Comments by "Piccalilli Pit" (@piccalillipit9211) on "Bernadette Banner" channel.

  1. PRO TIP literally write LFI [left front inside] and RFI [right front inside] in BIG LETTERS in chalk on the pieces when you are doing french seams and multi-directional seams Honestly, it will save you LOTS of unpicking. Yes it will wear off - but it lasts long enough for you to NOT cock up the seams. NORMAL French Seam - you DONT see chalk on your first pass. You SEE chalk on your second pass.
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  2.  @bernadettebanner  - Just FYI - Your treddle machine - there is a knob in the middle of the hand wheel - if you turn it [towards you I think], it will rotate and unlock the wheel from the mechanism when you are winding bobbins...!!! This is important as you are currently DOUBLING the wear and tear on the rest of the mechanism and you can no longer buy new parts... I cringe every time you wind a bobbin 😀
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  3. HOW TO BACKSTITCH ON A TREDDLE MACHINE....!!! Sew to the end - STOP - needle in fabric in the down position - presser foot up - rotate 180º - presser foot down - sew 5 stitches Its the same way you do on a modern machine is you are topstitching to ensure the back stitch is absolutely perfect and does not form a thick line. PLEASE UPVOTE SO SHE SEE THIS EDIT: also - you DONT have to draw your seams on if they are all the same - just stick a MAGNET to your sewing machine the seam width away from the needle...!!!
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  4. I LOVE THE FACT you are covering movies and TV from all over the world...!!! Its so nice to find someone who does not regard the entire global media insustry as being based in Los Angeles
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  5. BE WARNED 1970'S VISCOSE / RAYON IS HIGHLY FLAMABLE...!!! I mean you would think it was made of pure butane gas it goes up in flames that quickly - there is no way to exaggerate this. I use a lot of new old stock vintage fabric and I have learned the hard way - cos a SMALL sample and burn over the skink cos if it happens to be 70;'s vioscose it WILL burn your hands...!!! If you burn the edge of the roll - the whole lot WILL go up!!!
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  6. YOU NEED A "CHEST BOARD" its like a mini table that is sort of human torso shaped, it sits on your table and you work on your garments on it to sew the 3D into the garment You can also press on it - you can easily make one or get someone to make one for you. Its just a board covered in fabric and stuffed with sawdust on 4 x 6" legs
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  7. I JUST COMPLEATED my first men's suit jacket with full canvas and horsehair - I started 18 months ago with a hat and then trousers and them waist coat and now jacket... ANYONE CAN DO IT - that's why I'm mentioning it - its just a series of separate small steps you have to learn. If you want to make vintage clothes - just start. Oh and honestly - its not much quicker with a machine so if you don't have one, just hand sew...
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  8.  @Kamane-bee  - They can get jammed. I don't know the model, and I am not an expert. But mine was jammed solid, I think mine is a 192K. I had a small screw that I undid and then the and knob came off. I cleaned it all - TBH it looked totally fine and clean. I put it back together and it worked fine. EDIT: I have just found out for you - there SHOULD be 2 bobbin spindles on the top of your machine, the idea being that you are winding a new spool as you are sewing. This is the same as modern industrial machines.
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  9. YES - With Amber Butchart - it was BRILLIANT.
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  10. She is very giving of her status as a "influencer" [god I hate that word] to other people and their ventures.
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  11. I JUST MADE MY FIRST 3 PIECE SUIT my journey started at the beginning of lockdown by making a paperboy cap... I was inspired to start by Bernadette Banner. Its been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, I encourage anyone to give it a go, to get into this industry, and to support those in it.
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  12. NOPE - she has yet to learn to draft her own patterns. THEN she will have mastered tailoring. 😀 P.S. Its way easier to draft patterns than you would think.
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  13.  @ragnkja  - I figured people would work those out for themselves. LOL I make bespoke 1900 to 1930 men's trousers mostly and I still sew the seams the wrong way. I have been making them for 2 years - still do it. Its way easier just to assume you are a total idiot and chalk it on in giant letters.
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  14. 3 years ago I was a 48 year old guy watching cos I was bored. Im now sitting in a 1910's era pair of trousers and waistcoat I made myself, almost my entire wardrobe is made by me and this year I will learn how to bespoke tailor suit jackets. I hate to be the fawning fan - but its entirely down to BB inspiring me...
