#to be fair we do have a domestic machine that can do stretch stitches but I've used it like 3 times ever and am not used to it

[pterribledinosaurdrawings]

I've been asked at least twice if I can do knitwear, and no! no we do NOT have the equipment to redo that industrial edge finishing that's done by some sort of fancy knitwear specific machine! If I can't do it on this industrial straight stitch machine, or the blind hemmer, then take it away please.

And yeah, a few times I've been asked to do something that I CAN do, but isn't really worth the time, and costs the customer quite a lot.

"Can you shorten this shirt by 5" and use the extra fabric to add a patch pocket?" I did do that one, and matched up the plaid perfectly, but why couldn't he look somewhere else for plaid shirts with pre-existing pockets?

I also did take the shoulders in on a blazer once for a rather oddly shaped old guy, which was pretty miserable but turned out alright.

And I've shortened blazers multiple times too, which isn't so hard, but it's a bit slow and fiddly to get the bottom edge to look the same as before.

I work at a suit store too (Jos A Bank to be exact and before that Men's Wearhouse) and boy howdy. Our alterations are always a mess so I feel you bro

It's so annoying! So many people don't know how to mark things correctly, or don't fill out the card properly, and sometimes they completely forget to mark a hem (so I have to go track them down and ask if they remember how much it needed to be shortened by), or they don't circle something on the card (so I might miss it completely).

OR they say "yeah we can do that!" about something unusual without first asking me if it's possible to actually do such an alteration, which hasn't happened very many times, but even once is too many >:(

A lot of the time it's new employees, but there's a guy who's worked there for years who also messes up fairly often. Fortunately when that happens it's not my fault, and I don't have to interact with the customers, so I don't stress about it.

Overall my co-workers are nice and I like them, but they are still capable of being very foolish and annoying.

[keelywolfe]

Drabble: Comfort Zone (baon)

Summary: Edge doesn't often get a chance to sit quietly in his brother's company and he's probably not going to get to now.

Tags:  Spicyhoney, Established Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Brotherly Relationship

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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It wasn’t often that Edge had to opportunity to sit with his brother and…well, perhaps enjoy his company wasn’t quite the phrase he was looking for, but it was something like it. He couldn’t recall a single instance in Underfell; at the end of a long day on duty, they’d often sat together on the sofa and watched Mettaton together with a sort of glossy exhaustion, but that wasn’t the same. Nothing like this, sitting on the Edge’s front porch in the late afternoon with a glass of iced tea at their sides.

Edge’s original intention was simply to enjoy the fine weather, sitting out in the sunshine. He hadn’t questioned it when Red abruptly came out of a shortcut and sat down with him. Edge only poured him a glass of tea from the pitcher, silently pushing over the bottle of sugar syrup he’d brought in case Stretch decided to join him. Red took his offering without a comment, sitting in the patio chair with his short legs swinging lazily, his shoes inches from the ground.

Companionable silence, that was the word for it. Not one Edge ever thought he’d apply to Red, until today.

They sat together in easy quiet, watching the occasional child ride by on a bicycle or neighbors out for a stroll waving as they passed.

It was…nice, Edge decided. Yes, nice, to sit here and not guard every word that came out of his mouth, or listen to his brother and try to discern the double or even triple meaning behind what he said.

The silence lasted for a fair amount of time and what interrupted it was not what Edge expected.

He very nearly smelled it before he saw it; Stretch coming out of a shortcut on their front walkway, nearly tumbling out of it, with Jeff right behind him. They looked, and smelled, slightly singed, burnt rubber and something Edge was adamant could not be a whiff of any kind of explosives because Stretch was banned from using them on his own. He’d promised.

Faint wisps of smoke were still coming off their clothes and both of them were coughing, Stretch’s wheezing vanishing into a rough gasp when he looked up and saw they had an audience.

