Hemming Tapered Pants

Many people are frustrated when they try to hem tapered pants. They get a lot of puckers along the stitching line, no matter how careful they try to be. That is because hems for tapered pants are cut in a certain way. Once you cut off the factory-cut hem allowance, you've lost the added hem width required to smoothly stitch the hem.

Imagine this is a tapered pant leg. I drew in the hem stitching with pencil.Now, if I open up the hem and lay it flat, it looks like this.Can you see how the shape of the hem flares out at the bottom? That's because it must match the width of the leg not at the opening, but 1 1/2" or so up, where it will be sewn.

Now, in the course of shortening the pants, I cut the original hem off:And fold it up again (I have outlined the edges of the hem allowance in pencil b/c I couldn't get a good photo):There is not enough hem width to span the width of the larger pant leg anymore.

The solution?That's it. Just open and spread the inseam enough to accommodate the width of where the hem is to be sewn. That's how tailors do it and that's how dressmakers do it. Nothing magical at all!

In extremely tapered pants, you may need to open the outseam as well. But my best advice is...don't wear extremely tapered pants!

This Weekend's Fiber Action

Now I have 3 crockpots so I was able to dye the same amount of wool as in the past two weekends, but with much less scrambling. I am about to get a 4th pot, and then I'll be able to dye 1 pound lots, which is nice for people who are interested in making larger projects with their handspun.

Here are some of the results:
Shetland Tops, all about 4 ounce and available in my etsy shop:
Threw some suiting wool in a couple batches for rug hookers:


Dyeing woven wool is a bit easier than the roving. The roving requires gentle handling to make sure it doesn't turn into a felted mass. But the fabrics had already been machine washed and dried and it's actually preferable if they are completely or partially fulled...you don't want them raveling away as you work with them. I have to say though, I enjoy dyeing the roving more....it's squishy soft, what's not to like?

Musings on Creativity

I've been thinking a lot about creativity (an artist friend would say the thinking is just my problem) lately. In fact, I'll be taking a class designed to explore and expand creative possibilities in the coming weeks. (stay tuned...)

When I was at the last ASDP (Association of Sewing and Design Professionals, (formally PACC) national conference, I got to talking to a well known art to wear artist over a generous glass of chardonnay. I confessed to her my tendency to be technically oriented, an engineer (stop laughing Beth) rather than an artist. What she said has stuck with me. I can't remember her exact words, but the essence of it was use whatever you are to find your art. The way I understood it is, well, if you're an uptight person (not me of course, just a hypothetical uptight person), use that in your art. If you are a thoughtful person, make thoughtful art. Seems like a duh thing, right? But it's a tool, a place to start.

So beautiful creative ideas don't just come to me over coffee and toast in the morning...it doesn't mean I'm not able to create. I need to create from my own perspective. Take the word "uptight." What would uptight art be?

Well, how about the work of MC Escher? Especially the "tesselations" pieces. Isn't there something about those that speaks to completeness, having all the loose ends wrapped up, everything fitting together just so, math and precision?

What could "uptight" mean in fiber art? Interesting angles coming together precisely. Complicated shapes, closures, details. Or even sparseness and simplicity....the absence of "uptightness." (new word)

For me, uptightness may have led to this design, an LBD that was quite the engineering feat. The very construction complications of it appealed to me. Originally the idea was to have twice as many strips, but, hey, I'm not a sadist! It didn't win anything, but it did, and still does, speak to me. (It says, "lose 10 pounds so you can wear me!")

Uptightness may have also had something to do with my stubborn determination to come up with a unique closure for a reversible challenge several years ago. OK, the dress in general is fairly puke-y, but the concept, and the closure, are pretty cool.
See how it works?
The left side of the dress can completely release from the right side, and they can one or the other or both be flipped inside out. the closure is a double band of inseam buttonholes on one side, and buttons mounted on tabs on the other.

BTW, another possible version of this dress would've had 3 completely reversible pieces:
Waaaayyyy too many buttons....

Anyway, the point is, can you see how my sort of "uptight" nature may have led to these designs? I was drawing on what I had, as advised by my colleague at the conference, without even realizing it. So think about it....what aspects of your basic nature might lead to design?

Out Damn Spot!

Here is something I learned the hard way...never try to remove a stain with a paper product! You are likely to succeed only in creating a lightened bullseye, with the dark spot smack dab in the middle. Like a spotlight...."look here, I'm a spot!"

