Sewing equipment

I see that if I lived in NYC, I could take a pencil skirt class from the author of the SEW: Sew Everything Workshop herself.

There is an inspiring image on their website:

image from makeworkshop.com website

I just love this version, the waistband is so sleek and I love the modern vibe of the overall look with the leggings and patent leather flats.

Here is the supply list for the class:

• for naughty secretary: SEW: sew everything workshop (pattern + instructions are inside)
• 1 yard (60″ wide) OR 1.5 yards (45″ to 59″ wide) of a stable and easy to sew woven fashion fabric like wool, denim, cotton sateen, twill, corduroy or linen. NO knits, nothing too slinky, stretchy, sheer, drapey, thick, etc.
• 7 inch invisible zipper
• tailor’s chalk (contrast color to fabric)
• 1 1/2 yards double-fold bias tape for waistband (you’ll have leftovers! won’t need this for first class)
• all-purpose thread to match your fabric
• straight pins
• pin cushion
• seam ripper
• scissors, either new or used only on fabric
• optional supplies:
  • clear plastic 18″ sewing ruler
  • disappearing ink pen

This got me thinking about all the supplies and equipment I had used in making my skirt as a means of documenting my sewing progress and what I thought was useful.

For prepping the pattern and alterations I used:

• muslin
• straight and curved rulers
• measuring tape
• seam gauge
• tracing paper
• pencil and eraser

For cutting and marking I used:

• pattern weights (rocks collected from beach trips)
• scissors
• cutting mat
• fabric marking pen

For sewing and pressing I used:

• snips
• seam ripper (I tried to rip out the stitches by hand as Peggy Sagger recommends in Beginning Sewing the Silhouette Patterns Way but have not quite got the hang of this)
• invisible zipper foot
• regular zipper foot
• ham
• seam roll

For the particular project I used:

• ~ 1 yd 60 inch home dec fabric (from the remnants shelf at Jo-Ann)
• invisible zipper
• bias tape
• matching thread

Of course this was in addition to the basics:

• sewing machine
• pins and pin cushion
• iron and ironing board
• hand sewing paraphernalia

This list strikes me as quite substantial for a beginner project.

To start a knitting or crochet project, all you need are your needles or crochet hook and some yarn. You can crochet on the go and tuck a small knitting project into the inside of your purse.

Sewing on the other hand, is quite a different beast, there are far more requirements in terms of “stuff” and “space”. A beginner sewing project is more demanding of resources than a newbie crocheter/knitter project. And definitely not portable. You’ve really got to have a chunk of time AND stay at home to get the project done, no squeezing in a little work on the project while you’re waiting in line somewhere or on mass transit. It’s interesting to think about these differences and how they will play out in my sewing progress. I sincerely hope the investment in “stuff” and time will reward me with some wearable stuff.

Natural fibers and making your own clothes

There are so many reasons for making your own clothes. There is the joy of the creative outlet, being able to make something that fits, the liberating feeling of being in charge of your own wardrobe ….. etc.

One decision we all take when we make something is what kind of fiber and yarn we use. In a recent study, microscopic fibers shed from polyester and acrylic garments cause an accumulation of microplastics in the ocean.

No one knows precisely how this will impact the marine environment. But it is clear that these plastics can become concentrated as they move up the food chain.

A Science Magazine article reporting on this study suggests that one work around for this is to develop devices by which washing machines and sewage treatment plants can keep these fibers out of the environment.

But another way is for us to have clothing made from natural fibers. I love my Patagonia fleece as much as anybody. But the fact remains that an equivalently functional garment from natural fibers is just not available to the average consumer. The reason for this is presumably that such garments would be prohibitively expensive to produce, both in terms of labor and raw materials and also because of garment maintenance (you can’t just toss your woolly sweater into the average washing machine).

But that is where we come in. WE can make our own and we get to choose our fiber.

I’d match the warmth and comfort of a garment like Teva Durham’s Cabled Riding Jacket pictured below, top), or Ysolda Teague’s Vivian over a fleece cardi anyday. Not to mention the extra style factor. Now I just have one more incentive.

My top 10 knit tools and techniques list

These are the tools and techniques I am really glad to have, the things that I use time and time again, that facilitate the project and make a big different to the quality of my knitting.

1. Lots of needles

Having a wide range of needle sizes handy is super helpful. Here are just a few of the reasons I love having easy access to a big range of needles:

▲  When I’m trying to fix some stitches a few rows down, I grab a little dpn.

▲  Need a looser bind-off? No problem, just grab a larger diameter needle from the pile.

▲  Too many stitches on the circular? Quickly jump to a longer circular with no hesitation.

