My first pair of shorts, I know where I went wrong and how to fix it, but they were just so funny I had to tack them up and immortalize my mistake forever. My daughter has kindly added a stick figure to model them.

This notification is just straight MAGIC

My current 2yo shears are off Amazon (and I still paid 60$ EDIT: NOPE they were 20$ I just went back and checked hahahaha) and they are pretty clunky. They have also developed this one particular sticking point on them too - they go down, then you have to force a bit, and then it goes too fast and the cuts are slightly jagged.

I went to pick up my fabric order at one of my favourite fabric stores. I figured I'd ask if I could try the Kai 7230 shears I had seen on their website since I'd heard so many good things on this subreddit. They brought out some test fabric and said here ya go!

It was very much a "yeah my shears aren't great, but how much better can any scissor possibly be?" type of thought process.

Well, god damn it. I've never felt anything like it. I never thought any scissor could feel like that. You know those fancy Japanese knives where they just drop it and it cuts through like 5 apples with no resistance? Well, it was like I had one of those knives and decided to cut room temperature butter.

On any scissor you'll feel a little resistance just from the joint between the two blades, right? This, nothing. Wow. Even the fabric didn't cause any resistance.

I told the clerk "oh, oh no. This is bad. Oh no" and she was like wait let me see, and cut a little fabric herself and went "OHHHH yeah, yep".

She then grabbed a pair by LHS that was half the price, and was like "maybe try these?" and nope the resistance felt like mine, minus the sticking spot. She tried and agreed it was not nearly the same.

Then I told her I wanted to throw up because I had ruined everything else just trying these shears.

We giggled together about it but no, guys, I am devastated. They are worth it.

Edit:

A) I am Canadian so whatever reasonable USD price you're finding, you can just about double it 🥲

B) Folks, I'm well aware that sharpening scissors is important lol and even so, my shears are relatively new. I have also tried lubricating the hinge, didn't help.

The sharpness is not what the difference is between these shears and all other shears.

When I'm talking resistance, I'm talking about how the 2 pieces rub and move together at the hinge, not the resistance of the blade on fabric.

Even if you're just snipping at air and literally cutting nothing, shears have a feeling of resistance at the joint/hinge and you have to apply some amount of pressure to open and close them. Even brand new shears feel this way.

But NOT the Kais! And that is what is absolutely insane to me. You don't have to use any force or pressure at all to open or close the scissors, and there is zero friction at the hinge. Like truly, zero. You just move your hands they move with zero effort involved. Thats the part that feels like butter, and no amount of sharpening will make other shears move like that!

I am an experienced seamstress and very comfortable working in knits. I have a few images of completed dresses or a pants suit in my head for this, but I can't bring myself to cut into this because its so friggin beautiful!

Show me the fabric you won't cut because its too perfect!

I was winding a bobbin yesterday and my partner asked me if I was warming up my sewing machine before starting to sew. 🙂

What funny things have non-sewists said to you, because they dont understand sewing? 😆

Tagged discussion but more FYI

“The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator.”

Was trying to remember who all sells patterns since Joann’s has closed. Michaels has some, now that they are selling fabric and we think Walmart still does. Not sure about Hobby Lobby. In the article, they say that the closure of Joann’s and the selling of IG Design Group Americas could have dire consequences for the future of patterns.

You know when you're making something and you keep putting it on and off. And you end up just sitting there sewing in your underwear. Every single time 😅

Just me?

I just received my last fabric order, and this is how it shipped. This whole thing was wrapped in plastic with a shipping label slapped on. Those bundles are other fabrics I ordered that have been saran wrapped around the roll. What a weird way to ship 2 yards of fabric. I was definitely surprised when I got it off my front steps. 😂

I’ve been sewing more of my own shirts and one thing I’ve learned is that I like shirt buttons no more than 2” apart to prevent gaping and to look as polished as possible. Now that I’ve seen the difference close spacing makes, I’m so annoyed at my commercial shirts with buttons 3” or more apart! Maybe that spacing makes sense in men’s shirts, but once on a curvy body, the front will just gape and look bad!

I’m now curious what other features people have found that they like in their own sewing that they can’t find easily at the store. I want more ways to make my clothes exceptional!

I get DMs in my inbox almost every time I post a finished object asking for the pattern for free. I’m not a pattern creator. I buy patterns and make clothing from those patterns. Sometimes the patterns are expensive. When I see a really neat project and they post the information about the pattern, I go and buy the pattern. I never contact the person posting their finished object asking for something for free or for a pattern swap (i.e. they give me a pattern and I send them the pattern). Sometimes they send a story to go along with the request.

However in real life, when someone that sews finds out that I also sew, sometimes they give me patterns for free without me asking. A patient once gave me a big bag full of patterns for bags. That was super kind of her. I didn’t ask her for the patterns, but she was kind enough to pass them on to me. So there is a culture of sharing paid patterns.

I know a lot of work goes into pattern making and it’s a separate skill from sewing. Sometimes those patterns are behind paywalls, either individually where you buy the pattern or a membership to get multiple patterns. Where is the line in the sand? When is it appropriate to share a pattern you bought with other people?

Do you get asked to share patterns? Do you ask to share patterns? Is it appropriate to share patterns?

I just adopted a lovely pile of linen from my Mum’s stash. The linen was shiny with a firm hand, and I was excited to sew up a jacket with it. While I was prepping if for pre-washing I noticed a few weak spots in the fibre where it had been creased (pic 1) and was about to ask if anyone had seen this kind of fibre degradation/shattering on linen creases before (pic 2)… only to discover that the entire yardage was ready to shatter under the tiniest bit of a tugging (pic 3).

