STITCH n BITCH sewing extravaganza!

[aequorea]

Hello everyone!

Please let me know if you are planning to attend...

Stitch n Bitch v.1

Aequorea's House in Royal Oak

(main street b/w 12 & 13 mile)

Sunday February 1 from 12 to 4pm

Come join us for an afternoon of craftiness including sewing, knitting, and other stitchy-type things!

We have several experienced members who have offered to help out less experienced folk. OsakaKoneko has kindly volunteered to teach sewing newbies how to make a basic skirt! I can teach basic sewing and knitting, although I'm sure there will be others with more experience. I'm hoping to learn how to crochet, so hopefully we'll have someone who can help with that! The plan is to have sewing machines in the basement (lots of room and tables), and knitters and crocheters upstairs.

Will you be attending?

If so, please include what you would like to learn and what you are willing to teach.

Please bring your stitchy supplies and a lil snack to share!

ps. I'm really excited!

[Eevee]

I'm supposed to work from 9:45-2:15 PM that day. I'm debating on taking it off anyways because I'll probably be dead after clubbing both nights and working 4 days this week (highly abnormal for me).

Plus...ride details...gyaaaa!

[TheOsakaKoneko]

I think I'll make a post tomorrow here detailing more what people should bring if they want to make a skirt.

I will also bring some lace in case people want some and weren't able to find anything they liked, since it can be tough to find nice lace in a store. But I won't give it away - still, I bought it wholesale and I'll just let people use it for what I paid, so pretty cheap, compared to say JoAnns. Anyway. I'll post with a little detail tomorrow in case people are unsure what they need. I keep meaning to do it and forgetting...

[aequorea]

so, I just noticed that I originally said 1 - 5pm, and apparently I had some sort of internalmentalshift that moved life up an hour...

Times are flexible, people are welcome to stay until 5, if people can't make it until 1 then we can make that the official start time :-)

EEVEE - c'mon, skip work and come play with us!!!

[Punky]

i'd love to come. I have very little sewing experience. most of it by hand tho. my moms a professional and what i know is limited to whatever she told me. my moms third job was working for a leather factory and i should have an industrial machine somewhere for people who wish to embroider/repair/assemble leathers. if chernobyl's coming i'll ask her if she can swing by my place and pick me up

[livininxtcgoth]

i would be more than happy to teach crocheting

i'll bring my sewing machine as well just in case

would-be crochet students should have a skein of REGULAR yarn. TLC has nice soft PLAIN stuff. If it says chenille or bucle on it, is really wide, fluffy, textured, has little doo-dads hanging off of it or has very long hairs, steer clear. trust me, a beginner does not want to bother with anything "fun". solid colors are also generally more desirable. and a lot of yarn has recently been on sale at JoAnn's

you will also need a chrochet hook. The packaging for your yarn will tell you what size you should be using and you can get one for about $2-3 close to the yarn. If you are confused at all just ask a sales associate they can help you find them. if you are working with a random strain of stringy stuff with no label, i recommend getting a 5.0 or 5.5 mm

a vertical scarf is the easiest thing to do (next to blankets perhaps, but i have never in my life had the patience to do anything more than a really wide scarf) so that will probably be what we would make

[aequorea]

hooray for crochet!

i'm looking forward to meeting you!

[aequorea]

Thank you Helena! I'm so glad you'll be here to help! :-)

Punky, I hope you can come!

[Eevee]

hooray for crochet!

i'm looking forward to meeting you!

I thought that said "crotchet".

[Msterbeau]

I'll probably come with the girls. Ariane has a project started... maybe you ladies can help them with something new?

[Nienna]

I'm in! I'll probably just bring the scarf I'm trying to finish.

[aequorea]

please be sure to post or PM me if you are planning to attend! i will PM directions to everyone on friday.

so far we have...

theosakakoneko

livinginxtcgoth

nienna

msterbeau + 2 craftettes (how fun!!!)

taysteewonderbunny

and possibly...

eevee

punky

plus...

my housemate becca, my cousin alexis, and my friend nikki.

this is a good motivator for me to clean house and sort out boxes (from moving last august). downside of living in a house is that i have alllll kinds of space to clutter up! >.<

so this week i am cleaning and borrowing tables - ooh, and shopping for crafty supplies!

have i mentioned that i'm excited about this?

