DRAFT - straw badge Textiles

Phoenix Blackdove wrote:

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Phoenix Blackdove wrote:

- add a panel to a garment that's the right size in one area but too small in another, to make it fit (for example, add a panel in the bodice of a dress that's too small in the chest but fits fine from the waist down)

I would LOVE to know how to do this! I have a medieval gown I'd made in 9th grade, and it still fits everywhere except the bust (obviously, I didn't grow much taller, ha!). I would love to be able to wear it again. I even still have extra of the same fabric, but I don't know how to do it correctly.

It's a handy skill to have, since so many people find they aren't the same size as the mythical "average" person a clothing company has used as their sizing template. Depending on garment construction, it can be as simple as opening up the side seams and adding a strip or wedge of fabric to each side of the front panel to make it fit one's new measurements. YouTube and Google are full of a good many decent tutorials (stay away from anything using glue though, those things are the devil).

I actually tried finding tutorials online, but I don't even know the right search terms to use to find the videos. Any resources or terms would be most appreciated ♥ Thank you!!!

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Phoenix Blackdove wrote:

Nicole Alderman wrote:

Phoenix Blackdove wrote:

- add a panel to a garment that's the right size in one area but too small in another, to make it fit (for example, add a panel in the bodice of a dress that's too small in the chest but fits fine from the waist down)

I would LOVE to know how to do this! I have a medieval gown I'd made in 9th grade, and it still fits everywhere except the bust (obviously, I didn't grow much taller, ha!). I would love to be able to wear it again. I even still have extra of the same fabric, but I don't know how to do it correctly.

....

I actually tried finding tutorials online, but I don't even know the right search terms to use to find the videos. Any resources or terms would be most appreciated ♥ Thank you!!!

Nicole, one of the terms is 'refashion'.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:
Fabrics causing problems when ironing are often synthetics, or at least with synthetics mixed in.

True. Silk is a notable exception. Some wools are also tricky to iron correctly, depending on the weave.

Something I forgot to mention, is that improper ironing can also cover things like putting creases in the wrong spot, or taking out creases that are meant to be there. I've seen spectacular examples of pure wool box pleats ruined by someone who didn't know how to correctly iron them (or indeed, whether they ought to have been ironed in the first place).

Nicole Alderman wrote:
I actually tried finding tutorials online, but I don't even know the right search terms to use to find the videos. Any resources or terms would be most appreciated ♥ Thank you!!!

Alas, this got lost for me on the page jump. Here are a few from a quick Google:
How to let out a dress - only works if you have a decent amount of seam and a smallish amount of letting out to do
Using corset loops to make a dress bigger - I pointed a friend to this technique just the other day, for a wonderful unicorn dress that fit everywhere except the bust.
Video of making a bodice bigger by adding a wedge of fabric at the side seams

Google's natural language search algorithm has gotten pretty good now. I find I (usually) get decent results using searches like "how to make [part of body] of [piece of clothing] bigger/smaller". Some examples:
- how to make bodice of dress bigger (A: see above methods)
- how to make bust of dress smaller (A: darts, usually)
- how to make dress bigger in hips (A: side slits or colour blocking are your best bet)
- how to make legs of pants shorter (A: hem them)
- how to make more room in crotch of pants (A: gussets)
- how to make waist of pants lower (A: this is called the rise, and is quite hard to alter well)

These are all things I've Googled over the last several months as I've gone through my/the kids' wardrobe and fabric stash to see what needs altering/mending/making. This method works well when you have a thing that you need to fit better, but want it to stay more or less the same thing.

If you're looking to turn a thing into a different thing, the terms "upcycle" or "refashion" will be your friend. This isn't something I do a whole lot though - by the time clothes reach me they're usually ready for the rag bin or the pet blanket pile. I'm happier to thrift sheets and start from scratch.

Hey all,

I'm especially new to textiles, but no less interested in learning to mend and make things; so forgive me if I'm way out of order here:

Where would you envision 'waterproofing a piece of clothing' fitting into PEP, if at all?

Lee Johnson wrote:Hey all,

I'm especially new to textiles, but no less interested in learning to mend and make things; so forgive me if I'm way out of order here:

Where would you envision 'waterproofing a piece of clothing' fitting into PEP, if at all?

What way of waterproofing do you mean, Lee?
Maybe it can be part of a different kind of PEP Badge instead of textiles ?

There are plans for wax and oilcloth.

Start small with food wraps and move up to maybe a raincoat at the end

Hey Inge, thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure what would be a non-toxic waterproofing. I've been trying to research waxed fabrics, and it appears many used paraffin waxes in the past; it seems linseed oil was sometimes also used.

