Sewing Bits & Bobs

While in NYC I also stock up on some useful supplies. Some because they’re hard to find in London. Others because I’m curious or the price is right.

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  1. Extra large sheet of wax carbon paper. I’ve tried the usual carbon paper sold to home sewers but kept going back to a couple I picked up from Steinlauf & Stoller over 2 decades ago. The home sewer version were just too small and don’t last as long or mark as clearly.OK, sometimes these waxy version don’t disappear completely. But honestly, I’m only sewing for myself and it’s not like people I know offline is going to come lift up my hem and examine the inside of my garment! And believe me I’m naughty – I mark the stitching lines with this rather than the cutting line. My reasoning being I rather have more accurate stitching which affects what people can see – the fit & shape of garment – than fuss over what most people won’t see – like the leftover markings.Anyway, this time around I couldn’t see any on display in Steinlauf & Stoller. So I picked these up in a few other shops (Sil Thread, Pacific Trimming, NY Elegant Fabrics, Fashion Design Books). Most were $5.50 per sheet.  The bookstore near FIT has it at $3.75, but I haven’t checked if it’s exactly the same quality as the others.
  2. Clover Chaco Liner & Clover Hera Marker from Sil Thread. Because I’m constantly looking for a better marking tool. The Hera Marker is a curious looking thing. I got it more for transferring fabric painting design than standard marking. I was using an plastic needle for sewing hand knits for a recent project and it did my hand in – blister and all. BTW Sil Thread have quite a few more tools from Clover and other East Asian brands that I haven’t seen elsewhere in NYC.
  3. Gridded plastic rulers. I have a few of these already and I can’t live without them. So useful for pattern alteration & adding seam allowance – if you use inches instead of cm. I can’t handle metric – mm is just too fussy for me. I don’t cut & sew accurately enough for such fiddly accuracy to make any difference. 1/16″ – 1/8″ is as accurate as I can handle. OK if you’re following pattern drafting instructions the decimal system of metric may come in handy for calculation. I just use a calculator. I can convert 1/8″ unit to decimal by heart now so it’s no big deal for me.These are thinner and more bendy the acrylic ones used by quilters. I find it easier to see the marking more accurately. The thick acrylic ones were casting confusing shadows. You can get these in many different places, including art stores like Pearl Paint.
  4. Seam Greats, Stitch Witchery, Stay Tape. Mentioned by a few bloggers, so I’m curious. Let’s see if they get used or just gather dust along with other gadgets I’ve collected over the decades!
  5. 2013-sewing-bits-2Metal Zippers from Sil Thread for the biker jackets + matching skirts that I’ve planned for these newly acquired fabrics.
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    These slide so easily but only come in two lengths. But Sil Thread will cut them to size for a small fee ($1 per cut + $1 per additional pull).

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  1. Lace from Daytona Trimmings. This was one of only two purchases on the day of the Meet Up! I’m not a big fan of lace – because it’s hard to find ones that I don’t think look streetwalkerish! But this one ticked the box for me. Not sure what I’ll use it for yet. It’s obviously not considered cheap. The guy cutting it was like “It’s $5.99/yd OK? Are you sure you really want 3 yards?” Hell yeah. Cheaper than an one-way London Underground cash ticket. And it’s not like I can get more easily whenever I need to.
  2. bag-repairFaux (?) Suede Trim from one of the numerous trim stores…Most of the stuff in the store look a bit cheap (she says snobbishly). But this will be my best chance of repairing a cheap (!) but well-loved and well-used leather handbag. I’ve been searching for a replacement trim for years!
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    Various Ribbons & Trims from Tinsel Trading Co. I love the feel of this store even though it’s not cheap, especially when it comes to the the vintage trims. There are some lovely bits for the scrapbook crafters too.
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    gold-trim-inspirationTwo of the gold trims I got are vintage. I love the antique gold. I’m thinking of using these to trim jacket like in one of my inspiration photo.

Finally, some obligatory pattern purchases:

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These were ordered during the last online sale and sent to my brother’s. I usually find only 1 or 2 that really interest me. But being a cheap skate, I always try to get max value for my shipping dollars. Which means padding out my order with other half-hearted purchases. I really should just stop buying yet another bog standard pencil skirt or drapy dress pattern and start making things. I must have only used 5% of my pattern collection at best.

So that’s it for my own sewing pleasure. Tomorrow: the sacrifices I made for others! The Selfish Seamstress would have been shaking her head!

0 comments on “Sewing Bits & Bobs

  1. Oooh, you’ve had some fun in the Garment District! I love chaco liners and the large wax sheets– tracing is much more pleasant using those!

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