My Favorite Sewing Goodies #1

Any sewist will tell you: size DOES matter. We're a truthful bunch. I have at least a dozen sizes and types of hard steel at my fingertips. THEY ARE MY PLAYTHINGS. I use them up and toss the shafts aside without a second thought.

Size 12 is my favorite. Naturally.

(Actually, I'm a fan of all sizes. At least, when it comes to Schmetz.)

Presenting the second installment of reviewification! Two months ago, I reviewed my Maytag iron (many of you took the plunge based off of it, and I hope you love it as much as I do!), and I thought I was high time I enabled shared some more. 

First up, the supersize-me box of Schmetz Universal 80/12s. They come 100 to a box. Do the math of a 5 pack at your local Joann's and it should be a no brainer...but the thought of all those needles floating around loose in there kept me from it. However! There's no need to worry-- the needles are layered between slices of anti-corrosion paper, and sandwiched into the case with this little plastic flexible doodad that protects them during shipping. Awesomeness.

I'm going to shout now. MY. NEW. FAVORITE. PINS. Quilters, do you roll around in your piles of bespoke bedding and cackle at the thought of allllll the quilting notions we garment sewists don't know about? YOUR TOOLS ARE THE BEST! The latest quilter's notion to grace my little sewing corner are these Clover Fine Quilting Pins. That teeny white guy next to my green & gold glass head beasties is a Clover Silk Pin, which is nice and all, but good lord did I have to search for one that wasn't bent so I could show you the difference. The diameter is only a touch thicker (0.6mm quilting versus 0.5mm silk), but it's enough to keep my ham handed digits from bending them to bits. And lengthwise, that's an extra half inch of steel. YEAH GIVE IT TO ME BABY YOU KNOW WHAT I LIKE. The length makes things so much more nimble. My gorilla paws never felt so deft, I can pin one handed now.

There was one red headed silk pin camouflaged on my pincushion when I first broke these out, and any time my fingers found it I would laugh. LAUGH AND POINT AT THE WEAKLING SILK PIN! I mean, yeah, sometimes you gotta go for a silk pin. But since putting these new guys out, my hands have been so happy.

Also making my hands happy, ever since Carolyn gave me a pair two years ago: Kai Ergonomic Scissors. I started my sewing journey with Ginghers, thinking they were the best and why bother with anything else? And for some they remain the best. But the first time I cut with a pair of these, my hands sang.

On a whim, I bought the white sheathed pair from a Japanese pharmacy--sadly, the handle is not ergonomicifed, so I'm not linking them, as I'm only going to direct you to things I adore. But for 14 bucks, I couldn't pass up the coolness of them. And they're good to have in my arsenal, for friends who visit and want to learn a thing or two (but NOT ON MY SCISSORS).

I dropped the green ergonomic pair some time ago (don't. drop. your. scissors). A new pair is on its way to me, after a fruitless Brick & Mortar search in the Garment District. Every shopowner I asked scoffed at the stainless steel nature of Kais, but if your hands hurt when you cut, a pair of Ergomomics will fix that and leave your bank account smiling. And I'm all about ALL of that. You can grab them for around 20 bucks. 

Speaking of, let's give some love to the brick and mortar, shall we? Panda Thread on 38th was one such store that gave my request for Kais the side eye. I've been in this shop a bunch over the years, always leaving empty handed after a brief conversation with any number of humorless humans behind the counter. Last month was the first time I actually made a purchase. It's the kind of joint where you have to ask to see anything, and I'm not big on permission.

This go 'round, I entered the conversation without mirth. When in Rome, yo. I needed better needles for handsewing silk. These guys were presented in a large box, my opponent unwrapping packages for my inspection with such careful reflection, I wasn't sure I was allowed to actually lay hands on the merchandise. You would have thought we were examining Tiffany diamonds and not 2 dollar packs of needles. Five unwrappings later, size 11 darners were the winner (we had also allowed each other a smile or two). Much better than the Clover imports I found at SIL-- which were three times the price, and three times the diameter shaft wise. Again, it's all about the shaft. This shaft is so fine I want to sing to it.

(Side note: I've said shaft, length, diameter, and finger so far. Just keeping track.)

