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  • #46
    Furrfu.

    She did this:
    SC: Hey, hey, hey (she snaps her fingers in my face. I glance up) Show me where the patterns are.
    Then she had the chutzpah to say this:
    SC: How Rude,
    ?

    Am I the only one with cognitive dissonance here?

    The OP said:
    Me: Miss, I think it would be even ruder for me to leave these people who have been waiting patiently.
    It's a good thing you were there and not me, I'd've said "It's even ruder to snap your fingers in someone's face. Now if you have a question for me, go to the end of the line please, there are people in front of you."

    My mom was (still is, I suppose!) a terrific sewer.
    Uhm, you have to be careful how you pronounce that.

    Warning: rambling ahead. Skip if desired.

    I can barely figure out what to do with a needle and thread myself; it's just not one of my skills. My great-grandfather, on the other hand, was a tailor by trade (actually both my mother's grandfathers were tailors). He had a Singer sewing machine, vintage 1913, foot-powered, which sat in his house. In the morning he'd unscrew the "head" or whatever you call the actual machine part, strap it to his back, and take it to a clothing factory where he'd install it in their base (table, whatever) and work his shift. Then he'd unscrew the thing again and shlep it back home, while the second-shift guy came with his machine and installed it in the same table so he could work his shift. Once he got home, he'd set his machine up again and continue working; he did piece-work at home for extra money. He never electrified his machine: it was pedal-powered to the end, and still is (one of my cousins owns it now). He claimed you couldn't control the speed properly with an electric motor, and he was probably right given that the electrified Singers didn't have speed controls, only a clutch. It was either off or working at full speed... Those old Singer machines are like the Kodak cameras of that period: built like tanks, and no collector's value, because they made so many and they're mostly still around 90 years later. (Now if you just want a working sewing machine that you can hand down to your grandchildren when you retire, then it's a worthwhile investment. Just don't expect to be able to retire on the proceeds if you sell it.) My grandmother used her father's machine for the rest of her life; it mostly served as the table for the fancy Japanese machine that she did much of the lighter work, but once in a while, when she was making curtains or blankets, or repairing one of her grandchildren's school knapsacks, the fancy machine went on the floor and the old dinosaur would wake up. I don't care how heavy the fabric was; she could drive a needle through leather with that thing when she needed to.

    Talking of buttonholes, one of Jay Leno's books of weird or typo'd advertisements showed an ad for a sewing machine featuring an "automatic buttholer". Leno's comment was "I don't even wanna know what that is..."

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    • #47
      Quoth Chromatix View Post
      I'm just trying to figure out how a (not industrial) machine could be made to sew buttons. The only way I know involves something that an ordinary-style sewing machine can't do.
      The very little ones are more like a stapler. Probably fine if you're out somewhere and a coat button comes off and you need a temporary fix. But not so good for actual buttons.
      Last edited by protege; 11-20-2009, 04:41 PM. Reason: Fixed the quote tag :)

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      • #48
        You know, this thread is kind of making me want to learn how to sew...

        Do they make an inexpensive, compact, beginner-level sewing machine for a 37 year old bachelor?

        Love, Who?

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        • #49
          Absolutely. And lots of places are happy to give you lessons.
          Seshat's self-help guide:
          1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
          2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
          3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
          4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

          "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

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          • #50
            Quoth Ben_Who View Post
            You know, this thread is kind of making me want to learn how to sew...

            Do they make an inexpensive, compact, beginner-level sewing machine for a 37 year old bachelor?

            Love, Who?
            The local Walmart has some useable-to-learn-on machines for +/- $100. And if you can handle long-distance, over-the-web teaching, PM me. I've been sewing longer than I want to admit being alive.

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            • #51
              Quoth Shalom View Post
              Furrfu.

              Those old Singer machines are like the Kodak cameras of that period: built like tanks, and no collector's value, because they made so many and they're mostly still around 90 years later.
              We have one of those tanks ... mrDrone's great uncle from Alsatia was a tailor, he had a place in San Francisco. I don't think nuclear winter would harm one of those machines.
              EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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              • #52
                My grandmother had one of those tanks, and for a long time, it lived with my mom at our place.

                I used to love just running the foot pedal to see how fast I could get it to go, when I was a little kid.

                The machine would be in the stored position when I did that, of course.

