I am constantly amazed at how I can loose something without ever leaving my seat. Today's items include the top to my razor knife and my very most favorite sewing tweezers. I have turned the world upside down and they have surely been taken to another dimension.
I suspect my distracted condition may be contributing to the recent activities of my poltergeist. Yesterday I spent an hour searching my house for a piece of fabric that I had labored over with my Rowenta to prepare for installation on the soon to be infamous paisley top. I ultimately located my fabric in the garbage covered in fresh coffee grounds.... AGHHHHHHH.
Well, I suppose every sewer has these kinds of days. Don't you?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Blindstitcher Machine Saga
I have had the time to work with my Tacsew over the past week so I am posting this comment to help others learn the machine more quickly. This is an excerpt from an email I wrote on the subject:
Me: "I am working with my blind stitcher. I changed the needle! Tra La. That wasn’t hard. No more broken threads. I am also stopping my stitch like I saw on a You Tube film. I pull a bunch of thread through the tension disk, remove the thread from the upper arm, and pull the fabric from behind to cut the thread. I am just afraid of the yanking method. Every time I have done it I have broken the thread.
The hard part was that I went to a little needle (2 ½ because my thread was too thick for the 2) and the thread hole was soooo freaking small that I had to remove the needle from the machine to thread it. Tricky. The next tricky part is using it on this stretch crepe. I will master it, but have to tell you that it ain’t easy. I folded up the hems (sleeves and bottom), ironed it in, and lightly basted it by hand. The whole issue is alignment, and maintaining alignment."
Sister:
" The news on your developing relationship with the blindstitcher is encouraging. (I think I'm going to give mine a name... like "Ray" (Charles), so I don't have to keep typing "the blindstitcher"...) "
Me:
"I like your idea of naming your blindstitcher. I will call mine Rat. Rat and I have come to peace for now. I just finished my paisley top. This is another one of those “if it can go wrong it will go wrong” deals. Listen- do not ever cut out your pattern pieces then dye them. Never, not once, shall you do that. I will explain at a later time if you are interested. Here’s what I learned about Rat today: you MUST check your thread on a scrap of the fabric that you are sewing to determine if you have to increase or decrease the depth of the needle penetration. John at AllBrands told me to test Rat on a double thickness of my fabric. That’s great for checking thread tension, but you need to do a real hemming sample to check the penetration. Next, ignore the dial to adjust the penetration- just turn it until the look is right from the right side of the fabric. For example, my initial setting was dead center between light and heavy fabric and it created an absolutely invisible hem on habotai, but made a visible stitch on the stretch crepe. In order to get an invisible ” of a serged edge to the left of the hump to catch the whole edge AND to hold the fabric a little firmer in my right hand than what I was previously doing. Now I am holding the finishstitch I turned the dial toward “lighter” instead of “heavier” . Next, Rat taught me to put about 1/16" fabric in my left hand and the unfinished hem in my left hand. Get it? FINALLY I mastered the RIP IT OUT method of finishing a seam. The trick is to get your needle in the fully retracted position (as if you were threading it). It works."
Me:
I should have said, “Jerk it out” instead of RIP IT OUT. When you thread the needle the eye is just to the left of the needle plate apparatus. By turning the wheel to the threading position the tip of the needle is secured by the groove in the needle plate. When you have the needle turned that far the upper stitch hand is a little to the left of the center of the sewing channel. It is my guess that the upper hand or something behind it that I can not see is the surface that is cutting the thread.
Me: "I am working with my blind stitcher. I changed the needle! Tra La. That wasn’t hard. No more broken threads. I am also stopping my stitch like I saw on a You Tube film. I pull a bunch of thread through the tension disk, remove the thread from the upper arm, and pull the fabric from behind to cut the thread. I am just afraid of the yanking method. Every time I have done it I have broken the thread.
The hard part was that I went to a little needle (2 ½ because my thread was too thick for the 2) and the thread hole was soooo freaking small that I had to remove the needle from the machine to thread it. Tricky. The next tricky part is using it on this stretch crepe. I will master it, but have to tell you that it ain’t easy. I folded up the hems (sleeves and bottom), ironed it in, and lightly basted it by hand. The whole issue is alignment, and maintaining alignment."
