I think it was Sunday that I started to put on YD#10 and found that the elastic had come untied. Tonight, the computer being down, I pulled the elastic out, put it back, and tied it very carefully. There were plenty of gaps in the stitching of the casing.
2025SEW1.HTM -- copy to Pictures of Tools
3 January 2025
[pictures] A frightfully-clever case that I improvised out of a greeting card to protect a needle threader. The two flaps fold in to keep the threader from falling out: roll it up, secure with a paper clip. Every few months I'd find it in the arm of the futon and wonder "what is this?"
Today I was darning a sock at the kitchen table, and had a terrible time re-threading the needle after weaving it into the sock. Don't I have a needle threader in the arm of the futon?" Yes, but I still had a terrible time persuading the short end to enter the loop of the threader. Finally I managed to rake it through with the point of my SuperSnips, being too lazy to get up and fetch a more suitable tool.
A long time after I made this case, my dentist prescribed fuzzy toothpicks. Every hundred days, I get a beautiful little case meant for ten toothpicks and just right for carrying a few needles and pins. All my other threaders were in plastic cases, and now this one is too. But it's not back in the arm of the futon; I put it into the snack bag of darning wool. Perhaps I'll add it to the go bag of hand-sewing tools when the darning is done.
The home-made case will be sent to the land fill as soon as I photograph it.
The computer is still down. Makes me nervous that I don't know how to back up this file.
The fabric samples arrived today. The mid-weight hemp looks as though it would do for the bras, and the hemp summercloth might do for the jersey, but of course I have to wash the samples to be sure. The summercloth will do only if it shrinks a bit.
Seems to me that "summercloth" used to be coarser.
I have decided to iron a brakerchief and zig-zag the samples to it before washing. That will keep track of them, and also measure how much they shrink. Pity the linens are out of stock.
I found time today to clear off the ironing board, iron my muslin cap, iron my white collar T-shirt, and press an interfacing patch on a torn pattern and hang it back up. I don't know just where it fell from.
Oops. Forgot to iron a brakerchief while the iron was hot.
No church on account of ice. I plan to take all the patterns off the wall and put them back in order, fileting out those required for the linen jersey.
I have carefully considered the swatches and selected #HWM, Hemp Woven Medium. Essex doesn't wick as vigorously, and Summercloth is an ounce heavier. All of them make round spots like cotton instead of wicking along the threads as linen is supposed to do. Perhaps that is the result of spinning it on cotton machines.
But I'm going to check for linen before sending in the order. Changing the entries from "out of stock" to missing entirely doen't look as though they expected to find more soon.
I checked that I have all the pieces of the woven- jersey pattern and looked around for a good place to lay them out to see how much 53" fabric I need when I remembered:
In the notes for the cotten jersey: "fabric: 42" x 4 yd yellow cotton (25" left over, three and a half feet long on the side where I cut away a front yoke.)"
So four yards of white hemp should be worlds aplenty. And I think I have some pre-made calculations for the bras.
[checks Web page]
Says that I can get up to three bras from a bias strip that is 57" along the selvage.
A bias line that begins at one corner of a piece of fabric would end the width of the fabric from the other corner. 53" + 57" = 110" = two inches more than three yards.
But that calculation assumes that the straps don't interlock, and there will be some fabric left over from the jersey -- perhaps conveniently near bias.
Let's check the yellow-linen jersey notes.
They are spread out all through 2019, but I did find this entry:
30 March 2019
[snip]
But I have established that I do, indeed, have worlds of fabric. I think I could get this shirt out of three yards, and I have four.
No mention of buying the fabric. No mention of how wide it was. I got three bras out of the scraps. I think I took notes while making the bras -- perhaps even pictures.
Wakeful in the night, I found this entry:
23 May 2018
I hauled down the tulip-print scraps with an eye to making timer pockets for T shirts.
After Dave went through much fuss and feathers to get me a virtual credit-card number, I ordered four yards of Fashion Fabric's yellow linen to make a new summer jersey. It says it's suitable for pants, so I have hope that it's not sheer and flimsy. Dithering about buying it paid off — it's on sale at three dollars off until Memorial Day. A tad over ten dollars a yard, with shipping, and the original price was twelve something. (Sale price nine something.)
end quote
Still no mention of the width -- but I probably still have the invoice!
Yep, in the box with the scraps. Together with a note saying that it was 52" x 4 yards 8". That's probably after washing.
It made a jersey and three bras, and a lot of scraps big enough to be worth saving, so five yards of 53" hemp should do me even if it shrinks ten percent. That's 47.7" and the yellow cotton was 42".
I intend to cut all the pieces, put them into a box, and make bras. I'll probably need to concentrate on finishing one bra once I get them all cut out. I'm taking the old ones off and putting them on very, very carefully.
Time to start a file for the project blog, but I'm still trying to piece the Web site together.
&#
For raw content see: http://wlweather.net/Pcw/2023SEW1.HTM sewing diary http://wlweather.net/Pcw/2023SEW2.HTM sewing diary http://wlweather.net/Pcw/WEBLOG2.HTM list of changes to site For *really* raw content see: http://wlweather.net/Pcw/blogsew.txt
sewbird.htm is missing some links
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