[Rpankow]

Hello Maria:

I live relatively close to Rochester, MN and have heard nothing but good things about Ginny’s Fine Fabrics, located at 211 South Broadway Street. I personally haven’t visited as just having discovered the place existed. But it sounds like it could be a garment sewers dream of fine wools, silks, cottons and linens. I hear the prices reflect the higher quality fabrics, which is to be expected. I’ve also heard the customer service is second to none. Here is their minimal website: http://ginnysfinefabrics.com/
I hope you enjoy your time in the States. 🙂

-Rebecca

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by Rpankow.

[Rpankow]

@mcholley1, http://www.naturesfabrics.com has a great line of super soft wool for base layers and is a company based out of the US. The selection of colors isn’t great, but the products are very nice. I’ve gotten their washable wool jersey as neck gaiters and undershirts. It is so buttery soft! I’ve had so many people be surprised that the material is wool. Husband loves it so much, he wants boxer shorts made out of it.
I’m extremely jealous of your Glacier Park visit! I’ve heard that it’s one of the most beautiful of all the National Parks. Have fun!

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

I had a rather pricey Rowenta as well and it had a short life. (sigh) I believe they just don’t make them like they used to. Mine worked super in the beginning, but then I noticed it started to leak more and more as time went by to the point it was running down the electrical cord! After some research, I learned that the seal used to keep the water in would heat up with the iron. It would melt and get distorted to the point where it wouldn’t hold a seal at all.
I vowed to not bother with an new expensive Rowenta again. I did decide to get a Shark and so far have been quite happy with it. It puts out quite a bit of steam. It does like to “go to sleep” quite easily, especially when creating something like bias tape when you have the iron down for long periods of time. That’s easily fixed though :). Not having a good, reliable iron can be so frustrating! It’s almost as bad as having your machine in the shop!

[Rpankow]

http://www.mariadenmark.com/2012/08/fitting-t-shirt-fba/

I wonder if this might be more of what you’re looking for. 🙂

[Rpankow]

Hello Rebecca!
There’s a tutorial for such a thing at the Curvy Sewing
Collective, here is the link:

How to retrofit an FBA in a knit t-shirt

I personally haven’t tried it myself, I believe many ladies have and have been successful. I know I was going to try it out for myself when I get the chance. 😉 Good Luck

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

LOL, sounds like a great idea! That’s the fun kind of experimenting and you get to reap the benefits! 🙂

[Rpankow]

Oh goodness, I didn’t even think about the Diplomat, what a great idea! I think it would be easy to modify!

[Rpankow]

Rebecca:

Oh how fun! I wasn’t sure of the material you were going for. Maybe a modified Portfolio? Similar A line but you could ultimately omit the pockets and then size out?

[Rpankow]

Rebecca:

After seeing your photo, which is a gorgeous top by the way, possibly altering the metro tee to have long sleeves and to make it swing out per Liesl’s tutorial on how to alter the raglan tee to an A-line as seen here? http://oliverands.com/community/blog/2014/02/customizing-the-raglan-the-a-line-t-shirt.html

The metro tee automatically came to mind when I saw that beautiful example was made out of a knit material. Good luck!

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

Cindy, I don’t blame you at all for not being excited about their choice, I’m not a fan of the dolls myself! My 7 year old actually “designed” her own costume this year. She wanted to be some sort of monster so she drew one up and now we’re trying to make it come to life. I think I’m going to make a green fleece field trip tee that’s been A-lined and lengthened with elastic on the bottom and hopefully stuffed or “supported” so it doesn’t droop in. I’m going to splice the sleeves in half and insert green and purple felt “spikes along the top of the arm. I’m going to take halved styrofoam balls and cover them in green and purple felt and attach them to the shirt to make all sorts of bumps. Make fleece playtime leggings or nature walk pants. Add felt “spikes” to a headband. Color and tease her hair and put on green and purple make up with vampire teeth. I think I will add glow in the dark fabric spray paint to the bumps as well.

I hope I can do her vision justice! 🙂

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

Here’s a post that Rae had put together for one of her patterns. This might give some idea as to what others have done.

http://www.made-by-rae.com/2014/03/converting-washi-to-a-nursing-top/

Another gal had done something similar with a dress by putting in invisible zippers in the seams.

http://saygrrsewing.blogspot.com/2013/11/princess-seam-nursing-dress.html

Good luck and enjoy that little one! 🙂

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

PreemieMomma:

I agree with the other ladies where it depends on your choice of fabrics and how you adapt the pattern. For kicks I ended up doing a search and saw this lovely adaptation of the jump rope:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/justsewjenna/8468504504/

I say if you have the pattern figured out and possibly the correct size ready to go, go for it! Good luck and happy sewing!

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

I have to admit, I’m really partial to Rowenta irons. I went with something cheaper a few years ago to replace our old Rowenta that was at least 15 years old. That was a BIG mistake. It’s steam output was sad and it leaked after a couple short years. I love the steam output my Rowenta has, it has a large number of steam holes and a wonderful constant of steam, which is great when you are making a ton of bias tape. My iron also has a nice “tip” at the end that helps to get into those little seams to iron them flat. It also came with a cleaning kit to help clean the plate off when it gets covered in baked on interfacing :). I know they can be costly but I would get another one in a heartbeat.

I’ve seen some other brands out there that I’ve seen highly advertised on blogs that might be good irons as well. This is what has worked for me. Best of luck to you!!

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

Paula:

I have made many knit based projects and I have used just plain maxilock for the needles and loopers with great success. I wouldn’t go out and get a special woolly nylon or such if you don’t have easy access. With that being said, I did just recently purchase a spool of Gutermann’s version of woolly nylon for when I was making my daughter a dance leotard. I wanted to ensure maximum stretch with that item. I would maybe recommend the nylon on the hem of a dress if you have a little one who likes to tug and pull on the ends of their dresses. I used only the nylon in the upper looper and regular thread for the rest and as for the hems, I used the nlyon in the bobbin and regular thread for the twin needle on my machine. I have had a few issues with my locked/backstitched portions of my twin needle hems (when you stop and start) coming undone and got a helpful hint of pulling the threads through to the inside/wrong side tie all threads together, ie, the three in one row and then the three in the second row and then finish off the knots with fray check. I hope this helps and best of luck to you! 🙂

-Rebecca

[Rpankow]

Jane:

I guess I don’t have this particular machine, but I do have a much older Quilters Companion model. I absolutely love it! My wonderful mother gave it to me years ago as a gift. The one thing I have experienced with my Janome machines, which includes a serger, is that they seem to be good workhorses for me. I don’t have several children, such as Nicole, but I do sew pretty much all the time. It’s rare not to have a project going. I went several years with my sewing machine before I actually had it serviced, which is bad I know, but it just kept chugging away. I’ve sewn knits, wool coats and hats and all sorts of thick projects with it without fail, especially with a walking foot on the thicker materials. The only time I’ve had troubles is with thick topstitching thread and getting the tension correct, which I understand I’m not the only one who has that issue.

For the price they cannot be beat in my mind or obviously my mothers’ and she’s been sewing all her life. Good luck and it sounds like you’re being offered a wonderful deal that doesn’t come around that often. Take care!

Rebecca