Master Seamstress

Have you checked with your local fabric store for recommendations? Another good place to check is perhaps your local high school home ec. class, the teacher might know of someone. I'm sure the others here will have more suggestions where to locate this person.

Have you checked Professional Association of Custom Clothiers?

Spandex/Lycra type fabrics are not too hard to deal with. Where are you?

In the U.S., modal is called tencel, and is a type of rayon made from beech trees. Tencel was the first "new" generic fiber to be determined by the Federal Trade Commission in thirty years. It has many of the same characteristics as cotton, but holds its color better, and does not pill.

If one can sew cotton, one can sew modal or tencel. The spandex just makes the fabric more comfortable, as it will stretch. No special allowances need to be made for the stretch factor.

Teri

Dear ClearlyDot,

In the U.S., modal is called Tencel. There was a long and fairly aggressive fight over the rights of this fabric when it was first designated. It is a form of rayon made from beech trees. The difference between it and other rayons is that the residue from its manufacture does not harm the environment.

Tencel has many of the same characteristics as cotton. But it holds color better, and does not pill. If one can sew cotton, one can sew tencel/modal. No special handling or pattern types are necessary because of the spandex.

Teri

Not quite. Modal is Lenzing's trade name for a high wet modulus rayon (aka polynosic rayon) -- it's been around about 40 years now -- it's a modification of the viscose rayon process. Tencel is lyocell, another regenerated cellulose fiber made by a different process. Tencel is Lenzing's trademark now, after having purchased the process from Cortaulds, who first made it available commercially in Japan in 1988.

There are some environmental issues associated with lyocell, though the solvent used in spinning is recovered (while rayon is a less-closed process). It's harder to dye than rayons and tends to fibrillate, requiring more processing than is required for most rayons if fibrillation is not desired, increasing environmental costs associated with the manufacture of the fabric.

Kay

I am always amazed that someone would post this on Usenet (which is essentially global) without any indication of where they are.

It is like they think the world is just their little neighborhood.

Speaking of neighborhood... I live two blocks from a custom tailoring/sewing shop. Shops like this exist in almost every neighborhood in my city (ooh... look at my username), and perhaps in neighborhoods in most cities... and in most towns. Also, in my city there are actually companies that do commercial sewing (a friend uses one for her tot pillow business), and the big time companies send their stuff to Asia (I can see Union Bay from a local park... not the company, the actual bay on Lake Washington).

Anyone who posts on Usenet with these requests for a "master seamstress" without an indication of which hemisphere on the planet they are on is one to avoid. If they cannot figure out how to use the phone book, they obviously cannot give decent sewing instructions. Expect them to be pure amateurs.

I cut him/her some slack because s/he is posting through Google groups, and many people who use gmail think "this" (UseNet) *is* local to them. We were all newbies once upon a time....

Beverly

Ah, kind of like the WebTV!

Nah... I just think that someone who wants a "Master", should have enough smarts to find a local contract seamstress, a fabric store or even a custom tailor/seamstress.

(also note that it is the end of spring break, and I've not had anytime to do what I want with either driving kids to or fro, or having them takeover my sewing spaces... so I am particularly cranky).