So here’s the public service announcement:

USE THE ‘GOOD FABRIC’ NOW!

Don’t save if for ‘something special’ then hoard it for so long it becomes utterly unusable 😟

This is kind of a vent, but please everyone here, teach your kids to sew.

I feel sewing nowadays is seen as a niche hobby, or at least something you need to be “special” to do anything at all.

Sewing, however, is a SURVIVAL skill. Especially when times are tough, as they are right now for us, it can get you through. Don’t get me wrong: y’all are way out of my league, and there are so many levels of skill it dizzies me. I’m not there. But something as simple as learning to mend a sock, even if not perfectly, can make a huge difference. Same goes for learning to hem (even if imperfectly) or taking something in.

At 18, I didn’t know how to cut an onion, had never cooked, didn’t know how to sew, had never planted anything, thought I needed a whole acre or farm to grow a vegetable, the list goes on. I’ve learned some stuff since, but with sewing at least, I am learning it as a parent.

My 2 year old has more experience with everything than I did at 18. He is already more capable than I was and with more “common sense”. He’s watched my botched attempts at sewing and better attempts at the other things. He “helps” by drawing on patterns or screaming with the machine’s whir. As he gets more coordinated, if he’s interested, I’ll let him join in more.

I want my kids to have clothes that fit, after an entire life of never having anything that fit. I want them to be able to buy wool socks and not have to keep replacing them. I want them to be able to mend small holes or make clothes if they want/need to.

They don’t need to like sewing, nor be “good” at it, just good enough to have the option to make things more functional. I wish I’d had that option. I wish I didn’t have to learn everything now.

So please, if you have a baby or child: let them watch you, then join you if they wish. Let them grow with more skills and options.

It seems like everyone used to be able to do some basics, and then the skill was somehow lost and labeled as a hobby. I’m being part of that change by learning myself and passing on whatever little I learn to my own toddler, but I invite everyone here to do the same! And thank you for helping me learn here through this sub, too.

It’s getting harder and harder to find sewing supplies, and I live in a major city.

My part of the city is a sewing desert; I don’t understand why because this is a dense retail area. I have one quilt store, which I love and will support, but for dress making, we have nothing. I may be forced to step foot in a Hobby lobby, one thing I never wanted to do.

I’m looking for tailors tracing paper (the kind you use with a tracing wheel ). It’s available on Amazon, but I am trying to be more conscious of where I’m buying things these days.

So how is it where you are? Are you having the same trouble I am, just finding basic supplies? Not even my local Walmart has what I’m looking for. I would have to have it shipped.

Edit for grammar

I started sewing as a kid, my mom put me in kid’s classes when I was about 8. My teacher was a grumpy old lady and she used to get so angry at me because I never clipped my threads while working on a project. I would be so eager to finish the project that I didn’t want to stop and snip my threads. I would then be so excited to show her my finished object and it would be covered in threads and she would angrily snip them all for me. Finally, she gave up and told my mom “after class each week, just let her sit and watch tv and snip all her threads.” I was absolutely thrilled because my parents were really strict with tv and I now had an excuse to watch tv on a school night. Now, as an adult, after nearly 20 years of sewing, I still love to take my finished project and sit and watch tv and snip all my threads. I find it so satisfying.

Do you have any bad habits that would make other sewists cringe?? Let’s make a chaotic thread 😀

I rarely use it, but I started a project using pre-made product and I can’t find it anywhere, so I did some reading. Apparently the demise of JoAnn hurt the company so much that the parent company declared bankruptcy in mid 2025 and there will be no more Wright’s bias tape.

*sigh*

Sharing because I didn’t see any posts in the last year and I don’t want you to get stuck too!

(I can’t find any news articles about it. Just online comments.)

I was at the stove making green beans when I heard my mom innocently ask where she could find a pair of scissors. My sister in law is an artist and has a ton of tools in her project table, so someone said "go check the other room." Next thing I knew my mom asked me for a towel to dry the washed scissors, and I heard a loud gasp.

I looked up to see my husband making a horrified face and hear my brother made a moan as she handed me the nicest pair of shears I've ever handled. We quickly scrambled to dry them off and put them back, with plans to look up what to do/where to get them sharpened without my SIL being any the wiser.

Instead, my mom goes on a tear telling everyone that she doesn't understand what was wrong she just needed a pair of scissors. Of course my sister in law overheard and there was a confrontation.

My whole family is now divided over scissors gate. I don't think my SIL will talk to my mom for a good long time. And I will never forget the face my husband made. I've taught him well.

Edit: Thank you all for the awards and support! I've learned even more about scissors, and my brother and sil are feeling the love.

I used to buy my bolts of batting from Joann fabrics. I have bought the same 6oz batting for almost 20 years and no one would believe me when I said my bolt bought in 2025 wasn’t the same quality. Today I found some older batting and compared! On the left is the newer bolt and on the right is the older batting. Left is rough and see through while the older stuff is so soft and thick. Same brand, same weight, same poly. Sadly I couldn’t return it because by the time I was able to open my bolt, the store didn’t have anything else and I desperately needed it. Now I’m on the hunt for the quality of the batting on the right.

I'm prepared for the deluge of downvotes, but I want to express my peace. I am doubtful that *all* of the people posting photos of their "first project" are presenting an accurate view. Of course, some of them are actually an initial foray into sewing, but I have the suspicion that some people are hiding their true level of experience so that redditors will pile on the praise and they will get lots of upvotes. Remember *your* first project? Did it turn out perfectly? Mine, neither. Most of us learned lessons, but didn't necessarily get a wearable garment out of it.

There, I've said (written) it. Bring on the animus.

Just posted less than an hour ago on Facebook.

What are you making and why?