(i know, i'm SUCH a dork, but i'm happy!)

[TheOsakaKoneko]

Look at me forgetting to make my ingredients post again...

Okay here it is.

BTW This post will be in many parts, because DGN won't let me post a lot of pictures in one post apparently. FTL, DGN, FTL.

We will make a skirt something like this:

(If they all look the same to you that's because quite honestly they are...it's just a different trim at the bottom. That depends on what you want to do/what you bring.)

[TheOsakaKoneko]

...Continued.

They will turn out looking something like this:

a very plain one,

a ruffle at the bottom,

lace at the bottom, etc

...you get the idea.

It's not the kind that will flare straight out if you twirl, but has a nice cupcake shape.

You will need about 2 yards of cotton fabric for the basic skirt. If you want to put a nice bow to tie in the back, like this:

, you'll need a little extra - better just buy 3 yards to be safe. And 2 buttons.

If you want a ruffle on the bottom, figure another yard to be safe. So in total that's 2-4 yards of fabric. (To be honest, you probably won't need 4 yards regardless, but better safe than sorry. You can probably get by with 3 no matter what you want to do, though.)

If you want to use lace, I can supply you. I have these laces that I will bring:

(I have white)

(I have white and black)

(I have white and black.)

(I have white) (This is used with very thin satin (or grosgrain) ribbon. Bring a few yards of 1/4 inch or smaller ribbon in a color that goes with your fabric and put this at the bottom and it is very cute!) Kinda like this .

Most of my laces you can use for $1-1.50 a yard? I'm certainly not looking to make a profit, just save you guys some money, since it costs way more if you buy it by-the-yard at a fabric store, and I just have a bunch I bought in bulk. I think I have a couple others besides those here, but there's an idea.

I'm basically only going to do an elastic waist skirt with you guys, because it's easiest with the short time and all. So bring elastic, 1/4 or 3/8 inch wide or so.

If you are a little faster, you should make a lining. It's best to have a lining in your skirt, but if you are just starting sewing, it's not really necessary, so you'll be okay leaving it off. If you will use a lining, bring 2 yards of cheap lining satin (super cheap satin from the fabric store - really, it should be very cheap. Not heavy stuff, very light.).

And of course, a thread color to match your fabric.

Also, notions - in addition to the sewing machine, we'll want safety pins and straight pins, scissors, a measuring tape,

You need to bring:

*2-4 yards of COTTON fabric (since there will be many people and presumably limited space, please make sure it's more-or-less ironed beforehand. It doesn't have to be perfect, but if it's wrinkled to hell and back, your job will be a LOT harder, and it may be hard to get everyone ironing in there, so please bring it more-or-less wrinkle-free!)

*matching thread

*2 yards of lining satin (optional)

*elastic (1 package of pre-packaged stuff will be fine, or basically a couple yards. You need enough to go around your waist unstretched (the length it says it is in the package is unstretched) twice.

*lace (optional, or just get from me)

*ribbon (optional)

*straight pins

*scissors

*safety pins if you've got them (I'll bring a bunch too and we only need a couple each, just for the elastic part)

*a measuring tape

*a pencil or chalk pencil or fabric marker or something of the sort would be a good idea too.

[TheOsakaKoneko]

BTW Feel free to bring any other embellishments you want! Extra ribbons, especially thicker grosgrain, like 1-1.5 inches, can be adorable as little bows (like on the red one at the bottom), and other things can be added for cuteness too.

I'm just not sure how much extra time we will have.

Should there by some miracle be enough time, I will also teach how to make a matching bow for your hair or wherever. In this case it is best to use some fusible interfacing to make it stiffer, but I don't know if we'll have ironing space, so we'll do it without for now and you can use the same method again to make more! And you don't really *need* the interfacing anyway.

[TheOsakaKoneko]

Aequorea, question!!

(You may have anticipated this question from my posts, but...)

Will we have access to an ironing board and iron? There are a few places in the skirt-making during which an iron is kinda vital. It's not like you *can't* do it without one, but it's definitely best to use one. Will we have one? Will we have extra space for me to bring mine as well so we have 2? Or should we just take turns (which wouldn't be so bad either, provided there are only a few of us doing skirts...)...but if there are a lot of people doing skirts it might be best to have a couple.