The reason, I read somewhere, is that paper products have been bleached somewhere in the manufacturing process. So rubbing that napkin or paper towel on your garment is probably not a good idea.

Instead, use two clean washcloths or towels, a dry one under the spot, and a damp one to work the stain with. Also, rather than using a rubbing or circular motion, use a dabbing motion. Wrap the cloth on your index finger and repeatedly "poke" the stain.

For stubborn stains, incidentally, I like the Carbona series of removers. You can get these, in small yellow plastic bottles, at your fabric store, drug store, grocery or mega-mart. Note: Consult the back of the bottles, under the label, to see which specific stains can be removed with which number bottle.

I have even used these, very cautiously, on dry cleanable garments. Test first (yada, yada, yada), then use a wooden toothpick to apply tiny amounts to the stain. Be sure to have an absorbent cloth under the stain to suck the liquid right through.

I Am A Seamstress

So shoot me.

Many sewers avoid the term seamstress like the plague. It has negative connotations they say. Of domestic drudgery, even prostitution (yes, "seamstress" was once used as a euphemism for prostitution.) Or, they say, it denigrates their skill because the term is associated with factory workers, unprofessionals, maybe those that are "taking in sewing" for "pin money."
Personally, though, I take no offense when someone calls me a seamstress. I make seams. I don't need some kind of fancy word attesting to how well I do it. My work will, hopefully, do that for me.

Besides, I'm not running away from a word! A few micro grams of ink, transient pixels even. I mean, really, get over it! If the term seamstress has negative connotations than they end with me. I won't be defined by a word...I'll define the word, thank you.

Re-thinking Blog Content

Lately most of my creative time has been devoted to knitting and spinning. (I do tend to go through these shifts in focus a couple times a year... my friend Beth once astutely said, "you can do anything, but only one thing at a time.") In fact I am even considering adding a new retail aspect to my business, selling knitting patterns and dyed fiber on etsy.com.

I've been thinking about expanding the content of my blog, but I'm also concerned. The single focus on sewing makes for a nicely concentrated body of information. On the other hand, expanding allows me much more material to draw upon in terms of posting. I am, as Tim Gunn might say, flummoxed.

So, I ask your help. Please vote.... and, as always... thank you!

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Inspired by Trash?

A few months ago I couldn't resist taking this picture of a pretty pile of serger trimmings on the floor. The sun was coming in on it and it sparkled with lots of happy colors.

Alas, I didn't save them. If I had, maybe I'd have created something fun and intellectually interesting like this. Vicki always has creative and inspiring things on her blog. As does Katrin of Sew Mad. Honestly, these ladies blow me away with their fresh creativity, just making "simple", beautiful, unique things.

On the other hand, we all have our talents. And mine may not be that kind of creating. I can make a mean jeans hem though, and that's something!

And, I feel fortunate to be able to experience some special happiness just by observing a pile of serger trimmings on the floor. Sounds silly, but, really, I think that many people go through life and miss a lot of little joyful things like that.

Repairing Seam Slippage

I'm often asked to repair slipping seams to extend the life of linings and garments. There is nothing magical about repairing these seams...in fact, it is more important to know what not to do than to choose any one method of what to do.

What you don't want to do when repairing a slipped seam is to simply re-stitch the seam deeper. OK, there might be very few instances where I might do this...if and only if the slipping is due only to the type of fabric and and not horizontal stress. Keep in mind that if you stitch a seam deeper, you are taking in the garment and by making it smaller you are increasing the amount of stress on that seam. So, even if you do decide to fix the slipping in this manner, you must also first reinforce the fabric within that seam, or it will just slip again, and this time faster.

Whether you stitch the seam deeper, or use a "patching" method, which I'll explain below, you must reinforce the seamlines on the slipping-prone fabric. It's best to use some kind of fusible for this. Interfacing, in an appropriate weight, drape, stretchiness and grain, cut into strips, is great for this purpose. In fact, I keep pre-cut, pre-shrunk, generously cut 5/8" strips of So-Sheer© interfacing on hand. (It's also great to have ready for interfacing zipper openings.)

Press the slipped seam flat and remove stitches and serging. You can trim away any loose ravelly stuff...in linings it gets to be like soft fuzz after it's frayed over time. Now lay the seam flat and assess the damage. You have lost fabric. How much? You must interface the area, then use a wide enough "patch" of fabric so you can re-sew the seam and maintain the original lines of the garment. The interfacing should extend a bit beyond where you are going to sew the patch, vertically and horizontally.

