- Location
- Next door to Mr Benn at No 54
@EltonFrog Are you are going to put those small offcuts of about a dozen different designs into a large top hat?
Abracadabra !
A thread for stitchers, crafters, and makers
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@EltonFrog Are you are going to put those small offcuts of about a dozen different designs into a large top hat?
Abracadabra !
welsh dragon
Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Does it come with a free pair of sunglasses? 
I was half right... About the patchwork.
I was half right... About the patchwork.
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
😁 everything matches, everywhere, anytime.
KnittyNorah
Über Member
- Location
- The Frozen North (of England)
The 'fancyback' shirt (plain collar, cuffs and front, with back, yoke, and sleeves in different prints ... ) was what got me into men's shirtmaking some years ago when I was frankly shocked at the prices being asked for such things - and the price my SO was seriously considering paying for one!
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I have learned a lot doing this, having never done anything like it before a few weeks ago, not least of which is how long it takes! I’d never be able to make a living out of it, just at minimum wage that shirt would cost nearly 200 quid in man hours alone!
KnittyNorah
Über Member
- Location
- The Frozen North (of England)
Well I've been dressmaking since I was 12, as pleasure-loving teens and students, our routine was to nip to the market on Thursday, buy a couple of yards (in the days of miniskirts/dresses, a yard was ample!) of fabric, cut out on Thursday night, 'run it up' on Friday night or Saturday morning, and wear it to the pub/disco/party/band on the Saturday night.
My aunty was a trained/apprenticed 'tailoress' and my mum a very good dressmaker, so I had a good grounding and one of my clearest memories from my childhood is sitting on my mum's lap while she treadled the Singer and allowed me to guide fabric through the machine. I was sewing myself as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the treadle! However skilled and practiced one is, though, actually sewing at a machine is hard, unrelenting work which is still being done for literally pennies all over the world - which is how we can, nowadays, buy clothing at such low financial cost to us - but at what cost to the environment, and to the people employed to do such work.
We must never, ever forget Rana Plaza ...
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
That's the thing about any craft-type work - in my case, painting, sewing and scratch modelling.
We do it because it's fun, because we enjoy it, because it's relaxing, and yes, you learn loads of stuff too. But it's the time you put into it that people just don't get... I'd hate to think how many hours I've already put into my 1:10 scale Superstox model - and how many more hours I still need to put into it to get it finished.
KnittyNorah
Über Member
- Location
- The Frozen North (of England)
Having finally found a knitting group which doesn't discriminate against those of us who use machines, two prospective new members said this morning 'oh look a knitting machine, that's cheating'.
I am afraid I turned round (yes they said it loudly behind my back) looked them up and down and said loudly, 'How did you get here this morning?'
'On the bus' they replied, looking puzzled at the question.
'Why did you use a machine to get here when your legs appear to function perfectly well? Did you sew all your clothes by hand or did you buy them? Why is that not cheating but using a knitting machine is?'
They were clearly nonplussed, maybe they only meant it as a joke - probably they did - but I am sick of 'jokes' at the expense of others (in this case myself). I happen to greatly enjoy using a knitting machine, and would use it regardless - but I would love to be able to knit by hand again without exacerbating the damage wrought by a combination of old injuries and old age ...
Disappointed - but no-one else remarked on my outburst as everyone else is aware that using a machine is very far from cheating and in fact can be quite a steep learning curve - the group organiser herself is trying to learn how to use one as she has ME and can only knit by hand for short periods.
Thanks for letting me whinge!
I am afraid I turned round (yes they said it loudly behind my back) looked them up and down and said loudly, 'How did you get here this morning?'
'On the bus' they replied, looking puzzled at the question.
'Why did you use a machine to get here when your legs appear to function perfectly well? Did you sew all your clothes by hand or did you buy them? Why is that not cheating but using a knitting machine is?'
They were clearly nonplussed, maybe they only meant it as a joke - probably they did - but I am sick of 'jokes' at the expense of others (in this case myself). I happen to greatly enjoy using a knitting machine, and would use it regardless - but I would love to be able to knit by hand again without exacerbating the damage wrought by a combination of old injuries and old age ...
Disappointed - but no-one else remarked on my outburst as everyone else is aware that using a machine is very far from cheating and in fact can be quite a steep learning curve - the group organiser herself is trying to learn how to use one as she has ME and can only knit by hand for short periods.
Thanks for letting me whinge!
Andy in Germany
Guru
- Location
- Freiburg im Breisgau
I sympathise; I used to get similar comments although the other way around in carpentry when I insisted on using hand tools (in my own time) when there were perfectly good machines in the next room. I'd use machines for work, but when I'm working for me, it's no-one else's business what methods I choose to use.
