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Charmmi posted:I'm contemplating turning some pairs of tights into thigh-high stockings to wear with a garter belt. If I cut the legs off near the top, how should I sew down the raw edge so it doesn't unravel? What tools have you got? If you have a serger, problem solved. If you have a sewing machine with a zigzag stitch, also solved. (Use a fairly tight stitch spacing.) If you don't have any kind of mechanical sewing machine, consider Fray Check (available at any craft store). In all cases, you stretch the edge you're finishing; otherwise you wind up with a finished edge you can't fit your thigh in. Depending on how much you stretch, and this is very much a trial-and-error process, you can get a lettuce edge.
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Jan 21, 2013 23:40
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I love the bag, Shifty Pony.
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Jan 23, 2013 07:43
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NancyPants posted:Any tips for avoiding lettuce edge? I'm sure a lot of it just takes practice, but a little guidance is helpful. What fabric are you working on? I hear that using a fusible stretch interfacing before you sew can make a big difference. It's also critical to let the feed dogs do all the work of advancing the fabric. I tend to control the needle by holding the fabric taut with one hand behind the needle and the other in front of it. This pretty much guarantees a lettuce edge. The lighter your touch on the fabric, the less you're going to stretch the material.
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Jan 23, 2013 18:00
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Welcome to Sodom-By-The-Sea! Keep an eye on Craigslist; I see industrial motors and tables for sale all the time.
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Jan 23, 2013 18:44
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Have you considered fabric glue for basting? My friends swear by it, especially in applications like this. http://filminthefridge.com/2011/03/03/spray-adhesive-for-quilt-basting-a-quick-how-to/
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Jan 30, 2013 20:01
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I have a protip on sewing machines: Ask to see their trade-ins. You probably don't need this year's features, and buying a well-maintained 4-5 year old machine can save you big bux.
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Feb 9, 2013 19:08
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Critical thing to do when test-driving: bring your own fabric samples. In particular, bring the stuff you really sew: silks, denim, canvas, quilting cotton, whatever. Sewing machine stores have special highly-starched fabric they use to demo machines, and it doesn't tell you how the machine will work in the real world. The reviews at patternreview.com are often useful. Registration is free, but the reviews tend to be written by actual sew-ers. Edit: You can free-motion quilt on any machine that lets you drop the feed dogs. The teacher who taught me to do free-motion quilting says that extra "free-motion" features can actually get in your way. You still have to learn to move the fabric at a steady speed.
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Feb 13, 2013 17:32
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I didn't know there were two! What the sewing community really needs is the equivalent of Ravelry, but that would be enormously difficult to create.
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Feb 13, 2013 23:23
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There was Greenberg and Hammer, but they died.  Fashion Sewing Supply is great for lightweight interfacings. https://www.fashionsewingsupply.com/
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Feb 13, 2013 23:47
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TodPunk posted:I've been debating getting into sewing for a limited bit of clothing type things for me. Specifically at the moment some Japanese style clothing (like a hakama that I'd add pockets to). Has anyone messed with this sort of thing, or would like to tell me I'm a fool for thinking of starting there? Do you think this would take a significant time investment (a reason I won't be getting into blacksmithing) or is this something I can do in a handful of hours a week style of hobby? I know some hobbies require significant time investment, and my only exposure to sewing is my daughter's quilting, but she's been doing that 2 hours a week and finished her first recently after about 3 months. Clothing sewing seems like it could be similar, or could require a great deal more to do anything one could wear. I have no reference point for that, sadly. Japanese clothing is nice because it's all straight seams. However, the word of mouth is that hakama are a royal pain in the rear end because of the large number of folds you have to sew through. Go to your library and get their copy of John Marshall's Make Your Own Japanese Clothes, which has great layouts and measurements. If you want to work from commercial patterns, Folkwear's Asian patterns are said to be really solid. http://www.folkwear.com
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Feb 16, 2013 00:17
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Hakama have those two big open gaps at the sides that are normally covered by the gi. The Folkwear pattern includes modesty panels to cover those gaps if you're not doing martial arts. Putting pockets on those modesty panels would be easy-peasy.
