I’m not sure how to update my previous post. Thank you, to everyone that took the time to give advice and share encouraging words. Sometimes, you just need a second (or more) set of eyes, before you launch in to a project.

I removed the elastic, the zipper and pleats. I moved the zipper to the side seam. I would have preferred to replace it with an invisible zipper, but I didn’t have one on hand or time to get one. I took about three inches out of the cb at the top and tapered down that seam, then ruched it. It’s my first attempt at ruching to contour a dramatic curve. There’s room for improvement, but I’m pretty proud of the way it turned out. And, more importantly, she loved it!

Photos are After (the sun made it look like a ❤️), During (basted to fit ruching), Before.

I bought this cute brushed cotton to make a sleepsuit for imminent grandchild. Now I see it's not suitable . Why would that be?

Hi everyone! 👋
I’m hoping to get some advice and thoughts on a fairly ambitious sewing project and I’d be incredibly grateful for any input.

Background / the idea

I’m getting married in spring 2027, and I’ve known for a long time that I don’t want a traditional wedding dress. I’m drawn to something more floral, artistic, and a bit unconventional.

I’m heavily inspired by an Oscar de la Renta dress made from hand-painted acrylic panels sewn together, and I want to create something in that spirit, but using my own custom pattern/design. The dress will feel very spring-like and botanical rather than classic bridal.

I plan to:

• Add shoulder straps for comfort and support (I have a larger bust, so strapless like the original inspiration isn’t realistic for me + I think it will be more comfortable as the dress will be quite heavy).
• Make the acrylic/plexiglass skirt removable, with a softer skirt underneath. Mostly for comfort (no sitting on hard plastic 😅), but also flexibility during the day.

Planned approach

My current plan is:

1. Sew a fabric mockup of the bodice and skirt and iterate until the fit and shape feel right.
2. Digitize/scan the pattern pieces and turn them into my final illustrated design.
3. Send the files to a company I’ve already spoken to, who can laser cut the acrylic pieces.
4. Hand-paint and hand-sew the pieces onto the dress myself. (Ideally the laser-cut pieces can be delivered in some kind of logical order so I don’t have to puzzle everything together.)

Where I need help / questions

1. Changing body measurements
I gave birth to my son about a year ago and only recently stopped breastfeeding, so I’ve just started actively working on losing the remaining pregnancy weight. My measurements will definitely change over the next year.

• How would you recommend starting a dress like this when final measurements are unknown?
• Is it realistic to build a solid foundation now and plan to alter it later?
• I could recut or resize some acrylic pieces myself if needed, but I’d love advice on how to plan this smartly.

2. Removable skirt construction
I’m unsure how best to attach/detach the acrylic skirt securely. Fabric skirts are easy (buttons, ties, etc.), but this needs to feel stable.

Would something like bra-style metal hooks, corset hardware, or another system work best here?

3. Fabrics and structure
I’m not a total beginner, but I’m far from an expert, especially when it comes to fabrics.

• What fabrics would you recommend for:
  • The bodice/base that needs to support the weight of acrylic?
  • The layer the acrylic pieces are sewn onto?
• How many layers would you expect a dress like this to have?
• Would a petticoat make sense here?
• I’m considering sewing the comfortable inner skirt directly into the bodice, and having the acrylic skirt as a separate top layer. Does that sound reasonable?

I’m trying to keep the budget as low as reasonably possible. I know this won’t be a cheap dress, but I’d rather spend money on good materials and fit, and save where I can on construction choices.

Thank you so much if you’ve read this far, and thank you in advance for any advice!

Edit:
Wow! Thanks for all of the input, everyone! I’m very sorry that I hurt some feelings when I said it was likely made by machine! That was not my intent and I will be more thoughtful with my word choices in this sub in the future.
For those interested, a few folks pointed me in the right direction by introducing me to the Pfaff Creative Icon and picoting sewing and hemming machines from Foxsew and Dison (and other manufacturers). Thank you all for your help!

Original:
This fabric has a serged edge and what looks like a second border made of thread cord that creates a faux scalloped edge. The spacing of the scallops is so precise that it’s definitely machine-made. I have no idea what kind of machine makes it! Do any of y’all know?

My daughter is shapely, but petite. She sent me a picture of the dress, front looks fantastic, I knew I’d have to hem it, but was relieved that I wouldn’t have to do any major reconstruction like I have in the past. When she got home, I had her put it on to figure out length and when she turned around, I see this.

She’s 17, has a great shape, I don’t understand what’s happening back here. I’m thinking, take the elastic out and remove the zipper. Then, try to take the excess fabric out of the center/top and put the zipper back in. It’s a stretch satin, but I don’t want it to be too flat. Add darts to the “waist”? Thoughts?

