Home And Family

Sewing seemed to be a dead art in the 1990′s and on ito the new millennium. I remember my, mother, my grandmother and all my aunties knitting and sewing or darning whenever they had any free time or indeed while they were watching TV in the late evening once we kids had gone to bed. But I don’t ever remember having a girlfriend who knitted or sewed. I don’t mean that females should knit or sew any more that males should, it is just a comment on society’s shift towards disposability. Maybe we’ll see a revival of knitting and sewing now that the world has hit the financial skids.

It would be a good thing if we all took a step back and started to make minor repairs to our clothing thereby saving personal燼nd global resources. I was actually taught to knit in infant school, although I only ever made one scarf. I think schools or at least parents should teach their children how to sew; even if it’s only to repair a small tear or sew on a button or a patch. Anyway, before passing on my top five sewing tips, I’d like to give you a quotation:

Everything was finished except just one single cherry-colored button hole, and where that button-hole was wanting there was pinned a scrap of paper with these words – in little teeny weeny writing – NO MORE TWIST?/p>

The Tailor of Gloucester

BEATRIX POTTER
?br>Pin It Down: sewing boxes can soon become a messy tangle of loose ends of cotton reels and the like. If the cotton is not on a reel with a nick in the edge for pulling the end through, you could make one with a sharp knife. A less risky way is to push a drawing pin into one end of each cotton reel and wrap the loose end around it.

Unpinned: if your sewing basket is strewn with pins it is dangerous and very nasty if you get one down behind your nail. The traditional way of keeping pins safe is to stick them into a pin cushion, rather than the modern way of keeping them in a container, which can open and spill pins everywhere. If you do need to collect scattered pins, a magnet is the easiest way.

Doubled Up: if you want to sew with double thread for added strength, put a separate knot in each thread rather than tying them together. Tying separately lessns the likelihood of the threads tangling or twisting around each other.

It’s All In The Pipeline: there are a few considerations to bear in mind before buying piping cord. If it’s to be sewn onto silk, buy one with a ‘sleeve’: it is material-covered and kinder to light-weight fabrics. For firmer fabrics, a flanged cord is better. It wears well and has a piece of fabric attached which can be sewn directly into the seam.

The Veil: a bridal veil is a lovely heirloom, but they are so easily torn, especially as they age. However, you can repair one with patience, loving care, a fine needle and a white hair.?/p>