#textile nerd

[yournewfriendshouse]

today I pulled out an angel and got it finished so yay. it’s my least favourite so far but I like it a lot better now that they are filled with some tiny cabbage, lavender and rosemary

[faint-taste-of-almonds]

Honestly, knowing things about sewing and clothing construction is sometimes a curse I wish I wasn't suffering from.

So my textile hobby is embroidery. Right now, I am embroidering a shirt as a gift for a friend. For the shirt, I just needed something simple, plain, and pink - so I went to Target, because that was what was available to me, and somewhere I was pretty sure would have what I was looking for. It did, and I got a plain pink t-shirt for a not-bad price.

Here I am, a week later and almost done with my project, when I randomly glance down at the hem and feel my heart sink into my feet.

because what. the Fuck. is This???

This is one of the worst hems I have ever seen on a commercial garment in my entire life. If a single one of those threads gets cut, the whole bottom of the shirt is unraveling faster than the life of a college student who only just now realized their final was supposed to be a semester-long project. This is the kind of thing I would expect to see for someone who had to hand sew the hem, because I've rarely ever seen vertical hemming outside of handmade clothes. And looking at the inside, I was even more confused.

Because the inside looks normal? So what the hell happened to the outside?? This appears to be a vertical hemming stitch with a ladder back, which I have never seen before in my entire life.

Let's look at two other examples for comparison.

First, we have a normal cotton t-shirt from a few years ago:

This is a 2 needle flat lock stitch (6mm), the type of stitch I would expect to see. You might be able to snag the inside thread on something, but it wouldn't unravel the whole thing, and you'd have to take some seam rippers to get at the outside in any meaningful way.

Now let's look at something older:

This is the inside and outside of a vintage 50s top I bought about a year ago. Notice that there's no visible hem on the outside at all. The bottom is folded up into the inside, where one or two other layers of fabric are located in order to stitch it together. There's a row of single-needle lock stitching close to the bottom of the garment, with another single-needle row and a line of overlocked stitching just to top it all off. The only way this could be more secure is if it attended therapy and achieved self-actualization. This hem isn't going anywhere.

So where does this leave us? Well, it personally leaves me very upset about the state of the clothing industry. Yes, these tops all came at various price points, and have different levels of quality accordingly, but consumers should be able to buy clothes that won't immediately fall apart on them should a stiff breeze happed to blow past. If I had the time or the machinery, I would fix the hem myself, but I don't, and I am genuinely upset to have put hours upon hours of work onto a project with such a shitty canvas. And frankly, a little insulted.

Moral of the story: Check your seams people. You'll thank me when tugging on a single thread doesn't get you arrested for public indecency.

[jbcrochetwizard]

Crochet versions of Geralt of Rivia and Dandelion, characters from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt game! ⚔️ 🌼

[quiltingwitch]

Two more swords, the largest of the bunch. One inspired by a historical reference of a true renaissance two-hander, the other by anduril (post elven repair)

[yournewfriendshouse]

this implies you shouldn’t ever was wool, which isn’t true.

you just have to be aware that wool + heat + water + soap + agitation = felt, so it’s best to hand wash in cold water. and never stick it in the drier. it’s best to lay it out to dry on a flat surface so it keeps its shape

Here, a cheater course on caring for natural fibers!

1. Wool. Treat it like it has the delicate constitution of a Victorian lady and the conviction that baths are evil of a 17th century noble. (If I get in WATER my PORES will OPEN and I will CATCH ILL AND DIE.)

2. Cotton; easygoing. Will shrink a bit if washed and dried hot.

3. Silk; people think it’s like wool and has the constitution of a fashionably dying of consumption Victorian lady, but actually it’s quite tough. Can be washed in an ordinary washer, and either tumbled dry without heat or hung to dry.

4. Linen; it doesn’t give a shit. Beat the hell out of it. Historically was laundered by dousing it in lye and beating the shit out of it with wooden paddles, which only makes it look better. The masochist of the natural fiber world. Beat the fuck out of it linen doesn’t care. Considerably stronger than cotton. Linen sheet sets can last literal decades in more or less pristine shape because of that strength.The most likely natural fiber to own a ball gag.