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  15. I live in Bulgaria now - all the "Babas" [grandmothers] are out on a morning with their A-frame Baba dresses and their aprons on sweeping the streets outside their apartment block. Its really important when choosing an apartment block to live in to asses the quality of your Babas. It will affect the quality of your life LOL
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  16. I'm A BESPOKE TAILOR of mens historical suits [1890 - 1940] and I keep thinking of making a YouTube channel - then I see the videography and editing of people like Bernadette and think "stuff it" No way have I got the skills or patience to create videos like this - I'm not sure there is a large audience for a grumpy old man making low res videos
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  17. I MAKE MENS BESPOKE historical suits 1890 to 1930 and I 100% AGREE - pad stitching the shape into the garment is SO satisfying. You can screw up one of my coats [jackets] in a bag for a month, get it out, give it a shake and it WILL immediately spring back to shape because the shape is INHERENT in the garment - that IS the shape of the garment, you cant even pres it out [I also do a lot of shrinking and stretching as well as tape tensioned edges ]
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  18. Im just making a skirt for my sister. She didn't want me to spend a lot of time on it but I could not leave the seams overclocked so Im doing a "Hong Kong" seam finish
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  19.  @angelmaden1559  - I live in one of those horrifying looking communist era tower blocks they use in horror movies - and I LOVE IT. They are built so unbelievably well and the city planning is amazing. Lockdown was not an issue as everything I need is within 10 minutes walking distance. And everyone looks after everyone else - I was brought fresh vegetables all summer from peoples gardens - most people have a 2nd home in the countryside, cos communism in Bulgaria was pretty good to people. Honestly, when I moved to Bulgaria I was such a snob about these blocks, from the western propaganda. I have never felt more like I live in a village then living here - and I moved FROM a village in the UK. I could go on all day about life here, but the Babas worm my heart every morning as I walk my dogs at 7 am and they are all out sweeping up. Then later when the kids finish school the Babas look after the kids - no one pays for child care here, the old people do it.
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  20.  @lenabreijer1311  - I am incredibly dyslexic. I could not read or write at 13. I failed my English O level 5 times. For my entire life, I was terrified of writing in front of people - it was my nightmare..!!! Eventually, at 45 I was persuaded to write a book about some life experience I had; I am now a professional author...! It turns out writing is NOT about neat handwriting and good spelling - it's about telling an engaging story and conveying knowledge in an accessible manner... Authors have editors and proofreaders to do the spelling and grammar. The only reason there are not 30 spelling mistakes in this reply is I have very good spell checking software. So I absolutely know to the letter what you feel and what you have gone through.
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  21.  @9armor  I use a 1 inch square now as a result of using pieces the size Bernadette used and burning my hands - modern viscose has a flame retardant in it. Honestly, I have no idea how anyone survived the 1970's LOL.
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  22.  @lkriticos7619  - my Grandfather was a coach painter all his life and as the years went by the natural oils and solvents got replaced by chemical ones that were much cheaper but obviously, the health and safety did not keep up so where he would have been wet sanding paintwork with maybe linseed oil as a carrier for the pumice abrasive he was now using some vicious solvent with silicon carbide cos it was cheaper and quicker. And when you are doing that with bare hands literally every day of your life for 10 hours s day it destroys your hands. The irony as with so many people - he was thrown on the scrap heap when spray painting became popular and now Rolls Royce and Bentley etc are desperately training up apprentices to stop the skill from dying out. If you want the best, most luxurious finish on your Rolls Royce its had painted by a coach painter...
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  23. PRO TIP - PUTTING IN THE LINING Place the coat on a pillow, lie the lining over the centre lin of the back, insert a metal ruler UNDER the back center seam - Baste top to bottom ADDING EASE of about 1/8th inch every 1". The ruler will stop the needle picking up the pillow. But the pillow will open the coat and present it. Move the ruler 2" to the side and repeat add ease both towards the centre seam AND between the basting stitches. Finish and repeat the opposite side. Keep going until the lining is FULLY covered with basting every 2" Fold in the facing edged ALLOWING EASE - and baste them down 1/4" from the edge ensuring the line is smooth and "fair". Baste between the above bastings to make the lining lay flat on the facings Fell the edge with 1/8th inch felling stitch NO pins should be used in the lining insert process - it should all be basting. TECHNICALLY the lining should be put in in 3 pieces, side, back and side and then felled together - but technically the sides and back should also be 3 separate pieces with the lining basted on them. put together and the sleeves mounted.