When I say "patch" I really don't mean an old-fashioned canvas patch like we used to iron onto the knees of our Toughskins©! You want the patch to be made of a material similar in look and feel to the slipped fabric.

If you are repairing slippage on the face of a garment, this is going to be very difficult and may require some creative embellishing. Often times if I have to repair mild slippage in the actual garment fabric, I release the seam, fuse interfacing to the back, and re-stitch the seam in almost the same place. There is not much that can be done on the face of the garment. Perhaps some subtle stitching with the grain of the fabric, to secure it to the interfacing below. I have repaired actual holes in garment fabric by cutting a bit of garment fabric from a hem or seam allowance, placing it in the hole, lining up the grains, and fusing it to interfacing below, then securing with subtle hand or machine stitching. But slipped areas are long and thin and doing this will be impossible or extremely difficult. If the fabric is coarsely woven, you can even "re-weave" in some vertical fibers taken from the hem or other seam allowances before securing on the wrong side with a fusible. You go right ahead and do that...I'm just buying new pants.

On a lining, however, it is not essential that a "patch" be inconspicuous. So, when repairing slipped linings, I usually use a ribbon patch. I always have a selection of colors of tapes and ribbons in a zillion colors on hand. And their long, thin nature makes them ideal for patching slipped seams.

So, you press the lining seam flat and remove the old stitching, then trim away any fuzzy frayed stuff. Fuse strips of interfacing all along the inside raw edges, being sure to extend it past (inside) where the new stitching will be. Now lay the seam out flat, wrong side up, on the ironing board, just as if you were going to press a seam open. There is a long skinny hole where the seam has slipped. Place the ribbon under the hole, on the right side of the lining, and position it evenly around the hole. Baste in place. Fuse another piece of interfacing over the hole that will catch the edges of the lining hole and the wrong side of the ribbon patch exposed beneath.

From the right side, stitch around the ribbon edges. I often use a narrow zigzag but it is not necessary b/c the ribbon has finished edges. On the cut ends of the ribbon, you can turn them under.

So now, on the right side of the lining, you have various rectangular strips of ribbon showing. It really doesn't look bad. And you've extended the life of it by years. You can even get funky if you want and use printed or embroidered ribbons to repair the seams. If you want, you can extend the ribbon over the entire length of the seams, neck to hem, making it a decorative feature. (More power to you.)

Incidentally, I don't always use fusible interfacing behind the repaired seams. You can also try fusible twill tape or fusible bias (made for stained glass quilts.)

If all this sounds like a pain in the butt, you can always bring it to me and I'll be glad to do it for you.......

Notes on Alterations, Phone Calls

Just some business things I've been meaning to explain:

The goal of alterations, in my business, is to, as much as reasonably possible, return the garment back to its original condition. This means several things:

• If you want things done "fast and dirty" to save money, please indicate that. I do have one or two clients who prefer this. This means, for example, folding shoulder straps together instead of going inside and cutting and re-sewing.
  
• Sometimes exactly duplicating the original construction is impossible given what I consider a "reasonable" amount of time and expense. This is usually because the original order or construction causes certain seams to get enclosed. Or, it can be due to specially tooled machines used in "the industry." Some of those stitches or processes just can not be duplicated on conventional home machines.
  
• I rarely improve upon a garment as part of the alteration process. For example, if a lining is not originally tacked down at the side seams, I do not tack it down after shortening the dress. If it is, then I do. This is because you are not paying me to make the garment better, you're paying me to shorten it. This practice also lets me keep standard alterations prices simple and lower. For example, it is $18 to shorten lined, hand-stitched pants. Some of them are tacked down at the side seams, some are tacked down on one side, and some aren't tacked at all. If I had to tack them all down, though, I'd have to charge more for all of them.
  
• "Standard" alterations actually vary greatly in time spent even thought the prices are common. This is due to the infinite variety of fabrics and cuts. I charge one price to keep things from getting ridiculously complicated, and to provide some kind of predictability. But in some cases a $16 unlined hem might take me much more time than a $18 lined hem. It's my hope that it all evens out in the end.
  
• Sometimes there is a significant improvement that I can easily make, for a small additional charge. In that case I will call and get permission to do the extra work.

