#i got some fabrics from a thrift store and the rest from my local sewing shop. very excited to sew more! i haven't sewn much in years! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonflavoredcake · 1 year

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So about basic tailoring... This might be an easy to answer and dumb question but I feel slightly overwhelmed when I go to google this myself.. where do you start learning? Ideally for as little money as possible. Clothes are difficult to fit to my body type and I have some items I would like to repair so i really need this.

Don't apologize, I'm always happy to get asks! Number 1 piece of advice: don't be afraid to be dumb. I've only been sewing for two years; I had to Google how to thread a needle and it took me three days to learn how to thread a bobbin on a machine.

This got very long so the rest is below the cut

In my experience, a good-sized spool of machine thread usually costs about three dollars. If your local grocery store sells general merchandise, they might have some common colors in a "sewing center" section, which will almost definitely be cheaper than if you go to a dedicated sewing shop. They might even sell sewing kits with basic supplies. Hand sewing thread tends to be cheaper than machine thread. You can use machine thread for hand sewing, but you can’t use hand-sewing thread on a machine. If your hands tremble a lot or you're not confident, some places sell pre-threaded needles.

There are a lot of sewing supplies available, but you really don't need much to get started:

thread that's roughly the same color as your fabric

some pins

sharp needle that's big enough for you to comfortably thread and small enough to not poke way bigger holes in the fabric than the thread warrants

a pair of scissors. They don't even need to be fabric scissors! I used regular craft scissors for a year and a half until I found some fabric scissors on clearance. You're not going to be cutting fabric as a beginner anyway, just thread.

One rule for baby’s first repair/tailoring job: make it reversible. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re not going to start out knowing everything there is to know. You can always cut threads or take off buttons, but you can’t un-cut fabric or magically reverse huge holes.

For tailoring: find a piece of clothing you like. I recommend starting with a no-frills sleeveless shirt with non-adjustable straps. Buy it to fit the biggest/widest part of your body. The looser it fits, the more room you have for adjustments.

Put it on inside-out, figure out where it’s too big, fold the fabric in, and pin it in place. Carefully take the shirt off, lay it out flat, thread your needle, consult a video tutorial on how to prepare the needle and thread for sewing (never forget that double knot), make the first stitch where the knot of thread won’t irritate your skin, and sew the fold in place.

When in doubt, leave more room than expected, because your body is constantly changing to accommodate your organs’ various activities; something that barely fits you when you first wake up is going to be causing actual pain by midday.

Small jobs that are low-risk and can help boost your confidence: shortening tank top straps (fold fabric over and sew in place), reinforcing or re-attaching buttons, and doing simple hems (cuff fabric, fold over twice, and sew in place) on pajama pants. Fuzzy fabrics tend to be very forgiving and naturally hide messy stitches.

If you need fabric, do not automatically head to the fabric store. Yes, they’ll have a huge variety, but it’ll be sold at a premium and you’ll have to machine-wash your fabric before using it to remove the shrinking (an additive that helps the fabric lay flat on the bolt). Look in thrift stores and garage sales.

You can get a lot of mileage out of a men’s extra-large T-shirt. If you need more fabric than that, look for secondhand sheet sets. They’re the closest thing you can get to straight-off-the-bolt fabric that isn’t sold as an expensive hobby product, plus there’s some elastic in the fitted sheet. I’m currently in the process of making a dress with a circle skirt using fabric from a 4-piece twin sheet set I thrifted for sixteen bucks. Buying that much fabric at a fabric store would’ve cost several times more.

If you’re still worried, take a breath. Whatever you don’t know, you will learn. Google is a powerful tool and YouTube has heaps of tutorials. The worst that can happen is that you make a mistake. Mistakes can be fixed. Mistakes are how you learn. The worst mistakes often make great stories.

TL;DR: you only need four things, buy clothing to fit the largest part of your body, get cheap fabric from thrift stores, and don’t be afraid to make stupid mistakes!

#I know this is late but I wanted to give you a full answer #don't even bother with a machine when you're first starting out #unless you already have one #they're expensive and there's not much I can do on my machine that I can't do by hand #sewing #tailoring #hand sewing #my asks #my posts

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phdmama · 5 years

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Back to work.

Well, this is sad, I was going to have a salami and swiss sandwich but apparently, we’re out of bread and cheese so I’m literally eating deli meat from the packet AGAIN. Oh well.

Last week, I got nothing really done - I mean, everyone survived and I showed up where I was supposed to but that’s about it. Dunno what was going on, but today I was determined to get somethings done.

Yesterday my better half delivered 8 boxes of books to the local used bookstore, so that’s another big weight out the door! My main goal for this week is getting stuff out, so today was all about organizing and finishing the kids’ bathroom!