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  24. I dont use a thimble. Years of woodworking and metalworking means I have perfectly good callouses.
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  25.  @lonestarr1490  Patterns are way more simple maths than you might think. If your waist is 30" the pieces around your waist should add up to 15" [cos you have two halves to your body] if you want 2" of ease - 16" if you want a 20" trouser bottom they should add up to 20". If your jacket is 30" long - it should be 30" + 2" for the turn up hem. The rest of it is just proportions that come in tables. You start wiht a line for the neck, measure down to the waist draw a line, down to the hem draw a line, 90Deg line down that back shape it in as much as your back sway so say 1", it really is this easy.
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  26.  @catherinejustcatherine1778  - THANK YOU but - no. I'm a really private person. I'm actually an author and I get asked all the time to do videos of my writings and books, but the idea of me being on video is just horrifying to me. But I do intend doing some pamphlets, short books. "How to pattern draft and make a bespoke pair of men's trousers" that kind of thing.
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  27.  @alibabafurball  - Yeah when I took mine apart cos it was jammed solid, it was all clean and fine and jammed for no obvious reason. Worked fine when I put it back together. And I had forgotten about the rod - thats supposed to have a V block adjuster in it isnt it???
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  28.  @akaLaBrujaRoja  - Thats what I was thinking. This was my comment: FOR MEDICAL REASONS I COULD NOT SHOWER* for about 18 months - I scrubbed my skin with a stiff pig bristle brush head to toe and just washed the smelly bits... Honestly, it works absolutely fine as is a totally viable alternative to showering. *I was getting 3 showers a day in very hard water and I developed a sensitivity to the water. I get a freezing cold quick shower now - but no soap for 10 years ------- The linen was probably doing a similar job - I spend MORE time scrubbing with a rough towel than I do getting showered.
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  29. UNSCREW THE KNOB in the middle of your flywheel handle on the right - it will stop the mechanism from working whilst you wind the spool... At 5:03 you can see there is a hook sticking out of the cover plate [far left] - THIS is where the thread goes around and NOT the foot tensioner - for both bobbin winding and sewing
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  30. I just accidentally listened to a 1 1/2 hour lecture on Medieval Universities - its amazing whats interesting wiht the right person explaining it
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  31. You do. 6 Years ago I made a paperboy cap that didn't fit - people now pay me quite a lot of money and wait a year or more for the things I make.
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  32. I USED TO OWN A COSMETICS COMPANY the lard and lanolin one is probably the best thing you can use on your skin - they are highly absorbable animal fats 99.9% of face creams do nothing they are just a barrier to stop water exiting your skin cells. The surface of your skin is dead cells. The quality of your skin depends on what you ate three months ago. The thing you don't want to be doing is putting chemicals and mineral oils on your skin, this is why the lard and lanolin is just about the best thing you can use. EDIT >>> What you should eat is collagen - chicken skin, pig skin, carteledge - or use a collagen supplement. STOP buying face cream, all you are doing is making people like me rich. Seriously - make up the two products in this video, they WILL be better than 99.9% of stuff you buy online for $$$
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  33. SAVING THIS FOR LATER
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  34.  @raraavis7782  I don't want to do it for fame or money - I would just like to pass on what I have learned. I am uniquely lucky that at 45 I could retire and do what I wanted, but I was faced with the " absolute dearth of people covering historical menswear" and the total lack of information on how to do things traditionally - I've had to read dozens of incredibly confusing 150 year old books that are so full of mistakes its almost impossible to follow them. Things like "Take a 1 inch fish out at the waist" That is a dart shaped like ( ) A swallow is a dart shaped like ).( Ive spent 7,000 hours about since 2018 learning how to tailor like its 1899 - Id like to pass it on.
