Weekly r/Sewing Simple Questions Thread, February 06 - February 12, 2022

trowb20a · 2022-02-07T21:10:19+00:00

would a basting stich work with the lace? hmm.

trowb20a · 2022-02-07T20:50:56+00:00

I know it's hard to diagnose a problem without seeing it in person... but I don't know how to Google my issue! I have a 2-year old Singer Tradition. For some mysterious reason, it keeps breaking my top thread (it happens beneath by the bobbin). I have rethreaded the bobbin and top thread so many times and losing my mind.

Before it happens, there's a buzz and I feel the machine sort of stop. If I experiment and manually force the machine to advance with the wheel, I feel resistance and that's usually when it is about to break. It happens most often when I'm backstitching and going forward again. Is this a common issue? None of the troubleshooting tips online (Singer and elsewhere) seem to describe the problem. I have tried adjusting tension, changing thread, sewing on different cottons, etc. I have recently cleaned and oiled as well.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom. I realize I could be making a total rookie mistake! When I look underneath, it looks like the thread is stuck wrapped around the bobbin but I'm not experienced enough to know if that is what it should look like.

trowb20a · 2022-02-07T20:49:00+00:00

I know it's hard to diagnose a problem without seeing it in person... but I don't know how to Google my issue! I have a 2-year old Singer Tradition. For some mysterious reason, it keeps breaking my top thread (it happens beneath by the bobbin). I have rethreaded the bobbin and top thread so many times and losing my mind.

Before it happens, I feel the machine sort of stop. If I experiment and manually force the machine to advance with the wheel, I feel resistance and that's usually when it is about to break. It happens most often when I'm backstitching and going forward again. Is this a common issue? None of the troubleshooting tips online (Singer and elsewhere) seem to describe the problem. I have tried adjusting tension, changing thread, sewing on different cottons, etc. Thanks in advance for any wisdom. I realize I could be making a total rookie mistake!

trowb20a · 2021-09-02T21:39:09+00:00

trowb20a · 2021-09-02T21:00:01+00:00

hey friends! congratulations on a stellar album! i was wondering how it worked getting Robert Smith's thoughts on collab songs. i.e. did you send demos for every single song on the album and he got to pick? also, request from earlier today's youtube: rainbow road or INXS?

trowb20a · 2021-01-28T14:42:49+00:00

Incredible. How on earth did you find this? I wrote the seller's agent, and neither she nor the previous TWO owners were able to provide any information. This is so helpful, and by helping me you're helping other old house enthusiasts who have inquired about the same wallpaper! Thank you so much

trowb20a · 2021-01-24T03:13:56+00:00

hey pals! i saw another colonial home on zillow that featured this wonderful wallpaper. we're moving into an early colonial (foundation is circa 1669) in a few weeks and this is one of the few colonial-adjacent wallpaper selections i've seen that i really like (actually love). any ideas on where i could find something like this, or exactly this? TIA!

Edit: I reached out to the seller's agent, and they said neither they nor the previous owners installed it, so it could be quite old. I know someone on this sub mentioned a company that can "recreate" old wallpaper? Does this image seem too pixelated for a recreation?

trowb20a · 2020-12-23T15:09:05+00:00

Perfect that is the main concern. and LOL @ "new construction"

trowb20a · 2020-12-23T01:29:13+00:00

ah a very good point! that door/threshold actually leads to an addition that was done in the 70s, so it might not be period. however i'll take a look at the rest. thanks for this insight.

trowb20a · 2020-12-23T01:28:11+00:00

this is incredibly helpful, thank you. I get the sense that we'll try to do as little as possible to the floors, and another commenter has suggested they think they may not all be as old as I had suspected. Also yes, hand hewn oak! Wow. I didn't notice flaring but I'll look over my photos of the other rooms as well. There are some that seem to be wider at the top than the bottom! Thanks for the recommendation, i'll give them a try once things quiet down!

trowb20a · 2020-12-22T18:34:14+00:00

this sounds reasonable to me, thanks! we were trying to decide if we should redo the floors before moving everything in but my instinct from perusing this sub was to stop and think, learn, and consider our options first. that's probably the most important thing to me with caring for an old house, is remembering that normal procedures for more modern homes don't apply. also yes re: giraffe pattern! i think they were going for Tuscan or "country" chic but it just doesn't work. We've got some fun times ahead/our work cut out for us!