Sister:
" The news on your developing relationship with the blindstitcher is encouraging. (I think I'm going to give mine a name... like "Ray" (Charles), so I don't have to keep typing "the blindstitcher"...) "
Me:
"I like your idea of naming your blindstitcher. I will call mine Rat. Rat and I have come to peace for now. I just finished my paisley top. This is another one of those “if it can go wrong it will go wrong” deals. Listen- do not ever cut out your pattern pieces then dye them. Never, not once, shall you do that. I will explain at a later time if you are interested. Here’s what I learned about Rat today: you MUST check your thread on a scrap of the fabric that you are sewing to determine if you have to increase or decrease the depth of the needle penetration. John at AllBrands told me to test Rat on a double thickness of my fabric. That’s great for checking thread tension, but you need to do a real hemming sample to check the penetration. Next, ignore the dial to adjust the penetration- just turn it until the look is right from the right side of the fabric. For example, my initial setting was dead center between light and heavy fabric and it created an absolutely invisible hem on habotai, but made a visible stitch on the stretch crepe. In order to get an invisible ” of a serged edge to the left of the hump to catch the whole edge AND to hold the fabric a little firmer in my right hand than what I was previously doing. Now I am holding the finishstitch I turned the dial toward “lighter” instead of “heavier” . Next, Rat taught me to put about 1/16" fabric in my left hand and the unfinished hem in my left hand. Get it? FINALLY I mastered the RIP IT OUT method of finishing a seam. The trick is to get your needle in the fully retracted position (as if you were threading it). It works."
Me:
I should have said, “Jerk it out” instead of RIP IT OUT. When you thread the needle the eye is just to the left of the needle plate apparatus. By turning the wheel to the threading position the tip of the needle is secured by the groove in the needle plate. When you have the needle turned that far the upper stitch hand is a little to the left of the center of the sewing channel. It is my guess that the upper hand or something behind it that I can not see is the surface that is cutting the thread.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Photos on this Blog
Here's a link to photos of some of my creations http://picasaweb.google.com/pam.hebding/PamSWork#
As you can see, the photos were taken at my home in South Florida where it is HOT HOT HOT! The habotai silk that I am using is 8mm, which is what you would normally use as a lining. I decided to use it for jackets and tanks as a stand alone fabric. That limits me to unstructured jackets and the like and requires VERY careful sewing. There are lots of french seams and tons of hand stitching. Before I tried to beat this fabric into becoming a stand alone fabric I wondered if it would withstand use and laundering. I am happy to report that the fabric, properly constructed, works well on its own. And, fulfilling my goal of covering my over 50 body without dieing of heat stroke was accomplished. These garments are unbelievably light and cool to wear.
As you can see, the photos were taken at my home in South Florida where it is HOT HOT HOT! The habotai silk that I am using is 8mm, which is what you would normally use as a lining. I decided to use it for jackets and tanks as a stand alone fabric. That limits me to unstructured jackets and the like and requires VERY careful sewing. There are lots of french seams and tons of hand stitching. Before I tried to beat this fabric into becoming a stand alone fabric I wondered if it would withstand use and laundering. I am happy to report that the fabric, properly constructed, works well on its own. And, fulfilling my goal of covering my over 50 body without dieing of heat stroke was accomplished. These garments are unbelievably light and cool to wear.
Threading the Blind stitch machine
John at Allbrands told me to place the thread behind the needle after threading. Do not place it across the upper stitch arm!
Blind stitch machine - Allbrands Customer Service
I had a couple of issues with my new blind stitcher. First, I did not know where to place the thread; second, I did not know where the 6th oil hole was located; third, my thread broke from time to time. I called Allbrands and asked to speak with someone knowledgeable about the machine. They gave me the direct dial number of their guru. I called, reached the guru's voicemail, and left a message. To my delight, he returned my call within 5 minutes! I wish all my suppliers had customer service like Allbrands! The current blind stitch machine guru is John (phone 225.802.7886).
Blind stitch machine - purchasing
My worsening arthritis convinced me that I have to give up all of the hand finishing that I have been doing. I will still do the important details by hand, but I am now the proud new owner of a blind stitch machine. I recommend the price and service of Allbrands. They packaged a deal on the Tacsew BLST-2 that can not be beat. A copy of my order confirmation is below.
