Hi everyone,
I’m new here, as of yesterday. I had posted on the Fitting category but hadn’t introduced myself until now. I live in South Carolina, I’m 42, I quilt and knit (mostly socks) and I used to make smocked dresses and other pretty things for my daughters when they were babies. I now have a grand-daughter and I’ve made some things for her.
I’ve always wanted to sew for myself but I’ve never had a chance to take classes and learn to fit properly. I’m in the process of making a duct-tape dress form and, thankfully, found lots of info here. DH wrapped me up yesterday and today he built a “skeleton” and base from PVC. I wrapped the skeleton with upholstery foam, placed the duct tape form on it and then stuffed some areas with batting. We also sprayed in the expanding foam insulation to fill any remaining hollows. We did this by making slits in the duct tape and spraying the foam in, then closing the slit with a small piece of duct tape. Tomorrow we will finish it and I will make a cover for it. We were very careful to try to maintain the correct posture and shape during stuffing and I’m hoping this will be a valuable tool so I can finally sew for myself.
I couldn’t sleep last night because I kept thinking of the clothes I want to make for myself. I was measuring and draping, pinning and sewing all night in my head. I finally had to get up at 4 AM and look through old issues of Threads.
I’ve been addicted to Threads magazine for years. I loved the old format and I love the new format, too.
Replies
Just saw your post with no replies, and didn't want you to feel disregarded. I love Threads also and have kept all my back issues which I regularly consult. I must confess, however, that I probably spend more time on patternreview.com than here, since I especially like perusing the reviews. But this is a good site, too...just not enough time in my life to keep up with everything.
I think you'll love having a dress form. I'm 60 and have sewn ever since I was a child, but never had a dress form until last year when my husband helped me make a My Twin form. What a difference it makes!
I'm in Texas, and for the past 4 or 5 years, I've gone to Martha's Sewing Market where I've really learned a lot about fit from the classes they offer, even though they aren't hands-on and only last about 1 hour. If you are near anything like that, I think it's worth while to go. (I would imagine there's some type of sewing show/convention in Atlanta.)
We're thinking of moving to South Carolina soon. Hope there's some good fabric stores there or close by.
jewelea,Where in South Carolina are you considering? We have the big chain stores like Hancock's and JoAnn's, but by far the best place nearby is Mary Jo's in Gastonia, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte. It's a 2+ hour drive, but they carry a huge selection of fabrics for quilting, dressmaking, home dec and bridal. I don't go as often as I used to, but I try to work with my stash when possible. Their prices are very reasonable, too. There's also a store near Mary Jo's that sells all kinds of threads so the quilters and machine embroiderers can build their thread stashes. Also, in Union, South Carolina there's an outlet for Conso. They make a lot of the trims, tassels, etc., for home dec. I think I will enjoy the dress form a lot. I thought I would get to cover it today, but I kept my 1 year-old grand-daughter. I hope I can get her interested in sewing in a few years.
Lilah,
We are thinking about the Greenville area. I didn't check out fabric stores when I was there. I figure if I get desperate, I can always hop on the interstate and go to Atlanta. Although I was surprised to hear that there aren't any great fabric outlets in Atlanta, as I was told by one of the women at Martha's Sewing Market. Here in Dallas there are several where I buy almost all my fabric, really nice stuff, like Tencel for example, so incredibly cheap. Of course, I probably have enough fabric in my stash to keep me sewing for several years without running out.
Hope you got your dress form ready for action.
I'm not as familiar with that part of the state, but hopefully you'll be able to find what you need. You'll be close to the western tip of NC, where there are a lot of fiber-related arts like spinning and weaving. If you're into knitting or cross-stitch, there's a shop in Columbus NC, just across the state line on I-26, called Goodwin's Stitchin' and Readin' (or Goodwin's Readin' and Stitchin'). It's a book-exchange, too, but the ladies who own it are very knowledgeable about their crafts and about what's available in the community. They organize visits to a local alpaca farm, they have spinners and dyers who sell yarn through them. They also told me there's a school near their town where weaving, spinning, etc. is taught. I'm pretty sure they don't have a web-site.
Hi Lilah: I just want to welcome you to the Threads community. I'm the editor of the magazine and it's always thrills me to learn that someone has been (re)bitten by the sewing bug. Looking forward to hearing about those projects you dream up!
Thanks for the welcome. Hopefully over the next week I'll have some photos to post. I'm enjoying getting into sewing again, I just wish I had more time to use for it! I'm glad to have found this forum with so many sewists of different experiences and skills.
Wonderful!
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