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Feb 16, 2013 04:30
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Nope. How much money do you have to spend? You're actually better off with an older machine from a reputable brand than with a brand-new machine. A 10-year-old, 20-year-old top-of-the-line machine is going to be sturdier. Brands to watch for include Bernina, Elna, Brother. Avoid Singers newer than 1970 or so. Patternreview.com has really great sewing machine reviews, including older models. e: Here are some of the machines I'd buy on my local Craigslist, to give you an idea. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/atq/3581049214.html Singer Style-O-Matic. Early zigzag machine. Very difficult to break. You should be able to find a local repairman. At $95, a steal. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/atq/3645242474.html 1950s Singer Featherweight, $100. An insane steal; these usually go for $400 and up. Will sew anything, forever. Lightweight enough to carry to classes. The catch: No zigzag. There's a zigzag attachment, but eeh. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/hsh/3626772599.html Quilter's Bernette, $80 I don't know anything about the Bernette 330, but Bernina is a reliable manufacturer. If you find something you like, post it here and we'll have opinions. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Feb 28, 2013 |
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Feb 28, 2013 18:42
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Stultus Maximus posted:Well I got tired of stalking craigslist and thrift stores, plus I had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket. So I just went ahead and found the cleanest one on eBay I could find: For a lot of decorator stitches, you want to be able to stitch on the edge of the fabric, so you want the needle far to the left or far to the right depending on which side the seam is on.
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Mar 5, 2013 06:27
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If you want a free machine you should be looking at Freecycle, not Craigslist. Also, is your sewing class being taught by somebody who works for a sewing machine store? If so, the teacher is going to be recommending only the models sold by that store -- even if she isn't teaching at the store itself. Before answering "what should you spend?" we need to know what you are planning to sew. Quilting? Art? Stuffed toys? Home decor? Stretch fabrics? Woven fabrics? Embroidery? The answer to that is going to rule in some machines and rule out others. My personal bias is not to buy a new sewing machine. Sewing machines are like cars: they lose a lot of their value the instant you walk out the door. Furthermore, a maintained sewing machine by a good manufacturer will last forever. My pride and joy was made in 1945 and is running like a top. (To be fair, I own two machines, one modern and one Singer Featherweight.) Like car owners, many serious sewers will trade in their current machine regularly to get the top of the line. Five years' ago's top of the line will set you back a lot less than this year's middle of the line.
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Mar 22, 2013 17:46
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They wouldn't sell for much; opera and theater companies sell off their used costumes all the time. The thing about a used opera costume is that it is made for a very specific body type (singers are barrel-chested). Historic reenactors won't be crazy about it unless it's period-accurate and fits. People who just want something for a party will rent. My guess would be less than $100 each, probably less than $50.
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Mar 23, 2013 19:41
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Another solution for materials getting dragged down by the needle is to sew over tissue paper, then rip the tissue paper off after you've done the seam. This is supposed to be the only way to sew chiffon without resorting to drugs.
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Mar 23, 2013 23:53
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Cosigned in triplicate. Sewing machines depreciate like cars: much, much faster than they wear out. If you go to a store that does repairs or trade-ins, you can get a few years' back top-end or at worst midline for what you'd pay for a brand-new cheapie from Joann. I bought my Bernina eight years old in the mid-1990s. It is still going strong 20 years later and solves all the problems I need solved. With the money I saved, I've bought a metric fuckton of feet, each one of which solves one problem brilliantly. The exception IMHO is sergers. If you want a serger, buy a recent one. Threading and tension control are royal bitches, and modern sergers have come a long way in automating both of them. A trade-in is still a good idea, but don't go with something ten years old.
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Apr 30, 2013 17:55
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I love the dumbbell trick! I don't have a dumbbell, so maybe I can push an armchair over the crease. :-)
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May 4, 2013 17:00
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It's called "fusible web" and the salespeople should know what you're talking about. Stitch Witchery is the brand I've seen most often -- it'll be with the interfacing. http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/favorite-things-misty-fuse-stitch-witchery/
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May 24, 2013 22:26
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Pile of Kittens posted:That's the right name! My memory for specialized nouns and names is really awful recently. E: You don't need a French curve to do that curve. If you aren't comfortable freehanding it, drape a piece of string around the curve until it "looks right", draw along the string, then use the piece you just cut to lay out the same curve on the other side. Or drape the string on a piece of cardboard, mark, cut, and use the cardboard as a template. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 21:42 on May 27, 2013 |
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May 27, 2013 21:37
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Nooo, not more fabric! (casts shifty eye at stash)
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May 28, 2013 01:55
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Eponine posted:I can sew though, and I can sew quilts, so I was thinking of making them some sort of memory quilt with pictures contributed by their friends from college. My mom gave me the pick of the family quilts recently. I didn't want the signature quilt all her friends had made for her wedding; I wanted the ones whose colors I liked. e: Hodja's Bitch's memory quilt on the previous page is strikingly well-made and handsome. I've seen lots of memory quilts that weren't.
