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Goldaline posted:The uppers on them are sewn to an inner (wool) sole inside-out and then turned I should say that I am also completely uneducated, so I am not really sure if I am using the right terms myself. But by my understanding this makes it a turnshoe instead of a welted shoe, although I guess it might depend on how you did the additional soling. I was really just trying to get an idea of how you assembled them, which you explained wonderfully! quote:So it goes, starting with the fur against your foot--fur-wool-leather-wool-boiled wool-leather, and then it has a little heel piece of leather-boiledwool-leather.
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Sep 24, 2009 15:17
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Ashcans posted:
I put the whole sole assembly in a stack and hammered nails through it to make holes--there's a few pictures of the assembly on my blog (havinghorns.blogspot.com)
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Sep 24, 2009 16:31
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Goldaline posted:I put the whole sole assembly in a stack and hammered nails through it to make holes--there's a few pictures of the assembly on my blog (havinghorns.blogspot.com)
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Sep 24, 2009 16:52
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Oh my God, Goldaline. Your clothes are to die for.
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Sep 25, 2009 13:42
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Molly Bloom posted:Oh my God, Goldaline. This forever. You're loving amazing gold.
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Sep 27, 2009 02:11
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I tried sewing a puppet with the machine, but I couldn't keep it on the path it was meant to go on, on the edges, and created an abomination. Any advice for keeping control, or am I a retard beyond help? Or do I just need practice?
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Sep 27, 2009 12:03
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Bungdeetle posted:I tried sewing a puppet with the machine, but I couldn't keep it on the path it was meant to go on, on the edges, and created an abomination. Any advice for keeping control, or am I a retard beyond help? Or do I just need practice?
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Oct 1, 2009 21:08
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You may be trying to go too fast? Slow the machine down.
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Oct 2, 2009 12:23
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Bungdeetle posted:I tried sewing a puppet with the machine, but I couldn't keep it on the path it was meant to go on, on the edges, and created an abomination. Any advice for keeping control, or am I a retard beyond help? Or do I just need practice? For really delicate turns and twists, hand crank the machine, just go one stitch at a time. Also, pick up the foot and move it often to keep it aligned. Sometimes you'll have to do this with nearly every other stitch. It also helps to draw on your stitching line with chalk, and sew directly on top of that line. Honestly the best remedy for tight corners (like tiny puppet hands, etc) is handsewing. Do the main body on the machine, staystich, go back and handsew the rest.
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Oct 3, 2009 05:52
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I really shouldn't post this here as the person I'm making it for is a goon (KYLE STOP LOOKING AND GO DO SOMETHING ELSE, WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING IN THE SEWING THREAD?), but I'm very excited. I just finished my first quilt top ever! It's about as accurate as a blind person playing DDR, but I'm still really pleased with how it came out. The pattern I used (well, sort of, only I didn't follow it very accurately) was the maple leaf block from Quilter's Cache. In the aerial shot taken from my rickey Ikea chair, the border looks purple, but it's really more of a dark red. It was the left over lining from the jacket I've been making (I need to get that finished so I can beg for more attention). The backing is going to be this white fabric with tiny rosebuds printed on it, and I don't have enough batting, so I'm using some white fleece I found that's the perfect size. This will probably mean I end up with a less squishy quilt, but it should still be warm, right?
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Oct 3, 2009 16:32
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Very nice leaves  Don't worry about a "squishy quilt" - the batting I have been using is a flat batting and it makes for a nice flat quilt that holds warmth in the winter but can be cool in the summer if you don't put a flat sheet on the bed. I would pre-wash and dry the fleece before quilting with it just in case of shrinkage. (unless you would be going for that, some people do)
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Oct 5, 2009 03:48
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Oh god, you must have amazing patience. I love quilts but I can't bring myself to try it, because it just looks so loving hard. I can barely finish a simple dress without getting distracted (I always have about 10 unfinished projects lying around) so I can't imagine taking on something like that. It's gorgeous, though. You did a great job, and I really like the colors. I don't think it's a problem if it's a little less squishy than normal; actually I think I prefer them that way. My boyfriend's mom does a ton of quilting, and wins awards for them and stuff. There are a bunch hung up in their house that are beautiful, and I always get jealous.
