$40 at the drycleaners :(

joeranger

joeranger

Sr Member
I love my drycleaner, but I can't understand a word she says. I smile and nod a lot. I just paid her $40 to sew a hem/seam on my Han Solo Vest. Then she drycleaned and pressed it. I had started hot gluing the edges. It isn't looking at good as I was hoping.
I know the answer is to learn to sew myself. I am just avoiding this.

Any other "no-sew" people out there? This was a 5 minute job for a seamstress if I could have communicated better.

I am in the NW Chicago burbs. I don't want to commission a costume. I just need some help from someone who understands costuming.

Actually, I am just bitching. If i had hot-glued the seams, I would not have had to wait a week and the result would have been at least as good. :wacko
 
or... learn to sew.... i understand your pain when it comes to just wanting it done... but in reality sewing something up is just like glueing it together, your just using a different means to the end. A simple hem is something that can be easily learned and mastered very fast, then you won't have to turn to a tailor to help you again...

watch this. also, check out threadbangers youtube channel. Awesome stuff. helped me out a lot.

How-to Hem, Make Workshop, SodaFine, Janome - Threadbanger - YouTube
 
Look around for used or remaindered copies of the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. You can find them cheap at Half Price books sometimes but Amazon has some older editions for a couple of bucks used. It is ABSOLUTELY the best book for learning how to sew, and it shows you everything. Older editions are better, actually, because they have line art instead of photos to show you how to do things. The index is great on these, and the biggest difference between editions is the project ideas (some of the old stuff is really hilarious).

But, until then the best options are iron-on fusible hem tape (Heat-n-Bond or Stitch Witchery) or finding a local seamstress who does hemming and alterations at a reasonable rate.
 
I don't know how to sew and hate to admit that I once hemmed pants with scotch tape and a stapler.
Best thing to do is get a machine and start sewing.

You can always use iron-on hem tape to hold things together and then run a stitch to finish the seam.
 
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine. I hate asking my wife to do it.
Me: Honey, can you set up the machine so I can sew a han solo vest?
My wife: Why don't you finish one of the dozen projects you are already working on?
 
joeranger said:
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine. I hate asking my wife to do it.
Me: Honey, can you set up the machine so I can sew a han solo vest?
My wife: Why don't you finish one of the dozen projects you are already working on?
Click to expand...

Probably not a good idea to just throw a Han Solo line back at her like

"It is for *me*, sister. Look, I ain't in this for your revolution, and I'm not in it for you, Princess. I expect you to thread this. *I'm* in it for the vest."

Just gotta be sure to use 'princess', or 'your highness', 'sister', etc.... :lol
May the force be with you.
 
joeranger said:
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine. I hate asking my wife to do it.
Me: Honey, can you set up the machine so I can sew a han solo vest?
My wife: Why don't you finish one of the dozen projects you are already working on?
Click to expand...

What kind of machine? Brand/model? I bet I can find you a threading diagram. :)
 
joeranger said:
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine. I hate asking my wife to do it.
Me: Honey, can you set up the machine so I can sew a han solo vest?
My wife: Why don't you finish one of the dozen projects you are already working on?
Click to expand...

That's why I'm glad my wife has a Singer Simple. It has threading diagrams printed right on the machine. Good for me. :)
 
joeranger said:
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine.
Click to expand...

:lol:lol:lol:lol Dude, then why the hot glue? Cast aside the pride and ask the wife.
Then take a picture of the machine properly threaded if you can't find a diagram and don't have the manual.
 
Okay, I'm thinking of difficult or complicated machines to thread. Is it a Janome, a Pfaff, or a Husqvarna? Older and professional models of all three can be a little confusing if you don't know the exact way to thread them. If it's a Kenmore, Singer or White, all of those can also be weird if you are dealing with a vintage machine, but newer models should have a diagram in the manual or even printed inside an access hatch.

Seriously, I can help if you have specifics. I have been sewing most of my life, and I am both good with older or weird machines and web searches. Don't fear it, it's just another power tool. :)
 
joeranger said:
I actually can sew. I need to learn how to put the thread in the machine. I hate asking my wife to do it.
Me: Honey, can you set up the machine so I can sew a han solo vest?
My wife: Why don't you finish one of the dozen projects you are already working on?
Click to expand...
And here, I thought I was trying to help someone who was not a sewer, not simply a man who couldn't read his instruction manual!
Anyway, yer gonna have to find the instructions and set up your machine following the information therein. Basically, your machine is threading the thread through it and holding tension on it to make it feed properly. The instructions will show you the proper dial notches, etc, but for the rest, yer gonna have to figure it out yourself, without the machine for us to show you.
'zat help?
 
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