By the way if you are new to this blog, the previous edition of Random Threads is here. If you haven't read that it's entertaining to read the comments and see that the issue of evolving sewing terminology is something that everyone has an opinion about.
Basting - Do you do it? With every year and every garment sewn I am more and more convinced about the benefits of basting a garment together. At my last knit t-shirt class I had a number of people who were just past beginners, and not at all familiar with sewing knits. I asked them to baste at a couple of points in the construction, to attach the neckband, and then when putting on the sleeves. They thought it seemed like extra work but I said try it. Why baste the neckband? Who hasn't had one of those little blips where you are happily sewing along and all seems well, then you turn it over and see this?
Or perhaps putting in the sleeve and not having any success with distributing the sleeve cap ease. Or trying to make a skirt more fitted and stitch it up with tight little stitches and then put it on and realize you need another inch? Basting takes just a few minutes. It actually goes quite quickly since the stitch length is longer. Then a quick examination or a try-on to check fit and it all is OK you can sew the whole seam with NO pins - which is also quicker and easier. Without exception I pin sleeves in a garment, then machine baste, sewing over the pins (yep I do that most all the time) and then after removing all the pins I can carefully examine the sleeve, see how the cap looks, make sure I didn't make the seam allowance too wide which is kind of easy to do on a tight curve. Then all the little fixes can be taken care of by snipping out the basting stitches in the section that needs attention. I even usually do the basting in a contrast color, so I can really see it on the fabric, and then sew the real stitching just a fraction to the side, so that there is no need to remove the basting. Anyway by the end of the class I had convinced a few about basting and their final neckbands looked great.
Here's an example of basting, on a side seam, I baste, try on, straighten out the transition from one seam to another, and then when it fits as I want - then I sew it up with a regular stitch length.
The Walking Foot: What's up with the devotion to a walking foot? I have never used it! This subject is definitely a "to each her own - whatever works for you" type of topic. Every week I see mention of this with people saving up their sewing $$ to buy the Bernina walking foot which must include the precious sewing magic dust to sprinkle over each project for sewing success. OK - I'm being a little sarcastic but I wonder what I'm missing. Or conversely that I have never needed it for any garment sewing that I've done. I think my philosophy toward sewing is similar to the way I also feel about cooking. It's less about tools and more about having the basics that you use to make any and everything. Perhaps it's also how you learned, if you didn't have a certain tool then you learned to do it the - dare I say - old-fashioned way and it still works. That may be why I don't use the serger all that much. It is handy for finishing ravel-y fabrics like denim but other than that I don't like to use it.
Patterns that are the same: Recently I saw a new indie pattern release and it looked exactly the same as a New Look knit top I made a couple of years ago (which is still available). This week I saw the new Colette dress pattern, one that has so many virtually identical cousins available in other pattern companies, from Burda to Vogue to plenty of other indies. Do you have loyalty to a specific pattern company and then wait for them to release a specific type of garment? Is it the pictures of the samples that sells you on a specific pattern? I mostly look at the line drawings to decide on patterns, and am always looking for interesting or new details. Having said this before, I am kind of over PDF patterns. The printing/taping part is just so annoying to me.
Refashioners: the things that people make by refashioning something is just fantastic. This year it appears the challenge was to refashion a men's tailored suit into something different and wearable. What a great place to start. Last year it was denim jeans and I thought that was great as well. What could be next year's starting point?
