Recently moved to a new place and haven't found a good spot for a permanent setup yet.
this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Sewing
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I've never thought about this and now I'm about to seriously consider sewing as a regular activity.
It's a really nice hobby.
It's mostly not that demanding, and super easy to learn. You see what you make with your own hands as a result (which is nice) and in the long run can replace most of your wardrobe with stuff that is exactly your style.
I make all of my underwear myself (boxers are a super simple pattern, 2h a piece), have self-made joggers, work outfits with trousers and shirts, high vis cycling jacket with merino lining in a softshell windbreaker, pullovers, backpacks...
And you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks while you're at it, and it's a hobby that needs little usage of screens (working in front of a display all day I want to spend time doing sth offline)
Preface: I don't know how to sew.
Question: what material would one use for underwear? Boxers make sense, anything thin and light and not scratchy. But what about boxer briefs? Material with a bit of stretch to it? I imagine this would be harder to sew?
I just bought a sewing machine at Goodwill on a whim, gonna play with it, just trying to size up the difficulty here lol
Hey, I use jersey with high cotton content (typically 95% cotton 5% elastan) for briefs.
You can make higher quality briefs from merino (good for long hiking days for example), but also more expensive and not everyone likes woolen underwear.
Sewing jersey is a bit more tricky, as it tends to roll up at the edges (i.e. Pinning it takes a bit longer).
I like the shorts pattern from pattydoo. Was one of the first things I made myself and still make a new pair on occasion. Shorts fabric is typically popeline, but saw people use muselin fabric as well. Soft fabric is comfier, but stiffer fabric can be nice for really hot days. Linen and cotton both make good shorts :)
If you have any more questions feel free to reach out.
Have fun with your new machine!
I actually know a good deal about sewing, my mother was a pretty well known dress maker in the Midwest renfair scene so I was raised to know all the tricks. I'm even restoring a singer rocketeer to be my main machine. I just don't have a lot of room and can't really find patterns for stuff I'd wear. The projector idea fixes one of those problems though!
Ah, now that first comment makes a lot more sense.
As for your second problem, did you ever hear of freesewing.org? It's an open source parametrized pattern generator. (can be very frustrating though if you spend 2 days on a buttoned shirt to find that you took a wrong measurement and your shoulders are too tight now) but with your background this could be the way to go. Goes very well with the projector too.
Never heard of this and now it's my new interest for the week!
What's really nice from my POV is that they have the github repo there for self hosting, but also got a public instance run by the initiator for all those who - like me - are too stupid to set up their own infrastructure and rather want to spend time on their sewing machine than in front of a display
Can clothes be reverse-engineered for patterns? Unstitched and traced? Is that a common practice or are there other methods
Made trousers that way and will make a copy of my SIL's favorite onesie the same way this spring (it's seen too much love, so time for a new one)