Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

3583 Sharing

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Jay, during our very wet trip to England in 1995:
"The reason the Brits never had a space program is that they've never seen the sky."

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This little French film is amazing.  Don't worry about the length.  The last third is credits.  I found it on Roba's blog, "And Far Away" (link over there on the right).  To quote Roba, "This French short film, Le Miroir (The Mirror) manages to tug at the heart strings. Directed by Ramon and Pedro, it takes you through the entire life of a boy in that bathroom mirror."

[http://vimeo.com/45135870]

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Anybody looking for a way to make some money? Take a look at this woman's stuff on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/104322901/magic-shoes?ref=sr_gallery_9&ga_search_query=magic+shoes&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=all.

The shoes at the link were featured on Regretsy.com. You supply a pair of shoes, and for a mere $2850.00 she'll cover them (badly, sloppily, look at the photos) with duct tape for you. (If the link to the shoes is dead, her shop is at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LindsayRickman?ref=pr_shop_more.)

I wandered around her shop, and she has some very, um, interesting, um, stuff for pipe dream prices.  On the other hand, may as well try.  You can always drop the price if nothing sells.

I wonder if she ever actually sells anything? On the other hand, there are people who will find her work truly interesting, and will pay for a unique piece of art. It's probably a small niche, but then again, there are people who will happily plant 30 pink flamingos in their yard.

But really, I figure she should at least learn to sew....

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Speaking of sewing, I had mentioned a simple little dress that Nugget wore one day.  I figured I could easily copy it.  The (blurry) photos below are of my learning piece.  I found out that the armholes needed to be a little deeper than my tracing showed (I had to deepen them by hand), and it could be a bit shorter.  Also, I need a sewing machine that does buttonholes.  (Until I get a one-o'-them I'm going back to bound buttonholes.  They're easier and they always look good.)


It's reversible to pink seersucker.  The next version will not be reversible (makes it unnecessarily complicated), and will have embroidery or appliques.
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Sunday, July 08, 2012

3568 Fabric

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Do what you want, not what is expected of you. Otherwise you will hate your life.

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Whatever was wrong yesterday seems to have righted itself.  I was already feeling better by late afternoon.

I had been trying to find a local fabric store, with little success.  The closest one, a JoAnn, is a good 25 minutes south, so I went there yesterday.  I want to buy some fabric for some things for the Nugget, and maybe for some some curtains.  (I have always made all drapery and curtains for every house I've lived in.  I bought sheers and cafes for this house because --- I couldn't find a fabric store!)

I went to the JoAnn's yesterday evening, and I think I've found out why fabric stores are dying.  It's likely that no one is sewing much these days.  Not because nobody has the skills, but because the fabric prices are completely ridiculous! 

Think about a plain old simple lightweight woven cotton.  One yard.  Maybe with a print on it.  Woven by machine, yards and yards of it shooting out of the loom and into the print rollers, then out to a machine that rolls it around a slab of cardboard.  What is it about that fabric that makes it worth $12 to $16 a yard?

That's utterly ridiculous.  

That's almost $24 for enough to make an outfit for the Nugget (allowing for pattern matching and including waste).  $48 because the outfit I have in mind is reversible.  An outfit that we could buy anywhere for less than $15.

At one time in my life I made almost all my clothes.  There's no way I could do it now.  I couldn't afford to.

Greed has killed the market.

I guess these days sewing and fabric stores are just for unique things, like costumes, or special outfits that may as well be costumes.  Something that cannot be found in a department store, and that you are willing to take out a loan to pay for.

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I still don't understand English.  Singular is "wife".  Plural is "wives".  So why, if we changed the "f" to a "v", do we still add an "s"?  Same with "life", and "knife".

Is it because "wive" is a verb (as in to go a-wiving in Padua)?  But, but, but, why not "wifes" and "lifes" and "knifes" as the plural?  (Well, "knifes is different".  That is itself a verb, but "knive" is not.  Which is also confusing.)

Compare to "fife", and "strife".  There's NO RULE!

Why is English so arbitrary?
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