[h-cost] Link to list of sewing blogs
I just ran across this huge list of sewing blogs. I have no idea whether any of them will be useful to h-costume members, but thought I might as well post the link: http://www.suzical.co.uk/sewing-blogs.html Fran Lavolta Press http://www.lavoltapress.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Setting color question
This has probably been addressed here before, but I don't remember the advice (or it was before I joined). I have some dark red linen that I would like to use, but I want to wash it first. My local fabric store usually carries a product called Retayne but they have been out of it for a while. It's a color fixative for cotton fabrics according to the label and is used in hot water. I've been using it on linen with good results. What can I use instead? Someone at the fabric store suggested white vinegar, but she was not sure of the water temperature or amounts. I would like to wash the linen in warm/hot water, if possible, to allow it to shrink before I use it. I'll be doing it in the machine, since it is about six yards. Any advice? Thanks, Catherine **It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv000547) ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Setting color question
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This has probably been addressed here before, but I don't remember the advice (or it was before I joined). I have some dark red linen that I would like to use, but I want to wash it first. My local fabric store usually carries a product called Retayne but they have been out of it for a while. It's a color fixative for cotton fabrics according to the label and is used in hot water. I've been using it on linen with good results. You should be able to mail order Retayne from any number of quilting web stores. Or, if you have specialty quilt shops in your area, check with them, too. Dawn ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Setting color question
In a message dated 8/26/2008 4:18:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Someone at the fabric store suggested white vinegar, but *** It depends of what the dye was. Procian dyes, like the kind you get from Dharma Trading Co, are fixed with soda ashwhich is the same as PH plus (alkaline) you get from a pool spa place. Vinegar is PH minus (acid) so Do you have any containers of the Retayne. Look and see what's in it. Acid or alkaline. With the PH plus it's usually 1 cup to a gallon of water. Don't know about the acid, but that's a good start. Doesn't Ritt make a fixer? Do some tests. If it's a commercial fabric, is it really that runny? **It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv000547) ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Setting color question
At 01:17 PM 8/26/2008, you wrote: This has probably been addressed here before, but I don't remember the advice (or it was before I joined). I have some dark red linen that I would like to use, but I want to wash it first. My local fabric store usually carries a product called Retayne but they have been out of it for a while. It's a color fixative for cotton fabrics according to the label and is used in hot water. I've been using it on linen with good results. What can I use instead? Someone at the fabric store suggested white vinegar, but she was not sure of the water temperature or amounts. I would like to wash the linen in warm/hot water, if possible, to allow it to shrink before I use it. I'll be doing it in the machine, since it is about six yards. Any advice? Thanks, Catherine I'd go to http://dharmatrading.com/ . They sell everything you need for dyeing fabric. And here's the direct link to a dye fixative http://dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1569-AA.shtml?lnav=chemicals.html . Joan Jurancich [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Setting color question
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have some dark red linen that I would like to use, but I want to wash it first. My local fabric store usually carries a product called Retayne but they have been out of it for a while. It's a color fixative for cotton fabrics according to the label and is used in hot water. I've been using it on linen with good results. What can I use instead? Someone at the fabric store suggested white vinegar, but she was not sure of the water temperature or amounts. I would like to wash the linen in warm/hot water, if possible, to allow it to shrink before I use it. I'll be doing it in the machine, since it is about six yards. White vinegar is helpful _during_ the dyeing process for some dyes, but IMHO it doesn't do any good afterward -- it's helpful in dyeing when the acidity of the dyebath makes the dye take better. Nonetheless, it's widely recommended as a method of fixing dye and there are people who swear by it. My science education leads me to be very skeptical, though ;) Your best bet is probably mail/internet order: I know Dharma Trading used to stock both the brand-name Retayne and their own generic version, and their service is quite fast and competent. Some commercial detergents do contain small amounts of something comparable -- they generally advertise on the box that they help keep colors fast. I've always relied on my little bottle of Retayne, so I don't know how well they work. If you need something quickly and don't mind paying inflated prices for a