Monday, September 13, 2010

The Case for The Basics: Sewing

At first I wanted to ask Santa for one of these:

Brother XL2600I 25-Stitch Free-Arm Sewing Machine with Multiple Stitch Functions

I'll admit that my sewing jones comes from a combination of weight loss and not missing a single post on New Dress a Day, along with the fact that it's been ages since we had a sewing machine here in the Hacienda.

(And getting a sewing machine here in the Philippines is no joke, either. Everything's a problem: voltage issues, lack of repair centers and spare parts, things like that.)

I was resigned to taking everything I owned to the tailor... but then I remembered that I actually know how to sew by hand, after several years of Home Ec in elementary school. So, with my trusty needle and a very reliable search engine (thank you, Google Chrome), I looked up the best ways to remodel the stuff I already owned with the tools I already have at hand.

Right now I'm trying to brush up on French seams using a top that has been practically falling off me, and probably needed to be remodeled anyway. It's still an ongoing project, but I'll make sure to have it up as soon as I've fixed everything.

In the meantime, here are links to some of the sewing books that I've liked in the past; some of them should be available at your local public library, and a few of them actually use techniques for hand-stitching in the absence of an actual sewing machine. It's also interesting to note that some of the best sewing projects I've done have been made with old T-shirts, which practically guarantees a never-ending source of material to play with when you get started.


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