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Oct 7, 2009 17:21
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Calvervtutrp posted:Oh god, you must have amazing patience. I love quilts but I can't bring myself to try it, because it just looks so loving hard. I can barely finish a simple dress without getting distracted (I always have about 10 unfinished projects lying around) so I can't imagine taking on something like that. Those were pretty much my thoughts for the longest time, and I put off making quilts because of it (bar punk-rear end crazy patchwork which is like sewing and having a grand mal seizure at the same time). It was only when I was in Hawaii working on the goon island project that I took it up. We were in a tiny place called Volcano that had 2 general stores, a diner, a Thai restaurant and, for some bizarre reason, a quilting shop. Just go for it- choose a simple block from The Quilter's Cache and make a block a week or whenever you've got a spare half an hour. A rotary cutter is a pain to learn to use, but once you get the hang of it it's your best friend; believe me I tried making a few blocks a while back with scissors and spent about 2 hours just cutting out. As long as you set out your workspace beforehand with an ironing board, cutting mat and sewing machine, it doesn't take long to make a block, especially if you pick up little speed piecing tips. And as for "looking so drat hard"- that's the point! You can fool non quilters into thinking you've spent years making the thing! The best thing, for me, is that I don't have to care about fit- I made a few dresses this year and none of them had that great a fit because I'm very lazy with seam allowances and make it up as I go along. Putting it all together was a bit hair raising though. Everytime I went to quilt a leaf I freaked out and thought I would gently caress it up because it's hard to manouver something that big. I think if I go to make a bigger one (I want to try the monkey wrench pattern next!) then I might quilt it by hand in big running stitches instead, or even pay for a longarm quilting service. Don't worry about having a million unfinished projects to hand, as long as you eventually get around to finishing them. In the past month I've been tying up a lot of loose ends (or rather sewing them in, haha) and managed to finish a baby jumper I've had on hold and a giant rainbow crochet blanket. Handbags at dawn- in my ditziness, I didn't prewash any of the fabrics or the fleece I used to I haven't got a clue about shrinkage or colour runs. If I give instructions to only wash at low temperatures and to use a colour catcher sheet to catch any dye runs, do you think it will be safe? Or should I tell MY BOYFRIEND to handwash only?
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Oct 7, 2009 20:42
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madlilnerd posted:Handbags at dawn- in my ditziness, I didn't prewash any of the fabrics or the fleece I used to I haven't got a clue about shrinkage or colour runs. If I give instructions to only wash at low temperatures and to use a colour catcher sheet to catch any dye runs, do you think it will be safe? Or should I tell MY BOYFRIEND to handwash only? I was only concerned about the fleece shrinking because I have no experience using it. Is it the woven "sweatshirt" kind of fleece or the fleece that gets made into those little "tied edge" blankets?
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Oct 8, 2009 12:32
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The blocks were made from fat quarters that I got from various fabric shops (including a quilting shop) in Hawaii. The backing is 100% cotton from a fabric warehouse in Hilo and the sashing was leftover from a jacket lining I made- it's 100% cotton again I think, or maybe poly-cotton. As for the fleece, I have a feeling it's acrylic or polyester and it's like the stuff they make really lightweight children's blankets from. I have a feeling I originally bought it to make toy polar bears with, although I have no idea how big of one I was planning to make with 2 bloody metres of the stuff! I'd like to make more quilts but from what I've seen fabric is a lot more expensive in England than it is over in the states so I don't know if I could do it as a viable craft. I don't think I paid more than $2.50 for a fat quarter over there, and the backing was something ridiculous like $3 a yard too. If I want to use nice high quality fabric instead of cheap polycottons I'm looking at paying anywhere from £2 to £4 for fat quarters and £5 a metre for my backing.
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Oct 8, 2009 15:14
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Fabric is more expensive over there, I never can tell if it's just one of those things that's inexplicably more expensive in England or if quilting is not as popular there and kind of a "niche" thing. That kind of fleece probably won't shrink anymore than any regular batting and I would think it would make a nice snuggly quilt. 
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Oct 8, 2009 15:29
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Does anyone have any tips for sewing chiffon? I've never really used it before, but it looks like it pulls easy. :/
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Oct 8, 2009 15:58
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handbags at dawn posted:Fabric is more expensive over there, I never can tell if it's just one of those things that's inexplicably more expensive in England or if quilting is not as popular there and kind of a "niche" thing. It's not all that popular, really. I buy fat quarters sometimes for other projects and a bundle of 6-8 is usually about £8-£10 in somewhere like Hobbycraft. If you've got a decent local shop or market you may find it cheaper, and you can sometimes get bundles on eBay or various other sites. You could try asking around places like crafteroo.co.uk, see if anyone has any ideas for sourcing. I know http://www.gonetoearth.co.uk/ is stocking Amy Butler and that kind of thing right now.