I’ve sorted all the linens we’re getting rid of, some are going to the household goods recycling place near us, and some are going to the Humane Society, both destinations I feel really good about supporting - so the plan for tomorrow is all that delivery, plus the last of the fabric to the sewing lady.

Wednesday, my goal is to journey to the Magical Large Thrift Store north of me, where apparently you just give them everything and then you... just... drive away. That’s it. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT.

Thursday I’ve got an electrician coming to price out putting in a couple of outlets in the kids’ bathroom and rewiring my daughter’s room, and once that work is done in the bathroom, I can paint.

Today was cleaning out the rest of the closets and furniture. It’s a small bathroom, and like, 1/3 is linen closets. Which is an amazing luxury, but also easy to overtask. I threw out a big bag of garbage, found lots more recycling, and cleaned.

New shower curtain!

New organizing things for the shower (so everything doesn’t just sit on the tub):

Sheet pantry 1: this one has - back up pillows, guest towels, scrungy hair dying towels and beach towels. The top shelf is the linens for the guest aerobed. That space where the laundry basket is now was all filled with STUFF so that’s amazing, to have it cleared out!

Cleaning supplies closet (the top shelf is cleaning stuff, the next shelf is hand towels, face cloths and rags, and my plan is to put an outlet in there so I can get the kids their own battery vacuum and squirt mop, so they can keep the upstairs cleaned more easily).

Sheet pantry 2 (the top shelf is fleece throws and memories that I can’t let go of yet, mostly baby blankets we were given or were made for us or by me). Each kid is getting a shelf for whatever they need to store:

Then I did under their sink, basically cleared it out, got rid of all the trash, and reorganized it a bit.

This isn’t the final configuration here - that mirror is getting swapped out for something bigger, and that shelf needs help. I don’t know where to store the toothbrushes really, so it’s a WIP.

All in all, I feel good, like I actually got things done!! Mainly it’s nice to feel like I cleaned and pared down on a deeper level, rather than just shoving everything into the closets and closing the door and running away (which is my usual method!).

#wandering pain #91 day declutter #ufyh #ufyh after photos

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carrotnosewitch · 5 years

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feeling blah? check your space. (long step-by-step)

my husband, who is probably the smartest and most spiritually awesome person i’ve ever known, has been trying to instill this kind of mental acuteness within me for years. sometimes i remember it, sometimes i forget. sometimes i remember it but it’s a high pain day. y’know how it is.

this is a little things kind of thing at first. a lot of my time is spent in front of my computer and a lot of it is spent on the sofa or in bed. but wherever i am, i try to keep my surrounding area clean.

why? well let me explain, both in a spiritual way, and for practical reasons.

in a small space, like my desk and on my side table of my bed, it’s imperative to feel open and spacious. if my side table or desk gets cluttered, i feel claustrophobic, or overwhelmed by Stuff. even if it’s things that are there to give me positive thoughts. If there are too many, it’s time to declutter.

a lot of people (anxiety sufferers, a-spec folks, adhd people) have this thing that makes them block out things that stick around for a while. things that stay in a static place for too long become background noise, but they give a feeling of clutter. it also sucks when you’re looking around you and you’re hit with a wave of knowing it’s there to make you feel better, but you’ve gotten mentally weary of that exact thing that’s been there for a long time.

So, go over this checklist with me.

Things up on the wall near you. How long has it been there? Is it helping? Is it mental/visual clutter? If it’s not stimulating it you how it should, it’s time to take it down.

Your horizontal space beside you. Does it have a bunch of unnecessary clutter? Are there things in that space that don’t have any important or special reason for being there? If you can, remove all the clutter, and re-arrange the important things to suit your space better. Don’t move things you have a reflex of it being there. (Y’know. tissue boxes, meds, your tablet pen, etc)

Your outer bubble. Are there things in your immediate area beyond where you’re sitting which is distracting you or making you feel nervous, claustrophobic, or overwhelmed? Do your best to find a solution to this problem. Clean up, brighten the area, and put something there that helps you relax.

Another big help is getting your whole area clean. Don’t push yourself to do everything at once. Take your time to do a little here and there, don’t rush yourself or stress yourself out about it. This is an in-depth reason for keeping things clean, how to feel super accomplished even in the littlest tasks, and respecting your own area. Here’s YA BIG ASS LIST.