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Jun 6, 2013 02:24
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What I learned to do in home ec, and still think a good idea, is this: * Put a needle you're willing to throw away in the machine. * Draw a bunch of straight lines on a piece of paper. Draw a spiral on another piece. Draw a curve on another. * Stitch along the lines on the paper. Repeat until you can follow the paper lines without any trouble. Then throw away the needle and proceed to a real project. This lets you learn the skill of guiding the needle separate from everything else. As far as the fabric crawling on you: What fabric are you starting with? You want to start with a tightly-woven non-shiny fabric. Cotton or linen is ideal. Wash before sewing. When you lay it out on a flat surface, weight it down (cans will do just fine) and then lay the pattern pieces on the fabric and pin.
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Jun 11, 2013 17:42
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Meche, I love your color and fabric choices. Gorgeous.
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Jun 13, 2013 17:27
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Goldaline posted:Ahh! I love the bottom one--I think gray is under utilized in quilts! I guess I should update ya'll on the Dear Jane Quilt From Hell. Day-amn. That is GORGEOUS. Can I come sleep at your house? That is just beautiful. I would go with the chocolate brown, because you really want those squares to pop against the background. Furthermore, in the picture at least, some of the squares are visually close to a medium gray. You might also consider a very dark pine green.
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Jun 14, 2013 16:39
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Threading a second-hand old-fashioned serger, the kind where you have to individually adjust tensions on each thread, will make you cry like Paula Deen's PR people. You did the right thing by passing it up. IMHO, don't buy any serger unless you're buying it from a person who currently uses it and can spare an hour or so to demonstrate it for you. I made the mistake of buying a non-automatic (manual tension, manual threading) serger. Even after the seller showed it to me and demonstrated it, I couldn't make it work when I got home. I wound up donating it to charity. A LOT of progress has been made in usability for home sergers; personally, I wouldn't buy one that didn't have auto-tension, at least. Mine is autotension and autothread. e: Any time you want reviews of old machines, go to http://sewing.patternreview.com (go ahead and register, it's free.) You can find contemporary reviews of old machines and get a feeling for which are workhorses and which are instant junk. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Jun 22, 2013 |
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Jun 22, 2013 00:06
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I love that squid so much. Well done, you. Once you've got it, let us know; I bet I can help you find the right attachments for it on Ebay. The right presser foot can make some tasks much, much easier.
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Jul 6, 2013 03:12
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tetracontakaidigon posted:Arsenic Lupin, thanks as well! I am not an expert when it comes to feet, my mom's machine only has the one it came with and I still sew zippers by hand. Beyond a standard and maybe a zipper foot, what would I want? Which model of machine is it? See http://www.singerco.com/support/machine-model-numbers for a picture of where the model number is.
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Jul 7, 2013 22:51
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Ho Chi Mint, your local quilting store will have a "long-arm quilter" that quilts mechanically. Bring in your jacket, show it to them, and ask them what they'd charge to quilt 2 1/2 yards of fabric if you supply the fabric. (Note: you need to quilt more than you think you need because quilting shrinks the fabric.) Stultus Maximus: I'd take the thing to a tailor if I could possibly afford it; the way the braid goes into the side seam means you're going to have to unpick the lining, unfold the cuff, and then unpick the side seam in order to do anything to the braid. That's a lot of seams to unsew and resew if you're not an expert. e: "Satin" is a weave -- it's like calling a metal "polished" instead of "steel". You can make satin out of silk, rayon, cotton (really), polyester, ... The lining you have is actually a twill weave, which is common for linings. What makes a fabric shiny is a combination of the weave (see above) and the fiber used. Rayon and silk and polyester are all shiny in most weaves. It's been customary for awhile to make linings out of rayon because it doesn't stick to the surface underneath it, so the lined object (coat, jacket) slides smoothly over the clothes you wear. To find out what sort of fiber your lining is made of, take a snip of fabric from the torn spot and do a burn test. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Jul 17, 2013 |
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Jul 17, 2013 22:00
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It depends. Are you trying to pass the "10-foot rule" (looks good as long as you're that far away) or a military inspection? If you're wearing this in a context where getting it perfect matters, pay the expert. S/he's going to have access to the right sort of braid and know how to reassemble a cuff.