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Oct 8, 2009 16:17
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handbags at dawn posted:Fabric is more expensive over there, I never can tell if it's just one of those things that's inexplicably more expensive in England or if quilting is not as popular there and kind of a "niche" thing. It's not just quilting, it's craft in general, which is really sad. Nowadays, making your own stuff is seen as either something you do because you're a lesbian artschool hippy, or you're a middle class woman with too much time on her hands. Going into Walmart this year (it was on my list of things to do in US) I was amazed by the range of craft stuff in a centralised store- not just lame "make your own cards!" crap, but bolts of fabric and yarn etc. The closest we have to that in the UK is WHSMiths which is a glorified newsagent that has a pitiful art section (e.g 2 sizes of sketchbooks and a pack of sketching pencils) which sometimes has a "learn to sew/knit/crochet" box in the kiddie section. Like most things in the UK, this can probably be blamed on THE WAR. People probably got sick of the "make do and mend" mentality of the 30s-40s-50s and then people who grew up in the 60s were probably embarrassed by their awful hippy parents with their homemade goods. That, and I think a lot of adults in the UK just don't have hobbies. They work jobs they hate and then come home and watch poo poo telly. Thank god for the internet is all I can say.
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Oct 8, 2009 19:51
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It's an interesting theory. I'd be interested to know exactly what the reason is myself. My in-laws were just here visiting from England last month and my mother-in-law was fascinated by me wanting to do quilting and needlework, which I found odd as I know she just sewed a very nice set of drapes (and got a lot of pleasure out of it). I guess if it's utilitarian it's not seen as a hobby? Meanwhile, my daughter has got me making sock monkeys. I didn't know they still made those kind of socks and now I have 6 pairs of them waiting to become monkeys!
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Oct 8, 2009 20:24
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teknicolor posted:Does anyone have any tips for sewing chiffon? I've never really used it before, but it looks like it pulls easy. :/ Make sure you have a fresh, sharp needle of the correct size in the machine. Old needles can get dull tips or burrs that can snag the fabric. You might also need to adjust the foot pressure so that the feed dogs don't cause damage. Run a few test pieces through the machine beforehand and make all your adjustments before you start on the actual piece. If you have trouble cutting it, try pinning the chiffon down to some medium weight tissue paper first, then cut through both the fabric and the paper. Make sure your pins are clean and sharp. Good luck! My first experience with chiffon was a disaster, but I had no idea what I was doing either.
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Oct 8, 2009 22:57
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teknicolor posted:Does anyone have any tips for sewing chiffon? I've never really used it before, but it looks like it pulls easy. :/ Hem it with a piece of tissue paper between the layers, then pull the tissue out when you're done- it keeps it from pulling out of place. I also starch mine to high heaven and then wash it out afterwards. I personally think georgette is easier to sew. ETA beaten
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Oct 10, 2009 06:33
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stars posted:Hem it with a piece of tissue paper between the layers, then pull the tissue out when you're done- it keeps it from pulling out of place. I also starch mine to high heaven and then wash it out afterwards. I personally think georgette is easier to sew. How soft and sheer is georgette compared to chiffon? And where can I find either? I too am in the planning stages of doing a chiffon dress and am having a hard time finding the color, sheerness, and softness I want.
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Oct 10, 2009 17:54
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Reformed Tomboy posted:How soft and sheer is georgette compared to chiffon? And where can I find either? Georgette is heavier and slightly more opaque. You'd only want one layer whereas you can add multiple layers of chiffon in one dress. It's not as soft as chiffon, and has that sort of translucent look like silk organza. You can find it at fashion fabrics club, denver fabrics, specialty fabric stores...I have never actually found it at Joann's or Hobby Lobby.
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Oct 12, 2009 05:12
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madlilnerd posted:It's not just quilting, it's craft in general, which is really sad. Nowadays, making your own stuff is seen as either something you do because you're a lesbian artschool hippy, or you're a middle class woman with too much time on her hands. Going into Walmart this year (it was on my list of things to do in US) I was amazed by the range of craft stuff in a centralised store- not just lame "make your own cards!" crap, but bolts of fabric and yarn etc. The closest we have to that in the UK is WHSMiths which is a glorified newsagent that has a pitiful art section (e.g 2 sizes of sketchbooks and a pack of sketching pencils) which sometimes has a "learn to sew/knit/crochet" box in the kiddie section.