Since it's related to garments, I'm not sure there is a badge that is a closer fit than textiles. But perhaps it's not a close-enough fit? Maybe it's not part of pep? I'm not sure.

r ranson wrote:...move up to maybe a raincoat at the end

That's quite the enticement, for me.

Maybe with beeswax or oil? How was traditional oilcloth made? Beeswax wraps could fit here, maybe, or in Nest (are they already in Nest?).

Traditional oilcloth is made with linseed oil (wax was too valuable for lighting and paraffin is a relatively new invention)

Each layer of linseed oil was cured or oxidized between coats.  It's actually quite dangerous to make as oily rags are very good at bursting into flames.  Later on, there was a new invention of rubber sap and linseed but this would be hard to do in an at-home setting if one doesn't have access to the rubber trees.

This badge seems like a huge step up  from the sand badge. Maybe the sand one is too easy?

Re the scissor sharpening tool... while I do sharpen tools, and it's a valuable skill, I would never sharpen my good sewing scissors myself (and nor did my sewing-teacher, quilting-teacher, tailoring, still sewing at 90, Mum). I get my friendly local scissor-sharpening expert to do it properly, and trade him my expertise in other things. Not everyone has to be able to do everything - in fact I see it as a very Permaculture thing to trade skills within the community.

Kevin

The sand one isn't too easy. Especially if you've never sewed or woven before. The tasks seem simple, but they are time consuming, and if you haven't done it before, they'll take multiple tries to get right. I made attempted before I got one right.

The straw badge is 35 more hours of work than the sand badge, which is a lot!

Perhaps it feels overwhelming because there's so many little tasks? When we were working on it, we literally put estimated hours next to each task.

We're also trying to make sure people have a well-rounded set of skills. And, man, there's a LOT of type of skills under textiles! Each one could be a badge in and of itself.

Most of the things, too, are "pick one". If you remove the list of things under each "pick one," you get this:

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start a button jar (harvest buttons from old shirts) 10 minutes

harvest fabric scraps for future sewing projects 10 minutes

sew on a button 5 minutes

build a textile toolbox (sewing kit) 5 minutes--we don't count the time to get things, just putting them in the box.

good darning - invisible mending (pick one) 20 minutes?

Ugly repair 15 minutes

Upholstery repair list (do 1)

Monthly sewing machine maintenance

Other repairs list (do 4 of the following):

make a small loom capable of weaving a belt https://permies.com/t/50910/  

Weaving List - Pick one of the following projects:

Prepare fibre for spinning (do one of the following)

make a simple spindle  

do one of the following.  

Stickwork List (do 5 points worth)

Create a cot-sized mattress (tick) stuffed with natural materials like wool, cotton, hemp, seeds ( https://permies.com/t/54526/fiber-arts/Straw-Mattress )

Small Quilting List (traditional or boro quilting) (pick 1):  

Sewing List: choose and sew one of the following

Sew a pair of shoes or slippers from cloth or leathers (using natural or reclaimed material for the sole)

Create wax cloth for food storage

Dye 100g (total - dry weight)

Felt one of the following:

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I don't remember the time for all of those things. We had it at one point when working on the list. I don't know how essential all the things in the sewing kit are--I've also never had a scissor sharpener....but I'm also not nearly as skilled as sewing as Raven. And, I've never maintained my sewing machine.....which might be why mine's now broken.

I think we can "get by" without a lot of this stuff, but we're missing the essential skills we would need to not be kicking ourselves in the long run. Maybe the sharpening and sewing machine maintenance go in the Tool Care Badge?

The mattress is Paul's idea. He wants upholstery type stuff in here.

The hard thing is, textiles has all of these disciplines under it:

Weaving
Sewing
Darning/repair
Knitting
Crocheting
Quilting
Spinning
Fiber harvesting and cleaning
Felting
Upholstry
Embroidery
Dying
Leather/canvas working


At Wood and Iron level, I think we wanted people to be able to have a "focus" and just work on and perfect one of the disciplines, much like a Major in college--you focus on one thing and get really good at it. The Straw level is like your Associates in Textiles, giving you a foundation in ALL the disciplines.

Thanks for the detailed reply, Nicole. BTW I realized that my previous post had a bit of a snarky tone, which wasn't my intention, so I'm sorry for that!

I'm really glad to see sewing machine maint in there. Given that other badges focus on hand vs power tools, I wonder if people could be encouraged to try a project on a people-powered sewing machine (treadle or hand-crank). They are surprisingly common once you start paying attention to them - in my small town (13K population, ferry and air access only) I bought a secondhand treadle, was given one from the 1890's by someone I met on the bus, offered two more for free that I didn't have room for, know half a dozen people who own one, and have seen another half dozen offered for sale... in the last 2 years. So even if a person didn't want to own one, they might be able to borrow one or spend time on one.