Phone issues:

• I often don't answer the phone because I am working on a project. If I answer the phone several times during a process I'm likely to make a mistake. Also, it makes time accounting more difficult.
• Please leave a message and I'll get back to you at the end of my workday or the next morning.
  
• If you left a message a couple days ago, don't hesitate to call back....messages can get lost sometimes as I'm sharing a phone line with the family.
• I don't often answer business calls on the weekends unless I happen to be in here working. Please understand that, especially when one works at home, boundaries are important to maintain a work/personal balance in the same space.
• If your phone number does not show up on caller ID then I probably will not pick up because you are probably trying to sell me something.....or at least that is what I am going to assume, and I'm often right. Please leave a message.

Quick Tip - Doubled Thread

A common misconception among casual sewers is that hand-stitching is best done with doubled thread. Often I will see hand-sewn repairs and hems done this way. There is no need to double thread, and in many cases, to do so is counter productive.

Repaired linings is one area where I often see double-thread stitching. Besides being more conspicuous than single thread stitching, it is likely to do further damage to the lining. Lining materials weaken over time. The fabric actually starts to come apart at the stitching. If you try to repair those areas with doubled thread, the holes you are making in the fabric (and the stress you're putting in them) are twice as big as if there were only one strand of thread. (Hint: If you are going to be making repairs in a lining, back the area to be stitched with fusible interfacing first.)

Hems are also often done with doubled thread. Again, the stitching is more conspicuous this way. I believe that people think the added strand of thread makes the hem stronger, but I have never seen a hem, done with a single strand of modern thread come apart. Yes, threads in hems that are 20 or more years old may degrade and require re-stitching. But threads have changed. And besides...you can worry about it in 20 years.

Stitching with a double strand of thread is not only less attractive, it's more difficult. A double strand of thread is more likely to tangle and buckle during the sewing process. Rather, try this:

• Cut a piece of thread about 18" long and immediately knot the end you have cut off the spool. Threads have direction, and they are meant to be sewn head first, off the spool. So that is how you want to thread your needle.

• Run the thread through a conditioner like Thread Heaven© several times. Then, run it through your fingers several times to work the conditioner into the strand. Thread conditioner helps prevent tangling and makes thread slide more easily through fabric.

• Alternatively, and especially if you will be doing a lot of hand sewing, use a cake of beeswax to condition the thread. To do this, run the thread deeply through the beeswax, then use an iron to actually press the wax into the thread. The thread will be supremely pleasant to stitch with. I promise. To be even more efficient, cut and knot several lengths of thread at a time, and condition them all with the beeswax at once (just pull them all under the iron.) lay them out or roll back onto a spool. That way when your first strand runs out, the next is ready, and you need not get up and iron another.

OK, so there are a few instances when you might want to sew with a doubled thread. Sewing on a button, perhaps. With a doubled thread, it takes half as long. Or making a thread chain - doubled thread makes it twice as thick. Perhaps making a hand-stitched buttonhole, though I'd rather use a thicker thread in the first place for that.

Future post: Why not to hem your pants with staples and/or fusible web.

Raincoat from Hell

Having spent most of yesterday hemming the sleeves and bottom of a lined raincoat, (with zip-out liner), I thought I'd share some brief tips for working with these often tricky fabrics.

• Often these outerwear fabrics are synthetic "microfibers." They are very densely woven and will ripple in the seams unless you use a very fine, sharp needle. There are also special needles made for microfibers called "microtex" needles.
• Raincoat fabrics especially may be coated with waterproof material throughout, and again in the seams. When sewing with right sides together, and the coating against the presser foot, you will probably need a teflon foot. Alternatively, you can try a roller foot, though I've never had great luck with those.
• Do not plan to hand-stitch any coated fabrics...it is too difficult to get the needle through.
  
• Microfibers may retain pin and needle holes. In other words, be judicious with pin-basting and realize that if you remove stitching, it's likely to leave a line of permanent holes. I've used tape, glue, and clothes pins and paper clips for basting.
  
• Careful with the iron! Use very low heat and test on a scrap before touching these fabrics with an iron...they may melt or change character.

When my client comes today to pick up her raincoat I'll have to tell her that if she ever asks me to do this again, I'll be charging half a million dollars plus an additional 2 pounds of chocolate for mental well-being.

Flocked, Taffeta Cocktail Skirt

I needed something for an evening event...something fast and inexpensive! This decorator fabric is from the sale table at JoAnn's.

