SpinnySpinny

I’ve been busy sewing the past couple weeks, I need to replace my wardrobe again so I’ve started re-working existing patterns and checking out new ones. Right now I’m making some basic dresses as pattern tests, out of whatever fabric I’ve got lying around from projects that never happened.

One was particularly interesting, it’s made from an old fitted sheet I found at Goodwill. The elastic was crumbling and I suspect it was from a child’s room as it has marks on it that look suspiciously like felt-tip pen. I used it to make this princess-seam dress:

Yes, it is indeed shorter on one side than the other. Because I am shorter on one side than the other. I’m often lazy and don’t do it, but it is better to adjust at the shoulder seam than the hem. That way the garment hangs straight.

It is a printed knit with a one-way design of stylized flowers on white. But the print is sideways so the crosswise stretch is top to bottom, opposite of normal garment fabrics. There isn’t a lot of stretch in the other direction but this pattern was intended for woven fabric, so that’s ok. I can tell how the bodice and sleeves fit (too small across the bust) knowing that the result will be wearable anyway.

The weird thing is that it is strangely stiff for a cotton knit. (I haven’t actually done a burn test to know the fiber content.) It resists pins and needles and leaves behind what looks like little shreds of paper instead of normal lint in the sewing machine. The holes left from pins are also quite noticeable. This would suggest damaged fiber and I see catastrophic structural failure in my future. But I wasn’t exactly making an heirloom piece here.

The local newspaper has an article about a designer that specializes in pleated fabrics. The video of the manufacturing facility is interesting. Aside from new fabrics that can be permanently heat-set, pleating hasn’t changed much in thousands of years. Garment sections are pleated before final stitching and blouses are hand-manipulated multiple times to form complex pleat structures.

I went to Stitches West at the Santa Clara Convention Center this morning to do a spinning demo, and of course since I was then in for free, some shopping.

It’s kinda like MacWorld for yarn. It would be dangerous if I bought knitting yarn, but typically I don’t. There were more vendors with spinning equipment and fiber, which was nice. I of course bought stuff I didn’t intend to. I wasn’t organizing this demo but only showing up to spin for a couple hours. I did teach so I wasn’t a complete slug. But I might have been more focused if I had actually had breakfast. Or lunch.

The demo was not the usual guild thing but for the Spinning and Weaving Association, a trade group of manufacturers and retailers. We were teaching, but not with the box of CD spindles the guild has. I got to play with a Ladybug wheel from Schacht, a beginner wheel less expensive than the Matchless.

It’s a nice little wheel, but I have to say I’m still a Lendrum partisan. The way it was set up was too slow for the kind of yarn I spin and too fast for real beginners. From looking on the website I think it had the medium whorl rather than the slow one but I’m not really sure. I found the scotch tension adjustment a little fussy, with the small plastic knob slipping when I tried to adjust it. Apparently it can also be set up for double drive, which I wouldn’t recommend for a first wheel. (Yes, when it works it’s wonderful. But getting it set Just Right is a bother.)

We had several small rigid heddle looms designed to use typical knitting yarns. They were already warped, I didn’t play with them but they seemed to be typical for the style. They had floor stands, which was nice. I really don’t know the manufacturer, I thought they might be the Knitter’s Loom, but it seems that Ashford is not a member of the association.

There was a small drum carder also, I carded some random layered batts and was spinning huge fluffy woolen yarn. Entirely unlike what I normally do, but suited to the fiber and equipment. Everybody seemed to like it and it got people’s attention.

I then spent about 90 minutes doing a fast tour of the show. I got a new spindle, some hand-dyed silk fiber and a length of Japanese silk fabric. Here’s a summary of the haul:

Hand-painted tussah silk from Fiber Fiend. It’s in blue, gray and purple in a colorway called Blackberry Swirl. Also a Maggie spindle from Carolina Homespun (27g I think the label said, before I lost it.)

The silk from Japan with a floral design was from John Marshall. No way I can afford any of his own work, but this was a nice piece he found in Japan. He told me how they are turning up now because people aren’t doing much traditional work anymore and you can find them discontinued. Good for shoppers, at least the Americans who are buying wholesale and bringing them back, but bad for the craft. I’m not sure of the exact technique but boy is it nice. It has a large group of flowers on branches on each end and some additional flowers between. I’m guessing it was originally intended for kimono, with the large design.

I went hunting for a piece of fabric buried in the closet this afternoon and ended up doing a minor re-org. That happens when what I’m looking for has been in there a while. It’s much wider than it is deep, which makes it a pain to organize. I have several large utility shelves and still stuff is stacked on the floor and hanging off the back of the door.

I’ve been pretty good about not buying more than I can figure out where to store. I have years worth of project material in there already. Of course, my usual solution to that dilemma is to get better at packing it all in. Because, well, today Thai Silks had some really nice batik half off.

We went to the tailor today, for what was supposed to be the fitting but there wasn’t anything to be done. So we left with the finished jacket. The Harris Tweed fabric is classic. There was some “miscommunication” about the aforementioned elbow patches and the tailor assures us they can be added later if desired. I think it looks great without them and I swear I didn’t call him about it or anything. Here’s some pictures:

The Boyfriend is immensely happy with it, although I think I’m going to have to smack him if he keeps unbuttoning the sleeve vents. Yes, you have functioning buttons, that’s one of those custom tailor things. You don’t need to point this out to anyone who happens to be walking by.

I briefly thought I should have asked for a couple fabric scraps, this stuff is expensive and it would be interesting to play around with. I’m having to resist fiddling with the kemp, however.