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Oct 12, 2009 11:59
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Beep Street posted:Where the hell do you live, rural Lincolnshire or something? I'm in the UK too and there are several MASSIVE fabric stores near me, a giant Hobbycraft warehouse place and loads of little bead and knitting shops. I live in Slough. It's an industrial wasteland about 20 miles outside of London. The only fabric I can get around here is sari fabric from Indian clothes stores, or the polycotton poo poo from my local "haberdashery" which sells safety pins, 3 kinds of buttons and 10 shades of acrylic yarn. There's a Hobbycraft in Reading, but it's always poo poo (badly kept, crap layout, rubbish overpriced fabric, damaged goods) and difficult to get to (I don't drive). Apart from that, in terms of fabric... hmm. There's a tiny Aladdin's cave of fabric on the industrial estate in Uxbridge, which is again pretty difficult to get to without a car, oh and there's John Lewis in Reading, which IMO really overprices a lot of their fabric and other haberdashery products. So yeah, my local selection on yarn and fabric is pretty lovely. Craft just isn't popular in my town.
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Oct 12, 2009 14:02
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I have really only one local fabric store, but the internet is great. (I have to laugh at your 20 miles outside London when I drove 90 miles to go to the movies Saturday though...it's all a matter of scale I guess) I really don't have anything to contribute to the conversation, I'm mostly just sitting here thinking how loving sweet a quilt made out of sari fabric would be.
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Oct 12, 2009 14:40
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I hadn't seen anything mentioned about this (feel free to beat me if I overlooked it), but is there ANY way to convert flared leg pants into straight leg? I mistakenly purchased these horrid flared leg khakis and I like the way they fit otherwise, because I have 4 other pairs in various colors which are all straight leg. I have short stumpy legs so the last thing I need is a foot of material drowning each of my feet. Any guidance would be appreciated, because like a drat fool I took the tags off before wearing them. Yes, I'm stupid.
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Oct 12, 2009 14:41
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meataidstheft posted:I hadn't seen anything mentioned about this (feel free to beat me if I overlooked it), but is there ANY way to convert flared leg pants into straight leg? I mistakenly purchased these horrid flared leg khakis and I like the way they fit otherwise, because I have 4 other pairs in various colors which are all straight leg. I have short stumpy legs so the last thing I need is a foot of material drowning each of my feet. Any guidance would be appreciated, because like a drat fool I took the tags off before wearing them. I've never done it personally, couldn't you just turn them inside out and run a straight seam down the side of each leg? If they're khakis then you might not have to worry about one of the seams requiring topstiching either...
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Oct 12, 2009 14:57
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meataidstheft posted:I hadn't seen anything mentioned about this (feel free to beat me if I overlooked it), but is there ANY way to convert flared leg pants into straight leg? I mistakenly purchased these horrid flared leg khakis and I like the way they fit otherwise, because I have 4 other pairs in various colors which are all straight leg. I have short stumpy legs so the last thing I need is a foot of material drowning each of my feet. Any guidance would be appreciated, because like a drat fool I took the tags off before wearing them. I turned a pair of high waisted jeans with giant flares into skinny legged jeans by doing exactly what was suggested- turned inside out, sewed a big ol' seam down the inside of the leg to create a new inseam for a tapered leg. I figured inseam would be safer because if I screwed up, it wouldn't be as obvious as the outer seam which is more visible. Worked like a charm.
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Oct 12, 2009 15:02
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handbags at dawn posted:I(I have to laugh at your 20 miles outside London when I drove 90 miles to go to the movies Saturday though...it's all a matter of scale I guess) Someone once told me that the difference between an American and a Brit is that an American thinks 100 years is a long time, and a Brit thinks 100 miles is a long way. Seriously, I live 100 miles from my Grandma and get to see her maybe once every 2 years. The sari idea could work I guess. It would be pretty translucent though and all the sequins would dig into you when you rolled around on it. If you have a problem getting hold of cheap sari stuff where you are, I would be happy to get hold of some for you... I feel a stash swap coming on. Being in an Indian clothing shop is gorgeous, it's like being surrounded by rolls of gems, but it's just not my style. I'm pretty boring with colours.