I've always wanted a gathered ruffly, swishy skirt in taffeta. But for me, gathers around the waist is a no-no. So, I used a yoked skirt to place the fullness further down. I used my trusty Burda 8677 for the yoke, and Butterick 5041 for the skirt. (Why mess with fitting another yoke?)

I was wisely advised by two friends to make it knee length and wore it with this kimono sleeve, deep cowl sweater, black tights and black velvet wedges. Cost of fine merino sweater, $16.99 at Marshalls. Cost of skirt fabric $15. Shoes: free (I've had them at least 3 years.) Tights: $4.99.

Another woman there had on a gorgeous thigh length, subtly colored, metallic brocade jacket. When I complimented her on it she said the fabric was from the sale table at Hancock's. Ladies....the power is in our hands!

A Girl's First Trip to the Dressmaker

I had a young client, maybe 10, and her mom here several weeks ago. My task was to hem and take in 4 school uniform dresses. She tried each on and we pinned and fussed in front of the mirror. She did not say much at the time. But when Mom came back to pick up the altered dresses she told me that her daughter was quite impressed with the whole process and had left feeling important and special. That got me thinking.... (batten down the hatches)

Every young girl should have a First Trip to the Dressmaker. It should be a celebrated occasion, a milestone, a rite of passage to womanhood.

I don't think that's exaggerated or facetious. Why shouldn't we celebrate each girl's blossoming? The body and mind changing and striving towards a new place in the world. How great would it be if a girl looked forward to that time when her mother deemed her ready to "go to the dressmaker" for the first time.

The young lady would arrive for her appointment and be ushered to a pleasant dressing room, all the while being spoken to not as a child, but as a respected client. She would then be fussed over in front of the mirror, special attention being paid to her best features. Perhaps she has the legs of a gazelle, tiny wrists, porcelain skin, a regal back, or beautiful posture. She'd be encouraged to present herself confidently and develop her own unique style.

At the dressmaker's the young woman is initiated into that mysterious world of women where the underpinnings of fashion, and of life, are freely discussed. Older women share lessons they've learned with years of experience. And the young impress, inspire, and respect, the more mature.

I suspect it was just this way 100 years ago. And somewhere along the line, with the rise of mass production, suburbanization, women entering the workplace, and extended families being spread all over the continent, it's been almost lost. I have a suspicion that we might turn that way once again though. People seem lately dissatisfied with our fast-paced McLives. Workplaces are becoming more family friendly and many more are able to work at home on flexible schedules. So there's hope yet!

Couture Jacket Progress

During my vacation I spent a lot of time working on the Claire Shaeffer couture jacket pattern, Vogue 7467. It took two muslins before I was ready to cut the wool. After the initial alterations, I had to add an additional 1" across the bust, and a mere 6" around the hips!

Second FBA:I also found it necessary to raise the armhole about 1" to facilitate arm movement. Here you see the side panel on the left and underarm sleeve piece on the right:Cutting
Lesson learned - always buy 3 full jacket lengths of a plaid in order to simplify matching! I had only about 2 1/2 lengths and it made things very, very difficult. I had to finally resort to doing the layout on the floor, so I could visualize the entire thing at once, and it took me hours. I do think I achieved fairly good matching, though I haven't set the sleeves yet.

Understructure
For what Ms. Shaeffer calls the entoilage (understructure) I used bias Egyptian cotton, Arco, and Tailor's Pride hair canvas. In substituting the cotton for the primary layer of canvas, I was using material I had (i.e., free) and also opting for a bit more suppleness. Unfortunately, I did not realize I should've replaced the cotton with canvas in the lapel area until after I'd machine quilted the canvas chest piece onto the cotton underlining piece. I then tried to "retro-fit" canvas into the lapel area. The white tape you see in this picture is not the roll line, it is securing the catchstitches I used to attach the canvas to the cotton (which is underneath the canvas chest piece.) (Did I just lose, you Mom?) This tape is so lightweight, I don't expect it to interfere with the turning of the lapel.
Note the balanced dart, not yet trimmed.

Welt pocket
The welt pocket insertion went smoothly. I did add the step of fusing interfacing behind the pocket as this wool has a tendency to ravel quite easily. Matching the plaid was the biggest challenge and I considered cutting the welt on the bias but I thought it was too busy looking. I also fused lightweight interfacing to the silk pocket bag pieces to make them easier to handle, and used a self-fabric facing for the upper bag piece to fill in the slash opening behind the welt with matching plaid.Seaming
The major seams had to be meticulously matched across the plaid of course. I pinned them from the right side and slip basted them before machine stitching them:
This worked like a charm and I didn't have to rip and re-sew any seams.