▲  Different yarns sometimes knit up easier with different needle types; its not just the materials used (plastic, metal, bamboo etc), but the type of tip and how quickly the tips of the needle expands to the full diameter (aka “pointiness”).

▲  I’ve also started using the trick of deploying different needle sizes at different stages of a project, most frequently for decreasing at the crown of a hat, but also for subtle bust and waist shaping.

In short, I’ve accumulated quite a good needle stash, some I purchased, my mother-in-law gave me a pile, and I’ve rounded out my collection bit by bit. I have never regretted purchasing a needle, although I’ve had plenty of regrets over yarn purchases (particularly the phase when I was mesmerized by glittery ribbon yarn).

My favorites are the Inox pearl grey circulars with the black connecting cords.

Read this post where I show how I organize my circular needle stash. My straight needles are sorted similarly (small, medium and large diameter), into vases and my dpn sit in a heap in a drawer.

2. Stitch markers

I like all kinds of stitch markers from different colored bit of yarn to coiless safety pins to some fancy homemade ones with glass beads.

lately I have taken to putting a coiless safety pin into my project at every stage where “something happens” in the pattern. Even if I don’t take good notes on where I’m at, I find that the stitch markers really help me to find my way back into a project that I’ve been gone from for a while.

3. Suspended bind-off

Learned from this tutorial at StitchDiva. Very handy, nearly always use this maneuver when I do a regular bind-off.

4. JMCO

A really wonderful provisional cast-on, useful in all kinds of situations.

Introduced in a Knitty 2006 article, masterfully demonstrated in YouTube tutorials from Cat Bordhi.

Check out Judy Becker’s website where she discusses her magic cast-on technique.

Also look at Lorilee’s video where she demonstrates how to use JMCO to create a tubular cast-on in 1×1 ribbing.

5. Cable cast-on

Need a cast on that starts at of end of the yarn (where you don’t have to reel out a length of yarn before starting to cast-on)? Need to cast-on in thin air? Adding on extra stitches at the end of a row? The cable cast-on is your friend.

6. Ribbing transitions.

Described in this blog post from Tech Knitter. So many projects start or end with some ribbing and this little trick really streamlines the look.

7. How to execute decreases on the wrong side

There are many web tutorials for this. I recently came across this site which I really liked (see this page also). This is essential for lace knitting and also gives you more flexibility for garment shaping.

8. Cabling without a cable needle.

The magical effects you get by knitting stitches out of order aka cabling is typically performed with a cable needle.

Using a cable needle is a good method to initiate yourself into cable knitting, but the appeal of this technique rapidly fades when a project requires a lot of cabling because picking up the cable needle disrupts the rhythm of knitting and slows up progress considerably.

First off, a warning. I’ve seen various versions of cabling without a cable needle. In one version, you maneuver the stitches between the needles to rearrange them in the order that you’ll be knitting them. The maneuvering occurs prior to actually knitting the stitches. If you google “cabling without a cable needle” you will discover that this is a common method. However, I’m not a fan of this method. Although it gets you out of the need for a cable needle, I don’t think it’s a big improvement on using a cable needle to begin with. The procedure is fiddly, and stitches end up getting stretched out unnecessarily which can give an uneven look.

In the version that I find useful and recommend, you rearrange the stitches in the process of knitting them. I learned this technique from a succinctly explained tutorial on Grumperina’s blog.

A video tutorial for this version of cabling without a cable needle can be viewed here. Note that this video has no audio describing what is happening however the creation of a 2/2RC and 2/2LC are easily viewed. Another nicely explained video tutorial can be viewed here.

9. Spit splicing

The unlovely, but accurate terminology for felting the end of the previous ball of yarn to the start of your new ball. No ends to darn in, however only works for feltable yarns.

See also here and here.

10. Magic Loop

Image from Knit Wiki

Pioneered and named in the booklet “The Magic Loop” by Bev Galeskas with Sarah Hauschka. For visual learners, there are also several YouTube videos demonstrating Magic Loop.

Magic Loop comes in handy a lot. When knitting very small diameters such as the last set of decreases on the crown of a hat, it really triumphs over DPNs, the stitches don’t get lost and it is easy to just throw the whole project in a bag or stop in the middle knowing that

My personal fave variation is using Magic Loop to knit 2 tubes simultaneously on one circular needle. This is best way to avoid second sock syndrome (not that I even suffer from first sock syndrome) and to make sure that the sleeve shaping is identical for both sleeves.

What about you my dear readers?

Are these techniques in your top 10 list too?

Any other trick you find essential for your knitting life? Please drop me a line and let me know.