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newbie intro

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking for a couple of weeks, ever since my husband got me a sewing machine (Kenmore) for Christmas. I wasn't supposed to start using it, but I came up with such a fabulous idea for a gift for his brother that we decided to go for it. Now, I have NEVER used a sewing machine before and don't really know how to sew (except the occasional button).

So, we went to a fabric store and the lady who helped us told me to bring my machine in and she'd teach me how to use it. We went into the back office and she taught me how to do the bobbin thing and threading and all that stuff. It was lovely, and of course, I found all these things I needed and we spent a lot of money getting more equipment (rotary cutter, mat, etc.).

I made three fleece blankets (didn't need to sew, actually, but I put a zigzag seam around the edges) and just finished a darkcloth today. A darkcloth is what you throw over the old-style cameras so the photographer can change his film. There are only a few vendors who sell darkcloths and they run in the $100+-range for a 55"x55" size. I got some scrap suit wool (needs to be very black and light-secure) and pieced them together, heavy white cotton (for the outside, to reflect light and heat so it's not stifling inside), put velcro on so the cloth can wrap around the camera, and an initial. The cloth isn't perfectly matched up and it looks amateurish, but hey, it's my first project ever! So, I'm proud of it. ;) I hope my brother-in-law likes it.

I have so many things now that I want to make. I want to make baby blanket sleepers for my 6-month-old, pajamas for my husband (you fabulous people who churn out stuff for Christmas aroused some envy in me!), fix our valances, linens for table settings (I want to move past the paper napkin stage), so many things!

One question: for my baby, I'd like to use flame- retardant fleece. Where would I find it? I tried searching on Google and got all sorts of flame- retardant gear and safety stuff, but not ready-to-sew fleece.

Thanks for reading, Anita

Reply to
Irrational Number
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Hi Anita

For fleece, try somewhere like

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ALL fabric sold for children's garments is meant to be flame-retardant, but it's always worth asking the vendor: Sewbaby has a toll-free number.

Congratulations on your new machine and your new hobby/addiction ;). If you want to do primarily home furnishings, check out your library for good books - you don't really need patterns for most things, as they're just geometric shapes, but books can give you lots of ideas.

The Soft Furnishings Book by Judy Brittain (consultant editor). (Conran Octupus, 1986 - ISBN: 1 85029 299 X) is a good place to start.

:) Trish

Reply to
Trishty

Well done you! :)

Hehehehehehe! Now you know how The Stash begins, and how we all acquire heaps of Stuff! I have a whole room full. Welcome to the club!

Very well thought out, that is! Changing plates on old glass plate cameras can be tricky! I knew someone who had one: had to paint his own plates! AKK! Gimme a treadle sewing machine, but I like the digital camera!

Oh, good! A nice list of ideas - that'll keep you out of mischief for a day or two!

I just use regular fleece: it's inherently flame retardant, but like most poly fabrics, it melts when heated.

Welcome to the group! Merry Christmas! Happy sewing!

Reply to
Kate Dicey

A black bag is the only substitute for a darkroom for film cameras, too. Usually you don't need one if you finish a roll and all the film is safely in the canister, but if you have a jam, or you need to change the type of film in the middle of a canister, a black bag saves you a trip to the nearest darkroom, which could be far, far away.

Everything is done by "feel" so the bag needs to be ample enough, while preventing all light from entering and exposing the film. This is a great gift for a shutterbug.

Reply to
Pogonip

Congratulations, and welcome to the group! Sounds like you're on your way to being comfortable sewing almost anything in no time.

Sadly, not enough shops have employees willing to give this level of service. If there were, there'd be a lot more shops in business, and a lot more sales of fabric and notions!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

Reply to
SewStorm

Thanks!

It's actually good for the store's business to do this for their customers. Thanks to that lady, we went back again today to get more fabric and tonight DH started a bag and I finished it. It's for hanging on the back of the front seat in the car for putting toys in so the car isn't a total mess. (It looks like a tote bag.) Plus, we also bought some patterns. Just a 20-minute session basically turned me into a loyal customer. :)

-- Anita --

Reply to
Irrational Number

Thanks for this info! I could not find any flame-retardant fleece anywhere. This makes sense to me, and hey, I like the CEO of Malden Mills, so I'll be happy to support them.

-- Anita --

Reply to
Irrational Number

For warm clothing that will neither burst into flames nor melt, you can't beat wool. With babies there might be some allergy issues, but there are allergy issues with polyesters too. It all depends on what sort of allergies run in your family.

I'd rather have something that bursts into flames than something that melts and sticks to the baby. (I got a deep burn from a synthetic potholder once -- the burn didn't leave a scar on my thumb, but did leave a few on my psyche.)

Whatever you buy for the baby, wash it at least twice before you cut into it. It's much less likely to set up an allergy that way.

Joy Beeson

Reply to
joy beeson

welcome anita!! betsey "we do not inherit the earth, we caretake it for our children"

Reply to
Two x over

When a fabric melts, it does so much more slowly than a flaming fabric, allowing you more time to rescue your child. Also, a flaming fabric would easily blind a child, even if just a slipper or sleeve caught fire, whereas a melting fabric would harm the foot or arm, but is less likely to get in the face.

Reply to
Kyla

That's the thing! My baby already has issues with dairy and eczema and since _I_ am allergic to wool (my allergist has told me never to sit on the grass under an oak tree holding a cat while wearing my cashmere sweater in spring!), I'd rather avoid wool when I can.

We've decided to use fleece to make clothes for the baby, but we won't let him sleep in it. I bought some material for my first footie!!!

-- Anita --

Reply to
Irrational Number

If you want to make that photographer really happy (he'll be jumping for joy with that dark cloth for his view camera), make him a light-safe film changing bag. I'm a retired military journalist/newspaper editor/photographer, and I always carried a film changing bag just in case a roll of film needed to be extracted from my camera when I had a difficulty to clear. Believe me, saving a one-time shot is worth the effort of having that changing bag!

Terry -- former official photographer of the Miss Delaware-USA pageant when it was held in Central Delaware in the mid 1980s.

-----edited for brevity sake -----

Reply to
BAS

But ask them down at the emergency room about stuff that sticks firmly to your screaming child, burning deeper and deeper, and you can't get it off . . . .

*Whatever* you use, don't cut it to make infant clothing without holding a sample -- in tongs! -- near a candle flame. It should not melt, it should not whoosh, and it should not give off toxic fumes.

Close-fitting knit sleepwear is a good idea. If the child wakes up in the night, you don't want him draggling his sleeves and trailing his hem in whatever he's gotten up to.

Joy Beeson

Reply to
joy beeson

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