Update on Coming Changes

     Personal things as they apply to this blogging thing:

    I am currently taking classes on business and web design. I am assuming these will take 6 months to a year for me to complete. At that time I will be rolling out a totally new blog that I'll be building from the ground up to be 100% what I want it to be. It will be located on my own domain and the whole shebang. I'll also be changing gears as far as my business. I plan to start introducing my own line of patterns and cloth, as well as doing free online workshops and vlogs featuring my costume designing process for all to learn from. In the meantime, I will also still be working on this blog, and getting it set up to help my students and followers. When the change over happens, I'll let everyone know and provide links to the shiny new goodness! I can't wait to be teaching to a much bigger "class"... the whole world! It's like a dream! I hope you all stick with me enjoy my more limited educational blogs on here in the meantime.

   I will also remake most of these blogs to be a bit more polished when I get everything up to snuff. So if you have any editing remarks (I am not a booty-butts about people correcting my grammar, nor my content) or things you think I should include, let me know in the comments!

Thank you all!

Sewing Basics, Part Two: Know Your Fabrics

   This one will not be as short and simple as the needles. There's just so many fabrics out there. I'll just be touching on some key points that those of you with less experience might find helpful. As the blog develops, I'll go in to more detail about the fabrics I use in my costume and clothing designs. Knowing your fabrics requires a lot of time and practice. In an ideal world, we would know exactly what the make-up of every fabric was. However, if you're anything like me, and often receive gifts of fabric, shop garage and estate sales for fabric, upcycle things people have cut tags from, etc... well, then you are going to run in to a lot of times where you just have to "best guess". A good way to start working on honing that skill is pretty simple: read your clothing tags every day before you put them on, and get a feel for that particular fabric. You're looking for the part of the tag that gives you composition of the material. Now you are building an association in your brain between what it is, and how it looks, feels, and acts. Luckily, when you are out fabric shopping and have access to the bolts, you can usually see right then and there what a fabric is made of on the end of the bolt.

Fabric content is listed on the tags of clothing items

This is the usual information you can get looking at the end of a fabric bolt. Width of fabric (not shown) is also often listed.

 

   Below is a little bit of basic knowledge about fabrics you need to get started being more familiar with fabric composition.  Fabrics can be natural, synthetic, or a blend. What are they made of, and how are they different? Knowing what you have can make a lot of difference in how your end product will look and behave.

some of the most important differences in synthetic and natural fabrics.

 Second to composition of the fabric, is the structure. Is it woven or is it knit? These will behave differently, and require different tools and techniques to get quality results. Tools and techniques for specific fabrics will be in future posts. For know we are focusing on identification.

Easy ways to check what type of fabric you have.

 Common fabric terms to know:

• With the grain: this is an important thing to understand about fabric. A grain is a line that runs horizontal or vertical on your fabric. You need to pay attention to this because things cut on the grain hold their shape better, and if a pattern maker suggests cutting on the grain, it is to help with the structural look of the finished piece. 
• Nap: this is for things like velvet and faux fur, and it refers to the way in which the fibers face. You need to pay attention to that so you don't have half of your garment sewn with obvious fibers going the wrong directions in some places. 
• On the bias: this means a diagonal cut on your fabric. Things cut on the bias tend to fray less, stretch a little,  and drape more softly.
• Selvage: the manufacturer's edge on the fabric, running the length of the fabric. These have usually been woven or treated not to curl or fray, and therefor might have a different feeling and appearance than the rest of your fabric. be careful when cutting your pattern or you might get too close to the selvage, and have a weird looking spot on your finished product.
•  If you want to know more of the lingo, you can have a look at this glossary of textile terms on Wikipedia. I'll be straight with you, there are words on there *I* have never even heard of! Learning every day!

 

   Well, I hope you learned at least a little bit from all this! I try very hard to make sense most days!... but I am not always successful! lol There will be more in this series ahead. In part three I will cover different thread types. Please feel free to ask me a question or send me a suggestion about things you'd like to learn!

Sewing Basics, Part One: Know Your Needles.

   I find myself teaching people often. Either in community classes, one on one, at a convention as a panel, etc. This is my first blog in a series of sewing basics, and it is mostly meant to give my students a reference to the things I teach without them having to take nay notes! It is by no means exhaustive, but it should give beginners a great starting point. If you have questions, I'd love to hear them!

   Using the right needle is essential to having a quality outcome and not wasting your materials. You can look at a package of needles and read what kind of needle it is, what needle system (the machines it will fit) it uses, what size it is, and what it is generally recommended for use on. The "weight" of the fabric refers to how thick the fabric is. For more information on fabrics, see my Know Your Fabric post.

Needle sizes in relation to uses

Check your needle package for key information on using said needles

Needle type and general uses

     Other helpful information:

• change needle after *about* 6 hours of needle use
• if your needle makes a popping sound going through the fabric, you might want to get the next size down
• this can all be applied to hand sewing needles as well
• over tough spots, it is often better to use the flywheel (hand wheel) to go slowly and carefully through the fabric to avoid a broken needle
• wear eye protection when sewing tough materials, they can cause the needle to snap and go flying

Quick Fix #2: 80's Inspired Tee Shirt Clip (upcycle)

   Today's Quick Fix Is one of those great tee shirt clips like we used to wear back in the 80's. They are making a little bit of a comeback with the rest of the 80's, and I had occasion to need one for an 80's Star Wars dance night (I LOVE going dancing, you guys). Locally, I could find squat, and I needed it asap. That left me with one option: figure out how to make one. Here's the solution I came up with!

