It's Another Beautiful Day of Not Being On Mount Everest. just how Every day of my life will be Another Beautiful Day of Not Being On Mount Everest, on account of how I am Never Ever Going There.
Something I've been wanting to do for while is facilitate a housing and job exchange for queer and trans people who need to move out of states that are targeting trans people worse than others, like Kansas and Tennessee.
I've lived in several blue states and I know that there are affordable rooms for rent and decent paying jobs to be had with connections, but it can be really hard for someone to find those rooms and jobs without knowing someone or visiting first and it can be expensive to travel to blue states.
Maybe we can do it here on a micro scale? I know everywhere sucks and is scary right now but some states have laws to protect trans people and leadership that is vocal about it.
If you have an affordable (sub $1k?) room for rent and want to prioritize helping queer and trans people get to safety, you could share it with me and I can post it househunting-style here.
Open to other ideas or collaboration! Ideally we would have a form that populates a spreadsheet and people with open rooms for rent and job connections can fill it out so it's self service!
so a very long time ago, my dad worked with an arson investigator
this guy was often one of the first people on the scene following a suspected arson, once emergency services had done what they needed to do. at times, there were also civilians on the periphery. often, they were freaking out, and understandably so; their home or workplace had just, quite literally, gone up in smoke
this investigator wouldn’t try to calm them down. he wouldn’t comfort them or be a shoulder to cry on.
instead, he’d walk up to the person most visibly losing their shit, hand them a fire extinguisher, and say “hey, can you keep an eye out for any other fires, and if you see one, can you put it out with this?”
of course, there was no actual risk of another fire. he wouldn’t be on the scene investigating if there was even a chance that the fire wasn’t completely put out. but the bystander didn’t need to know that
because that person, without fail, would immediately pull it together, take the fire extinguisher, and stand guard. they were, at least temporarily, calm enough for this investigator to do this job
my dad has told me the parable of the fire extinguisher a hundred times, and i think about it a lot. i think about what it says about people and crises. i think about what it says about the grounding power of having a purpose. and i think about the importance of letting someone help me through something, even if that help is just going to be another casserole to throw into the freezer, because useless or not, that fire extinguisher might be the only thing holding them together
Collections are a feature of country style. In this Connecticut country kitchen, a collection of wicker baskets hangs from ceiling beams, waiting to be used for storage, to serve food in, or to be filled with dried flowers.
So you're having trouble getting a certain fabric to move smoothly through your sewing machine.
You *could* be experiencing a maintenance issue, but unless Something Very Bad happened, you probably don't need major service. I'll discuss service tips in a future post, so stay tuned.
The following fabrics can cause issues.
Lightweight silk
Lightweight polyester that you call silk
Satin
Stretchy stuff like Lycra or spandex
Stretchy stuff like T-shirt or sweatshirt knits
Bulky fabrics
Upholstery fabrics
Vinyl/leather (vegan leather is vinyl. Pleather is vinyl. It's either animal hide or vinyl.)
Sequin/Rhinestone/glitter fabrics
Fabric plus wadding/batting/squishy stuff in between(quilts, pre quilted fabrics)
Cuddle fabrics (Minkee, Flurr, ultra soft velour)
Velvet, velveteen, velour
So many layers
Matching striped or plaid patterns.
All of these items are special. They all require special treatment.
Here's the equipment that can make these easier to work with:
A Walking Foot. You need one. Everyone needs one. Your machine feeds fabric through by pulling on it from below with a mechanism that "walks" along, upside down. So the bottom layer is being pulled through, and we hope for the best on top. A Walking foot provides that same feed on the top, right side up. So the fabric is being drawn through the machine from both the top and bottom at the same time. Good for: almost everything on the above list I believe it was originally designed for machine quilting but mine has carried me effortlessly through fur Santa suits, Minkee projects, slinky, slippery fabrics, and more. Bad for: Some velvets because the wide foot can crush the velvet. Price: $30-50 USD, sometimes more for deluxe or proprietary versions.
A Non-Stick Foot. (Also called a Teflon Foot.) This foot will look very similar to your regular presser foot, but the bottom will have a non-stick coating. Great for: leather, pleather, vinyl, oilcloth, laminated fabrics, applique with adhesives. Price: around $15 USD
Straight Stitch Foot (And straight Stitch plate.) this foot has a single small hole in the center needle position. (Some of them are also 1/4" feet for quilt piecing.) Perfect for: slippery, lightweight fabrics, small pieces, and stretchy/knit fabrics that get pushed down into the machine. Price: around $15 USD.
