Vince's needlework and occasional drawings

Why the heck did someone just buy the exact same design on the exact same fabric on 3 individual fat quarters from my Spoonflower?? Just buying a yard would be more fabric for considerably less money.

They're not the right tool for the job because the blades are a lot duller than a buttonhole cutter or a chisel, and you're going to end up with a more ragged edge, but more importantly you're dragging the blade sideways along the length of the buttonhole and are therefore in great danger of ripping past the end of where you want to cut, and possibly right through the edge of the garment. Sure maybe you could put a pin across the end, but then you're just going to dull the blade ten times faster.

Despicable practice all around, I hate it I hate it! Just get a cheap little chisel!!

Hooray! Glad to hear it!!

Made a hood to wear at home because my head was cold. The hood is just a big square folded in half and sewn part way into the middle in a Y shape to make sort of a pair of little darts, and then the other two edges sewn together and the remaining hole in the back gathered in somewhat uneven cartridge pleats, with the extra fullness being pleated into the neck.

The cape part is the rest of the fabric (which was a 1.3 m piece of cotton flannel from the thrift store) with the larger leftover rectangle forming the back and the smaller rectangle being cut in half mostly diagonally and added to the front.

It was a very quick project done almost entirely on machine, which is unusual for me. There are a few things I'd do differently next time - I'd make the hood a bit shorter so the front edge doesn't block my view so much, and I'd put the button loop right on top of the neck seam instead of sandwiching it inside the front edge seam of the hood. I'd have to cover the ends of the loop with a patch, which would be a good use for the neck hole cutout.

I think this pattern would work on a wide variety of sizes of fabric cut, as long as you cut the hood out first. Then the remaining piece could be cut into the cape portion and it might be very small or very large, and the two angled front pieces could be made to fit the edges on either side of the neck hole by adjusting the angle at which you cut that second rectangle apart.

Hm, I do not think I'm the right person to ask about that!

I do have a lot of experience using industrial machines, but only the ones made for clothing. Industrial machines tend to be very specific - at my current job there's one that just does straight stitch, and one that just does blind stitch hemming.

Presumably the kind of machines used for outdoor coverings would be different ones, made to take much thicker thread and fabric? I think a business that makes similarly Large things would be a better place to ask.

I haven't really noticed any difference in the industrial machines I've used. The one at my current job are from the Reliable corporation, the ones at my previous job were Juki, and I don't remember what the ones at college were. All of them are good and sturdy and have never given me any trouble.

I hope you can find someone who knows more about it!

I forgot to post about the backdrop I painted a few months ago!

It's made of a 9' x 12' canvas dropcloth, cut down to be about 9' x 8', which is much better than sewing it out of yardage. Both because it's cheaper, and because the dropcloth was woven 9 feet wide and has no seams.

I sewed a channel along the top so I could put a piece of wood through it and hang it from 3 nails. (The room it's in is not actually in my lease, but nobody's using it for anything besides storing a bit of furniture, so it's alright.)

The paint is flat white interior paint, mixed with some brown and black acrylic. I did 3 layers of trees in increasingly dark shades of greyish brown. I didn't use a brush for any of it, I painted the trunks with a narrow trim roller and used the edges of the roller for the branches. I covered up the floor with plastic before I laid it down to paint, and didn't get any paint on anything that wasn't mine.

My goal was to make it as neutral as possible so that it would look decent with lots of different clothes and not be distracting, and so that I could put a wide variety of .png frames in front of it. Since youtube videos are very wide there's still a lot of bare wall on either side if I'm zoomed all the way out, but it's very easy to cover up. I've only drawn the plain tree frame so far, but I mean to draw more in different styles for different projects.

Posting so that person can see it, thank you!

Edit: Check the notes for more people's input, including actual wheelchair users who know much more about what works than I could!

Congrats on chair acquisition!!

Since you're sending this to me specifically I am working under the assumption that you mean to do some amount of sewing.

A high waisted silhouette definitely works best for sitting. I make all my pants with the waistband at my natural waist, and a bit of pleating or gathering at the back just like they did on 18th century breeches, and I've never noticed any particular discomfort from sitting in them. (I think high waisted pants are more comfortable in general, and that low rise jeans are evil.)

It's something I've never really thought about before, but sitting is a very legs-forward position, so perhaps a colourful or fancy stripe down the side would work well.

(I made this pair 10 years ago and they didn't fit well and are long gone, but I should do a better version someday...)

Or some other form of side seam decoration, like these fabulous button tabs.

(I don't know what the source for this mid 19th century fashion plate is.)

Cropped jackets would also be good. The first thing that comes to mind for me is the Carmagnole, which was a style worn by French revolutionaries. It's got a pretty similar cut to a regular 1790's coat, just shorter.

(Source)

(Source)

And there are other styles of short jacket, like this one from a few decades later.

I think it might be possible to get a similar effect from cutting down a thrifted corduroy jacket, depending on the pocket placement? It's not something I've done myself though.

A fancy little bolero could be a lot of fun too! I quite like these ones made by Marlowe Lune. Super easy to sew, and could be patterned by cutting down a bigger pattern that fits the torso.

They'd be a good thing to try if you have a smallish piece of fancy fabric, or a small bit trim to use, or want to try a small amount of embroidery.

There are lots of historical styles with sleeves too, and all sorts of decorations.

(Dunno the source for this one either, unfortunately, but the pin says 1880s reception dress. I think a little jacket like that would look good with a puffy shirt and pants.)

Short capes might be practical too, and the late 19th and early 20th century have tons of fancy capelets for inspiration, like this one.

Or this one.

I hope this is somehow helpful! I don't know if you're looking to sew things from scratch or to buy and alter stuff or what, and I have no personal experience using a wheelchair, but these are the best things I can think of for a suitable silhouette. Dramatic sleeve/shoulder puffs would also be shown off to great effect, if that's something you'd like to wear.

Nope, it's a hollow plastic mannequin hand!

I rescued it from the garbage at work, and I've been meaning to glue the finger back on and repaint it, but haven't yet.

One fun thing about it being broken is that you can blow across the hole (like a bottle) and it makes a sound.

Not to be confused with the intact hands of Mr. Fibreglass, who is also a mannequin I got from work when they replaced them all a couple years ago.

The drive belt finally arrived! My c. 1885 White Vibrating Shuttle II is now in perfect working order!