Your bedroom: Clothes. are there dirty clothes around you, or clean clothes that haven’t been put away? Do yourself a favor and unclutter this first. Take all the dirty clothes you’ve been tripping over and sort them into light and dark piles. Put those light and dark piles. now you can start putting your clothes away. how i do this is i sort my clean clothes by what they are and which drawer they go. then i fold them and put them away. it gives me a chance to stretch and pop my back between the steps. And that’s like, six whole steps. now you’ve got two clean baskets (presumably) that you can use to put your dark and lights into for easier laundry. This is usually the worst and most draining job of the bedroom. break it into easy to do steps. drink some water while you’re doing it, just to make sure your joints aren’t getting tired while sorting and folding and putting away! Dishes. Are there any dishes in your room? Even if they’re stinky and weird, bring them into your kitchen. Get a clean glass for your water. Hey! that only took a few minutes, I’m sure. Give yourself a rest. A+ cleaning, and I’m not being condescending. That’s a great job! Garbage. I’m sure you’ve got some papers or snack wrappers, or drink cans/bottles/disposable cups. go from the door of your room with a plastic bag, gather stuff up as you pass by it. bring that out of your room, and suddenly you don’t feel like you live in a landfill. Bedding. How long have you been sleeping in between the same top cover and sheet? When’s the last time you changed out your pillowcase? It’s time for a change. remove them, throw them in a pile, and put some clean ones on. If you don’t have other ones, wash those and once they’re dry, put them back on. You’ll feel cleaner and get to sleep better. Clutter. Hell, this is me all over. I’ve got too much cool stuff and paperwork cluttering my shelves. I follow the six month rule with paperwork, clothes, and useful stuff that barely gets use. Are you going to need it or use it within six months? If no, get rid of it or pack it away. Bring the clothes to your local thrift store if you can. If you’ve got decorations that have gotten dusty or grimy, take one of your bored days to clean them up. not only will you be doing something that makes you happy, but it’ll make your room far less apt to accrue negative energy. Your knickknacks bring you joy. Treat them respectfully! Floor: Vacuum. get the dust, dead skin, and whatever else up out of there. Side note: If you are having bad dreams, there’s a few neato things you can do to help you sleep. Some people swear by amethyst under your pillow. Some others suggest other stones. idk about y’all but stones under my pillow are somehow worse than troubles with dreams or sleep. I prefer sachets for in your pillowcase. even if you aren’t the best at sewing, you can do this. Just get a tiny white fabric baggie. whatever works for you. Just make sure it’s secure, so the herbs don’t get loose and make your bed an itchfest. lavender is the primary scent people go with, though I’m not the biggest on that scent. anise is another one that works, because this is silly but true: it’s shaped like a star. cedar, since the middle ages, has been thought to cure persistent nightmares, and open you to lucid dreaming. jasmine is such an awesome flower and scent, so mellow and enchanting. i’d suggest this because of its calming and kind vibe. find dried jasmine and add it to the bag. there’s a ridiculous many herbs worth exploring here. If you want to get spicy with it, I suggest adding a sigil or even an amulet of the one you want to look over you in your sleep. I use an amulet of the archangel Gabriel, who presides over dreams and sleep.

Your Bathroom: Your area rugs. These little buggers need to be washed. They’re usually made of fabric. Fabric that hangs out in your dampest room, no less. You probably don’t think of it often, but mildew is not a good thing for your health, and those things get mildew like crazy. Time for the washer and dryer again! Your towels and washcloths. How long has that washcloth been chilling there? Okay, if it dries and becomes a stiff nasty mess? Time to switch them out. Towels (especially hand towels) need to be washed frequently, too. Not only because the mildew thing is still y’know. a thing. but you deserve to be cleaned by clean things. it’s better for your body, and it’s so good for your spirit, to know that you’re doing right by yourself. Your place you keep things. You know, that place you keep your products, makeup, whatever. Is it in disarray on a messy shelf or counter? Time to fix that up! Set all those things aside, clean the surface they’ve been chilling on. Then you can get things sorted and aligned. Did you know straight lines are satisfying? Try it. Also if you have a candle in there, just light it for a little bit. Not only is it trés romantic and luxurious, but it burns the stank out of there, not just physically, but otherwise, as well. Your toilet. Not only the bowl. The bottomside of the seat, and the hinges that attach the seat and lid. and back behind those hinges, where the shitter meets the tank. Goodbye stink goblins! Also bye that general gross feeling. Your tub. You dissociate there a lot, think your thoughts, and get clean, but that means your dead skin, hair, and oils are all over that. I personally use either orange cleaning solution or magic erasers, and those fucking rock that shit out. Oh, don’t forget to de-hair your drain. Gross nasty gluck. Personally, my mom told me to stop associating those oils, hair, and all that other stuff with yourself. (and nail clippings.) This makes sure you don’t wind up getting hexed. (Those nail clippings and that nasty hair can VERY easily be used in a hex bag.) Your sink and mirror. First off, how the hell are you going to take bathroom selfies if this makes you always internally go “yikes”, and not at yourself. Scrub the toothpaste grit from around and in the sink. Side note: If you don’t like what you see when you look in the mirror, you can set rose incense near the mirror, use that hypothetical bathroom candle, and turn the light off. Speak into the mirror, “I am the best me so far.” or something similar. Remind yourself that you are okay, no matter what kind of imperfections you think are there. You are incredible. Nobody’s seeing your flaws because they’re too busy fretting about their own. It’s cool. you’re cool. Floor. while those stinky area rugs are out and on their way to the large cloth water vortex, take a minute to sweep. Envision yourself sweeping away not only the garbage and grut, but the anxiety and bad feelings. Dustpan, garbage, good. Trash. I left this for last. You’ve got a lot of stuff you’ll need thrown out. If you use a plastic shopping bag in a tiny little garbage pail like i do, it’s time to clean it out. If you’re also a nasty bitch like me, you’ve gotta also put the stuff that missed the garbage can in there too. Go take that to your main trash to go out with you next time you leave your place. Well now your bathroom is flawless and won’t make you subconsciously make you anxious. You’ve got things looking like they’re almost meant to like, exist in the fictional world Jenna Marbles apparently lives.

