ASG Program & Trip

I never did report on the program I did for the Omaha ASG. It was such fun! What a great group of ladies. It's never boring to talk sewing, is it?

It was a rainy evening, but that didn't dampen any spirits. I took along a large group of garments that had begun with a SWAP I did several years ago. I've been adding things to my wardrobe since then that still coordinate with the original group of garments, as well as replacing items that needed it as I went along. So we had lots to talk about and discuss.

They seemed to enjoy seeing my shoes as well, and we're talking about a Shoe Workshop sometime, which I think would be so much fun!

I happened to be there on a special night as well. A longtime member was divesting herself of her stash, as she was moving, and health issues were also coming into play. There were tables and tables of fabric, patterns, notions, books, etc. All were first-come, first-served with donations asked for the ASG group. She lived only a couple blocks from the old Pendleton Outlet, and guess where a lot of her fabric came from? Now, how much did she have? They counted as they put it out, and there were 700 pieces. Yes, SEVEN HUNDRED individual pieces of fabric, and almost all were at least 3 yards, and most were larger. I don't think I'm quite in that class yet, but it does make you stop and take a breath, and just think about what you're collecting, and what will happen to it. And yes, I took a few pieces. I let the members go first, though.

Also, the Omaha ASG is doing a bus trip to the Kansas City area on Saturday, June 26th. I'm going along, and we'll be at various fabric stores, textile shops, etc. in KC, St. Joseph and Overland Park. I'm not sure what all we'll see, but it sounds terrific. They have a few places left, and it's only $25 for non-members. Quite the bargain, so if you're in the Omaha area, come on along!

The clean-out of my parents home is going well, I think. We had a big tag sale last weekend, and are going to repeat this weekend. We keep finding more stuff my Mom had tucked away. Today I am finally feeling slightly recovered from all the work we've been doing over the last 2 months. It's been every day, mostly evenings and late into the night, and it's been some time since I did so much lifting and carrying, etc. Last night I went over there and met a young man who was hoping to buy my Mom's sewing machine for his mother. It's an older Necchi, and he wanted me to show him that it worked. I had planned to test the machine earlier, but honestly I'd forgotten with everything else we were doing, and so it was a cold test, but that machine came through with flying colors. Made me think I should have kept it, but no, I don't need another back-up machine. He got quite the bargain, though, and I hope his mother likes it.

Questions & Answers (I hope)

I try to answer questions that are posed in the Comments for this blog, and sometimes I answer in the Comment section, and sometimes I do a post. This time it's a post.

You may remember the Twisted Binding I've done on a couple of tank tops. The original post was far enough back that I thought adding a comment there would be unhelpful to anyone who had seen it then. these are photos of two garments of mine with Twisted Binding. They are both knits, the first is a fairly beefy cotton knit, the second is a very thin mesh knit.


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Suannah from Adventures in Dressmaking said:

This is great! I hope to do a tutorial on a twisted hem edge soon myself. I see that you can use the straight grain on a knit, but do you think bias would be better for a lightweight woven? Hm... (and also, I assume you would press under 1/2" or so on the back before stitching in the ditch?)

A: You will want to use bias with a woven, but I would not press under the edge on the back for two reasons.

1. It won't ravel anyway, being on the bias.
2. You're going to have a lot of bulk (comparatively) from the twisting and the edge will not be nice and flat anyway, as it would be if it were a non-twisted binding. I think it would be overkill to press it and attempt to turn it under as you stitch, and I don't think you'd get the result you would like. Just trim the raw edge so it's even and unobtrusive. You can probably trim very closely.

joanier asked this on the Olive Green Lingerie post:

Do you mind if I ask what panty pattern you use? I assume that they are comfortable or you wouldn't be making them. They almost look as if they don't have elastic in the legs. That's my next undertaking to make some panties but am trying now to decide on a style and pattern.

A: You're correct that there is no elastic in the legs. I've found this to be very comfortable, and to be no problem in wearing. It works better in some fabrics, although I've been surprised occasionally by what works better than I'd thought. In general, you want a knit with a good lycra content so it has nice, snappy recovery. Often the 'heavier' knits are better, although mesh seems to be great in most cases as well, and that's almost the antithesis of 'heavy'.

I use an old Stretch&Sew pattern, #2046. I think it's OOP, although it seems to be available with a different number. There's nothing unusual about it, it's a very basic pattern, and I think you could do very well with almost any basic panty pattern.

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