                ^-.-^
                Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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                • #53
                  I had my grandmother's treadle operated Singer sewing machine back in the mid-70s. I made a shirt on it, and used it for repairs. I sold it at a yard sale. Sometimes I wish I still had it.
                  "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                  • #54
                    Wow, I thought she just shopped at my store! Honestly, my sympathies.
                    "I'm starting to see a pattern in the men I date" - Miss Piggy, Muppet Treasure Island

                    I'm writing!! Check out the blog.

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                    • #55
                      Quoth flutes_and_fabric View Post
                      Haha. I've never had anyone try to haggle on the prices of fabric. I've had ones who think the price is wrong and then make me did through the store to find the bolt only to show them I was right.
                      Only time i've ever argued was when the bolt was marked $x.xx per PANEL. It was a fleece blanket panel. The lady insisted on charging the $x.xx price, per yard. the panel was almost two yards. She kept insisting that even though it said per panel, the price was actually per yard... i gave up arguing, because i really wanted the material to make a simple tie blanket for my husband.

                      It still rather pisses me off... i never went back to that store.
                      Shamus: Why hasn't anybody designs a cranium-anus extraction kit yet? It seems that so many people suffer from a improperly-stored head.

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                      • #56
                        Quoth Nayeli_Sabia View Post
                        Only time i've ever argued was when the bolt was marked $x.xx per PANEL. It was a fleece blanket panel. The lady insisted on charging the $x.xx price, per yard. the panel was almost two yards. She kept insisting that even though it said per panel, the price was actually per yard... i gave up arguing, because i really wanted the material to make a simple tie blanket for my husband.

                        It still rather pisses me off... i never went back to that store.
                        I don't blame you for that. I've seen some panels that are maybe 5/8 yard, some that are nearly 2 yards, but I know panels when I see them.

                        I've also discovered the handheld won't let me sell someone a length of two panels. I have to punch one panel in twice. Go figure.
                        I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                        My LiveJournal
                        A page we can all agree with!

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                        • #57
                          I don't sew. I also know it's not easy to do, because I had to take a home ec type class in junior high, part of which was sewing. I was able to complete the projects, but painstakingly slowly. Why? Because, frankly, I am neither good at it, nor very interested in it.

                          That is not to say I don't respect and admire people who are interested in it and can do it. It's just not one of my talents. I'll stick to the kitchen and the stage and the bar, the areas I have my most strengths in.

                          As for the finger snapper....oh, there's rude, and then there's the finger snap. Ya know, it's been a long time since someone has had the gall to do that to me at my job, other than people joking around with it. Methinks I am due for someone to do that to me. Of course, that would be a HUGE mistake on their part........

                          "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                          Still A Customer."

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                          • #58
                            Quoth WhiteRose View Post
                            I love making clothes...i hand-sewed a beautiful medieval dress once and someone didn't believe that i hand-sewed it because it looked more perfect than machine stitching...the reason? it's easier to undo one stitch than rip an entire seam to re-do it. One bitch i knew actually passively-aggressively insulted me by saying that it was a 'simple' dress....while it wasn't terribly complicated it was still insulting by the way she said it...it didn't look like it belonged on a peasant, that's for sure...
                            But... but... but... the only reason I'm hand-sewing my outfit is to get it to look right. A machine sewn seam looks NOTHING like a hand sewn one... And that's without the fact that you use different kinds of seams. I'd be machine hemming all my pieces if it didn't entirely defeat the purpose of using a period seaming technique. *brain hurts*

                            And didn't that second woman know that it's in many ways harder to get something simple to look good? I like being able to hide my mistakes under trim... (I always compliment the people just wearing petticoat bodies, because you really have to CARE to bother making those, people who don't care always go for something fancy because it's prettier).

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                            • #59
                              Quoth neecy View Post
                              Mary (my friend) is just a homemaker - it shouldn't be rocket science.
                              Mmm... I started drooling at the thought of the karma that was going to come from that sentence. I was right.

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                              • #60
                                Quoth Magpie View Post
                                And didn't that second woman know that it's in many ways harder to get something simple to look good? I like being able to hide my mistakes under trim...
                                My grandmother would always add lace to the fronts of her shirts when she spilled coffee on them. And she'd just replace the lace when she did it again.

                                ^-.-^
                                Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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