Tool of the Month: Binding Buddy

I recently read Nancy Zieman’s Favorite 101 Notions from cover to cover.  I found out about a few things that I didn’t know even existed and this is one of them.  I rushed right out to grab one!  

My Binding Buddy is made by June Taylor.   It has a 45 degree angle chopped off on one end, which initially sounds dumb, but what a help!  It’s made my binding cutting go much faster and smoother.  

The plastic it’s made from also resists my rotary cutter, so it won’t get sliced n’ diced very easily in the process.  The other end has a pre-formed hole to hand alongside your other measuring tools. (Not all tools have this and I look for the ones that do.) 

I recommend both the Binding Buddy and a read-thru of Nancy’s Favorite 101 Notions book.

Cheapest Skirt Ever (without flat-out stealing!)

The other day, I created this tweet in my head: 

“JoAnn’s is having a sale!  Pattern $1, Fabric $2, your new skirt = $3!” 

But could that really be done?  I purchased a pattern and the fabric to find out.

The pattern is Simplicity 2215, a Cynthia Rowley mini-wardrobe consisting of a blouse, a jumper and a skirt.  All pieces look really hip and wearable.  A solid design ‘A’.  I chose view C, the skirt.

Fabric choices at the lowest possible price point were so dismal I hesitated a moment to wonder if I could go forward with this project at all.  I could only find 2 boards marked at $4.  The bargain fabrics were discounted 50% for the Columbus Day weekend sale, so my primary goal was to get 1 yard @ $2.  

Choice #1 Magenta Poly Crepe - a nice lining for a jacket, but not skirt fodder in my book.  Choice #2: 100% cotton in medium-hued lavender printed with gold Easter eggs and baskets - a solid ‘F’ for ‘fug-ley’. Because of it’s cotton fiber, I seriously considered the Easter eggs.  I could dye it, after all, but that would add to the over-all cost of the skirt foiling my $3 plan.  My other option was to chop it into unrecognizable bits, quilt-style, and make a skirt that way.  I really don’t need a square-dancey type skirt as I’m not on my way to a hoe-down any time soon.

Polyester it is.  Yuck.  To make matters worse, at the cutting table I require 1.5 yards to cover my hips.  My total skirt cost has just jumped to $4!

Enter Glamour magazine.  The September 2011 issue featured Mad Men star Christina Hendricks wearing a Zac Posen dress to die for.  The cut is impossible, and I couldn’t find a similar pattern, but the color is identical to my skirt fabric.  Inspired, I forge on.

My next cost snag was notions.  That invisible $ipper will run you!  I decide to skip the $ipper and use these intriguing, vintage, heart-shaped hook n’ eyes, which miraculously declare that they are proud members of the National Rifle Association. (!) 

Whatever. I don’t count them in final cost because to be honest, I’ve had them for years and picked them up at a garage sale ages ago.

So, off to make my cheap-ass skirt.

I realized 2 things when cutting this pattern:

1. I didn’t really need a pattern for this skirt, as it is nearly identical to the one I made for Civil War reenactment this summer, sans pattern.

2. That this skirt has a couple of sweet pockets!  Excellent!

The next dilemma involved whether or not to underline the skirt.  The fabric itself is actually a decent-quality, skirt-weight poly crepe.  But it will still need to be worn with a slip.  Underlining will technically up the cost of the skirt, and I have black poly lining on hand.  But polyester + polyester doesn’t make a thing right.  For the sake of improving the drape, look and over-all wearability, I opted to line it with some pre-washed black 100% cotton muslin.  It brings up the final cost but keeps the skirt from just hanging in my closet or being instantly re-purposed.

In a fit of Fall 2011 color-blocking inspiration, I added a narrow black band to the hem-line from a piece of something left over from something.

Voila!  Done!

Final cost: $6.00

Pattern: $1

Fabric: $3

Notions: Muslin Underling - $2

Items on-hand: Vintage Hook n’ Eyes, Thread

Mods: Hook n’ Eyes, black hem band

Wore it to: Not so fast!  That smiling hemline needs to be un-done, trimmed properly and re-stitched!

                - J.

Featured Etsy Seller: LoveLaurie

There are some things that just send me into spasms of delight, and this is one of them.

  


When I was a very small person, I used to love things that were out of scale: tiny menageries of faux mice cavorting in their dollhouse milieu or super- gigantic tissue paper flowers on wooden dowels.  LoveLaurie ‘s pin cushion is an equally dreamy item, not so much for it’s scale as it’s texture.   I purchased this pin cushion after doing an Etsy search for “black velvet pin cushion” expecting no results.  To my surprise, there it was!  The black velvet pin cushion I’d been wishing for!  Filled with (get this!) black emery sand!  I ordered one right away and it came lickity-split.  I adore this pin cushion.  I do have 3 others, but none compares to this.

First, it’s black, which is just cool, and it’s elegantly made of velvet, my favorite material.

Then, the emery sand makes it heavy, so it doesn’t roll around.  I often use it as an extra pattern weight.  I love the sage green flossing and tomato topper and I love its strawberry companion, also made of matching black velvet.  

I love the bold, little “Sewing is the New Black!” sign post.  This small signage has a nod to a practical purpose: by fitting some flat-head pins of your own with small, hand-made signs, you can create sectors in your pin cushion for hand needles as well as machine needles to keep track of needle type (ball point, leather, top stitch, heavy) and weights (80, 90) and # of hours used.  

I included this pin cushion in my first Treasury, “Midnight Traveler” and encourage everyone to stop by  LoveLaurie's shop for a pin cushion.  There are plenty of others to choose from.  Who couldn't love Laurie?! 
    
                    -  J