You Will Need:

• An old belt with a circular buckle (as pictured). I got mine from the thrift store for like $1.
• scissors appropriate to cut through the material the belt is made of
• pliers (here I lean towards two sets with needle nose)
• decorations if you want to change the appearance of your tee clip

Step One: Cut the belt away from the buckle as shown.

Step Two: Remove the prong (the part that goes through the belt holes) from the buckle.

Step Three: Pull the bottom edge of your shirt through the top of the buckle from the back, over the bar through the middle, then back out of the buckle on the other side. Bam! You now look super rad! (note to self, clean your dang mirrors next time!)

Booth Babe Tip #1: Fancy Headband Displays on the Cheap

 I made a bunch of these to use in our booth display for my smaller headpieces that I build on normal headbands. They can be used for may different things, though, so use your imagination! The best part is they cost very little in time and materials and yield a professional and eye-catching touch to any display.

You Will Need:

• full roll of paper towels (choose for size and firmness desired)
• hot glue and gun
• 1/2 yard of fabric of your choice (it could be more or less depending on things like paper towel roll size, fabric nap* or print, design choices)
• sturdy cardboard that can be cut to the length and width of the paper towel roll, plus two circles the circumference of the paper towel rolls (this can be a lighter weight material).
• scissors
• candle stick holder (the sturdy pillar type with a wider base is most recommended for stability)
• paint, ribbon, and any other decorations you might want

Step One: Using your paper towel roll as a guide, figure out how much fabric you need to go all the way around it, and add about an extra inch and a half to that. You also need to make sure there is enough on each end to reach the center at a bit more than the tube's inner circumference (see picture). Cut out the fabric once you have these dimensions. You can use rulers to help keep your lines straight. Don't be afraid to mark inside the fabric, as long as it doesn't show through to the good side.

Step Two: Place paper towel roll on the fabric, aligned with enough fabric on either side, and close to one end. Run a bead of hot glue along this close end, and stick it to the paper towel roll. Continue to glue and roll the paper towels to the fabric until you are about 1/2 inch from the other where you started.

Step Three: On the edge you haven't yet glued down, fold it over to the inside and glue it there, creating a "hem" for a clean edge.

Step Four: Glue down the hem you just made, completing the wrapping of the length of your paper towel roll.

Step Five: Tuck excess fabric into the holes of the tube on either end, and glue into place.

Step Six: Using the paper towel roll as a guide (or something roughly the same circumference or smaller), cut two end pieces.

Step Seven: Cut a piece of cloth about 1/2 inch bigger all the way around for both of the circles you just cut out. Glue the circle of cloth on to the circle of chosen end material.

Step Eight: Wrap edges of cloth up and around end cap pieces, and glue in to place.

Step Nine: Glue end pieces on to the ends of the paper towel roll.

Step Ten: Using your roll as guide, cut a piece of sturdy cardboard long and wide enough to provide a flat bottom base on the roll. Then cover it in fabric as you did the end caps.

Step eleven: Attach this base on the bottom of the roll where your seam is.

Step twelve: Attach the roll to the candle holder or other chosen base. Add trim as you see fit. 

Step Thirteen: Admire!

Bonus: Can be used without candle holder, also.

*side note: you can currently buy some of the headwear featured on the main picture in my Etsy

shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSpookybootique?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Quick Fix #1: Washable No-sew Sachets

   These are just a little thing I make and like to throw in dresser drawers, suitcases, and anywhere else I am storing fabrics I want to have a freshly laundered scent. It only takes a few cheap items, and when they start to wear out, you just toss them in the wash with a load of clothes to punch up that load's scent. When it's done, just refill and start again

               You will need:

• old stockings. hosiery, or socks (you can either use old ones with snags, as I have here, or something cuter that has lost its mate)
• scissors
• rubber bands
• laundry scent beads or crystals

Step One: Cut the socks (or whatever you chose) in to short tubes of about 3-4 inches in length.

Step Two: Close one end of the tube by wrapping a rubber band around it.

Step Three: Fill with laundry beads or crystals.

Step Four: Close other end of tube with another rubber band. And there you have it!

Making Videos, Getting out of my own way, and Ugly Fingernails

  Quick pop in here to acknowledge I should set an alarm to remind me what days I have said I'd post,  because I am obviously not a time lord. In other news, there is actually a backlog of tutorials I need to post. Some I want to re-do to have video counterparts, though. I would really like the format to be both written with stills and videos. I know different folks have different learning styles, and I want to help the broadest range possible with learning skills. For now, I will at least try to get some of the written and still photo posts up. I can always go back and make a video later. Gotta break that perfectionist hold-up that stops me all the time. It, in fact, IS okay to do things even when they aren't absolutely ideal! Waiting around for the perfect brew pretty much means never getting it completed... I need to consciously start altering that silly thought process.

Also, I should start paying attention to how my nails and stained up hands look on camera! This last tutorial I was making (not yet posted)... lawdy. I have busted, chipped, and bruised nails, my hands and nails both are all stained and half painted from other messy projects. You know... I own about 50 shades of nail polish and a large box of nitrile gloves. You'd think this would have all come together in my mind before now! lol