By now I am thoroughly disenchanted with this plaid. The color is all wrong for me, and it's dressier than I'd really wanted. I wanted a sport jacket and this is more of a suit fabric. Nevertheless, I plod onward, considering the whole project as a sort of private, self-directed, class in tailoring technique. And here is the fun part, the pad-stitching ~

Collar Pad-Stitching
This is the part I couldn't wait to do, and what appeals to me so much about tailoring...the hand-stitched shaping of the collar and lapels. I'm using a milliner's needle and cotton quilting thread. The idea here is to pick up only one of 2 threads of the wool behind the canvas, so the stitches are invisible from the right side. I do this by "rocking" the needle into the wool and out so the needle just catches it. Since you are stitching while the fabric layers are held in a curved position, you are in effect making the curve permanent. It's like magic. Lapel taping and pad-stitching
The roll line tape is cut about 1/2" shorter than the actual roll line, and as it is attached, the lapel roll line is eased to the shorter tape in the middle third area. I found the fell stitching awkward at first but got into a groove after several minutes. I also used a tailor's thimble, which is open at the top, on my right ring finger. I could then use the fingernail side of that finger to push the needle easily through the several layers - fabric, canvas, and tape.

I used 3/8" cotton twill tape at the roll line and 1/4" tape at the lapel and front edges. This, then, is where I have to set this project aside and attend to some work. Oh, yeah, work, remember that? Rats.

Mental Clarity and Physical Well-Being

Time for some vacation. Even though business is good lately and in a way it's almost scary to give up 2 weeks of it, I do believe one needs a significant break once in awhile to recharge and refresh. To that end, I'll be taking off August 20 through September 5th.

I'm not actually going anywhere. I'll sleep late. School shop with the kids. Make an occasional real meal. And even, maybe, possibly, sew for myself!

I won't be posting during my vacation, but you can be sure I'll be working on new posts and taking lots of blurry photographs. And I don't think I'll be able to resist checking everyone else's blogs! I think I'll pick a new template too. (I wish Blogger had more templates available.)

I hope each of you can find some time to enjoy these last precious days of summer as well. Until September...

Answers to Questions

I've noticed that the way bloggers answer questions varies widely. Some send me a personal email following each comment I leave on their site. Some answer on site, and only when I've asked a pertinent question. Some will even do both. I thought I should clarify my practice.

I will answer questions in the comments section of the post where they appear unless a commenter requests something very specific. Once in awhile I do like to follow up a comment with a personal email. Not everyone's email is public, however, and that is fine too.

One way to follow comments, questions, and answers, is to use a feed reader that allows you to mark posts as active, new, or pending in some way.

For example, I use Bloglines. There is a feature there whereby I can check a "keep new" box and Bloglines will keep that particular post available for me to read until I've unchecked the box. (Normally in a reader, once you've opened a post it assumes you've read it, and the next time you access the reader, that post will not display.) This way, when I am interested in a response to a comment I've made on a blog, I can keep the post "active" in my reader and easily check for the blogger's response.

Another way to follow a certain comment/conversation might be to add bookmarks to a toolbar below the main (forward, back, refresh, home, etc...) toolbar. They show up as clickable toolbar buttons rather than appear in a long list under the general "bookmarks" tab. I use that space to bookmark things I intend to read more thoroughly, again, or in the future. On Firefox, this is done by dragging the appropriate tab to the space below the main toolbar.

Thanks for all the commenting and emailing you do...the generosity and friendly spirit of our community is inspiring.

Erosion

The word conjures images of water, wind, and sand, flowing for millennia, carving gorges through earth and rock.

But what about thread - flowing for years - over plastic?

I was having a lot of trouble with the tension on my Pfaff 7570, purchased just this past millennium, in 1999. Must be something really stuck in the tension disks, I thought. Finally had to break down and bring it to the dealer.

She has a thorough eye and what she found really surprised me. Over the years of sewing almost daily, often for hours at a time, the threads had gouged a path into the plastic. See where, above, the thread would come off the spool pin and curve around the back of the square piece, to the left and frontwards (following the large arrow?) The problem was right below the left corner of that arrow, underneath, where I may have never seen it (unless I was hanging upside down from the ceiling behind the machine...like a vampire...I've cut down on that.)