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Jul 17, 2013 22:39
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NancyPants posted:Ok, will a serger let me sew knits and stretch fabrics without the nasty lettuce edge, or do I still have to bring some actual skill to the table? I can't obtain/maintain proper tension on my machine and no matter what I do, I can't get it right with knits and stretchy stuff. 2. Sergers will let you avoid that nasty lettuce edge, but you need to guide the fabric with a light touch. You also will need to adjust the differential feed on a scrap so that straight fabric in = straight fabric out. 3. Sergers do one thing very well: sew straight serged stitches fast. They can't reverse. They can't sew tight curves. They can't go slowly; the speeds are quick and oh-my-God. They don't offer you precise control unless you're very, very good. I wouldn't want to put together a chiffon blouse with a serger; I wouldn't want to make ten ruffled skirts without a serger. A good analogy would be that a sewing machine is a chef's knife, a serger a Cuisinart. edit: That's a great find, uncloudy day. Old fabric is only valuable if there are collectors looking for it. Barkcloth is valuable; original feedbag material is valuable; fabric useful for dollmaking are valuable; vintage prints from the 1940s and earlier can be valuable, if they're prints reenactors covet. I'm not aware of there being an active market for 1970s domestic-decoration yardage. (I could be wrong, of course.) Go ahead and make something fabulous. To my eye, that's probably a curtain, teatowel, or upholstery fabric, although it could be a big splashy print for a caftan or similar. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 00:41
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I've (tried to) make the Folkwear cheongsam pattern. It makes no allowance at all for the existence of boobs. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to redraft because of the construction of the bodice. Three generations of experienced seamstresses (my grandmom, my mom, and me) couldn't figure out how to make the drat thing fit. I strongly recommend against that one. Would a shu he be close enough? You might look around this site on hanfu.
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Sep 28, 2014 00:59
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Hey, Goons in SoCal, this estate sale of Edith Head's patternmaker Friday and Saturday looks to die for. e: Any time you're having thread-skipping problems, try changing the needle. It astonishes me how often putting in a new needle fixes what I thought were tension problems.
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May 7, 2015 20:15
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I just discovered that massdrop.com, the site that assembles people for a group buy at lower prices, has an entire quilting section, and many of the items in it aren't specific to quilting. In particular, if you've ever wanted one of those expanding gauges for spacing scallops or buttonholes or whatever evenly, now's your chance. https://www.massdrop.com/buy/simflex-sewing-gauge Check out some of the expired drops: there were 100 Schmetz needles for $50 (if you go through them like rice), Japanese lawn yardage, Wonder Clips (everybody should have Wonder Clips, they are so much faster and stable than pins)... I'm going to be checking regularly from now on.
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Jun 23, 2015 20:17
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drat, you are good at appliqué. e: Also, if you're in this thread and sign up for Massdrop, can you use this link? https://www.massdrop.com/r/M26PWB I get freebies. edit edit: Has anybody in the thread ever used Japanese hand needles? https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tulip-needle-6-piece-gift-set I usually use either John James or Piecemakers. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Jun 26, 2015 |
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Jun 26, 2015 21:59
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Not making GBS threads up the thread at all. Warning: if you do anything to seal the surface you'll lose the tactile sensation that is a big part of tweed. Anyway, Scotchgard Fabric Protector spray is the traditional solution. Scotchgard was reformulated a few years back because the old formula contained chemicals that accumulated in the environment. I haven't used it since, but Amazon reviews say it still works.
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Jun 28, 2015 20:19
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coyo7e posted:Apologies for the double-post however, I was curious if anyone had any opinion on working with window-screen mesh, or experience working with similar types of fabric, be they mesh, or something kind of stiff but also a bit tear-prone? You don't want window-screen mesh, you want pet-screen mesh. http://so-sew-easy.com/sew-michelle/ shows one way to use it.
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Jul 16, 2015 01:12
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For Americans: JoAnn is having their annual pattern sale August 6-8, up to 10 Simplicity or McCalls for $1 each, $2 Butterick. No mention of Vogue or Burda. https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/comments/3fzx0n/hear_ye_hear_ye_joanns_pattern_sale_has_rolled/
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Aug 6, 2015 19:44
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At my local Joann, it turned out that the McCalls didn't go on sale until Sunday, so I filled my paws with Simplicity and Butterick. I am disappointed that most of the Butterick Making History poems have been pulled; presumably they didn't sell well enough. Tons of steampunk, Lolita, Goth, and TV/movie tie-ins, if that's your bag.
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Aug 7, 2015 18:28
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I think blue piping at the waist seamline, neck, and armholes would look snazzy. So would bought white eyelet ruffles at the neck, armholes, and hem. You'd know your niece best -- would she like frills everywhere or a more tailored look? e: You can also buy embroidered appliques for things like stars and wings and initials and whatever -- check out that section for things that might look good around the neck or down the front.
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Aug 7, 2015 21:39
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