Monthly Archives: March 2009

Buttons and buttonholes

By Tien Chiu | Published: March 30, 2009
Things have been moving a bit slower than I would have liked, but I am making some progress.  On Daryl’s advice, and after testing several options, I bought a yard and a half of tightly woven plum-colored flannel to use for interfacing.  I drafted the interfacing patterns, cut out the interfacing, and marked it with [...]
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Worm composting!

By Tien Chiu | Published: March 28, 2009
We interrupt this program for an important message: Worms are nifty, cool, highly adaptable critters that can eat YOUR garbage!   All you need is a plastic bin (with holes drilled in it), some shredded newspaper and/or compost, and a bunch of red worms.  It’s that simple. Wha….? you ask?  Where the heck out of left field [...]
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Basting the backing

By Tien Chiu | Published: March 27, 2009
Daryl Lancaster and I swapped a couple of emails today – she was kind enough to offer some thoughts on the interfacing and backing.  As I had half suspected, the mohair is too loosely-woven to work well with a sewn-in organza backing.  (There are 1/16″ gaps between the threads!)  If I simply tack it to [...]
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Cutting and basting

By Tien Chiu | Published: March 26, 2009
Yesterday, after a deep breath, I took my courage in both hands and started cutting the fabric.  First I cut out the mohair (I botched one cut, so there was just barely enough fabric to finish!), then I cut the organza backing.  Then I started basting the organza to the mohair. I had planned to baste [...]
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Dyeing the lining

By Tien Chiu | Published: March 24, 2009
Last night I preshrunk the mohair (dunked into warm water, swished around a bit, spun out to dry and then allowed to dry flat) and dyed the lining.  It’s gorgeous!  Here’s a photo: Despite some fiddling in Photoshop, the photo is not quite true to color – the lining is actually a beautiful, deep iris purple.  [...]
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