Here I'm holding up the old part in front of the repaired machine, so you can see where it fits in -

I had to wait two weeks for the part to arrive from Germany but then she promptly fixed it up for me. And saved the old part so I could marvel at it!

Here are a couple close ups of the damage, taken with my daughter's 8 mega-pixel camera. Mine, you know, only has 2 mega-pixels. She's 13.

Lower right corner-
Upper left corner - Pretty amazing, huh? Funny, I actually see this as a sort of badge of honor. A ribbon or plaque that might say, "Most Sewing in Tri-State Area." (Everyone, everywhere, lives in a "tri-state area.") I'm going to keep it, maybe hang it up over my sewing table. Hey, you have to take it where you can get it right?

Elvis and Me

One of my favorite movie lines is when, in Men in Black, Tommy Lee Jones says,
"No. Elvis is not dead. He just went home." (OK, yeah, I love everything Tommy Lee Jones says.)

Anyway, I just finished a pair of silver-studded pants for the King himself. Quite the adventure, I assure you. Now I'm happy to share the experience with you, thanks to my client who gladly gave permission.

When Drew, an Elvis impersonator, first came to see me, I had to call Mom right away. It went something like this:

Me: Mom, guess who just left the building?

Mom: Who, Elvis?

Me: Yeah, Elvis!

Mom: OK, so who?

Me: Elvis!

Mom: You mean really Elvis?

Me: imagine long detailed explanation here

We had quite a laugh!

Anyway, the project was to replace a pair of white silver studded pants originally purchased as part of a 2 piece costume (flared pants and jacket) in Chicago.

I hadn't the faintest idea what to do about all those silver studs (or nailheads or spots as I've learned they're also called.) I considered using my Kandi-Kane hot fix tool to apply them but Drew was hesitant about using something different than those on the jacket. So I conducted an all-out search via internet. They had to be the same size and finish as those on the jacket, and be washable without rusting. I found the best supply at Dreamtime Creations.In the meantime I went shopping for a pant pattern. There is not a huge selection of men's patterns out there, but I found a flared jean pattern, burda 8451, that could be adapted. It is a low rise pant so I had to raise it by 3" (the jacket stops just below waist level.) I made one minor fitting alteration after the muslin. I have to say, the whole fitting process was so easy that I'm considering revising my business to specialize in men's clothing!

The pants are a white knit polyester. I also added a half lining of lightweight poly/cotton broadcloth. The sapphire godets are crepe-backed satin.
I first sewed the outseams in each leg. Then got to work setting all 142 studs. It took me awhile to get into a groove with them but once I did it was actually quite relaxing. I used a water-soluble blue marker for placement, and heavy duty pliers to set them.

Notes:

• If you are ever going to do this kind of studding, you must have pliers with serrated pinchers! I tried several types and that is the only one that worked well as it grabbed right onto the stud's prongs.
  
• Consider using extra-long legged studs, as I did, to ensure they will not come off with wash and wear.
• Test apply studs to your proposed fabric. The punctures may cause some fabrics to rip and run. You may have to apply interfacing or other stabilizer behind the studs to support the fabric.
  

Here's Drew ~ he's looking good, no?

Before You Alter that Garment

Before you bring your garment in for alterations, please make sure of the following ~

• The garment is clean and pressed. Pressing required in the sewing process will often render soiled areas permanently stained. (Also, it's illegal for me to work on soiled clothes.)
  

• Garment is pre-washed (at home, not just in manufacturing) or dry-cleaned. This way, most of any potential shrinkage has occurred.

• Come to your fitting wearing the undergarments you will wear with the clothing to be altered. Different bras and hose can make a huge difference in fit.

• Don't forget the shoes!

7 Advantages of Custom Clothing

Having a garment custom made isn't just for the rich and famous. It's for anyone who wants a custom fitted investment piece for their wardrobe. (Well, OK, sometimes it is for someone who needs to look slightly like a cartoon character for their graduate thesis performance piece, but not usually.)

Here are some advantages of having it made just for you:

• It fits!
• No one else at the party will have the same thing.
• It will last longer than most things you purchase RTW (ready-to-wear)
• You can choose exactly the fabric, style lines, and details that make your heart sing.
• Your friends will be jealous. OK, that's maybe a bit mean-spirited, but I'm only human.
• Did I mention it fits??
• You deserve it.