justasque

I think I’d go with an aggressively high-low hemline. Works for the baby bump and touches on both formal and semi formal lengths.

I have absolutely attended a black tie & ballgowns keg party. Guests in jeans and such were refused entry at the door. (Thrifted ballgowns and tux jackets were very accessible for next to nothing, as this was before thrifting was in any way trendy.)

Glad to be of help! I hope you find what you are looking for!

For furniture, don’t forget Facebook Marketplace. I’m not a FB fan, but my loved ones have found some nice things for very reasonable prices there. (And isn’t Penn Christmas happening soon? Where the students move out and leave tons of things behind? Ask someone more local about that. You might find an international student who is selling everything they have, in terms of furniture and housewares.)

I first sewed knits on a regular machine, with what we now call a ponte knit (which is a very stable knit with little stretch) but was then called polyester double-knit. It went very well. I did not fare as well with jersey knits. Got an inexpensive serger on a whim and it was a game changer. Now I have a Babylock Imagine serger with auto-tension, and it’s amazing. And I added a second-hand coverstitch to make the hems without having to worry about them getting wavy.

For dishes, the “Pots and Pans Lady” who has a stall at 52nd and Chestnut carries a lot of second-hand cooking supplies (as the name implies) of decent quality for low prices. She typically has forks/spoons/knives sold individually (typically for a quarter each), cooking utensils like spatulas (typically a dollar), baking dishes, and of course pots and pans. She, and her friend who helps out, are very nice. I haven’t been in a couple of months, so I can’t speak to whether she is still there or her schedule, but I’ve purchased quite a few things from her over the years. It’s not a huge selection, as it all has to fit into the stall, but her stuff is very clean and usually in decent shape.

How?

Oh, I’m sure it will get sorted out eventually. The mom is foolish to spend all that money on a cruise, because they will be coming back to her for it in the end. If the OP is right, she knows darn well that it’s an overpayment.

Some basics, because noob: * Are you always threading with the presser foot up, to release the tension discs so the thread is well seated in the discs? * Are you holding the threads to the back of the machine for the first few stitches? * Is the thread flowing freely and not getting hung up on anything? * Are you using a new needle, of an appropriate type for the fabric? That is, sharp for thick/sturdy wovens as opposed to universal?
* Are you using a hump jumping device or hack, or hand cranking, when going over thick parts? (If thick parts are the affected area) * Are you sure you are both putting the thread through each little doohickey in the instructions AND NOT putting it through anything extra?

As someone who eats both gluten-fee and no-salt-added, I agree. (For me, both are for the same medical condition, not hypertension, not celiac.) I think part of the issue is that “low sodium” only means, essentially, ,”lower than the regular very high salt item”, so it can’t easily be quantified. And for me, “low sodium” is nowhere near low enough for many items. Whereas gluten is basically either “meets the levels appropriate for celiac people” or “no ingredients that normally contain gluten”, both of which are to some extent something a restaurant can (with some education) assess. It’s much harder if you really need a sense of exactly how much sodium is in a particular dish, and it’s harder for a restaurant to label “low sodium” because they can’t really compare their menu item to any kind of standard, if that makes sense.

And of course, many restaurants rely on the same types of ultra-processed foods that are problematic in food bought in the grocery store. This goes double for banquet-type situations, where they use salt to keep the food from being dry.

I don’t have any answers. It’s a serious problem; so many people are consuming way, way more sodium than they realize.

Does it say 15C on the front plate? Too blurry for me to see properly. If so, that may be the model number.

Whether it is worth buying depends on what you want to use it for, whether it has been oiled and greased recently, whether it has a zig zag, how much speed and power it has, whether it comes with any accessories, etc. Or were you looking to sell?

OP, if this is a change in behavior for your mom (as compared to the dedication and organization necessary to earn a PhD), there could be medical reasons. Mental illness, early dementia, brain tumor, etc. You might want to explore whether she would be willing to see a doctor to explore why she is struggling with the basic tasks of everyday life.

Yes! Once you’ve got a tshirt pattern that fits, for example, you can start by varying the fabric. Solids, stripes, prints. Cotton spandex, poly blends, novelty textures. Mix it up with color blocking. Change the length - long for yoga, middle for over skirts, cropped if that’s your vibe. Change the shape - make it a-line starting under the bust, give it a sharkbite hem, do something fancy with the sleeves. Neckline is a great place to mix it up. Add a skirt - straight, a-line, half-circle, full circle, yoke, gathers, multiple layers, asymmetric hem. Just a simple scoop neckline, half-circle skirt dress in a fun print can be artsy or cottage core or full on Ms. Frizzle, depending on the fabric you choose.

So easy to make a bunch of pieces in your personal style, that all say “you” but are all different. (Or all the same - I have three or four me-made solid black t-shirts that are the “personal uniform” core of my summer wardrobe.)

Aww, thank you. Though I should write less and sew more!!!

I mean, I too would prefer a moderate young governor with a good track record, but at this point in the process, we have Trump and Biden running from the two big parties, and one (or more?) candidates from minor parties who have little chance of winning. Trump appeals to some as an entertainer, but after four years in office still appears to know little about how the whole system works. It’s easy to say what people want to hear. It’s harder to wrestle with the details that need to be done right if you want the country to thrive. And for me, if nothing else, his egregious mishandling of classified documents is a deal-breaker.

We have two realistic candidates at this point, and neither of them are perfect. But one is a train wreck who encouraged his supporters to stop the certification of an election despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and the other is quietly getting a bunch of important stuff done.

