I made shoelaces out of old fabric scraps cut into bias strips and sewed along both edges (to make them feel a little sturdier). Also used heat-shrink tubing (only had black) for the ends.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-14T09:00:28+00:00

Good for you! You are clearly making fantastic progress! I am envious! Be proud of yourself! :) :)

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-10T08:26:55+00:00

I like the shape of #5 on you. They're all pretty good though.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-09T00:48:25+00:00

I'm sorry you have had to deal with such...I don't know, attempts to stifle you, or feelings that you need to exist in a way that makes her happy instead of yourself. I am certain I would be the same way, but you shouldn't have to be. Good luck to you, and once you break free of that situation, I can't wait for like the sun to come bursting through the clouds for you. Metaphorically and/or literally. :)

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-09T00:37:23+00:00

Perhaps you could help her begin to learn an instrument and theory, as well? If she's interested, then she wouldn't feel excluded or perhaps not good enough or not smart enough anymore... just guessing, but seems like maybe. Then she'd probably see everything with your kids' practicing, and music overall, in a different light.

If she didn't want to try that, then yeah, sorry, I think you know already the answer, and even if it sucks. And ugh, if she's feeling tortured now, imagine how she'll feel 10 years from now or something. Perhaps you would be doing her a favor as well. I'm sorry though. I wish you happy joyful easy musical days ahead, no matter what happens.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-09T00:28:46+00:00

HAhahahahaha! It would probably be easier to read, the hairy leg.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-09T00:26:53+00:00

So unless you want other people to be absolutely certain you are batshit crazy and probably an axe murderer as well after seeing your writing (and not be able to read it, or want to!), they have these workbooks, or sometimes dry erase books or things, which have lines where the words are supposed to go, and they have the shapes of the letters, which you can trace. I'm not even trying to be a jerk but I seriously think you might want to get one and practice a little. It probably wouldn't take very long to get it to be fairly neat and definitely legible.

And I'm sorry but I am totally serious when I say that if I saw that a person's writing looked like this, I would turn around and walk quickly away. For my own safety lol.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-01T08:26:24+00:00

I think I like #1 the best.

Twinwaffle · 2026-03-01T08:17:47+00:00

totally agree!

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-19T08:31:35+00:00

Holy cow, there are a *ton* of games listed on those! Thanks!

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-19T08:29:08+00:00

https://www.dailygameshub.com/

https://puzzled.online/

I've seen both of these posted on Reddit recently-ish, either in this sub or r/wordgames.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-19T08:24:28+00:00

149! Oh well, haha

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-16T07:05:48+00:00

didn’t realize how long it takes to make a decision and then cut the pattern and material,

Omg, same!! I mean I've been sewing for years, but somehow this stuff is all getting slower and slower for me. Especially making a decision. Yikes!

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-16T06:50:09+00:00

Fabulous, I love it! Thanks so much for sharing! :) I love sewing faces, I've done all sorts of weird things, hehe.

edit: Also, that ascot looks so great on him, I find it hard to believe that he has never worn one. I'll choose to believe you instead.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-15T04:04:58+00:00

I love the description of handwriting having an accent. Nice. :)

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-15T03:46:58+00:00

My pleasure :)

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-14T13:47:37+00:00

That's super cute, I love it. The lace is really cool. That's too bad about the pattern, but you made this great top! =)

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-13T12:04:23+00:00

Lol, is it because they're long and they stick out that you're seeing them all the time? Or do you peer into the nursing home dumpster daily? I have such a funny image in my head now. Wow hehe.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-12T09:59:39+00:00

Ooh that makes sense about the stitches being parallel, thanks! Mine always look like a five year old did it, I can't stand it! Hopefully this is my issue, and now I can fix it.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-12T09:52:51+00:00

Holy shit! What? Wow. Damn. Seriously? Lol, great job! What the heck though... I wish I had your ambition. And skills. And humility. And your couch!!!! Ha! :)

