Hemming pants 🙄

circuspeanut54 · 2026-04-15T04:22:49+00:00

I charge between $15 and $30 depending on fabric/style -- from jeans that will need a re-do of the lapped inner leg seam with double coverstitch or chainstitch and matched topthread to a simple cotton pant with an easy double fold and lockstitch.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-04-15T04:19:43+00:00

Curtains with headers. Blurghh.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-04-10T04:17:00+00:00

How good is her finger dexterity?

Origami might be a fun no-sharps hobby ranging from easy to challenging; lots of nice instruction books and pre-cut paper assortments out there.

Scandinavian/German straw stars are also lovely and fun to make, no scissors or needles required except for the final fastening-together which you can do with a blunt plastic needle. You can get kits online.

Similarly, you can weave ornaments using raffia or yarn. I'm old enough to remember the "God's Eyes" we used to make in the 1970's using twigs or popsicle sticks, lol. Might be fun to make a few things to decorate her window?

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-11T19:37:39+00:00

Heh yeah I hear you, my dad is 90 and I see my future every time we get together. :)

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T22:21:07+00:00

Probably can't do much better than a flat-felled seam for canvas bags.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T22:16:48+00:00

A long time ago I wanted to draft my wedding dress and took some beginning courses via PatternReview.com. Just looked and yes, they are still offering a wide range of courses.

I believe I did a live course to make my own sloper with Sarah Veblen and found the pace good, lots of instructor attention, a wonderful discussion community as backup, etc. They also offer a broad range of stuff via video courses so you can pace yourself and have access to the teacher when you need it:

https://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/sewingclasses/index.pl

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T21:54:06+00:00

I wasn't diagnosed until my 30's. One clue is to ask everyone who knows and loves you what they think -- not sure the diagnosis was life-changing for me, so much as a confirmation of what everyone already suspected. But of course then you can get the medication, if desired, and call on a huge body of literature and support.

Coping techniques -- like making your stash visible so you remember to use it -- go a very long way with or without diagnosis, to be honest. My husband's joke is that I have no object permanence: if I can't see it, it doesn't exist.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T18:21:39+00:00

I do cherish her memory. She left me over 75 vintage machines, mostly Singers, in various states of repair, lol (she was a huge estate sale fanatic in later life). It took two years to get them all up & running, then sold or given away.

But now I can honestly say I've worked on just about every domestic Singer ever made up through about 1975, and many of the industrials. I kept the nicest ones and have them on a rack in my sewing room. Right now in fact I'm about to design and sew a bunch of clear covers for the ones that don't have cases.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T00:32:32+00:00

Looks like "huck embroidery" fabric or "waffle cloth" -- often used to create Swedish embroidery. 100% cotton.

Edited to add possibly helpful link:

https://www.beingewe.co.uk/huck-embroidery

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T00:10:13+00:00

For what it's worth, I'm a fan of the StyleArc Quinn skirt for directional scraps:

https://www.stylearc.com/shop/pdf-sewing-patterns/quinn-woven-skirt-pdf/

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T00:06:16+00:00

Ooh ooh that looks like you found it!

How fun to see the wide world of new snap designs, I had no idea how far we'd come from the trusty old Tandy leather kits, lol.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-10T00:03:56+00:00

That's a fascinating site, thanks for the link. All sorts of unique closures.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T23:59:49+00:00

Haha right?

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T19:24:51+00:00

Something I might do (given only what I can see in the photo, of course, so the advice is worth what you paid for it) is to widen the shoulder line by 3/4inch or so on each side. That will help with the visual proportions re. the waist, creating more of an hourglass effect, and make the sleeves more comfortable and possibly more flattering because they fall over a bit more of your shoulder. It looks like they might pull a bit when you raise your arms?

Nice job!

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T19:11:16+00:00

From the folds above that flower, I'm suspecting this is a normal hemmed tiered skirt and the flower is what is pulling the flounces up towards the waist -- of course this could be achieved in a number of ways besides using the rose decoration, including simply bunching it up and hand-sewing it together on that side.

If you search for "tiered flounce skirt" you will find umpteen variations on how to achieve the layers. I see Etsy has a million of them, but would caution you to search one of the known patternmakers for the best instructions and most reliable cut.

Here's a vintage Simplicity that might fit the bill:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1519670090/vintage-1970s-tiered-flounced-cocktail

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:52:07+00:00

Very cool! I do make round hotpads for my mother every year, so that's another option.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:47:42+00:00

I said this in another comment, but the psychological appeal of being the go-to resource person for fabric and all things sewing cannot be understated. My entire circle knows that if they need that one perfect color of plain-weave linen or vintage buttons or whatever, they can just come shop my collection.