My new friend also had Gutermann Mara 120 for 2.50 per 1000m spool. As far as I can tell, Mara 120 is a bit finer than what they sell on smaller spools to home sewists. Again, you had to choose your colors from a catalogue and call out your choices. That picture in no way does the color justice. It's full on fluorescent. I chose three neutral shades to begin with: charcoal, ivory, and...That one is neon! my gentleman called from the shelves. Are you sure you want that?

YAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I hollered back.

I earned another smile.

Let's end with the granddaddy of them all, the Big Kahoona, the reason I trudged into the murky waters of affiliation in the first place: Swedish. Tracing. Paper. This is one of those items you hear about, always in glowing tones, and you just don't get it until you use it. I've used dotted, vellum, medical... I love none of it so much as this. It's akin to the texture of a coffee filter, and you can sew right through it. I trace off my pattern and sew it right up, multiple times even, it takes pressing and folding and crumpling like a champ, and in the end I'm left with a perfect pattern. Super hard to define how great this is, but for example, the fit of my Vogue bodice on my quilted christmas dress was a product of muslining with this paper. Obviously, you don't want to hulk out on it, it is paper after all, but if you have some extra dough and have always wondered... go for it.

That's it for installment #1, I'm hoping to do something like this once a month (whether it's a roundup of notions or a big find that needs a whole post). Did you find something intriguing here? I'd love to hear about your favorite sewing goodies!

as always, i'll let you know if i include affiliate links, and yes indeedy, the non brick & mortar items here are ye old amazon links! i only link to things i love and use myself. and, if you're in NY, i highly recommend stopping into panda thread. just wear your game face.

i've always been a jersey girl

here's the best review i can give for this book: i lost possession of it for over a month.

on the night of the disappearance, there were many factors involved: one could blame it on the booze (cocktails were immensely present), one could blame it on the beauties (so many ladies wanted a peek), one could certainly blame it on the boogie (because Vintage Michael Jackson is never wrong).  days after sarai invited me to peek at alyson clair & colette's new tome, i packed it carefully in my overflowing saturday sewing/testing/teaching/partying bag, with the intention of ORDERING my "students" (quotes, because for real, they're friends) to BUY THIS BOOK.  

of course then the class went into party mode and the book made its appearance after some truly serious cocktails were served, which started the loss of literature.

but i digress!  it's back in my hot little hands now, and as always, you know if it's here, i love it.  a love accompanied by sparklers and banners and trumpets.  this is a Good, Tasty Book.

so many are scared of knits.  at the start of my sewing plunge, no one ever told me to be scared of this fabric.  being self-taught, no one ever told me anything.  (except a lady at joann's who said i should Never Make Pants.  she was misguided.)  my fearless, reckless abandon with this fabric had everything to do with lack of information.  i tried things out and had many failures and some successes and a general good time of it, wadder or no.

this book would have given past oona far more gold star finishes... and it gave present oona a little happy feeling that many self taught machinations are not too far off the industry mark. 

it's divided into three main sections: fabric, machines, and techniques.  there's a wealth of information for the beginner, and there's gold in there for the more advanced stitcher as well.  i'd never heard of letting your jersey rest after prewashing!  i guess everyone likes a good nap.

the section on machines includes a coverstitch, the beloved brother serger is also showcased in the pages, as well as your reg'lar machineroo.

jersey is a different beast and alyson teaches you how to tame it.  it's like baking versus cooking.  a lot more play and feel and tasting involved.  there are things a beginner might think she or he shouldn't do. alyson gives you tools, and permission.

and sarai would like to give one of you a copy!  to enter, leave a comment on this post, ooooh, let's see: tell me your biggest fail, or fear, at sewing up knits. links to entertaining photographic evidence welcome!  I LIKES TO BE ENTERTAINED.   i'll announce the winner on monday june 23rd.  good luck!

update: comments are now closed, winner will be announced later today... contest now closed, congratulations, jag!

this book was provided to me by Colette in exchange for an honest review.

the real drape drape

the king asked if i'd like to review a couple more titles, and i said yes indeedy.  they sent me draping, the complete course, which will be released in october.  i'm crazy about draping, but my real knowledge of it is crazy limited.  i basically just throw fabric at the form and hope for the best.

