There's no time like the holidays to grant a sewer's wish, whether it's for a problem-solving tool, an inspirational book, an aspirational machine, or a well-appointed sewing room.
There’s no time like the holidays to grant a sewer’s wish, whether it’s for a problem-solving tool, an inspirational book, an aspirational machine, or a well-appointed sewing room. Are you wondering just what to give your sewing friends? Threads‘ staff and contributors have compiled a wish list of tools, books, notions, and more to help get your sewing gift-giving started. They even make great presents to yourself!
Check out this gift guide from Threads issue #158, and let us know in the comments what’s on your wishlist this holiday season.
Design sensibility
The Dressmaker’s Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques
This spiral-bound, hardcover book contains Lynda Maynard’s novel solutions to creating beautiful finishes and is an excellent addition to any sewing library. ($26.95, Interweave.com)
—Kenneth D. King, contributing editor
Pattern gift certificate
I could spend hours browsing pattern company EvaDress’s online selection of reproduction vintage patterns. It’s a broad collection spanning the 1800s to the 1950s. If someone gave me an EvaDress gift certificate this year, I know just what I’d spend it on. ($15 to $150, EvaDress.com)
—Stephani L. Miller, associate editor
A HotPatterns wardrobe
I would love a selection of HotPatterns handpicked for me by company co-founder Trudy Hanson. The styles are up-to-the-minute and very wearable, and Trudy designs them in collections that work well together. (price varies, HotPatterns.com)
—Carol Fresia, interim editor
Essential equipment
Adjustable lighting
My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so I need a lamp that gives high-quality light and is portable and adjustable, like the Craft Plus Floor Lamp. It’s large and is designed to render colors accurately. Its low-glare light promises to reduce eyestrain, too. ($209, OttLite.com)
—Jeannine Clegg, senior copy/production editor
Body double
Sewing without a dress form that exactly matches my shape is tough. But Fabulous Fit’s patented Fitting System looks like it could be the ideal solution. The Fabulous Fit Fitting System is a series of contoured foam pads and two dress form covers that can increase any dress form up to three sizes and helps duplicate an individual’s proportions and curves. ($89, FabulousFit.com)
—S.L.M.
Power sewing
Precision sewer
The Janome Memory Craft 6600 Professional seems to have everything I’ve ever wanted and then some. Its features were designed to meet the speed and precision demands of quilters and other advanced sewers. ($1,999, Janome.com)
—C.F.
Industrial-grade embroiderer
The Brother Entrepreneur Pro PR-1000 10-needle home embroidery machine’s features basically speak for them-selves. The machine automatically threads its 10 needles, and its InnovEye system provides a magnified, real-time view of the needle area. ($13,999.95, Brother-USA.com)
—Annie O’Connor, assistant editor
Serging attachment
The Cut ‘N Sew Attachment is an awesome accessory for a Bernina owner who doesn’t have a serger. Attached to a regular sewing machine, it performs a variety of serger-like functions. ($200, BerninaUSA.com)
—A.O.
Japanese stitcher
Baby Lock’s Sashiko machine sews what appears to be a hand-worked running stitch on the fabric’s right side using a single thread, an eyeless needle, and a hook. It’s so fascinating, I want one just to watch it in action. ($2,499.99, Babylock.com)
—Sarah McFarland, associate editor
Cool notions
Elegant seam ripper
The Gingher seam ripper looks like a piece of modern art and works like a surgical blade to open seams. It’s beautiful to look at, has heft, and is easy to hold. The curved, replaceable blade can speed through stitches without harming fabric, due to its shape. I’d be tempted to keep it in a jewelry box instead of my sewing basket. ($24.99, Gingher.com)
—S.M.
Ultrafine chalk liner
I have used my Chakoner daily for at least 15 years and have never had to refill its chalk reservoir. I love that it doesn’t gunk up my fingers, doesn’t break, and doesn’t need sharpening. The serrated wheel at the bottom of the heart-shaped case draws an ultrafine line without chalk gumming up the wheel. ($14.50, CuttingLineDesigns.com)
—Louise Cutting, contributing editor
Perfect seam gauge
I want Nancy Zieman’s Seams Right. This measuring tool is compact, convenient, and economizes effort. It measures nine increments from 1⁄4 inch to 1 1⁄2 inches. Because it repeats most measurements around its edges, there’s less turning involved. It’s handy for us knitters, too. ($8.50, NancysNotions.com)
—S.M.
Pattern drafting ruler
I would love to receive the Point & Pivot General Pattern Ruler. It’s a pregraded measuring and curve guide that helps you draft shirt, dress, and trouser patterns to fit in minutes. It comes with an instruction manual, so there’s no guesswork involved. (U.S. $106.76, EasyPatternMaking.co.za)
—April Mohr, administrative assistant
Find other great gift ideas and holiday projects in the current issue of Threads.
What I would like is time to sew up all my projects!