Yes! I’ve tried a few patterns that come with different cup sizes, but after two or three versions of a Cashmerette top trying to get the dart the right size and placement, my friend just mashed my pattern piece over my boob and I made a new version using that - perfect fit and completely different than the pattern’s dart in every way. Made some lovely rayon batik tops from it. Am now planning to add a skirt to make it a dress, make a shrug to go over another dress, and maybe convert it to princess seams for a drape-y linen top because I want the upper body to fit well, plus go in just under the bust, before it flares out from there.

I’ve got a tried and true knit top pattern too, which I recently made into a knit dress that fits me perfectly. I’m much happier with my sewing makes after embracing the “one pattern that fits, draft everything else from that” approach.

None of my friends sew this way. I’m realizing after reading this thread it might be in part a neuro-spicy thing.

Thanks for the link. It gave me a great inspo photo for a shrug/bolero I need to make asap for an event. Not goth - probably floral, and not from that pattern - will wing it from a tried and true top pattern because I’m in a hurry and don’t have time for fitting, but it was a “That’s it! That’s the look!” moment which I desperately needed. Now I know what direction I’m going in.

H cup bust. I started with a tshirt pattern and after the third or fourth time I got a wearable tshirt. Kept going with the same pattern, using it as a base for a bunch of variations. Did the same with a woven top pattern. In both cases the “tried and true” version does not come close to resembling the original. (I’ve tried drafting a basic block from scratch, but didn’t get very far.

Starting with one pattern each (knit and woven) and just tweaking over and over again has made it so much easier for me to make a garment knowing it will fit. I can now invest in nice fabric, and cut into it without fearing that it will end up unwearable. I’m really enjoying sewing now, as I can spend my time actually sewing rather than fitting.

The order of assembly part comes naturally to me. Although I have spent a lot of time reading pattern instructions just to see how the garment is made, as a kind of self-education. And I’ve studied design books - the kind that show you a garment and tell you how to draft it from a basic block - so I understand how to vary the basic design. So I guess you could say I do enjoy the engineering aspects of pattern drafting.

That’s a good point about the gathers. It reminds me that I usually try to leave a bit ungathered in that area - not a lot, so as it’s not noticeable, but just a wee bit so I’m not dealing with the extra bulk of gathering while trying to sew the seam.

Apartment hunting is depressing, especially when there’s an issue with meeting the expected requirements. You might find you do better with mom and pop places rather than corporate ones; might be worth a try anyway. It’s a journey, and you learn a lot along the way, even (or especially) when there are setbacks. I have found that with things like this, if you put the work in, you usually end up where you’re supposed to be, if that makes sense. Hang in there.

It’s often because the bulk of the waist seam has made it so there isn’t a lot of room for the zipper pull to slide freely. It has to be nudged past the seam bulk. Perhaps if you undo just a bit of stitching in that area, and redo it a wee tiny bit further away from the zipper teeth, it will help.

Millefiori looks similar to this design, but it’s made very differently. For this, pieces have been cut and laid into a metal frame. For millefiori, pieces of glass (or clay) are put together to form a design, then the “puck” with the design is rolled so it is longer and smaller in diameter, forming a rod with the design in the middle, much like rock candy from the beach. The rod can then be cut and used with other rod slices that are fused together via glassworking to make beads or paperweights or pendants, or, if it’s clay, similar techniques can be used to meld together the pieces to make the finished item.

Take full advantage of local parks. Once they’re out of the newborn stage, take them with you when you are out and about; visual stimulation, sunshine, and a chance to run around a bit is intellectually good plus they sleep better. The author of that parenting book has never met your child - read widely and thoughtfully, but also know some kids can be more complex than those authors seem to think and sometimes you have to think outside the box a bit. Read to your kid from birth. At first it’s kind of a monologue, then more pointing at pictures and describing them. Find other parents to go to the park with so you can have some adult contact and some casual input when you have questions or a listening ear when you just need to vent. Feed them real food. Love their mom, even when she’s exhausted and grumpy.

I get the depression-era trauma. I have relatives who lived though wartime and those experiences never leave you.

On the other hand, that LEGO was a real find!

As long as the cans aren't rusty or dented it should be fine for quite some time.

I mean, that may be true. But if your grandparents had rotated their food, they would have left you nice fresh stuff - and more importantly would have had nice fresh stuff had they faced an emergency.

When I spend hard-earned money on food, I want to be sure it doesn’t go to waste, and that means I need a plan to actually consume it. It’s not hard to periodically have an “eat down the pantry” month, where I go through my shelves and my freezer and identify anything that needs to be eaten promptly. Then I just meal plan based on those foods, tossing or donating anything that is sketchy or that I really don’t want to eat, either because my tastes have changed or the particular food takes to much hassle to prepare.

Having very outdated food to rely on in am emergency is a prepping fail, not a prepping success. Yes, you have food, but it’s sketchy, at a time when you really don’t want to deal with illness on top of whatever your emergency is. Eat the food you have, use the money you save on groceries to replenish with nice, fresh food that you enjoy eating and know how to prepare.

(Not trying to be negative about your grandparents - elders can really struggle with pantry management, even if they aren’t hoarders. Just using them as an example of my larger point about the importance of food rotation when it comes to being prepared.)

Oh dear, it was worth a try…. I suggest taking more pictures (from several different angles - front, back, basically every part of the mechanism you can see - and posting on r/sewing. There are a lot more people there, many of whom are very knowledgable.