so, i was anxious to learn a thing or twenty eight from author and professor karolyn kiisel.  this book was devoured front to back immediately upon arrival, over 300 pages, and although much of it is fantastic, i wanted more why.  MUST ALWAYS HAZ THE WHY. 

first of all, if you're going to take the plunge into this tome, you absolutely need a dressform.  the why on that should be pretty clear.  in fact, go get a dressform, yo.  having spent the summer without my mine, i was reminded daily of how much i love that gal.  i was chomping at the bit to get home and crack this book open next to my wolfie girl!

my exuberance is showing, no?  karolyn instructs moderation in pinning, as too many pins can spoil the balance, but i went bananas anyways, and started draping the first of the "dress" projects: the audrey hepburn "breakfast at tiffany's" dress.

(and yes, i did remove some of those pins to quiet those stress points.) 

it's still under construction, and i'm shocked to see that it's turning out okay.   truing up that muslin was not a pretty thing.

what is truing?  truing is a task, yo!  karolyn gently explains that it will be, via the wonderful video included with the book.  while the instructions on the page lean towards the technical side, her video demeanor is more like that of a breezy, i don't know, wedding planner... odd description, but i mean the perfect kind that only exists in dreamland, the kind that will fix every problem with a delicate wave of her manicured hand, making your day into a perfect 73 degree, cumulus cloud sky.  she makes this look soooooo easy.

i'm pretty sure every outfit she sported was draped.  even her luxurious curls are draped.

having that visual reference really changed the feel of the book for me.  i'd say watching the videos first, or at least alongside, is the way to go-- you absolutely need the video to support the book.  i took notes on almost all of the video chapters.  in hot pink.  naturally.

i expected the bulk of this book to be more about the principles of draping, but really, karolyn shows you how to jump right in with both feet (or rather, hands) with step by step instructions on how to drape specific pieces. you're actually getting patterns for draping, sans paper.  you create the paper patterns out of fabric. and i mean patternS... an absolute BOATLOAD of projects including pants, gowns, dresses, tops, jackets, and bustiers.  

yep, bustiers, you corset-crazed crowd!!!  like a metric ton of info on that!  

so, my tiffany's dress?  after truing the pattern, i was at odds with my verdict.  but today, after sewing up my muslin, i was happily surprised.  she fit!  she doesn't look exactly like karolyn's (on the video she does a little quick magical tug to peg the skirt on her absolute hoot of a model and i said out loud YES DO THAT, it was kind of amazing)... but she fit!  perhaps i can't learn everything there is to know about draping on my very first try.  

verdict?  i was lukewarm while truing up yesterday, because it looked like *what i like to think of as* MY BEAUTIFUL SELF-GRADED STRAIGHT A AVERAGE was going to get a red mark.  today, after my first draft of sewing, my grades are looking up...i'm starting to get a crush on this teacher.

if you're in the san fran area and want a firsthand look, britex is holding a pop up event this thursday, where karolyn will demonstrate how to drape the audrey hepburn dress.  if i had that teleportation device, i'd go for it.   

this book (and the frenzy of activity that ensued) was provided to me by Laurence King in exchange for an honest review.

lo and behold

i've seen a lot of laurence king japanese sewing books going round the blogisphere, and although i love the odd mix of cute/carefree/pulloutyourhairwithALLTHEMATH style on other peeps, it's not quite my thing.  so when the big LK got around to hollering at kalkatroona, i said yes please, but might i try something different?

out of their delicious catalog on fashion and textiles, i chose to review patternmaking, by dennic chunman lo.  ooh ooh OOOOOOOH.  i want to eat this book UP.  all those little red stickers were places in the book i just had to show you.

i do not have enough photo storage on this blog to show you alla them stickers.

in a 240 pager, you're expecting to be told how, but lo also tells you why.  so much why!  i love the why!  ruggy is used to this by now: i must always have an explanation, even if he has to make it up.  obviously, lo is not writing fiction--but he tells a story as entertaining as my ruggy's on-demand make believe.  and that's what keeps me awake through the math.  you feel like you're in a classroom with a teacher skilled to a surgical level, but with enough humanity left to make you feel at home.  if you were in his class at the london college of fashion, perhaps you'd be debating alongside with him on issues like designers vs patternmakers (he feels the best is a marriage of both, and i agree), uk vs us sizing, labor vs instinct (surprisingly, he advises that sometimes it's best to get the pattern drafted quickly as possible).

this feels like a full on college course in your home.  and my nerd ass loves me some school.

the nerdoona in me sang over every page.  no seriously i actually made up songs and warbled whilst reading.  this dress, "a piece of string", from lo and cabon's 1995 collection (yep, the author) was sung about quite a bit.  in chapter 6, lo takes you through inspirational patternmaking, using garments from his own collection.  AND HE TELLS YOU HOW TO MAKE THEM FROM START TO FINISH.

