when flowers fon`t have sides

Whee! Sounds exciting. :)

And yes, even with bargain fabric, you need to take great care to make sure that you get it right for you.

I have fabric that has been maturing in the stash for over 25 years because it hasn't quite met the pattern it wants me to make out of it yet. :)

And to you. Sounds like you have a nice relaxing plan there.

Hallo Kate !!! Good morning !!!

Today i got up looked at THAT cloth and said YES i like you ,, you will be a gathered skirt, than i remmebered that it has been Years since i made one with some raffle or flounce ,,, would it still fit my matured figure ???? i smell it is back into fashion [look at all the shawls with flounces !!!!] , but i want to be SURE thus i will pin a piece and have a nice critical look in the miror ,, somehow i think the Cloth is right for it , but AM i ???:>:>:>

Thank you !!! you warm my heart with this encouragement,,,,, !!!! [just saw several days ago a colleague, with a big `front balcony`, who unwisely, sewed herself some very unbecoming pattern. NO i didn`t tell her what i thought of it!!!. If we spend time we should at least look Good for it , not ridicolous !!!!

GUINESS BOOK !!!!!!!

Yes i know those Selfish fabrics , with high `nose demands` !!! nothing is Good enough for them , they look down on all our efforts !!!!:>:>:>:> But i have no veterans like Your`s.

Well kate we all should have at least a day a week when we just RELAX ,, Even for an hour or two , last week was quite hectic , news were full of criminal horror stories ,, i needed some quiet !!! mirjam

Make a toile out of a bit of old sheet or something, or, without cutting the fabric, roughly pleat it into shape and try it. This has saved me many an error that would have wasted a lot of time and effort for a bit of bargain fabric that deserved better. :)

These days, rather than the big circular skirts or lots of gathers, I go for those tulip shaped ones like my cord skirt, this velour one >

one like this 'mock polyester' one: > >

Not quite... There are others here with more mature fabric. :D

One of mine is a glorious Jacob's Sheep bit, with subtle stripes in all natural colouts. One reason I have yet to make it up is that I react badly to wool, so need to make it into something that I can line edge to edge.

Another is a piece of heavy poly crepe in a pewter grey, with a huge black pattern on it. Alan bought me that because he liked it, and I've no idea what to make... It's fantastic, but a bit mad. :)

Quite! I shall relax tomorrow (today is a working day for me, and I have a sort of customer project to do. Tomorrow I swim in the morning, and then I'm going to the Faversham Hop Festeval after that: >

of the sponsers, Shepperd Neame, is Britain's oldest brewery, and has been established in the town since 1698. They make good beer. :)

I second this! I LOVED big skirts for years, but have not been able to get rid of my spare tire I gained from Adventures in Thyroidland. OK, it's shrinking but very, very slowly, and the fitted (at the hips) and flared skirts are slimming! I've also found that a skirt without a waistband looks better/is more flattering to my current figure. I don't mean the dreadful "hanging off your backside" ones, but rather "stops just over belly-button" level.

Hope this makes sense! I am tandem drinking tea this morning since I made a cup and then Harri made a pot for me. I'm much more coherent with my caffeine fix!

Erin

I love those as well... And to reiterate what was said in a thread Up There somewhere ^^^, finished with Petersham a facing, or even elastic! :)

I'm trying to stay off coffee for a few days... Chai works wonders!

Kate , thank you ,,,, After years of having made this kinds of patterns , the sheet toile isn`t needed any more , i wnted to know how THIS cloth behaves , thus yesterday i threaded a tacking thread , pulled it a bit and made an piece that ruffled ,. folded it all over and basted it to the other `underside` of the cloth ,,,,, it looks good, falls well , thus now it is only ME ,,,

Many years ago , when i just strated `better` sewing , i using to make nighties , from cheaper materilas of every dress pattern that i wanted to make ,,,,

i like half circles , wrap arounds, a bit A shaped skirts etc,,,, last gathered was a soft cordroi , which lately i slimmed by cutting out a big part !!! [sofy Khaki green + Lilac mini flowers] it has a matching vest ..

I wear only Natural materials !!! gue, with a big `front balcony`,

maybe we should open a museum !!! I have a book that has a list of OBSOLETE FABRIC NAMES :>:>:>:>

You mean a piece of TWEED ?

that's it! that's what they are.