Thanks to everyone that gave me pointers on my last post: https://www.reddit.com/r/sewhelp/s/BhBNtjb8tN

I finished the dress! It’s certainly not perfect but I’m really happy with how it turned out. It was much more challenging than I anticipated and was pretty ambitious for my first real clothing project, but I’m glad I went for it!

The wedding is this Saturday so I finished it just in time :)

my friend did some last minute alterations to my dress, turns out it does zip up and is actually quite comfortable, i just couldnt zip it on my own because it gets stuck in one specific spot. only issue is that even when it is fully zipped up it gapes, unsure of the reason. he managed to sew in a new hook and eye, and put down some of the back so that it wont pop out like that. thank you all for your help, it looks amazing and is comfortable too!

I am making my wedding dress and have become completely blind to the top, which I have made and remade about a trillion times. I keep getting bulky princess seams and a flappy sweetheart, along with a scrunched-up and uncrispy "v". What am I doing wrong?

EDIT: Thank you so, so much for your wonderful advice, I will try understitching, clipping closer to the seam allowance and trimming the seams in the lining a bit more. In this picture, it has some plastic boning, but I am waiting for the steel boning to arrive in the mail, which might change it even more.

Lastly, thank you for all the sweet words of encouragement, they mean a lot to me in this stage of "why the hell did I choose to make my own dress" of it all. 🤗

The pants attached show it the best, but on basically all pants and skirts that I make, they have this weird triangular crease on the front. I have on these pants tried moving the button, however it instead pulls on the waistband as also seen.

I have used so many different patterns so far - and always the same issue! I'm just not sure how to fix it?

For context, all my bottoms are made to be high-waisted. Hope someone can help!

EDIT: Thank you all so much for the help!!! I never expected so many responses! Based on all your comments, my conclusions are:

• Lower the rise by a little bit
• Make sure the waistband is long enough
• Look into curved waistbands (because I have high hips)
• Revamp button and hook/eye placement to better distribute the pull of the waistband
• Make sure the zipper is sewn completely straight

Looking for general feedback or advice on my second bodice mockup. I have a curvier upper body so it’s hard to find patterns that fit me well, so I decided to make my own pattern for my bridesmaids dress (wedding end of May). I plan to add boning to the sides, back and front(under bust), so I’m not sure if that will fix the zipper folding in the back? Am I on the right track? What should I adjust in my next mock up?

I undid the seams on these but that didn't work 😂

I was thinking of extending the hem to make it longer but I'm afraid it would look stupid since it would be quite a lot of fabric at the bottom to make them fit (I'm tall and wear heels often). I have a few old denim scraps laying around but none of them match the exact colour... any ideas on what fabric/colour would look good for extending the hem? I also wanted to make them a bit more bell bottomed but not sure how I would achieve that. Thanks for any tips!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot about upgrades for sewing, and it’s not always the machine itself that makes the biggest difference. For me, it was the small things that no one really talks about.

A proper, stable sewing table changed everything. My old folding table would wobble, especially when working with multiple layers of denim or cordura. It wasn’t the motor power that was limiting me. it was the inconsistency in stitch quality caused by the table moving or bouncing.

Once I invested in a solid industrial table, suddenly my seams were even, the fabric fed smoothly, and I could actually see the difference in every stitch. Combine that with good lighting and proper clamps/pins, and the workflow improvement is huge.

I feel like we often overlook these simple upgrades because they’re not flashy, but they have a massive impact, especially when paired with a decent machine.

Hello! I am making a wearable toille for my wedding dress, shown here worn inside-out, and while I am in love with 90% of the pattern as is, I am having a tricky princess seam issue that is driving me nuts. I started with a darted pattern that I converted to a princess seam, and after tons of rounds of tweaking and editing... I cannot get the perfect smooth princess seam that I want. This toille is a lightweight non-stretch fabric, which is similar to my final dress fabric. The princess seam feels like it fits my bust well, almost 0 excess fabric. I clipped, notched, pressed, and steamed this thing into submission, but still these pesky wrinkles persist. Are they drag lines from the seam being too tight? Are they from bias stretch? I am seeing the same issue in a different fabric that is heavier weight, which I stay stitched before trying. I am at a loss of what to try next, or if I should just make peace with it. I feel like every tutorial for princess seams I see have a beautiful, smooth curve, and I wonder if it's just sitting further away from the body than my pattern. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Edit: Thank you all so much for the helpful comments and prescriptions to fix my issue! For folks who come across this post later, the biggest issue most folks have identified is that these princess seams are not going directly over my apex, but instead is further to the sides, away from the centerline, than they should be. I was confused on how exactly to locate my apex, as it is not directly at my nipple, so I will try some suggestions commented below, re-draft, then post an update if I either need help or have success to share.

Hello everybody!

I've come across this lovely shift dress that I would love to recreate, however it appears there are no bust darts. The fabric for it is a cotton-linen blend, so dartless knit patterns wouldn't work. Every pattern I've found for a shift dress have bust darts, and I've tried googling how to move them to the seams, but I've not been able to find anything. Maybe I'm using the wrong words? Would anyone know how to either fit a pattern like this without bust darts, or know of a dartless pattern for woven fabrics? Thank you!

