Advice/help needed

[Stoff]

I don't know for sure plus at this point it is irrelevant, the damage is done. So the only thing to do move forward and recover as much as possible. I will do my best and see what I end up with.

I will be checking in periodically with photos and look forward to comments on what I am doing.

I'd be surprised if random holes are from abuse.

[Stoff]

OK, here is a question for the pros. I have come across something that is a first for me. I have a piece of wool the the weft is not perpendicular to the warp. Has anyone else seen this? The wool apears to be woven in a herring bone pattern, though all the same color so you have get up close to see it. I discovered this when I tore a piece off and the edge appeared to take off at an angle from the selvedge.

Bottom line is the selvage the edge going off at an angle is the tear:


The next image is of a piece cut off parallel to the selvedge and frayed to make sure that the cuts were parallel to the warp. This also shows the tear going off at an angle:


I am baffled. Has anyone else seen this situation.

Thanks,
Christoph

[Barb T]

Actually, it's not uncommon for the warp and weft, which should be square, to, instead, form a parallelogram. When I first learned to sew when I was a kid, my mom and I would take a length of cloth, we'd open it up, and she'd stand on one selvedge edge and I on the other. But she would be diagonal from me (along the bias of the fabric). We'd bunch the edge of the fabric and pull really hard against one another in the direction that would shift the web to make it square. We'd work our way down the fabric and then see if it was square or not. If it wasn't, we'd repeat the process.

I've had tartan that was significantly out of square. The stuff that was woven by the now-closed Fraser and Kirkbright in Canada was commonly particularly bad for this and appears to have been caused by bad stretching and rolling during the fulling process. I tried the "Mom" technique, and it either wasn't enough, or the fact that it is a twill weave (over two and under two) rather than a plain weave (over one and under one) might have allowed the threads to slip back after tension was removed. Anyway, the way I solved it was to pad a big table, lay the tartan flat, and have my husband help me skew the tartan and hold it while I pressed with my big steamer. It's a time-consuming process, and I'm glad I don't have to do it for every piece of tartan I get!

[Stoff]

Well dang, now what? I have already cut the wool now only have the the smaller pieces for making the hybrid kilt. Do I abandon this wool or just go on as if I know what I am doing? A bit of a quandary since I do not have enough of this wool to start over.

Thanks,
Christoph

Actually, it's not uncommon for the warp and weft, which should be square, to, instead, form a parallelogram. When I first learned to sew when I was a kid, my mom and I would take a length of cloth, we'd open it up, and she'd stand on one selvedge edge and I on the other. But she would be diagonal from me (along the bias of the fabric). We'd bunch the edge of the fabric and pull really hard against one another in the direction that would shift the web to make it square. We'd work our way down the fabric and then see if it was square or not. If it wasn't, we'd repeat the process.

I've had tartan that was significantly out of square. The stuff that was woven by the now-closed Fraser and Kirkbright in Canada was commonly particularly bad for this and appears to have been caused by bad stretching and rolling during the fulling process. I tried the "Mom" technique, and it either wasn't enough, or the fact that it is a twill weave (over two and under two) rather than a plain weave (over one and under one) might have allowed the threads to slip back after tension was removed. Anyway, the way I solved it was to pad a big table, lay the tartan flat, and have my husband help me skew the tartan and hold it while I pressed with my big steamer. It's a time-consuming process, and I'm glad I don't have to do it for every piece of tartan I get!

[Barb T]

If it's really skewed, just put each piece on your ironing board, square it up, and steam it. If you have trouble holding it square and pressing at the same time, just take some small all-metal sewing pins (not the ones with the plastic heads), and poke the pins straight down into the pad of the iron board.

[Stoff]

My problem is the 4" wide (3" face plus two 1/2" seam allowances) strips for the outer faces of the box pleats. But now that I examine the fabric I have left, I think that I can salvage the apron sections and I think that I have enough to cut new pleat portions. wish me luck.

Thanks,
Christoph

If it's really skewed, just put each piece on your ironing board, square it up, and steam it. If you have trouble holding it square and pressing at the same time, just take some small all-metal sewing pins (not the ones with the plastic heads), and poke the pins straight down into the pad of the iron board.

[Barb T]

Let us know how you get on!

[Pleater]

My grandmother had a sewing machine of similar age and it came to live with us eventually - I made many things with it once I mended the leather drive band. Alas it was put up in the loft after I left home and went rusty, but I still remember it fondly.

Anne the Pleater

[Terry Searl]

Memories are truly what history is........not necessarily what is written......never forget and be sure to pass along your memories

[The Q]

SWMBO has a Glaswegian Singer (treadle) that's about 120 Years old, it was her mothers and grandmothers. Grandmother bought it second hand. It's SWMBOs preferred machine, the electrical one sits in a corner and doesn't get used much.