Speaking of the `Snob` fabrics !!! I know a woman who buys `only` Boutique Sewn clothes , that cost A LOT, and makes sure we all know it !!! [and she never wears Plain Common Cottons etc..] One day she calls me and tells me , she had some stain on her POSH dress, and doesn`t know what to do about it? I suggested that she looks for the Tag inside that , by law, must give content + cleaning/washing instructions ,, She said she couldn`t find one . I suggested she calls the Boutique and asks for the instructions... She ended at my door, said the seamstress was to rude to her. Thus here we stood We two and that SNOBISH dress , that costed more that i could/ would ever spend on it , and I was asked to Save it ... i turned it pulled an inner loose hanging [ yes !! there were PLENTY] thread and smelled touched it , burned a piece to learn about the mysterious content ,,,, turned out it was cotton , that was...... I ended up washing with my favorite Clothes clenear .....Baby shampoo ...... mirjam

I finnaly cut and sewed a plain , gathered slightely [by a wide seam that i pulled ] skirt ,,, to take a bity OFF the width UP , i gave it a form of a trapeze , looks much better that gathering 150 cm of the width ,, made a nice [Wide elastic] belt and now only have the closures and length to finnish ,,, it is really a nice good looking skirt ,, mirjam

Sounds great. Do we get to see it?

I don`t have a place to show my photos , but when i wear it will ask husband to take a photo ,,, and if you email me can send it to you ..

Agfter fininshing the upper side of a skirt i always let it hang a day or two before hemming it , learned it years ago !!!! and it works , some Mysterious tiny fold straighten and the hem looks better after it , i have no idea why , but it works !!!! mirjam

Buttons

> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!> > I don`t have a place to show my photos , but when i wear it will ask> husband to take a photo ,,, and if you email me can send it to you .. My email on my posts works... :)>

Magic. No other valid explanation, is there! ;)

Buttons

>Click on Kate's Pages and explore!> >

I always let garments hang 2 or 3 days before final hemming. Garments cut on the straight grain sag a fair amount but bias cut items end up really crooked and I refuse to guarantee fit without the hanging period.

Also, like me. I remember once while teaching a co-worker to sew, her first 'big' project was a gorgeous bias skirt. She finished it Saturday and decided to wear it Sunday. She was almost crying, when she called to tell me it would not hang correctly, no matter how much she pressed it. We took out the hem, washed it, then allowed it to hang a few days before hemming again, which helped some. She finally gave it away and bought the same fabric and made another one. Hanging a couple days before hemming it made a world of difference between the two of them. Emily

The full circle skirt DGD and I just finished was allowed to hang for a week before we marked the hem. DGD wondered why it was necessary. Then we measured for the hem allowance, and she could clearly see how much wider the area to be trimmed was in the bias sections, and she came to understand. The bias trimming was almost a full inch wider than the sections on the straight. And this was in firmly woven cotton.

Beverly

Aww, shoot. I feel her pain. To put so much effort into a project and be tripped up by something so predictable at the end is a crying shame. I'm glad you were able to help her succeed at the end.

I sometimes remember when I was in 8th grade Home Ec sewing class and part of our final exam was to identify swatches of fabric. I swear there must have been 30 of them and some are not available anymore; at least I haven't seen them in the stores anywhere. One was dimity, another Indianhead and how about the "real" dotted Swiss?! Percale? Cotton cord? I know there were a few more but they escape my memory right now. Does anyone remember anymore that were very common back before the 60's?

I've not posted before on this list, having joined recently. I used to sew a whole lot when my kids were growing up and I've just started getting re-interested in it. I have a stash that goes back some 30 years!! Mainly double knits and corduroys.

Ceil From the northwest hills of Connecticut

How about: piqué, voile, Petersham, slubbed cotton, faille, "Polished" cotton, sharkskin, noil, sailcloth, Panama Cloth, whipcord, pongee, lawn, Linsey-woolsey, Poodle Cloth, Shantung, ...

Most of those names refer to a particular weave. But I'm betting that if you asked for "noil" or "faille" at JoAnn's the clerk would not have a clue.

Welcome to alt.sewing!

Beverly

Welcome Ceil , [shhhh i am a new person here as well!!] Old names , are even more confusing here , because some cloth names were translated into Hebrew , some shop keepers came from Russia, Poland of France , thus we have a Babilon of names ,,, The academy for Hebrew Language tried to make some order.... But still when i go into some shops i get Goose pimples at times. Add to it my need to have only natural materials, and the all too often idea some shop keepers have to convince me that Man made materials are NATURAL ,,, brrrrr , mirjam