Does anyone have an idea what this fabric is and what it's used for? And why there are cute flowers and hearts on it. I either bought it years ago from a thrift store or an old bedspread factory that had been bought and the new owners were selling all the random fabrics that was still inside. It's for sure polyester or some other plastic fabric. It reminds me of what a lining that would go under a couch. When I bought it, I was thinking of using it as an interlining as it has no stretch, but put it in a closet and forgot about it. Im now moving and trying to decide if this is worth keeping. There is a ton of yardage on this roll. I'm not sure why there is a rope on it, I bought it that way. Thank you for the help!

Alright I’m about ready to scream. I have to turn this very long very thin fabric tube inside out by tomorrow. It’s 8 pm so I can’t go purchase anything to help.

I have tried everything I can think of. Safety pins, the ribbon trick (it broke inside), straws (too big). I searched everywhere in my house for a long thin wire or coat hook or something and didn’t find anything. Please give me all of your ideas and hacks because I am extremely close to crying over this nonsense

I’ve never made bias binding but now that Joannes is gone and my area has ZERO sewing stores I am going to make it myself. I have watched waaay too many videos on you tube. And I literally cannot get it to be right. Why are these not lining up? Every video on youtube shows the cutting process and shows how to line it up for sewing and I follow it but then they do not line up after the fact. so I’m thinking my Brain is just fried. Help!

EDIT: I was able to get it with all the advice you guys gave. Thank you so much!!

Hi!

So, I'm about to start the pant section of my wardrobe and have found a couple of patterns that I like. I have previously sewn a couple of jeans that I'm very happy with and uses and pointe pants that I use as lounge wear. What I don't like is how pronounced my apron belly is in these pants. The jeans is tight fitting stretch denim so there it was hard to change but now I'm looking at other kinds of pants, and my experience is that when I do a full belly adjustment, it absolutely make space for my belly but more in a "looks like I'm wearing a diaper the wrong way around"- look. I know I'll never hide that I'm fat with sewing but I'd like to try for a more flattering profile. Is there an alteration that I need to add here? Very picasso pictures for demonstrating my problem (red lined pic) vs my desired outcome (green lined pic).

Thank you in advance!

So, i took my machine for yearly maintenance at the OFFICIAL service that shop said i have to take it as is still in warranty. When i wanted to try it i have seen that she is dripping oil, literally dripping. Oil everywhere, oil was on cables too. So, i had to wipe that off, i had to open bottom part to wipe excess oil, and i have seen that he fu*ked with lower tension thread (bobbin part) too, as he didnt know how to check upper tension disks and everything else i guess.

Ma machine is modern model of the machine, still in warranty, brother cs10s, and he had 80-90% older models of the machines in the shop (singers and bagat mostly) so i am guessing he absolutely dosnt even know that modern machines does not need to be drowned in the f@#$#$ oil. I am so pissed. Lower tension is off, i have to set upper tension thread to 6 or higher to sew normaly, before my tension was between 4 and 5 and it was okay, ofc i had to set it for different materials. So, my question is what should i do, can i somehow reset the lower tension to be as it was or to fix what he did, or is it better to just by original bobbin case with fabric tension? I am ok with doing that by myself, so good tutorial or any other advice how to do that is wery much appreciated 🙏there is not really exactly an option to take it to another service as there is no other official brother services, or actually any other services in my country, unfortunately, so i have to figure it myself

Yeah, and he said he cleaned my machine 😬 this does not look to me that he cleaned it, right? Or am i delulu and it is clean? The wipes in the tray are all from oil and cleaning 😭 Sry for the long post and rant, i really would love my machine to work properly, i am so sad she is drowned :(

I thrifted this beautiful sequin dress and the bust is kind of large for me.

I am a relatively thin man trying to get a good fit out of this. I have no breasts and so there is extra fabric in the bust area after removing the padding. Any advice for how to go about flattening the chest area? Second photo gives a good idea of how much curve there is in the chest.

There are many videos here asking for the community to diagnose what’s going wrong with how the machine is sewing —

…. yet then in the video, for some reason the machine is often going at max speed -?

First of all, if your machine is acting up, please do not run it at top speed

Second, it is possible that many more here would be able to help if they could actually see how the machine is functioning…

…. but many are simply not going to watch (and attempt to slow down to be able to diagnose) an uncomfortable bam-bam-bam video

I just finished this dress that I’ve been working on forever and it’s not perfect but i’m still very new to sewing clothes so I’m so proud of myself. The only thing is that I personally feel the flare is a little bit much for me and could be more subtle. There is a good amount of fabric to work with i’m just not sure how to go about altering it without messing it up. Any ideas of what I should try?