Most important to me was the ability of this machine to work on ultra light silks. As a test I took my brand new out of the box BLST-2, loaded it with white thread, and made an absolutely beautiful blind hem on a dark blue and black 8 mm habotai scarf. Yahoo!!!!
ORDER SUMMARY:
SHIPPING METHOD: Ground
Name Code Qty Each Options
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tacsew BLST-2 All Metal Portable Blind blst1tacsew 1 $ 269
Hem Stitch Hemmer Sewing Machine BLST2
Curved Needle, Skip Stitch, Knee Lifter
, FREE 50 Organ Asst Size Needles
Organ Box of 50 LWx6T Curved, Assorted LWx6T-ASSORT 1 FREE!
Size Needles for Portable Blind Stitch
Machines: Tacsew, Reliable, US Stitch,
Yamata, Gemsy, Rex, Tony, Hu Wang
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal $269
Shipping $0.00
Tax $0.00
Total $269.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most important to me was the ability of this machine to work on ultra light silks. As a test I took my brand new out of the box BLST-2, loaded it with white thread, and made an absolutely beautiful blind hem on a dark blue and black 8 mm habotai scarf. Yahoo!!!!
ORDER SUMMARY:
SHIPPING METHOD: Ground
Name Code Qty Each Options
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tacsew BLST-2 All Metal Portable Blind blst1tacsew 1 $ 269
Hem Stitch Hemmer Sewing Machine BLST2
Curved Needle, Skip Stitch, Knee Lifter
, FREE 50 Organ Asst Size Needles
Organ Box of 50 LWx6T Curved, Assorted LWx6T-ASSORT 1 FREE!
Size Needles for Portable Blind Stitch
Machines: Tacsew, Reliable, US Stitch,
Yamata, Gemsy, Rex, Tony, Hu Wang
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal $269
Shipping $0.00
Tax $0.00
Total $269.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wooly Nylon Thread
The best prices and color selection for wooly nylon thread is ThreadArt of Cypress, Texas. Use this thread in your serger loopers for lightweight and stretch fabrics. http://threadart.com/shop/
Friday, July 11, 2008
Shaving Cream for silk screening with acid dyes
I like to share my discoveries that I believe are observations that could help others. This one is short and sweet: For all screen printing except deconstructed you can throw out your alginate if you are screen printing. You can create a silk screened fabric that is much more interesting and controllable by mixing your dyes with shaving cream. You can get your desired intensity of color- or a pastel very easily, and this method will not effect your ability to set acid dyes in any way you like- steaming or chemical setting. It also works equally well with Procion MX.
The shaving cream stays put and is light on the screen. That makes things so much easier for me. I am not fighting a giant load of heavy alginate on my 24 x 30 screen (my biggest screen).
Screen through monofiliament screen or a screen set up using curtain sheers. Either is fine.
Do not be afraid to use a hard edged object in lieu of a squeegee. Some people use credit cards, I am currently using a plastic french curve. I think the curve is good for me right now because of my arthritis, but it does show that just about anything can be used to push the dyes through the screen. I have also used an el-cheapo plastic putty knife with a 6 inch blade that works beautifully.
The ultimate easiest thing is to screen print with Color Hue dyes. I LOVE INSTANT GRATIFICATION!
The shaving cream stays put and is light on the screen. That makes things so much easier for me. I am not fighting a giant load of heavy alginate on my 24 x 30 screen (my biggest screen).
Screen through monofiliament screen or a screen set up using curtain sheers. Either is fine.
Do not be afraid to use a hard edged object in lieu of a squeegee. Some people use credit cards, I am currently using a plastic french curve. I think the curve is good for me right now because of my arthritis, but it does show that just about anything can be used to push the dyes through the screen. I have also used an el-cheapo plastic putty knife with a 6 inch blade that works beautifully.
The ultimate easiest thing is to screen print with Color Hue dyes. I LOVE INSTANT GRATIFICATION!
Murphy's Law - Arthritis and Art
One year into my obsession with surface design, silk painting and sewing the unthinkable happened - Murphy showed up. What had been a very mild case of osteoarthritis in my hands blossomed into something awfully painful. It happened overnight, literally. I awoke one morning 8 weeks ago with excruciating pain in both hands. Every joint from the wrist to the tip of each finger was screaming. All I know now is that it is not my long standing osteoarthritis that is to blame. Tests performed by the rheumatologist have shown that I am ANA positive (first level of autoimmune disease testing). More tests have been done and I am taking a NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) drug while I await what will be the results of 3 rounds of testing. The NSAID has helped a little, but lots of stuff (like typing) is still really painful.
