Els from Sewing Divas has ruined my life.  Okay, not really.  The other day, she showcased a Chanel dress and fabric on her blog and then casually mentioned a documentary from several years ago called Signe’ Chanel that is available in parts on You Tube.  I am now obsessed with this documentary (I’ve only had time to watch the first two parts).

One of the things that struck me right away is that these high-end dresses are basically stitched completely by hand. It really has given me a new perspective on things.  I remember when I was still a special education teacher, one my aides–who was an Eastern European immigrant–was making her daughter’s prom dress with mostly hand stitches.  She labored over it for weeks during every break and during lunch.  I remember thinking that it was a lot of work and wondering why she wasn’t using her sewing machine for it.  Well, the truth is, the dress was stunning.  And I wonder if it would have been as stunning if she had stitched it with her machine.  I also met someone who felt she could do a better job and sew faster by hand than she could by machine.  Hmmm, maybe they are onto something?

I love the women who work for the House of Chanel.  Karl Lagerfield, however, comes off as a self-absorbed donkey’s behind.  But, I guess if you are Karl Lagerfield, you can get away with it *smile*

Part 1:

Click here to view the entire documentary

One day, during my UCLA days, I was helping My Honey with the laundry (yes, he has been the main launderer in our home since my grad school days) when I noticed that one of his work shirts only had something like two buttons on it.  He was using safety pins to hold it together!  Well, of course, that didn’t sit very well with me.  What kind of sewing blogger/podcaster would I be if My Honey was running around with safety-pins for buttons!  I hadn’t know about this shirt because he never wore it while I was at home.  He told me that he didn’t care and not to bother, but I took delight in sewing a new set of buttons on it.  He didn’t know it but my Viking #1+ does buttons in no time at all.  There is something satisfying about mending, especially in our throw-away culture.  Because of our skills, we are able to resuscitate an item and extend its life.

I have compiled several “how to mend” videos to help you learn how to mend and darn correctly.  I’ll have to admit that this has been a real learning experience for me because I never learned the proper way to do these things.  I’m looking forward to my next mending project because I now have confidence that the mend will look much better than I have done in the past.  Who knew that there were mending techniques beyond just doing basic hand stitches?

When I was growing up, I remember watching my mother darn socks.  She didn’t have a darning egg, so she used a standard light bulb (now that light bulbs are curly, we’ll have to find another substitute such as those plastic eggs left over from Easter).  But, until I started looking for resources for this blog posting, I really didn’t understand that there is a difference between mending and darning. Essentially, darning is weaving new fabric to fill in the hole.  I always thought it was about closing the circle up rather than creating new fabric.  Check your sewing machine manual.  Many machines have darning capabilities built in.  Here are two tutorials that show you how to darn socks.  My thinking is that you would want to darn your socks before the holes get as big as they are in the tutorials, but that just may be me…

Question: If you do machine darning, would you use stabilizer when creating the fabric?  I know people who use their machines to create lace use it, but I wasn’t wondering about darning.  Use the comments section to share your thoughts on to stabilize or to not stabilize.

How to do it: Darn Socks from the Zig Zag Stitch blog

How to Darn Socks video

Karen from ExpertVillage.com has created three videos that will help you repair a straight rip using a hand-sewn blind stitch and an “L” stitch using a satin stitch (this is in 2 parts).  She makes it seem so easy!  I now know how to mend correctly!

I think one of the major downsides of basically being a self-taught seamstress is that I never learned how to do the basic hand stitches that are so critical for a well-made outfit. I usually just fudge my way through it, but I’ve always felt a little self-conscious about my hand-work. When I look at vintage clothes, I am always in awe of the wonderful construction techniques that I think are lost in our “hurry up and get it done” world.

I have my old sewing books but sometimes I just need to see a demonstration of something in order to “get it.” Expert Village at You Tube has come to my rescue! In the coming weeks, I will feature videos of basic stitches.