KonMari method: Why do I have a possibly irrational antipathy to this method of organization? Fully admitting that I probably have junk I could get rid of, but I'm not much of a shopper or hoarder. Somehow the pared down minimalistic vibe bugs me. This type of life management is marketed as a brand just like a lot of others and is still selling something, be it a books or seminars if not actual products. I give her credit for not starting to sell physical products like closet organizers etc. but the warning that you shouldn't keep things only because they might be useful someday disregards the fact that a thing you are not using today will actually be useful. Here's an example: I have 5 pyrex glass pie pans, which are my preferred type. I love to make pie, do it often in the summer, Thanksgiving etc but I don't make a pie every week, or every month for that matter. But when I want to make them I can, and if I bring a pie to a friend's house I can leave the leftovers and get the dish back whenever. Same thought goes for tools - lots of different pliers and screwdrivers, paint rollers, garden implements. All that stuff which you have to store but would be silly not to keep. The same analogy goes for clothing, I have things I rarely wear but they are needed then they are there. Plus it seems wasteful to get rid of things just for the sake of decluttering. As I have mentioned before I come from a long line of string savers (my term) people who kept small glass jars of various screws, nails and other useful bits so that when you needed something it was there. And why I keep a lot of my interfacing scraps in a plastic bag so when I need a small piece I feel like I'm utilizing something that would have been wasted. True confession though, my sock drawer storage method is to chuck the clean socks fresh from the laundry in the drawer and then fish around for a matching pair when needed. works for me:)
Sewing sleeves flat: I generally sew all sleeves in the round. Meaning that the side seam and sleeve seam are sewn up, and then the circle of the sleeve is joined to the circle of the armhole on the garment. Recently I saw a post with someone sewing a woven sleeve into a woven fabric garment in the flat way. I object! Have you done this? Do you think it works out OK? and then what about the dominant seam? i.e. the long seam continuing from sleeve down the side. It seems a less elegant finish to a garment and I don't even do it on knits. Hey, I am slapdash with my sock drawer but not with my seams!
Are the 80's back? Oh I hope not! Whenever I go to a garage sale or some other spot where you can browse though boxes of older patterns selling for pennies, there are so many hideous 80's patterns! I can't get past the shoulder pads and the shapelessness. Certainly every era including the 80's had interesting clothes but you would not guess that from looking at the sewing patterns from that era. However the 60's patterns I come across are often super cute and wearable. And the older ones 40's and 50's have such interesting details. Let's skip the 80's revival, please!
Check out this website: TheThackery Craftsy asked me to write a post on sewing with cork fabric. And I said Ok, but what is it? ha ha, did some googling and pinteresting (a word I just made up) and the cork fabric looked interesting. I ordered some cork fabric from an eBay seller and in the package was a business card for The Thackery. So I looked at the site and they sell the cork fabric and a bunch of other cool stuff, art supplies, magnets, very classy looking Italian sewing shears. Here's a look at sewing the cork fabric, it sews like a dream, really easy to work with and it just might convince me to make a handbag, or something like that. The natural cork with tiny metallic splatters on it is so pretty - would make a great clutch bag for summer.
Once again I am slightly concerned that I sound super cranky in this post - but based on the fact that these Random Threads get more comments than any of my other posts we all need to vent a little bit! And I didn't even get to these topics: Stretch thread...necessary? worthwhile? marketing gimmick? How about new pattern releases - I'm starting to think that I am completed jaded with new pattern releases, even from my usual favorites Vogue and Burda. (Once again I turn to the thesaurus and see all the alternatives for that word "jaded", meaning weary, glutted, inured, unmoved, blasé. ) Yes all those things exactly! Or perhaps it's that it is fall/winter and come spring I will find all kinds of new patterns to tempt me. Very likely!
Up next, a new shirt using fabric I bought at Mood last October, a knit dress using fabric I bought at Stone Mountain last month, and after that who knows.
This Saturday is the start of our Button Front Shirt class at Hello Stitch Studio in Berkeley which is sold out (although we will be scheduling this one regularly as it fills up) In the afternoon is the Knit Dress class which I think has one or two spots left. In December I'm doing a Copy an Existing Garment class which should be fun (also filling up). Actually they are all fun - I am meeting some amazing and interesting people and enjoying every class. People who sew are the best! Maybe I am biased. Ha ha, biased, sad little sewing pun there. Check the website and see what might interest you, Jacket/Coat class also scheduled again in December.
Happy Sewing, and try a little basting too!
Beth
Today's garden photo, I got this mallow plant which seemed less than promising back in the spring at the local junior college's plant sale. It was a spindly thing but now it is about 5 feet tall, and covered with the prettiest pink flowers. A winner, I will definitely get another one to fill in some other bare spots.
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