couple of laundry loads' worth, the Rit dye company sells (or used to sell) a color fixer right there on the rack with their little dye packages. It's actually just Retayne, packaged in a little one-washer-load envelope, but you can sometimes find it in areas where there aren't a lot of specialized stores that would stock Retayne any other way. It might be called Run Away if my memory isn't playing tricks on me, but if you find it, read the box to be sure that's what it does. In general, quilters are good people to ask about dye and marking questions, since when you sew little bits of various colored fabrics together on a routine basis, you encounter these problems a _lot_ grin. There also exists a detergent called Synthropol which I think of (incorrectly) as the opposite of Retayne -- Synthropol is pretty effective at removing dye that has run onto somewhere it is *NOT* supposed to be (as when all your underwear comes out of the washer pink...). It does not fix the dye that is already attached to fibers: what it does is to remove any dye that is just hanging around in the cloth and _not_ firmly attached. Good luck: reds tend to be among the more difficult colors to keep where you want them ;) 0 Chris Laning | [EMAIL PROTECTED] + Davis, California http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] fabric store closing
I have bad news (possibly) for those in the Boston area. I just heard from my sister-in-law (who works there) that the Fabric Place in Woburn will be closing shortly. Don't know yet if it is the whole chain or just that store, but they closed the store in CT a year and a half (or more) ago. It was pretty much the only full service sewing clothing fabric store for the north of Boston area if one didn't want to put up with Jo-Ann's. I was last in there a couple on months ago and they certainly looked like they were starting to cut back, the trim and lace selection was pitiful. At least I still have Zimman's nearby with to-die-for drapery silks. Katy -- Katy Bishop, Vintage Victorian [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.VintageVictorian.com Custom reproduction gowns of the Victorian Era. Publisher of the Vintage Dress Series books. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] fabric store closing
The Connecticut store closed on quite short notice; I found out when I went in for a yard of plain china silk. No one now regularly carries china silk in the central Connecticut area. :( Good thing Osgood's isn't too far away. Ann in CT --- On Tue, 8/26/08, Katy Bishop [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Boston area. Fabric Place in Woburn will be closing shortly. they closed the store in CT a year and a half (or more) ago. Katy ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
[h-cost] Goofy costume patterns
from *Khaliah Ali* http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?crit=1065id=1089StartRow=1 They really are pretty awful, but who knows, some parts may be adaptable. And hey, at least they come in plus sizes, for a change! MaggiRos -- Maggie Secara ~A Compendium of Common Knowledge 1558-1603 ISBN 978-0-9818401-0-9 Available at http://elizabethan.org/compendium/paperback.html or your favorite online bookseller ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Goofy costume patterns
I honestly think that was the intention. ;) They are recycled costume patterns with new covers. ♫ Chiara Francesca -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Maggie Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:13 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: [h-cost] Goofy costume patterns from *Khaliah Ali* http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?crit=1065id=1089StartRow=1 They really are pretty awful, but who knows, some parts may be adaptable. And hey, at least they come in plus sizes, for a change! MaggiRos -- Maggie Secara ~A Compendium of Common Knowledge 1558-1603 ISBN 978-0-9818401-0-9 Available at http://elizabethan.org/compendium/paperback.html or your favorite online bookseller ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Goofy costume patterns
I have taken a bodice with princess seams like those pirate and gypsy patterns (basically the same pattern as far as I can see) and turned it into a decent 16th century bodice (this page gives rough instructions on how I did it http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/Tudor/SiL/Fixing_SiL.html), so for a plus sized woman who doesn't want to draft her own bodice pattern (and that's the most difficult part of most historic costumes) it could be useful for something 16th or maybe even 18th century. The biggest problem is really the lack of sleeves but you can take the sleeves off a non costume pattern (though you'd have to adjust that as well so the seam ran down the back of the arm not underneath). Elizabeth --- Elizabeth Walpole Canberra, Australia http://magpiecostumer.110mb.com/ -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Maggie Sent: Wednesday, 27 August 2008 3:13 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: [h-cost] Goofy costume patterns from *Khaliah Ali* http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?crit=1065id=1089StartRow=1 They really are pretty awful, but who knows, some parts may be adaptable. And hey, at least they come in plus sizes, for a change! MaggiRos snip ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
