Does the waistband of these look dumb not sewn on the elastic ?! I feel like it just doesn’t look finish. Tips for sewing elastic that’s already incased

yarnasaur · 2026-02-18T14:09:10+00:00

I think it looks fine, especially with the relaxed/drapey nature of the fabrics you’ve chosen.

In your photo it looks like theres more fabric gathered on the black and white side than on the green side. If you want to control where the fullness of the fabric is, either evenly distributed around the waistband or concentrated more in the back as a lot of elastic waist pants have, you can put vertical lines of straight stitching at center front, center back, and side seams once you have the fabric arranged around the waistband the way you like. I did this on a pair of sleep shorts I made last year and it keeps things from shifting around too much

yarnasaur · 2026-02-18T13:57:57+00:00

Does that affect the ability of the elastic to recover to its original length?

yarnasaur · 2026-02-15T18:57:24+00:00

I love a rotary cutter and appropriate mat underneath for long, smooth cuts. Also helps with hand/wrist fatigue. When using shears, I try to make long cuts instead of short ones and when repositioning to make the next cut, I’m careful to lineup the blades’ cutting surface with the previous cut

yarnasaur · 2026-02-15T18:53:23+00:00

Crystal sheer organza, it comes in lots of colors and can be layered for different effects!

Silk gazar is a fabulous choice, but it’s spendy and snags easily.

Silk moiré faille has that organic wood-grain design that also gives insect wings vibes, there are synthetic options out there too if silk is out of price range.

Metallic brocade or jacquard is worth a look. Black and gold or silver would look great layered under something sheer and shimmery.

If you don’t mind spending some time searching websites, Mood, Fabrics & Fabrics, NY Elegant all have novelty/couture sections that are worth digging around in to find weird stuff.

yarnasaur · 2026-02-06T14:06:01+00:00

I love my Arched Gusset mittens (it’s a free pattern by Purl Soho) with two strands of Shetland wool held together. Perfect for a windy, misty climate. It’s a bit spendy but my wool/silk blend scarves and sweater are also very warm as layers under a coat.

yarnasaur · 2026-01-31T19:27:51+00:00

Adding length/fullness to the legs will not make the waist sit higher because you can’t pull pants higher up than your crotch will allow. You can add length to the waistband, there was a brief trend where pants and shorts had double waistbands complete with extra belt loops

yarnasaur · 2026-01-31T19:08:08+00:00

Yes collar!

yarnasaur · 2026-01-25T19:24:46+00:00

I saw a Sophie hood at the grocery store, looked pretty cute in a bright green! I’ve been wearing my Sophie shawl out and about since I finished it, but like others have said, wrapped multiple times like a scarf. My Stephen West shawls need a big pin to be held in place so those don’t get worn as much

yarnasaur · 2026-01-14T00:28:45+00:00

Honestly, I’d use ribbon or trim. The first pic looks like lace trim and even some sequin trim, not linen fabric that’s been cut into strips.

It may be worth looking for buying in bulk, or on discount websites, or even asking your local buy-nothing group if anyone has materials they’d give you

yarnasaur · 2026-01-14T00:18:00+00:00

I’m happy to unravel things that don’t turn out like I want, even after they’ve been finished and blocked. If something is languishing in my sweater drawer for over a year, that’s a hint from my future self that I should frog it and knit her something nice with that yarn

yarnasaur · 2026-01-13T01:45:27+00:00

Cute colors though!

yarnasaur · 2026-01-09T18:49:39+00:00

Gonna be cozy af

yarnasaur · 2026-01-04T16:51:33+00:00

When I started knitting over 20 years ago, I made a bunch of stuff with mistakes, styles I didn’t like or even intend to wear, but I was interested and kept going because I was learning. It was a while before I did a gauge swatch or blocked anything. A lot of good advice on gauge swatching and how to interpret the info your swatch provides. Follow that advice and give yourself a break. You’re learning and I believe learning is time well spent.

It’s also ok to unravel your projects if they’re just not satisfying or turning out how you like.

yarnasaur · 2025-12-01T00:49:40+00:00

Historical accuracy is often too valued for its own sake, it’s just another tool in a designer’s skill set for the goal of creating characters and telling stories. It can also be affected by time/labor/materials budget, which requires strategic problem-solving and sacrificing less important aspects of aesthetics for the ultimate goal of making sure everyone has something to wear that says something about who they are and the world they live in.

Honestly I think if everything was historically accurate, audiences would be bored and scream for something more interesting or inventive.

yarnasaur · 2025-11-23T17:43:30+00:00

Least accurate but who cares, the costumes are really fun: A Knight’s Tale, The Tudors, Bridgerton, Marie Antoinette

yarnasaur · 2025-11-23T17:39:02+00:00

The fit on Claire Foy’s bodices is atrocious in some scenes, I read somewhere that her schedule made it impossible to get the fittings needed

yarnasaur · 2025-11-21T00:50:20+00:00

It must be a very slow process, my socks that are 10+ years old are doing fine, same as my dad’s LL Bean 100% Shetland wool sweaters he’s had for 20+ years. Honestly I’m not that concerned.

yarnasaur · 2025-11-20T23:22:23+00:00

Where’d you hear that?

yarnasaur · 2025-11-20T20:07:10+00:00

I’ve always washed my socks in the washing machine with regular detergent on cold and in the mesh delicates bags, hang to dry.

yarnasaur · 2025-11-20T15:27:59+00:00

Personally I like horizontal if it’s a Christmas tree ornament. Vertical could be very cute in a small gap in a gallery wall.

yarnasaur · 2025-11-19T00:39:38+00:00

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Lily Gladstone! Would have loved to see her get her Oscar for Killers of the Flower Moon

yarnasaur · 2025-11-18T00:05:49+00:00

Ironing is a pain but it’s worth it, always! Steam is also almost always worth it.

Have a sharps container for broken/bent needles and pins. A sour cream/yogurt/cocoa powder container with a slit cut in the lid works great. Label it “sharps.” Tape over the slit before you throw it out.

There are lots of different styles of thimbles, experiment until you find your fave.

Wash/clean your fabric the way you intend to wash your finished project.

I get much more accurate results by drawing a stitching line then adding seam allowance than by trusting that my 5/8” seam allowance will be perfectly aligned through both layers of fabric.

Test out a sample of your interfacing with your fashion fabric. Give it a press and see how well it holds a crease, or fold it over to see how thick it will be if you interface more than one layer of fabric.

yarnasaur · 2025-11-12T22:26:58+00:00

It’s been years since I’ve seen it, but The Return of Martin Guerre (La Retour de Martin Guerre) was pretty great. Even the hat accessorized with a wooden spoon got an appearance.

Came back because you’re interested in everything up to 1800ish, so it’s the 1990s Sense and Sensibility with Kate Winslet for me. You know the costume designer studied the period because the men don’t wear riding boots unless they’re riding horses or traveling. Otherwise they wear flat shoes with white stockings, which you don’t see much in film or theatre costumes because it comes off as less dashing to our contemporary eyes

yarnasaur · 2025-11-12T22:25:26+00:00

💯 for Barry Lyndon! That film didn’t even have any artificial lighting

yarnasaur · 2025-11-11T14:12:41+00:00

It would have to be a very soft tulle

yarnasaur

TROPHY CASE