Immediately he stood up straight and pasted an expression of utter innocence on his pretty, lying face as he said brightly, “babe! you’re here! outside and everything, wow, um, that’s super, is that iced tea, i—”

“what the fuck happened to you?” Red interrupted, rudely, and for once, Edge was perfectly fine with his brother’s lack of manners.

"what happened?” Stretch repeated. As if Edge didn’t know a deliberate stalling tactic when he heard one. “what happened was…ah. so, the experiment was a complete failure," Stretch said philosophically, "but no one was hurt and that is exactly what these tests runs are for!"

Stretch could at times be an excellent liar; he had a knack for weaving half-truths into a relatively believable story that made it difficult to puzzle out what was the lie and what wasn’t. Jeff, on the other hand, was not in the slightest, and Edge only looked at him, the weakest link in Stretch’s deceitful chain, waiting as the guilt in his expression slowly multiplied.

When Jeff finally opened his mouth, likely to spill the truth out in a glut of apologies, a sharp jab in his ribs from Stretch’s elbow made him snap it shut again, blast it all.

“no one was hurt,” Stretch repeated, louder. He gave Jeff a side eye and the meaning Edge read from that look was a modified version of ‘snitches get stitches.’ “and that is what’s important.”

Like the true friend he was, Jeff nodded along with that, his lightly smoking hair wafting a fresh puff.

"no one was hurt, huh?" Red drawled and of course he only sounded amused, "'bout how long d'ya think it'll take andy's eyebrows to grow back?"

Jeff's hands flew to his forehead while Stretch scoffed, "now you're just exaggerating, he lost a cumulative half an eyebrow at most."

“You can’t combine hair loss like that!” Edge snapped. It might have been satisfying to see them both cringe if it weren’t for the fact that they were both still fucking smoking. “And you aren’t supposed to be using any explosives. I know this because you told me you wouldn’t, in these exact words in this order, ‘I will not use explosives on my own. I promise.’”

Stretch pressed a hand to his chest, mortally offended, "are you suggesting i would break a promise? because as you can see for yourself, i didn’t. i wasn’t alone, now was i! adult supervision, right there with me!”

“Adult supervision,” Edge repeated, unsmiling. “And to whom exactly are you claiming that applies?”

Now it seemed to be Jeff’s turn for mortal offense. He stopped his inspection of his eyebrows to protest, "I was there!”

Edge only shook his head while Red laughed loudly, slapping his knee, "yeah, you're more what we refer to as an accomplice than supervision, andy."

Edge took a long, slow breath, willing his agitated soul to settle. No one was hurt, that was the important thing. “Go inside and clean up, I can smell you from here. We can discuss terms of supervision later.”

“yes, dear,” Stretch agreed meekly, and if there was any cheekiness to it, he masked it well. He slunk past Edge and Red into the house, Jeff at his heels.

“Put your clothes directly into the washing machine,” Edge called before the door shut behind them.

The moment it closed, Edge picked up his iced tea and drained the glass, setting it back down with a touch too much force and refilling it with urgency that slopped tea over the rim of the glass. He drank that as well, letting it cool his inner heat, before settling back into his chair again.

Next to him, his brother shifted in his seat. “bro—” Red started.

“Shut up,” Edge said automatically.

“c’mon, boss—”

“I do not want to hear it.”

“nothin’?” Red chuckled, “not even, ‘he’s got an explosive personality’ or ‘nice to see your honey still blows you away’. Maybe a, ‘don’t blow up at him when you talk’?”

“The only explosive I’m planning on using when we talk is an f-bomb,” Edge said dryly.

Silence, then his brother burst out laughing, shaking so hard with it his glass wobbled ominously next to him, spilling out a miniature tidal wave of tea.

Edge did not allow a smile to show, hiding it beneath another cooling sip of tea. His brother’s honest laughter was rarer than the companionable silence he lapsed back into when he was done.

That was probably for the best. Chances were high that Edge needed to save all the words he could to use on his husband later, whether they were explosive ones or not.