I do agree with a previous poster that knitting a single sock is more likely to take 5 hours than 2. I've knit somewhere between 40 and 50 pairs at the moment, and I'm a medium fast knitter, and my time is closer to 5 hrs per sock.

I was mulling this over while I planted the squash last night, and it struck me that the stickwork list is much more about products than process/skills, compared to some other areas in this badge like prepping fleece. As a result, someone could get their 5 points using garter stitch only, and never learn even basic skills like purling, increasing and decreasing.

I know I'm too late to affect this badge anyway! I am more thinking aloud and for feedback, because I will be adding Textile badges to my own merit badge program sometime soon. (Currently working on Baking :)  )

I love that someone is finally addressing the next level badge for textiles. Thank you. Not that I've completed what IS available for textiles, but I know I've done far more than the Sand Badge lists. And while I've done many more things than I've proven to acquire the Sand Badge (done years ago and no photos taken), I was patiently awaiting the list for the Straw Badge, and will continue to be patient for the Wood and Iron levels.

So I have a question about the Textile tool box aka sewing kit... is this strictly for sewing, or are we keeping ALL TEXTILE tool here? For example, where do you keep your stock of crochet hooks or knitting needles? I don't knit so I will have to take the crochet options. I have, but have yet to use for a first time, 2 knitting looms. One is sock size, the other large enough for torso-wide panels or ?? I have yet to crochet a pair of sox and the discussion of such here has piqued my interest in using a smaller hook and yarn (already on hand for the knitting loom) to try one of the several easy patterns I've collected.

I've turned several pair of cargo shorts into bags, that just can't be beat for the amount of space inside and the extra pockets for everything! Again, no pix.
When I processed about a dozen mens button down cowboy-style shirts, I saved the buttons to add to my button collection, which has been in existence for about a decade now. I even have some Boy Scout buttons in there. I even have several black trash bags of old clothes to use for other fabric needs, some are processed into their individual parts.

"Family" cloth, or pee papers in this house! I was inspired by a girlfriend to make myself a supply of these and I used an old flannel sheet. It was very soft and has proven more absorbent than the sweatpants I also used. I advise cutting these just a bit wider than 3 sheets of TP. I then also crocheted my first basket with handles using 2 strands of yarn.

I hunt sheets at my local thrift stores (when they were open before CoViD-19) all the time for my rag rugs and strip-cloth crocheted projects (usually rugs-pic- or chair pads). I do have to watch that these sheets will stand up to the stress of tensions; I've discovered the hard way that some pull apart after cutting into the 1" to 1.5" strips too easily to be used. Just something to watch for if this is a resource you use. I have made a small twined rag rug (think table runner) into a bag/purse, lined and with pockets inside. This one I DO have pix of. The dog is for size comparison.

Hi Raven and Nicole. I'm almost finished with my version for the BB 'start a button jar'. I have a question: how many buttons and from how many different pieces of clothing at least (minimum)?

In the US 'wool' means yarn from sheep. Merino wool is from a specific breed of sheep. Fiber from other things has specific names: chiengora from dogs, cashmere from goats, linen from flax plant, rayon from cellulose fibers....

In the UK 'wool' means any yarn, not just sheep.

Also the sizing of yarn gets challenging: 2ply, fingering, light DK, 3/20, 2 ends held together, 4, chunky, super chunky....

In the textile industry and most fibre artists in the English Speaking world, wool refers to the fibre from the sheep and most countries have strict laws requiring this definition (including in the UK).  

The history of textile vocab is complicated and highly regional - varying dramatically from village to village until well into the 1970s UK and even still today.  But the history of "wool means all yarn" comes from some rather nasty and successful marketing campaigns in the early days of synthetic knitting yarns... it's complicated.  I personally hate that this happened but thankfully the trend is reversing.  

From the point of view of PEP, we've gone in favour of US yarn vernacular over industry jargon because that's where Paul is located.  Although an effort was made to include translations where possible (like metric needle size) or to make the description vague so the person doing the badge has to make the decision as to the right tools and materials for the project.


anyway, this thread was for working out the draft.  The published version is here: https://permies.com/wiki/101129/pep-textiles/PEP-Badge-Textiles

Jennifer Markestad wrote:In the US 'wool' means yarn from sheep. Merino wool is from a specific breed of sheep. Fiber from other things has specific names: chiengora from dogs, cashmere from goats, linen from flax plant, rayon from cellulose fibers....

In the UK 'wool' means any yarn, not just sheep.

Also the sizing of yarn gets challenging: 2ply, fingering, light DK, 3/20, 2 ends held together, 4, chunky, super chunky....

Here in the Netherlands when people speak of 'wol' (the Dutch word for 'wool') they can mean any yarn (including cotton, acryl, etc.).
But officially it's only wool from sheep, nothing else. Probably in the UK that's the case too.