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  35.  @AnniCarlsson  - a tailor can. What you mean is no one can mass manufacture clothes that fit all.
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  36.  @lkriticos7619  Ohhhh - id rather work with hammers than chemicals. Its a childhood thing. My grandfather in the 1970's and 80's always wore white cotton gloves on his hands to hide the chemical burns and the scaring from a life of working with solvents...
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  37.  @lkriticos7619  - oh its ok - its just the way the world used to be isnt it... Incredibly skilful jobs replaced by cheap alternatives before people learn to appreciate that skill...
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  38.  @alibabafurball  - They just delete your comment - if I said video - apologies. I have a really rare one..! Not valuable - just rare. Its my daily use machine - a 197B. Its a very small production volume French factory version of the 191 I think... Its a very good straight stitch machine.
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  39.  @aubyryan  Is this the economics of capitalism that is predicated on the denial of the reality of exponential growth in favour of the fantasy that infinite growth and utilization of resources is possible..??? YES - YES - that economics is a TOTAL JOKE and the belief that it is anything other than a con to make 2000 people insanely rich is just utter ignorance. The grains of rice on a chessboard fable explained this incredibly basic concept 2000 years ago. You like the current economics - well in 23 years the wold will need to have doubled if taking of resources from the planet. How is that going to work? You planning for retirement on this economic model?? Hmmm... Global collapse is as inevitable as maths.
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  40.  @catherinejustcatherine1778  - THANK YOU - I was thinking after you commented that maybe I could do vids without showing my face - that could be a thing...
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  41.  @whatchyagonnado  You have almost convinced me - I might give it a go. It would be mostly based on HOW to actually do things.
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  42.  @EmL-kg5gn  THANKS - its how you avoid that ugly lump of stitching where your machine does not backstitch perfectly over the beginning and end
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  43.  @alibabafurball  - YT comments will delete the video if you put an external link. Its like a U block of wood with a threaded bar and a half moon metal bit that spins down the bar and pushes the U bit up against the crank bar if memory serves me - its 40 years since i last saw one... But i remember adjusting it to take the g-dunk out of the treddle mechanism as a kid.
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  44.  @lyndabethcave3835  Well this could be error or it could be an old [victorian] technique where you press a crease in it and then press it out, this "breaks" the horse hair and stops the front of the lapel roll traveling down the garment with wear as TENDS to happen - think 3 roll 2 BUT she does still have a lot to learn my "NOOO" moment was pressing the fashion fabric on the right side with no press cloth
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  45. OH MY GOD you look amazing in the green glasses and the white outfit - best you ever looked
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  46. 2 years ago I decided to give "vegan leather" a go. I bought some boots, they were expensive, it made out they were not petrochemical-based [this was a lie using obfuscating language]. First thing to say - they were astonishingly comfortable from day 1. I was ASTONISHED. 2nd thing to say - they lasted THREE MONTHS I was going to take them back for a refund but a gypsy snuck into my house and stole them LOL. That aside - a rediculous waste of money and the earth's resources.
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  47.  @SandrA-hr5zk  - YES who would have thought that a channel about hand sewing old stuff would get 1.28 million subscribers...???
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  48.  @catrinlewis939  - Yeah my daily use machine is a 1960's electric singer and you have to turn the knob. Up until about 1980 electric machines were just treadle machines with a motor attached to them. I also have a brand new computerised Singer and it is TOTAL JUNK. It is one of the worst things I have ever wasted my money on. The whole machine twists as its sewing and it won't sew a buttonhole in coat weight wool for the life in it.
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  49. 50 SECONDS IN AND IM ALREADY SUBSCRIBED her channel sounds FANTASTIC...!!! I saw her on a documentary a while back - but she did not have a channel at that point.
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  50. Im a guy and I have always been able to sew with a machine but in lockdown, I started hand stitching various parts of historical garments and for reasons I have ZERO clue about I have insanely neat hand stitching. Its not even something I can legitimately brag about cos I never put even one stitch of effort in to learn. What is even weirder is I have utterly illegible handwriting and I can't draw - so its defiantly NOT a "good dexterity" thing. It is literally the ONLY thing I am neat at doing. I also find it incredibly relaxing as well, I kinda wonder if it was my profession in a past life or something.
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