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Oct 12, 2009 17:04
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madlilnerd posted:I live in Slough.
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Oct 12, 2009 17:17
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Beep Street posted:Sounds like John Betjeman was spot on. I feel sorry for you, I've got loads of places up here in Glasgow to buy craft things. I haven't even got around to checking out all the asian fabric shops of which there are many. Having been in Slough myself this weekend for a conference, I feel your pain. Crafting seems to be really random round the country - I live in South Lancashire/top of Greater Manchester, which has been cotton country *forever* - every other building is an old mill (hell, my biochem labs at uni were a converted mill!), and yet fabric is really hard to find now. I remember going to markets with my mum as a kid and being able to by yards and yards of the stuff off the roll very easily, twenty years ago. And as for yarn shops, forget it - not a single one round here sells anything but nasty acrylic. Which is ok-ish as I do make a lot of toys which need to be hard-wearing, but it's so disappointing to not be able to get a feel for anything beyond that. Further down south there are lovely yarn shops, though - very middle-class areas, as you say. We have one Hobbycraft, which is as described - trying to do too much, badly. Ours has an enormous Warhammer section and maybe twenty bolts of garish cloth. There is one better fabric shop but they cater to the dance/costume/bridal market, so much of it is shiny stretch lycra  I'd love to go shopping in a sari-fabric shop, though - always meant to explore. There are dozens but I'm a bit of a fabric noob beyond cotton, so I don't know where to start.
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Oct 13, 2009 08:54
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Everyone complains about Slough, but we've been making vaccines, paint and Mars bars for years now and no one has the guts to complain about those  Anyway, my advice on going sari shopping is to take an Indian friend with you, especially if you are going to a strong Indian area, like Chalvey or Southall. Oh, and don't be afraid to barter, especially if you're buying a lot, they are quite often happy to come down on price. And as for being a fabric noob- just explore and experiment. If you gently caress up, who cares? You can always cut it up and make it into something else. The first few things I made were beyond horrible, but they were good practice.
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Oct 13, 2009 12:19
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discordiaskitten posted:Crafting seems to be really random round the country - I live in South Lancashire/top of Greater Manchester, which has been cotton country *forever* - every other building is an old mill (hell, my biochem labs at uni were a converted mill!), and yet fabric is really hard to find now. I remember going to markets with my mum as a kid and being able to by yards and yards of the stuff off the roll very easily, twenty years ago. And as for yarn shops, forget it - not a single one round here sells anything but nasty acrylic. Which is ok-ish as I do make a lot of toys which need to be hard-wearing, but it's so disappointing to not be able to get a feel for anything beyond that. Further down south there are lovely yarn shops, though - very middle-class areas, as you say.
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Oct 13, 2009 20:55
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Beep Street posted:If you're in South Lancashire you might be near a branch of Abakhan Fabrics - they've got a massive selection of fabrics. I am I don't get into Manchester much, though. It's a bit hit and miss, I find - the downstairs is all the buy-it-by-weight stuff; fleece, lycra velvet, that sort of thing, and the upstairs is very much about the bridal or scary silks I can't possibly afford. But I have had some great stuff from them over the years.
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Oct 13, 2009 23:48
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Goldaline posted:I put the whole sole assembly in a stack and hammered nails through it to make holes--there's a few pictures of the assembly on my blog (havinghorns.blogspot.com) Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I have a few really stupid questions to ask you, but I don't want to interrupt this thread. Is there any place I can contact you?
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Oct 14, 2009 01:59
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stars posted:Georgette is heavier and slightly more opaque. You'd only want one layer whereas you can add multiple layers of chiffon in one dress. It's not as soft as chiffon, and has that sort of translucent look like silk organza. You can find it at fashion fabrics club, denver fabrics, specialty fabric stores...I have never actually found it at Joann's or Hobby Lobby. Thanks a lot! I ended up finding something that will work at a local shop I found while lost. I'm not sure what it is technically, but it looks good so far.
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Oct 14, 2009 04:56
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Shnooks posted:Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I have a few really stupid questions to ask you, but I don't want to interrupt this thread. Sure--my email's bleachrainbowAThotmailDOTcom.
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Oct 14, 2009 13:26
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Goldaline posted:Sure--my email's bleachrainbowAThotmailDOTcom. Thanks 
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Oct 14, 2009 15:53
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