-finis

[sewheresewnow]

The 5 Things to Remember When Buying A Sewing Machine

We get a lot of questions about how to go about buying a sewing machine. Today, we’re lucky to have a real sewing machine expert here to show us the ropes. Meredith works and teaches at Modern Domestic, a fabulous shop here in Portland AND has a professional theater costuming background. Take it away, Meredith! -Sarai

I’ve sewn on just about every brand machine. And not in a braggy way (who would brag about sewing for 5 years on a 3/4 size baby blue Kenmore?), but in a down and dirty kinda way.

My background is in theater and I’ve worked in professional (and amateur) costume shops across the country as well as designing and executing my own work in NYC. And no, it’s not nearly as glamorous as you might think. But I learned a lot along the way and crammed a lifetime of sewing into 15 years.

Like some of you, I didn’t learn from my family at a young age, though I certainly had family members who could have taught me A LOT. I was young and stubborn and didn’t learn until college. But when I did, it completely changed my life and I’ve pretty much sewn every day since. For myself, for others, for costumes, quilting, home dec, crafts and bags. Now I’m teaching and working at Modern Domestic, thoroughly enjoying the a-ha moments my students have and providing the education and resource I missed out on and learned the hard knocks way.

I can’t list all the machines I’ve worked, but a few stick out. My college roommate Evelyn’s Babylock. I knew nothing and was still really learning but we liked the machine. I think we named her Nancy. The George Street Playhouse’s industrial Juki. I hemmed chiffon on that thing. Chiffon! One feels very powerful mastering an industrial enough to do delicate work, believe me.

But the summer of 1999 I worked on my first BERNINA. It was the first commercial machine I saw that would sew through anything. That thing was worked to the max every day and kept rolling. I would sit down in front of these same machines in other shops, in grad school, and during summer stock. Each one reliable and hard-working. So when I finally bought my first real machine (after said baby blue Kenmore, which did more than its fair share and I can’t seem to get rid of), I bought my beloved BERNINA 1008. And while I may someday invest in a higher end BERNINA, I will always keep my 1008.

Top 5 Things to Consider when Purchasing a Sewing Machine

Get the best machine you can for what you can spend. This doesn’t mean the one with the most bells and whistles but one made with quality parts. One that isn’t going to break on you in a matter of months and not be worth repairing. Consider this an investment, like a good camera or bike.

As I’ve been teaching, I’ve heard countless times the story of a new sewist who isn’t sure how much they’ll sew, so they purchase an inexpensive machine to get them started. It has so many problems that every time they sit down to work it’s such a chore, they rarely sew. You might be better off borrowing one from a friend or relative, renting time at a sewing studio, or putting a quality one on layaway to avoid a needless purchase that can ultimately be a waste of money and make your learning experience unenjoyable.

Buy from a dealership, not a big chain store. The man in the blue vest can’t help you thread your new machine—he may not even know they sell sewing machines. When you buy from a dealership you are also gaining a resource–getting assistance, experience, advice, and usually a machine owner class where they can guide you through all the features of the machine and learn how best to clean and maintain your machine.

They also likely service machines and you will have a warranty guarantee with them. Ask if they offer trade-ins and trade-ups. This may take the pressure off the initial purchase if you know you can get started on one and move up the line if you want. They may also have used machines that have been serviced and can take guess-work out of older machines. Our technician said something to me recently that resonated—just because something is older doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. They made lemons 30 years ago too.

Sit down and sew on the machine. How smoothly does it run? Does it make a lot of noise? How much control do the feed dogs seem to have? Is the fabric weaving all over the place? How easy is the buttonhole? What about tension? How’s the stitch quality? How do you choose stitches & alter them? What stitch options are there—a zigzag, a blind hem, stretch stitches? Can you change the needle position? I put ease of use so high that for me it would be worth spending an extra $100-$200 for certain features like a one-step or automatic buttonhole.

Read Full Article Here: The 5 Things to Remember When Buying A Sewing Machine