[dubiousculturalartifact]

20 seconds into the Red, White, and Royal Blue movie

okay, listen: I am aware going into this that it will be a deeply implausible and silly film with absolutely zero respect for how politics, protocol, or the real world work

therefore, my suspension of disbelief is willing to extend as far as 'first son & prince of England fall in love, HEA', and all the related ridiculousness on which such a concept hinges but it will NOT extend to believing in THAT wedding dress for a British royal wedding, c'MON

bare shoulders & low back, and a swooping neckline? in WESTMINSTER ABBEY

[hollygl125]

Drawing, Design for Wallpaper and Textiles: Flowers and Butterflies; France; brush and gouache, graphite on blue paper; 66.5 x 51 cm (26 3/16 x 20 1/16 in.); Gift of Harvey Smith; 1968-107-22 (Cooper Hewitt)

[ihatetheinternetandeveryoneonit]

Ok idc how good he is at sewing, no outfit is going to withstand daily wear for 200 years--the fabric would disintegrate. You can get some mileage out of darning, but that would quickly look like a mess as you gather more worn down holes.

Our little rogue definitely had a 'spree' or two through Sharess Caress on some unattended clothes.

[yournewfriendshouse]

it is meant to be worn but like…it’s meant to be worn in a way that shows that it is art.

couture it never quite makes as much sense off the body as on it, and whenever I see it on the mannequin I’m always like ‘Oh wow I want to see how it moves’ because it is designed to be worn, but yeah, it is art.

it’s not practical wear, it’s art.

"Ohhh why is high fashion so ugly why is runway fashion so ugly who on earth could possibly want this" its sculpture. High fashion isn't meant to be worn anywhere it's just people-based sculpture. It's okay

[minimewtreasures]

Crafter: Crimson Pins

[istherewifiinhell]

Actually probably the BETTER litany of dont over explain what need not be explained cause sometimes u just need things for a STORY to work. Is all the tf writers who ever backed themselfs into the corner of misogyny cause u gotta explain gender. Simply not true. The aliens have gender cause humans wrote them. Do not speak unless u got smth interesting to say [THINK. CAREFULLY. Do u really]

[soundoflaughingwind]

Still peeved about fics that use homespun and roughspun interchangeably. Homespun is any yarn made by hand or spinning wheel; roughspun is made out of coarse, uneven fibers and is usually used for outerwear.

Basically everything before the invention of machines that started spinning industrially were handspun.

However NO noble EVER is going to use roughspun as everyday wear, much less wear it against their skin! Not even peasants put roughspun fabric against their skin. Because no matter how tough you are, no one wants the sort of chafing that would come with rubbing that texture against their skin for hours on end. When it was used, there would be at least one or two underlayers to stay warm and without rashes.

Peasants generally made their own clothing back in the day, and if you're going to make your own clothes, you're going to make them comfortable and well-fitted and nice looking! Sure there's probably hand-me-downs, but since they made everything by hand, they'd also know how to tailor it to fit.

Anyway, sure nobles wore wool, but they'd use stuff like lambswool and fine broadcloth, and also stuff like silk and high quality linen and satin and velvet. Not roughspun.

[yournewfriendshouse]

thank you! god, this very thing has me weeping and gnashing my teeth it makes me so damn angry

"hey why are all the barrier garments like linen shirts or chemises or combinations going away?"

"oh we have more washable fabrics now! you don't need to worry about sweat reaching your outer clothing when you can just chuck it in the washing machine!"

"cool!"

[100 years later]

"so uh all of those new washable fabrics are leaching microplastics into our water, and the constant machine-washing wears garments out faster. they're also not really sturdy enough to be mended, so we keep having to throw them out and now the planet is covered in plastic fabric waste that will never break down. also it turns out that the new washable fabrics hold odor-causing bacteria VERY well. so could we get those barrier garments back please?"

"sorry babe linen now costs $100000/yard and since it's been so long without them, nobody knows how to adapt barrier garments to the current styles anyway"

"..."

"maybe try this new $50 undershirt made of Special Sweat-Wicking Plastic Fabric! :) :) :)"

[lacewise]

I am never going to get over someone yelling at me saying that vegans couldn’t have possibly spread or been the origin for misinformation on a post where a vegan went viral spreading misinformation. That’s hilarious. That would make a great scene in fiction, I should recycle that (well, I’m more into the editing side so I can just… save it to recommend someone else write it).

Also, like, PETA exists? Super embarrassing for everyone involved. (For me the embarrassing part was forgetting to bring up PETA exists.)

Zero notes.

[gailyinthedark]

Historical dates I am capable of remembering

ad 1066: Norman conquest of England

ad 1492: Columbus sailed the ocean blue

ad 1856: invention of the first aniline dye

[jbcrochetwizard]

My cute chibi Pikachu amigurumi design!  Doll stands 5.5” tall (14 cm).

Pattern: Etsy | Ravelry