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I just woke up from a nightmare in which I had to darn the sleeves of 6 shirts and didn't do it correctly, then tried to look up darning how-to videos on the internet and couldn't find any. (Yes, I always have very vivid and crazy dreams! ) In real life, I do know how to darn but haven't done it in years.
For the record, I just looked the subject up and there are plenty of how to videos about how to DARN.
As for spinning pet hair - I used to keep my old golden retriever's shed fur, which was very soft and long, with the intention of spinning it in the future. She passed away several years ago, and though I've hunted I can't find that bag containing her fur. Others have told me that because the strands of most dog fur are so short you do have to mix it with a longer fiber like wool, but I've always thought that my golden's fur would be long enough. Now, what did I do with that bag?
Golden should be long enough to spin alone. A friend of mine learned to spin specifically so that she could spin her shelties' fur. Golden seems comparably to sheltie, at least in my mind's eye (which is still full of sleep; I just got up).
I haven't darned in YEARS. Suppose I could still do it, and I have a darning egg in my sewing box, in case I ever want to fix DH's socks.
Currently, I'm taking a Craftsy class on adjusting patterns to fit actual me. It comes with a Vogue pattern for a peplum top, and I'm awaiting its arrival in the mail. I'm really looking forward to making garments that fit.
I've always wanted a dressmaker's dummy - fitting form - whatever you call it. I've seen a few old ones at auctions but haven't bought one yet (the old ones I've seen have been a little smelly.)
Do you have one?
I'd also like to take a class on pattern making. My math skills are terrible, though, so don't know how well I'd do.
Oh - I've discovered Mood on-line for fabric and fabric swatches. I have some patterns on order and then will order some swatches from Mood. I'm so excited! Can a fabric stash get too big? I love me some fabric!
Check out the classes on Craftsy - I got this one more than 50% off, and you have access to the class forever. Ended up paying $19.95 for a $50 class, and the pattern is included.
This class has instructions how to make a paper tape dress form, but I'm also looking at these, as being customized and very affordable.
Mood is great. I also like Fabric Mart. I'm expecting a package from them today.
I am a sewer and the issue for me is that there aren't many stores near me with sewing supplies anymore. There are only 2 in my area and one of them is closing. Women in my area don't seem to sew. If I need certain items, I have to make a 1 to 2-1/2 hr trip to other areas where there are more stores. That's ok once in a while if I have a long list of supplies to buy at one time but most of the time, I can't anticipate a long list of supplies too far in advance. I only work on one project at a time and often need to run out at the last minute to get one item. Also, it's difficult to buy certain items such as trims online. Usually I need to handle the item or look at it up close, see how it looks with my fabric, etc. So it's not conducive to order certain items online. I also have to pay shipping charges.
So, my biggest issue is the lack of stores. Years ago I remember at least 6-8 stores with fabrics, my mother regularly made the rounds to these. All of them went out of business.
^^^ You can order supplies online from JoAnn Fabrics as far as I know. Quilt shops are a good resource, either near your area, or online. I know it is difficult as far as choosing colors and so forth online, but if you stick with the name brands of items that would be best.
OK, my mother had a darning sock but never taught me to darn. I could do it passably well on sweaters, never did a sock.
There is a lovely fabric site called EmmaOneSock.com that will send you swatches. She has clothing fabrics you don't see anywhere else. Mood is not the same online as in the store. A lot of things sold online come from a warehouse in NJ and never get displayed in the store whereas all the beautiful things in the store that take your breath away are never on the website.
Dressmakers' dummies you can make with the help of a friend, some plastic wrap, and duct tape. Put on your undies that you would wear with the clothes, have your friend wind you in plastic wrap, and then start duct taping over it, being careful not to pull. The plastic is only so you can get out alive because once you finish with all the areas you want - you can go up your neck if you want to make that kind of collar, etc., you get a scissors and cut a line up one side and squiggle out and then you can fix the cut with - can you guess? - duct tape! You would need, I think, a really good friend, but otherwise this is pretty cheap and very accurate if you don't pull. There are instructions around online that you can check out.
Myself, I took one pattern making class and didn't think I could live through another. Pattern altering might be OK, but pattern making from scratch was - let's just say, never again for me. There is a Russian site lekala.com where you put in measurements and pick patterns and order them for around $2.99 each and if it hits the model on the knee in the picture, it will hit you on the knee. I haven't used them myself, but learned about the site at a sewing meetup I used to go to in NY and I saw the pattern the woman was using and she swore by the place and had used it before.
Now I have the same problem as smt111: 30 miles to the closest place with fabric and it's JoAnn's. There used to be fabric and trim stores everywhere, but no more. All I can suggest for trims out here in the boonies is to ask about a sample even if they don't mention it or charge for it or to see if there's a good return policy. And I NEVER pay shipping. I opened a junk e-mail account for all the things that say just type in your e-mail for free shipping or a coupon and so I put that junk e-mail everywhere there is all over the internet and I get special offers and usually manage to get away if not with free shipping, then with an equivalent discount.
Another thing I just discovered is that while Amazon owns Fabric.com, they don't necessarily charge the same price for the same fabric. I got quilt fabric that I found on fabric.com on Amazon where they had a promotion like 15% off on 2 yards and 20% off on three and free shipping. You can order swatches of anything but quilt fabric on Fabric.com and then see if you can do better on the price at Amazon.
Yes, most of us live in a "fabric desert" nowadays. There's nothing that can compare with shouldering through a fabric store densely packed with bolts of all different kinds and lengths of fabric, fondling and sniffing to one's heart's content, then going back and forth and back and forth between two or three until you finally decide on just the right one. I even like fondling thread, and don't get me started on buttons (does anyone else have an old fruitcake can filled with buttons?) I like ordering and getting swatches in the mail, but it just isn't the same, and makes the whole process of selection take SO long!
Although you can find them many places, JoAnnes is just not the same kind of place at all that it was when I was young, and Hancock is the same. And I wouldn't set foot in a Hobby Lobby (political comment ) today for all the money in the universe.
It's depressing to have to go to Walmart to get a zipper.
Does anyone have any wonderful brick and mortar fabric store near them? I remember one in St. Paul, MN and one in Kansas City, MN, but their names have completely gone out of my brain.
No, I have a round metal cookie box full of ancient buttons and then about 2 quart sized plastic bags. And of course I never have the right button, so have to buy more. Same with threads; dozens of spools but none in the color I need and a 30 mile drive to get any more and limited selection when/if I get there.
Don't get me started on Hobby Lobby, but at least they're also 30 miles, just in another direction. I'd love getting a zipper in Walmart if I could get the right color or size. But then I'm spoiled, being a former NYer. Oh, for a day in the garment district where they have whole stores with nothing but zippers. I'd shop for everyone if I could. The problem with mail order is that you can find everything you want, but never in one place. And to buy a particular variegated thread in one store (and postage if it's only the one item), and trim in another, etc., etc., it's madness. So frustrating.
I have a button jar - a 1940's era Atlas Strong Shoulder Mason jar, found in an attic - and nope, rarely ever have just what I need. But I like to haunt thrift shops for things like bias tape & seam binding. One great place in Tucson sold them for $.10 - $.25 apiece, so I picked up any that struck my fancy.
Fabric shopping is definitely less fun that it used to be; JoAnn Fabrics seems to focus on quilt cottons, home dec, and fleece. There are some quilt fabric shops up in the Lancaster, PA area that I've yet to check out, but again, quilt cottons. So I buy most of my other fabrics online.
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) In real life, I do know how to darn but haven't done it in years.
) today for all the money in the universe.