[taysteewonderbunny]

Um. I want to start light, like learning how to put buttons back on and patch holes in articles of clothing I already own. I'm not ready to learn how to operate the sewing monster I keeps in my bedroom. It's anchored to a table anyway.

[aequorea]

we will definitely have space for an iron and ironing board! unfortunately, i do not have these items. if you don't mind bringing yours, that would be awesome! i will also talk to my cousin and see if she can bring hers :-)

[TheOsakaKoneko]

(Wow, I post too much!)

BTW it may seem from all the pictures I posted that you have to have a fabric with a print, but you don't - that's just my personal favorite to make. But it can of course be perfectly lovely in a plain color (black for all you gothies out there!! XDXD <3<3):

(Gah I wish I had one of this skirt without me in it... )Phew...

This is just made with a plain cotton, around Kona weight, with two of the laces I will be bringing. I put a pocket on this one which we probably won't have time for, but otherwise it's pretty simple.

Fabric: DEFINITELY buy cotton. (I can't believe I didn't say this before.)

COTTON COTTON COTTON.

No polyester, no satins (NO SATIN!!!), no fancies...cotton is cheaper and cotton is perfect. Try if possible to get something a little heavier. If you go to JoAnn's, find their Kona Cotton on the back wall in the plain colors and feel it. This is a good weight. Lighter than this is less than ideal. It can work, but it's less than ideal. If you go with a plain color, go with the Kona. Don't buy the super cheap almost see-through <$2/yard cotton...it just doesn't work well.

[TheOsakaKoneko]

we will definitely have space for an iron and ironing board! unfortunately, i do not have these items. if you don't mind bringing yours, that would be awesome! i will also talk to my cousin and see if she can bring hers :-)

I will bring mine but if there is space 2 would be great.

Wowww...you live without an ironing board?? I could not do it!!!

[TheOsakaKoneko]

Um. I want to start light, like learning how to put buttons back on and patch holes in articles of clothing I already own. I'm not ready to learn how to operate the sewing monster I keeps in my bedroom. It's anchored to a table anyway.

Buttons I can show, if I'm not busy with teh skirts. I bet there will be people there to show buttons though.

Honestly I don't know about the patching anyway...probably someone can help!

[Eevee]

I actually ordered a dress that wasn't in quite the shape I would've wished...but for some reason...the seams at one end of the skirt aren't sewn shut...?

I dunno.

If I come, I'm going to try and remember to bring that to fix.

[Msterbeau]

please be sure to post or PM me if you are planning to attend! i will PM directions to everyone on friday.

so far we have...

theosakakoneko

livinginxtcgoth

nienna

msterbeau + 2 craftettes of doom (how fun!!!)

and possibly...

eevee

punky

plus...

my housemate becca, my cousin alexis, and my friend nikki.

this is a good motivator for me to clean house and sort out boxes (from moving last august). downside of living in a house is that i have alllll kinds of space to clutter up! >.<

so this week i am cleaning and borrowing tables - ooh, and shopping for crafty supplies!

have i mentioned that i'm excited about this?

(i know, i'm SUCH a dork, but i'm happy!)

Fixed!

[aequorea]

Um. I want to start light, like learning how to put buttons back on and patch holes in articles of clothing I already own. I'm not ready to learn how to operate the sewing monster I keeps in my bedroom. It's anchored to a table anyway.

sewing monster?!

huge, cast-iron, industrial behemoth, a gaping maw with teeth where there should be a needle...

LOL

for sure, come over! if you aren't up for the skirt plan, that's ok. i could teach you how to do basic repair-type sewing. or maybe marc's craftettes OF DOOM could :-p

do you have anything in particular that you'd like to fix? if so, bring it along!

*fixed, as per marc

[Msterbeau]

sewing monster?!

huge, cast-iron, industrial behemoth, a gaping maw with teeth where there should be a needle...

LOL

for sure, come over! if you aren't up for the skirt plan, that's ok. i could teach you how to do basic repair-type sewing. or maybe marc's craftettes OF DOOM could :-p

do you have anything in particular that you'd like to fix? if so, bring it along!

*fixed, as per marc