Give up my obsession? No! Just doing a little less these days. I work slower and with some difficulty, but I am still at it!
Give up my obsession? No! Just doing a little less these days. I work slower and with some difficulty, but I am still at it!
Monday, July 7, 2008
In the Beginning Woman Created Scarves
My first Dharma order included 4 yds of 5mm Habotai, lots of Habotai scarves and a a few ready to paint pillow covers. The fabric was set aside as I concentrated on painting scarves using various techniques that I had seen on the net and in books. I tried wet on wet, salt, line building, serti technique using water based and solvent based guttas. All of my art was freehand. Some of it was really pleasing. Colors were made on purpose and by the wonderful accident of transparent colors merging and layering in a way that can only be made by dye on silk. Every success was chronicled by digital photos and the concept formed about making 'heritage' scarves for all of my female relatives and friends. I called them heritage scarves because all of the women on the maternal side of my family are crafty and creative. Grandma made quilts for each of her children and grandchildren before she died. Mom crocheted intricate afghans for each of her children before she died. No, I was not having a premonition of death, but the idea consumed me that I could get a jump start on something I HAD to do to maintain a lovely tradition. I painted scarves like there was no t0morrow.
Some of the scarves took a day or more to paint, others were finished in a half day. Motifs varied from impressionist designed subtle tones to wildly colored abstracts. The thread that ran through the heritage line was love and thought of each person for whom the scarf was designed. As silly as it seems, I cried at times during my painting - quiet middle aged weeping over the love I felt for the intended recipient. sn't that a lovely reaction to one's creativity?
All of the scarves were painted and delivered in 2007 - including a 4 stole sized series of semi-identical scarves that were painted for the wedding party of a friend's daughter. Nearly 80 scarves were delivered in the heritage series. I am proud.
Some of the scarves took a day or more to paint, others were finished in a half day. Motifs varied from impressionist designed subtle tones to wildly colored abstracts. The thread that ran through the heritage line was love and thought of each person for whom the scarf was designed. As silly as it seems, I cried at times during my painting - quiet middle aged weeping over the love I felt for the intended recipient. sn't that a lovely reaction to one's creativity?
All of the scarves were painted and delivered in 2007 - including a 4 stole sized series of semi-identical scarves that were painted for the wedding party of a friend's daughter. Nearly 80 scarves were delivered in the heritage series. I am proud.
Hot Flashes and Fashion
When my body decided to turn on itself and torture me with frequent hot flashes and an inability to sleep past 3 a.m. I had to make some life and wardrobe changes. Nudity was not an option, and the fabrics and fashions available in the hot house of South Florida were unappealing and TOO HOT. Although I enjoyed sewing and designing for most of my life, my machines and supplies had been packed away for ten years. They were abandoned when I gave up on finding fabrics that were attractive and wearable in a hot climate. My wardrobe was a study in apathy. Core holdings had dwindled to boring black pants, ugly suits, jeans and Old Navy tees for lounging. I longed for something pretty that fit and was cool to wear. I was HOT and Homely. Something had to change.
At 3 am in the early spring of 2007 it hit me - I could make my own fabrics and colors! Tra la! Thanks to Google I quickly located a good supplier of silk fabrics and dyes - Dharma Trading. I quickly placed an order and started reading everything I could find so I would be ready to create as soon as the goods arrived. I was a kid in a candy store again! Loaded to the gills with dyes, brushes, newly constructed frames, resists, discharge paste, and an electric turkey fryer purchased to steam my creations, I was off and running. I could and would create my own fabric!
At 3 am in the early spring of 2007 it hit me - I could make my own fabrics and colors! Tra la! Thanks to Google I quickly located a good supplier of silk fabrics and dyes - Dharma Trading. I quickly placed an order and started reading everything I could find so I would be ready to create as soon as the goods arrived. I was a kid in a candy store again! Loaded to the gills with dyes, brushes, newly constructed frames, resists, discharge paste, and an electric turkey fryer purchased to steam my creations, I was off and running. I could and would create my own fabric!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)