WHAT.

i'm getting ahead of myself.  sorry, i'm excited.  not to worry, you don't dive straight into the deep end. you get plenty of schooling on prep, tools, blocks, creating patterns, and manipulating them before you go haywire with string theory.

and lo speaks to both the professional and the home sewist as equals.  i'm in love. this is now one of my guru books, right up there with claire shaeffer.  and you know how i feel about claire.

this book was provided to me by Laurence King for the chance to honestly holler about this freaking awesome addition to my library. big thanks!

on friends, fraying, and finds

hello, gorgeous.  is she not a thing of beauty?

i've found that eliminating a center back seam helps very much in the fight against mount crackatoa.  but a side seam zipper means no pockets.  swallowed center back defeated!  mais non, where's a girl gonna hide her flask! enter casey's delicious slashed zipper tutorial.  zipper in the back, pockets in the sides, party all around.  

too bad the maxi skirt it lives in is a complete and absolute hot mess.  like surface of the sun hot.  i'm not abandoning it, but i AM giving it a healthy stay in solitary confinement.  the slashed zipper truly is its saving grace. i love it.  

i'm also in love with this little gadget, hollie's handy seam allowance guide.  i know you've seen this colorful beauty all over the sewing blogosphere, in fact the lovely lizz and karen have both done fantastic in-depth reviews of its major purpose: cutting out patterns that don't include seam allowances.  (i haven't tried it as such yet, as i seem to lack the will to use a burda pattern.) 

but here's where it works best for an i can totally eyeball that edge to a 5/8 seam allowance kinda gal like me.  to be honest, i am that kinda gal.  i have a ruler in my head.  the cool clear kind with the grid and everything.  but sometimes i'm tired, or boozy, or hormonal.  what have you.  that's when i throw this happy yella magnetic jammy on my ginghers and let it do the work.  

after sewing up this patternless draped skirt, i wanted to trim the allowance down to a reasonable width.  i just used my stitching line as the guide (ignore the part where i got drunk and veered off course, thankyouverymuch), matching it to the little black moveable hoop... et voila.  instant perfectly measured allowance.  no chalk lines, no held breath.  this works great for any occasion needing a trim--  you know, every time a pattern instructs you to sew facing to neckline, and trim down to 3/8s?  or attach bias tape, trim allowances to 1/4?  SHABAM.   

and if you happen to be the reckless sort of self taught draper i am, you can even use it to trim your fabric right on your dress form.  maybe you're eyeballing a high neckline and want to hack an inch off of it.  center your seam allowance guide up, and away you go.

i used it to trim my lace facing for le slashed zipper....

GUTS.  pretty pretty guts, thanks to casey and hollie.

and now i've got a tip for you!  after all, i think i owe one karmically.  maybe it's something you already know, maybe it's a tidbit that will rock your world and build my karma up to Hot Mess Maxi Skirt saving levels.

ever worked with loose knit fabrics that fray like a burlap sack?  part of this skirt's sentence to solitary had to do with the RAGE i felt sewing up seams.  never have i missed my overlocker more.  all the nice thick threads of fabric kept bunching up in front of my presser foot, they would just not lie flat.  and unpicking wonky seams did not help the fray factor.  fairly late in the game, a light bulb went off and i used a mini invisible ruler (my real one, not the one in my head) to hold the rapidly fraying edges flat, feeding them beautifully under the presser foot.  do this slowly, of course, i will not take the blame for any speedracers out there who sew through a ruler or cause a broken needle to fly into human beings and/or cats... but if you proceed with caution, this works like a charm.

happy weekend everyone!  in that area, may you proceed with WILD ABANDON!