Just imagine what it would be like to have enough time to make up all the projects we have on paper and in our heads?
Re Dress Forms. If your intention is to buy one for your own personal fitting only, then I suggest you always go for one size smaller than you currently are, then you have to pad the body form up to fit your body.
To do that, you make a pattern then a toile which fits EXACTLY your personal measurements, and pad the body form to these adjustments. Hey presto there you have it. This is the way we were taught at my fashion course at Art College. I've never bought a dress form as nothing I've ever seen has come anywhere close to the professional ones (Stockman)we used at college. Anything polyester and 'adjustable' is useless and a waste of money. One good one is a sound investment - and one which I wish I'd made in the 60's.
What a useful tools Threads suggested. The Seams Right and the dress form will so helpful for all my projects.
Ten years ago (?) Threads had an article on making your own dressmaker dummy by wrapping yourself in duct tape over a long tee shirt. Had a friend help me and believe me it shows every lump and bump. Perfect for hemming a skirt or dress etc. as no one wants to help you do that! I also discovered that one shoulder is slightly lower than the other. Maybe Threads will feature it again. Not only will it save you money but it is soooooooo accurate it is scary.
I had to tweak it because it I am 5'8" tall and couldn't find a proper stool to set the dummy on. I "rube goldberged" it with "sona tube" (for cement pilars) set over a free standing lamp etc. etc. Work beautifully.
My sewing gifts are: monogramed lined shoe bags and lingere bags for traveling, aprons for my family cooks, monogramed pillow cases with scalloped edges. To shorten the time, I embroidered readymade pillow cases. I have just about finished them for mailing to each family.
Oophs! I was telling what I was making for my family. MY WISH is to own a copy of Kenneth King's book, "The Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques". I own other books by him. They are all so easy to read.
If I were to get my "Dream Christmas Wish", this year, it would to get a helper to organize my sewing room which has become the "Sewing / Pile-It" Room over the last 5 years since I took my niece in and had to hide things in the sewing room. Ayear of hiding personal papers and business from her and several "company visits" and welloa, I feel overwhelmed. So, my dream gift would be time and a helper.
My wish is for a book that would explain in detail how to use obtuse dressmaker's tools. I still have difficulty with a French curve and had to look up the meaning of armscye.
Great gift ideas. I see at least five I would like to have.
I want that Coutore book, it looks like such a fun book to work though during the winter!
Things to consider when shopping for the best hard disk drives
If you are shopping for the best laptop hard drive, you're going to have your work cut out for you, especially buy laptop hard drive online. Finding a reliable hard drive to purchase is not going to be as easy as 123. You may have to spend some time looking around on the Internet and doing some comparison shopping so that you can find a hard disk for sale that will satisfy your expectations and meet your needs as well, before you make a determine you can just know about the laptop hard drive cost in the field. Using a laptop means that you're going to need enough space to store your files, install your software and do everything that you want to do on the computer. There a lot of things to consider when you purchase a new hard drive for your laptop. Below, you will find with some of these things are and why it's important to shop around for hard disk drives for sale so that you can find the precise laptop hard drive that you want to buy.
1,Look for a hard disk drive that has enough space to meet your needs
Knowing how much space you need on your hard drive can be a difficult thing. Often times, people don't think they need much space but then they come to realize that they needed more than they originally thought. For instance, some people think that they just need to purchase a hard drive that is going to cover their files. For instance, if they have about 10 gigabytes of files, they may purchase just a 20 to 40 gigabyte hard drive. The problem with this is that you are not accounting for the operating system. If you plan to run an operating system like Linux or Windows on the computer, then you need to purchase a hard drive that has enough space to properly run the operating system and store your files. There are other things to keep in mind as well, for instance, what software are you going to be putting on the computer? Software can take up a lot of space on a computer, especially games and software that is very complex. These types of software titles can get up into several gigabytes of space, so you need to have a big enough hard drive to accommodate for these applications.
2,Remember that it's okay to go over what you need but it's not okay to go under
Of course, you can easily see there are so many laptop hard drive for sale online, when purchasing a hard drive, it's okay to purchase more gigabytes than you actually need, just like me, I love installing lots of games, so I bought a big sony laptop hard drive in advance. However, if you were to purchase less gigabytes than you actually need, this is not going to be okay because you won't be able to do the things that you want to do on your computer. Be sure to shoot for more disk space. Keep in mind that installing a hard drive on a laptop can be more complicated than installing a hard drive on a desktop computer. You also need to accommodate for the installation costs when you're going to have a company install this for you. Look online and do some comparison shopping so that you can find the best laptop hard drive for a price that makes sense for your budget.
Need more info about laptop hard drives or purchasing, please go harddrivestore.org
Thank you, useful.
Thank you, useful
But to be frank, it doesn't tell in detail what should we do to choose a best one, agree?
I don't think it's good to buy a new hard dirve, why not change the laptop? Lol.