A Roller Foot: if you can find one for your machine, these are a great option. Similar to a walking foot in application, this foot provides a smooth rolling bar as the top pressure, so that the feed mechanism can more easily push the fabric through. It's not as bulky as a Walking foot, and usually snaps right on to the machine like your other basic presser feet. Perfect For: leather/vinyl, small items with batting, straps on tote bags, crunchy fabrics with sequins. Price: $25-20 USD
A Special Technique: Ok, so sometimes even with the right needle*, the right foot, and the best creative intentions, you're still struggling. You might want to research how to work with that unusual fabric you got from Joann's on sale:
Sequins, beaded fabric, fabric with rhinestones: in the areas where you intend to sew the seams, get out a seam ripper and carefully remove the sequins, beads, or rhinestones from the fabric. This is how the pros do it. (If the items are "set" with metal fasteners, use pliers or a flat screwdriver to bend the prongs and remove both the stone and the setting.) Price: Your Time
Laminated fabrics: this is the *other* type of sequined fabric. The kind where the sequins are just reflective plastic bonded directly to the fabric. This stuff truly is The Devil. A Teflon Foot can help, a Teflon needle can help, or you can *try* to pick off the sequins. What I wound up doing was using a permanent fabric glue to glue the seams with this fabric, and see the linings. (Line it. Trust me. That texture is also The Devil.)
The above advice also holds true for other chonky, crunchy fabrics, btw. I like Fabri-Tac for gluing seams. I made Rocky Horror costumes that lasted years using this method. Price: around $10 USD for a bottle. Note: keep it sealed up in a ziplock bag.
One Final Note:
For the love of all that is holy, stop pulling the fabric through the machine.
Forcing fabric through the machine is bad for you, bad for the machine, and bad for the needle. Don't reach behind the foot, and don't let your hands go past the foot while sewing. Sit upright in your chair, control the fabric from in front of the foot, not behind it. Many people either pick up the bad habit from someone else, or learn to sew on a machine with feed issues, and wind up pulling the fabric through the machine because they can't get it to feed properly.
Correct hand posture illustrated below:
The needle goes down, the feed goes down. The needle comes up, the feed moves the fabric forward. The needle goes back down, the feed goes down. (See gif below in slow motion.)
You. Can't. Match. This. Pattern.
If you're pushing/pulling on the fabric, you're pushing/pulling on. the. needle. while it's in the fabric. If you break a lot of needles, and/or if the hole in the needle plate has a lot of scarring around it, I'm talking directly to YOU. Hands in front. Let the machine do its job. And if it struggles to do its job, give it the right tools.
Happy Sewing!
*Needle information can be found on my previous post:
💬 0 🔁 743 ❤️ 1090 · Why "Universal" means "Equally bad." · So you go to the store to buy needles for your sewing machine. You are going to
"Every generation, a new trio of huntress is chosen to fulfill our ultimate duty. A barrier so strong, it is impenetrable that will keep demons and Gwi-ma from our world forever."
I just saw the news that the Trump administration is ending funding for The Trevor Project as a 988 Lifeline partner.
First and foremost, the Trevor Project is not shutting down. They can be reached directly at 1-866-488-7386, or by texting START to 678-678. What is shutting down is the ability to call 988 and be directed to the Trevor Project’s LGBTQ+ youth lifeline.
However, I wanted to share the various LGBTQ+ helplines that I have bookmarked anyway, because god forbid one of these incredibly vital organizations DOES shut down, I want y’all to know what other support is out there.
Please feel free to add additional helplines in reblogs if I’ve missed anything!
LGBT National Hotline. 888-843-4564. Open Mon-Sat
LGBT National Youth Talkline. 800-246-7743. Open Mon-Sat
LGBT National Senior Hotline. 888-234-7243. Open Mon-Sat
Trans Lifeline. 877-565-8860. Open Mon-Fri. Peer support helpline for trans folks
Pride Institute. 833-926-2100. Open 24/7. Helpline for queer folks dealing with substance use & addiction
Call Blackline. 800-604-5841. No longer 24/7 but hours aren’t posted publicly. Open to all but geared toward queer & BIPOC folks. Will not call the police
DeQH. 908-367-3374. Open Thurs and Sun. Peer support helpline for queer Desi folks. Will not call the police
Inara. 717-864-6272. Open Fri and Sat. Peer support helpline for queer Muslims. Will not call the police
A Mum for a Mum - Garden Stroll Free Quilt Pattern courtesy of Benartex
https://bearcreekquiltingcompany.com/shop/product/mum-mum-garden-stroll-free-quilt-pattern/
Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources
ellievsbear
gummygunk
baratheonpilled
titsay
andulkaphoto
germansingergirl
kaledo-art
turnnoffyourmind