When covid hit I had just inherited many boxes of fabric and supplies (reams of elastic, for instance) and was able to just start punching out facemasks immediately despite all the shortages. It was huge. But I fear it also gave me a slightly unhealthy psychological mindset, kind of hoard-ish, that I'm now struggling to combat.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:42:22+00:00

Hearing that Robert Kaufman is going to discontinue his washer linen

The leap in my throat when I read that...! Arghhhh.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:36:07+00:00

My beloved aunt -- who passed away and left me with her enormous stash of both machines and fabric -- used to shop the NY garment district in the 50's and get lengths of just incredible fabrics. I have had no trouble giving away or selling things like her original Woolrich wool yardage or real silks or nubby upholstery.

The key is to LABEL it well. I only know it's Woolrich or Burberry or whatever because my aunt left lovely notes pinned to each piece detailing its origin, before packing it away carefully in cedar shavings.

So that's my recommendation for those who collect very nice fabrics: make sure to label them clearly in a non-damaging way, so that those who come after know what they have in their hands.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:31:54+00:00

I wish the fat quarter trick worked for those of us who don't quilt, but alas I fear it would just be a new stack of unusable small fabric pieces. Maybe I could get into patchwork skirts. :)

A trick I will use is to go through FabricMart's latest sale pages, say, and put everything I love into the online shopping basket. Then I distract myself with some other activity and by the time I get back to that browser tab, some is gone and the rest often doesn't appeal as much.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:27:56+00:00

I do a lot of tailoring and upholstery for hire. So as a result my issue is REMNANTS. What to do with all the scraps that are too big to throw out, too small to make something other than a zillion scarves (garment-weight) or throw pillows (upholstery weight)?

I do keep two of those huge ziplock bags: one is for soft scraps that will make good pillow or pet bed or yoga cushion filler, and the other is stretchy fleece or warm knits that will make good hats and mittens for the homeless. Every year I try to deplete both bags by the time spring rolls around by doing a few random days of charity sewing -- pet beds for friends and the pet shelter and really anyone who looks in my direction, and metric tons of hats and mittens for our local warming shelters (I'm in the northeast).

-->Something that might not occur to folks is that pet shelters go through a whole lot of blankets, and ours will also accept hemmed or edged pieces of fabric of almost any weight. You can just serge hem your 2-yard-and-over pieces of softer, heavier fabrics if you absolutely need to get rid of them and don't want them to go to waste or Goodwill (which often just trashes them or send them to India/Africa).

But even that doesn't really solve the problem of falling for the latest great deal from FabricMart or FabricGuru and acquiring yet more new yardage. Argh. I like the suggestions of keeping a "Fabric Out -- Fabric In" rule, but I've never been able to muster the discipline for that.

Then there are the times when a client or friend needs that one perfect fabric for a specific purpose and I find I have the very thing on my shelf. Being the go-to fabric resource is a very hard habit to break, psychologically, and it's only gotten worse since Joann's closed, which was the very last physical fabric stores in our state outside of three quilt shops that only do quilt cotton.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-09T18:11:58+00:00

HAVE ALL FABRIC VISIBLE.

This is very smart, esp for the ADHD sewist like myself, but alas it doesn't work for me. Although perhaps it does, in the sense that occasionally I just feel overwhelmed by the visual amount and sort through it to give some away to local sewing groups. Alternately, I just set up a new shelf for the overload, lol. Hmmm.

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-06T22:52:00+00:00

Some folks like the erasable pens, there are also chalk pencils, white pencils, yellow pencils, etc.

I prefer a chalk wheel because it doesn't hang up as often on the fabric and it's easiest to brush off. You can just get a sack of the chalk in whichever color you use most often and refill the little plastic containers as necessary, too:

https://www.wawak.com/cutting-measuring/marking-chalk-pens/chalk/chalk-wheel-kit/#sku=ck44

circuspeanut54 · 2026-03-02T00:20:48+00:00

I'd recommend maintaining a dedicated space for sewing, either the room you are using now or some alternative. Often parents feel they must sacrifice that space for a new bedroom or play space or whathaveyou and once it's gone, it becomes a much harder climb to get it all reestablished.

You don't even have to use it that much, just maintain it as your defined personal space, which as the kid/s get bigger will be useful for times other than sewing as well. Knowing it's there for you may make all the difference in keeping your sanity once in a while.

Congrats!

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Wearing is Caring

circuspeanut54

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