On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 19:30:33 +1200, "Marisa Cappetta"
wrote:

Service is one of the reasons people keep coming back to our store. One of
the main hiring conditions is that the potential employee must have a good
knowledge of garment construction.

I work at Hancock. Everyone there sews. It's required. OTOH, I
interviewed at JoAnn. They asked me what I wanted to do there...I was
enthusiastic about promoting sewing, teaching, etc. I was coldly told
that I was there to cut fabric, and to take money. I was NOT there to
"waste my time" gabbing with customers. I have a friend who was
fired from JoAnn for answering a question about how to use a product
they sold...and she was a manager.

That we have several fashion design schools in the city keeps the garment
side of the industry fairly lively. And I'm astonished at the amount of
craft cotton we get through - patch working is a world wide phenomenon.

My mom will be doing a 5 week quilting/teaching tour of Oz/North
Island NZ this winter. I believe she's flying into Canberra and
flying out of Sydney, though I could be wrong. She'll be on
homesteads, staying with families and teaching for 3 or 4 days, then
being flown in bush planes/driven to the next stop. She'll also be
selling her patterns and books and judging several shows. She can't
wait. Next year she'll be teaching in South Africa.
Yeah, quilting is pretty universal, though I've been told by reliable
sources that there are only 2 indigenous American arts - Dixieland
Jazz Music, and Patchwork Quilting...

Ah yes, the size snob. Love 'em. I usually whip that tape measure out fast
and flip it 'round those hips pretty darn quick. Ole quick draw, they call
me! I tell them to think of me like their doctor - I might know their
secrets but would never tell! In all seriousness, I find we need to take a
lot more hip measurements with the advent of warp stretch. The pattern
companies still don't give the quantities for warp stretch. I keep meaning
to write to them and say they need to start including this.

If I touched a customer without permission, I'd probably get sued
after I got fired. I can't. But most people ask for help when I
mention size disparities...

Jean, what is going on with waistbands? Have you noticed that the pattern
pieces are always too short for the actual skirt or pants?

I really can't answer that only because I haven't used a commercial
pattern in years...I drape my own, and I make next to no modern
garments. Most of the stuff I make dates to, at latest, 1600. In
fact, it's a local store joke that while I don't even balk at working
by hand on "the bodice of 30,000 garnets", which I'm handbeading for
the next 10 years, or at hand-sewing a hem that's 15 feet around, I
have NO idea how to put a zipper in. I haven't done one since I was
about 14. And I really don't plan on learning how...

Jeanne