Sewing box basics?

:-))

I love hemp but it's not all that easy to find in fabric form in this country - OK for ready to wear but not fabric (at least where I can shop)

BTW, I do enjoy your site.

I gave them away when I stopped sewing for more than 10 years. Just never thought I'd sew again. When I bought a new and much more reliable machine the patterns were long gone to another part of the country. I haven't bought more.even though there are still some available on line. Juno

Which country?

I got my hemp jersey from Dharma Trading . The selection is a little picked-over: seven choices, and only the canvas and "summercloth" (burlap) are pure hemp. And as I noted, the cotton/hemp jersey is coarse.

Just looked at the picture on the website -- Dharma's summercloth is much finer than the sample I got from The Hempery (now extinct). Described as a heavy muslin (7.5 oz./yd^2). Loosely woven, but I think it would make a good shirt, and certainly would do for a skirt.

I got hemp twill from a re-enactor's supply house (will remember which if poked) but it turned out to be loosely woven -- made it soft and thick, so my white jeans are winter wear, but that worked out all right because it's only in winter that I go out after dark. But I have to remember to change out of them when I get home, because they don't wear well.

I also use a room for my sewing box.A sewing stash of fabric and supplies grows of it's own volition. Sort of an insidious kind of thing.I have little boxes, big boxes, rolling cabinets , and a host of things looking for a place to be put in some kind of container. Here's a link to some basics in sewing fabrics. I find it helpful.

Her fabrics are beautiful,but expensive. I hate knits from Joann's. There are a lot of good sources for knit fabrics on line. You just have to search a little. I like and this one but there are a lot of other good ones. I always look up the sites that are posted here and check out the ones others like. I also love my serger for sewing knits. Juno

Thanks, Juno, for posting the sites. With a new computer, I lost many sites I thought were saved. Emily

Aprons!!! I love making custom aprons, and machine embroidering person-specific designs on them. But you probably don't want to invest in an embroidery machine just yet. ;->

I'm serious about making aprons, good practice sewing hems and seams, maybe gathering, turning straps, etc. And you can always give them away as gifts.

Oh my gosh, I used to use the patterns and books all the time! Bathing suits, slacks, tops, t-shirts, dresses, children's shorts and polo shirts, even golf shirts and shorts (with welt pockets) for my husband! Everything fit so well. I loved the elastic that they sold too. You could stitch right through it for waistbands and it wouldn't stretch out. Does anyone sell anything like that now? It was so much nicer than elastic-through-a-casing waistbands!

Australia.

I know you have good advice from others and I'm late to the party (been busy sewing!), but for what it's worth...

When I was teaching a college course, this is what I wrote for my beginners class: >

Since those days, things have expanded and I now have a partner. When we do things like workshops, we start by packing the car with a dozen sewing machines, electrical leads and cables, a box of a dozen pairs of sheers... It's like moving house!

I am a bit OCD about thread... I wrote this article a while back: >

And since then the thread stash has grown!

Here?s my knit sewing advice:

Knits aren?t terribly difficult, they just need care, and, as with so much in sewing, the right equipment!

To start with, you HAVE to keep the stretch nature of kits in mind: use a light touch when handling them, and be careful not to pull the fabric, when cutting or sewing, or even just moving it from one place to another! Be extra careful when pinning out a pattern that you don?t distort it as you pin and cut: don?t lift the fabric as you cut, especially? One good way to avoid this is to use a rotary cutter and a mat ? or three for a long bit! ;)

Fit the right type of needle to the sewing machine. For T shirt fabric a KNIT or JERSEY needle is best. Anything containing Lycra/Spandex/elastane will need a STRETCH needle, and anything like swimsuit fabric or shiny nylon/Lycra knits for dance wear needs a SUPER STRETCH needle.

Match your thread to the fabric, much as you would for any other project. I like to use polycore on cotton knits (polyester thread wrapped in cotton), and bulk nylon in the serger loopers on stretch fabrics? For general purpose sewing with the ordinary machine, a good quality poly thread like Coats Duet thread will be fine.

For seams, I like to use the serger, as the seams have stretch built in automatically, but if you don?t have one, there?s no reason not to use an ordinary sewing machine. One thing I WOULD advise is that you forget the ?stretch? or ?overlock? stitches on it! Just use a short stitch length and a narrow zigzag: this will build in enough stretch for most purposes. You can neaten the edges with a wider zigzag later if you need to, and trim off the excess seam allowances?

I advise this as the stretch stitches on an ordinary machine are seriously thread-hungry, tend to be bulky, and feel knobbly! Ugh! AND they stretch less than the zz method! :D

To help the fabric feed evenly without stretching and distorting, use either a roller foot (one with little wheels in), like this:

or this: or a walking foot like this: This will give you feed teeth on the top as well as under the fabric, and help it to feed through without the presser foot stretching it as you go. If you have neither, and still want to try, use the ?taut sewing? method: stretch the fabric JUST A TINY BIT with even pressure before and behind the needle. DO NOT pull the fabric through the machine! Let the machine feed the fabric while you stretch it just a bit. This helps the fabric to feed and builds in a little more stretch. It?s fine to use on fabrics with good recovery, like those with Lycra, but not so hot on

100% cotton T shirt fabric as the stitching can add too much bulk and the fabric ripples rather than snapping back?

Just start slowly, go carefully, and you?ll get there in the end. :)

Then I am no help at all.

"Joy Beeson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Hi Fran,

did you try the two websites below? I just entered 'hemp fabric retail Australia' with google and they popped up...

Yeah, I know I'm no great help but had to try anyway. ;-)

U.

------------------- YEOW! Hemp skivvies sounds a lot like hair shirts, Joy. Gives me a rash just thinking about it. Cea

thinking about it.

You're confusing hemp and jute. My pure-hemp jeans are *too* soft.

Two of the hemp-blend briefs have been consigned to the rag bag. I'm planning to cut crotch liners for new cotton briefs from the good parts.

Wow, too much information!

You are a great help Ursula! I don't buy fabric online as I couldn't stand not being able to feel/eyeball the fabric but both of those places are close enough to family who I visit now and then. Now I've got a good reason to go vist them in the new year.

Thank you Ursula, you are a big help and never let anyone tell you otherwise ;-))

Hemp is lovely to wear. It's got the sort of softness of really old and well loved and laundered linen which has reached the stage where you are almost in mourning for it because you know that soon you will have to part with a much loved old wardrobe friend. I love linen and hemp.

"Farm1" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:kaukbp$ek8$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...

U.