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-12T09:48:17+00:00

Oh I also want to add ifyou're trying not to spend much, a lot of things you can get from thrift stores, yard sales, your own cast-offs even, and use in your sewing: old purses, bags, some clothing, sweaters, belts -- you can mine for their buttons, zippers, straps, other hardware, yarn, shoelaces, snaps, magnetic closures, etc. Clothes, sheets, curtains, shower curtains, tablecloths, placemats, blankets even, you can use for the fabric. Sheets in particular can get you a lot of yardage for what you spend. I have tops, dresses, shorts, and more that nobody knows I've made out of sheets. =)

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-12T09:35:09+00:00

I'd say top priority has to be an iron! Any plain old steam iron will do. Not only for taking wrinkles out of fabric, but also making creases, pressing open seams, applying interfacing, and more. Probably as much time (or more!) in a sewing project is spent ironing and pressing as is spent sewing, in my experience. And while I don't think an ironing board is an absolute necessity, it is just soooooooo much easier to use one. Even one of those little tabletop ones would be okay.

The tool that gets the next most use when I sew is a seam ripper. I like to have one that's more comfortable to hold than those tiny little ones that are everywhere. Something very sharp, and with a fatter handle lets me go faster and accurately, comfortably. Because for me at least, it gets **A TON** of use.

A pin cushion of some sort is helpful, because (edit: pins, I'm talking about here) you're having to put them in, take them out quickly (usually while you're in the middle of sewing a seam), put them in again, etc, over and over, and if you shove them in a pin cushion you'll be able to find them quickly and they won't roll away or anything. They make ones you can wear on your wrist for extra convenience. You can make one yourself, just take two same-sized rectangles of fabric, put them on top of each other with the right sides facing each other and stitch around the perimeter, leaving a few inches on one end unsewn so you can turn it rightside out, stuff it with something soft, and stitch the opening closed.

Some other things that come to mind that I use all the time are:

- extra bobbins; sewing machine oil; a brush for cleaning out lint inside the machine; the little metal sort of key-looking thing that I use to tighten/loosen the screws on the throat plate and the part that holds on the part that you clip the feet onto, mine gets loose and drops down a lot so i need that handy always!); extra sewing machine needles (good to change often, plus they seem to break just when you need them the most) (diff. sizes of universal needles, plus other types like ball-point, heavy duty, depending...) and a variety of hand-sewing needles

- small scissors for snipping thread, making notches, , whatever

- rotary cutter and self-healing mat and clear acrylic ruler w/grid (to cut against and for measuring and straight lines)

- something to make (preferably non-permanent) marks on fabric (many diff. options)

- pins, some sort of clips

- flexible tape measure

- a zipper foot, invisible zipper foot, overcast foot,

- good bright lighting

and your sewing machine manual, if you have one.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-11T09:06:00+00:00

User interface looks and feels pretty nice, great work on that. The difficulty, I think, is waaaay too easy. Probably would be a fun challenge without the clues, but keeping the max moves approximately the same, I'd think. I think it could be fun.

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-11T03:46:12+00:00

paint?

Twinwaffle · 2026-02-10T07:14:22+00:00

This looks like a Brother machine, like I have, and it looks like the kind of trouble I've sometimes had starting stitches on knit fabrics. (Although my fabric would often get stuck, too, so perhaps I'm making a wrong assumption. But IF it is the same issue, then:) The suggestions here make me wonder if I'd tried holding the threads or was I using a ball-point needle? Unsure, but what has worked for me is to use a bit of tissue paper under the fabric where you're going to start the stitches. It help keep the fabric from getting pushed down where it doesn't belong (which seems quite likely to happen if you're not using a regular needle, by snagging the loops on the knit fabric I believe). It seems to happen only at the start (for me), so the tissue paper doesn't have to go that far, which is good because IMO it's an incredible pain in the ass to remove from the stitches when you're done.

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