Kitchen: Fridge: Clean out all the nasty shit. Wipe it down. Put the containers over near the sink to wash. Dishes. Do you have piles of these nasty bitches fucking up your day, every time you go on a raid for sustenance? First step is to gather them, then take your time for each step. Wash them. Put them away. As you do this, speak to yourself, chant to yourself, or just think to yourself, that by cleaning these, you are doing right and fair to your body. a clean dish is a healthy dish. a clean pan is a pan that will cook happy foods. This whole room is capable of so much, and can do so much for your joy and health. Sink. After you’re done cleaning the dishes, you can unstink your sink. Again, I’m all about that orange solution, but if you like another scent that makes you feel energized, go for it. This is the part of the kitchen that shares like, a third of the work. This is where all the negative and gross goes. Down the drain both physically and emotionally. Get the fuck out of here, nasty! Counters. Just wipe them down until they’re not nasty and crumb-laden and have spatters on them. tell them that they’re going to do great things for you. If you’re a kitchen witch, you’re making all your cool shit on them. Stove/microwave/the heaty thingy. Ungrut it. our friend the stovetop is the unfortunate victim of nasty cooked on things. So is our screwy science friend, the microwave. Scrubby dubby! sometimes you’ll need to soak ‘em. Whatever makes it easier for you. Floor. It’s time to sweep! again, take that broom and use it, not just to get rid of sugar, cereal and even the dried corns nibblets that fell under the fridge, but the negative energies. again, be firm about it. Fuck outta here, dark spookies! carefully pour the stuff in your garbage. Ya Cabinets. Before you pull out the mop and bucket, don’t forget the surfaces of the cabinets. A Happier kitchen is a kitchen that doesn’t tell you the story of the ill-begotten incident of the chicken parm. You see that squidge of marinara on the cabinet door and have been annoyed by it since it was made. Time to get it gone. All the while, think about the things these cabinets have seen. All the weird utensils you never use that live in this drawer. The fondue machine you bought with the aspirations of having a 70s night get together, as told to you by that very convincing guy at IKEA. Think of all these cool things in your kitchen. Focus on the positive moments you’ve spent in here. Picture the future of this kitchen. And thank it for the memories to come. Floor 2: Slippery Boogaloo. Mop and bucket time!!! No seriously if you don’t like mopping, idk what to say. Do your kitchen a solid and scrub away all that nasty crap that didn’t make it into the dust pan. Once you’re done and it’s drying, feel fucking awesome about a job well done. Side note: Hey y’know what kicks ass in a kitchen? The scent of the season. A lot of people get down with the welsh calendar, and that’s a great way of cycling through the seasons comfortably for people. then there’s the regular four seasons, but do it how you want. It’s imbolc as of the time I’m writing this. I personally love cinnamon and sandalwood, since they’re both wonderfully warm scents, to balance out the wintry shivers of the outside. You can use essence oils, or like, airwicks, or candles, or even make a wreath with those fun things in there that are aromatic on one of your walls.

Living room Seriously, all these hot takes can be used in the living room now. Clean under and between the couch cushions. clean your decorations. declutter. Remember the good times as you clean. And then to cleanse it of all the gross energies, do what you do. Use white and sweet flower/herb scents to reset the most important room of your house’s energies. Side note: If you want to keep your stuff from disappearing, place a pin safely deep under your couch/chair cushion. This is called pinning the devil. you’re literally pinning down whatever it is that’s keeping you from finding - or straight up disappearing - your stuff. If you have guardians - decorations of animals of some sort - make sure they have a full spy of the room. I prefer putting one on each corner of the room so everything can be seen. This makes sure the energy you want in your home is respected. If someone has bad intentions, this will give off a vibe of them being unwelcome and feel your guardians’ eyes on them. If they’re someone that you appreciate, and you feel comfortable around, these guardians will keep things nice for you and give your home a welcoming feeling. don’t forget to dust them.

#witchblr #real witch #witchcraft #i wrote this

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