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Did you know that

 Ibn Khaldun,  in his book Muqaddimah stated that tailoring is one of the essential trades for a civilized society? 

He counted the work of tailors essential to civilized society

 consider just how civilized would we be without garments of some sort?  Think of all the sewn items that come into our lives every day.  Shoes, garments, upholstered seats, repaired body parts.  Then there are, tents, sails, curtains, purses and satchels to name a few.  The skills developed in sewing are the basic tools of construction.  Where would we be without the art of the needle and thread? 

Why sew? 

Do we sew for economy, creative expression?

Economy used to be one of the major motivations for sewing. 

Can we save money by sewing today? One can purchase garments for little money at discount houses. 

Prices are very low,  relative to the skill and time required to produce wearable goods.

You are faced with items of which there are thousands more just like it, 

and construction methods are for speedy production & the least monetary investment. 

If you have to fix a seam, most often times it's big trouble that requires remaking the whole item.  

I  have to admit, I don't have a high tech computer interface machine...

and many other vintage ones to save money. 

While we all know that thrift is a virtue,  economics are one of the lesser important factors. 

One can save money, but most of us today sew in order to experience the joy of working with our hands.... feel the fabrics.... & see them appear to be magically transformed. 

Looking at fabric is a wonderful experience.  It can be a dress.... blouse...quilt....curtain...bear…..or???

Famous Stitchers

did you know......???

Andrew Jackson was a tailor.
Eva Peron was the daughter of a custom clothier.
Gypsy Rose Lee was a very accomplished seamstress.

A true story about a Ball Room dress, thread and milk

A few years ago I had a commission to make a dress for a woman who did ball room dancing  competitions.   She was not in the professional classification,  thus  had to restrict her  costumes to the more casual  less glamorous.  She decided on a crinkled cotton gauze skirt and blouse.  The skirt was circular, with about 12 yards at the hem, and the blouse had a circular collar that was longer in the back. She was going to be in an important competition and needed the dress by 4:00 PM,   Immediately after picking up the ensemble,  she would be rushing off on a flight with her partner to  the competition  that night. 

The outfit was ready hours before she was to pick it up.  However, from all the sewing under the presser foot, the fabric had distorted.  

In order to put the crinkle back in, I gently laundered it with nice soap.  Being gauze, it dried  fast.  As it was almost dry,  I retrieved it to hand press it, and found that an ambient black thread from who knows where had landed on the front of the collar and bled a n ugly purple worm like shape in a place where it did not look at all good. 

As I've learned a great technique over the years for removing  stains from whites, I was undaunted.  In case you need it sometime, it consists of milk.  Sometimes I use yogurt, sometimes regular milk, other times milk paste made out of powdered milk.  This works like a charm.  I quickly made a paste of powdered milk and put it on the fresh stain and left it on the right sink of my fabulous large double porcelain sink.  About twenty minutes later, I went to check on the progress.  To my surprise, it wasn't there.  I was beginning to doubt my self.  " I did leave it there, didn't I?"

Just then, I heard strange sounds from the other sink, a much larger deep sink that had been half covered.  It seems my cat with his sensitive nose caught the scent of the milk paste and decided it would be a tasty treat.  Now there was a hole in the front of the collar.  There was no salvaging of the top. I ran to the store and bought 3 more yards of the fabric and quickly remade the top.

So what is the moral to this story?

DO NOT buy cheap threads!  

  In the long run they can cost you many more times that what you may think you are saving. 

Always get the best tools  and materials you can afford.

My client never knew about the adventure.  I regret to say,  she did not win the competition.

This is a photo of the blouse eater, my dear feral cat.   He passed away a couple of years ago.  He was a feral cat, who became moderately domesticated, and loved to sit behind the arm of the sewing machine.  He never did learn to discriminate between food  intended for him to eat, and things with an interesting aroma. One Thanksgiving I had a plate of turkey that was wrapped with aluminum foil. I gave him all the food on the plate, but he retrieved the foil from the trash and ate most of it before being caught.

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