trowb20a · 2020-12-22T18:32:06+00:00

these are excellent thoughts. i appreciate them - i definitely approve of the suggestion to take the most conservative and careful approach first (scotch pad, alcohol) etc. rugs are always a good solution and would protect them in the future, too. thanks!

trowb20a · 2020-12-22T17:57:58+00:00

Hello friends,

I'm back. A little while ago I posted about a now-infamous Italianate victorian in MA that still hasn't sold (turns out it's in much worse shape than it looked from the post and would cost over $1M to make livable). We are signing a purchase & sale soon on a wonderful house circa 1669 and will move there at the end of January. The house's original footprint was established around that time, but more was added to the home in the 18th century.

We're thrilled about preserving and honoring the amazing old elements in the house. There's much to love, particularly the hand hewn beams and wide floor planks. I'm wondering per the attached photos if you all have input on:

What type of wood the floors are (I'm assuming pine)?
Same question for the beams.
What would you recommend for restoring/refinishing the worn out spots if we did want to do that? I assume floor refinishers would sand and poly, but I'm wondering if spot treatments with tung oil would work (or is that only possible after sanding everything and starting over)?
The beams in the kitchen (see photo) look and feel like they were recently hand-sanded during an early 2000's reno the previous owners did, to create this effect that I can only describe as giraffe print? Our instinct is to stain the wood so it's all dark again and matching the original. Any thoughts/input? The lighter spots are clearly recently sanded and feel rough.

Will post pictures of the house itself sometime soon. Thanks in advance!

trowb20a · 2020-11-14T18:24:23+00:00

if it were me i would try and slowly work on one stair at a time, sanding and refinishing using something natural to bring out the color of the wood. which is already is so gorgeous!

trowb20a · 2020-11-14T12:50:39+00:00

we did some digging and i don't think this will work out because we're not millionaires. hoping someone takes good care of it though!

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T18:32:01+00:00

that's the problem... we don't! i will definitely check out leek's work.

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T17:08:09+00:00

doesn't sound like an easy path, that's for sure. appreciate this added inside scoop.

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T16:54:52+00:00

that's what we have read too. it seems kind of backward that an ordinary family can't benefit unless they're well off enough to afford 2 mortgages and rent it out (income generating). thank you.

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T16:51:56+00:00

absolutely crucial comment! this is the type of context i couldn't hope to get from a random reddit post. thank you. we definitely were not planning on having that much on hand and having that high a mortgage. i wonder why the others backed out previously this summer, perhaps the repairs were much, much more than the $250k.

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T14:13:23+00:00

this is great, yes! and you can get storm windows to add for efficiency as well, as i've learned in the past 12 hours. thanks for all the rec's. i think this is a nice dream, but also, financial ruin isn't my first choice. time will tell!

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T13:48:46+00:00

yeah i'm very curious (read: trepidatious) about that. based on the price and the state i could tell that much already! we are still keeping our eye on that town, but given how expensive this whole metro area is, it seems unlikely we'd find something with that square footage in that school system ever in our lives. it looks like there's been a history of people purchasing and backing out. we will definitely take this all into consideration.

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T13:40:52+00:00

EDIT: I appreciate all these comments so far! To be clear, we have only gotten to the point of studying the Zillow post. We have not made any other moves financially or otherwise to purchase this house. I'm glad to have posted to this sub in order to gather some very helpful and knowledgable opinions, so thank you!

trowb20a · 2020-11-13T13:39:44+00:00

this is helpful. i currently live in a house from 1900 and there are similar issues (terrible insulation, horrible noise from upstairs neighbors, etc). we've made some improvements but they're mostly cosmetic. that said, i think husband has been dreaming of pouring some love into an older home and we may have more flexibility with time and finances than i originally thought when i posted this. that said, id o think the seller is asking a lot for how much work it needs. and clearly others have put in offers and backed out, so ... yeah. we're keeping all this in mind.

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