Needlework Proficiency Levels

In article ,
says...
Why not knit yourself a bikini out of that string that gets used for
crocheted doilies and bedspreads? (I've never seen anything knitted
with that string, but I don't know why.)

Because it is *very* hard, that's why. Combined with sweat, it would probably
rip the skin right off a person!

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.



And for some of us appearing in a bikini would be more frightening to
others than armageddon G

EJ

I find cooking biscuits from scratch by any means to be a great way to
produce something inedible. I don't have a talent for bread dough at
all.


My mother tried for years to come up with a decent biscuit recipe, because my
father just loved his mother's biscuits -- which my mother couldn't dupicate to
save her life.
My grandmother was no help because her "recipe" was "dump out some flour, add a
little oil..." My mother would do the Betty Crocker thing, roll them out, cut
them with a biscuit cutter, the whole nine yards -- and my dad STILL said his
mother's were better.

Many years later, my mother finally figured out the biscuit "thing." Her
biscuits were actually better than my grandmother's, because she used butter
instead of oil. By then she and my father were divorced, so he's never had
one.

Today I received this advertising booklet in the paper about a book on "short
cut cake baking" -- the heading was "you're far too clever to do it from
scratch," or something like that. Ugh. How offensive.

Katrina L.

Dianne , i was and still am very interested in this imaginary school ,
since i sort of had the chance to implement a dream like that. And
even though i left the ministry of Education after 2.5 years , but my
plans, ideas and part of my hopes for the courses became the
regulation. But unlike your plans i did not go into each and every
possible techniques . I chose for equipping each student with a wide
vocublary of terms , with basic theory , but i also taught them to
enhance Their curiousity , to search , ask , look for and develop
their own knowledge. I gave them the tools to find literature , and
historical facts. and read for themselves . I taught them , as an Ex
librarian] , how to evaluate a book , what to look for in a book .
From my Ex students , i can count several who became not only
teachers , but artists in their own right , Ps the most important idea
i taught students was that the teachers are not all knowing , that
facts and techniques can be different from book to book , from teacher
to teacher , from one tradition to another ...
mirjam '

I'm sorry this thread appeared while I was on vacation. It has taken a
few days for me to get through it all. Here's my thoughts.

Just like most places of higher learning, Dianne is including a "general
education" segment. And just like many college students, there is
grousing about wasting time/money/brain cells learning things which are
not immediately in the student's chosen specialty. Unless you think you
MUST be perfect, a passing grade is all you need for classes outside
your "major". It is only supposed to give you a taste of the subject.
After you have tried it, you can still say you do not like it for
whatever reason. Believe me, I certainly feel that way about philosophy
as it was taught at ISU!

Since pattern fitting, color theory, and design are included (or at
least have been mentioned) but do not necessarily involve handling a
needle, I think there are plenty of other things that should be included
at least as electives. Spinning, weaving, dyeing, macramé, software
use, related history, and business basics for starters. Yes, students
should also learn to knit and crochet. Don't forget punchneedle and
various forms of rug making.

One gentle reminder: Not everyone can learn the basics from text and
still diagrams. Kinesthetic memory is required for some people. If I
were once again a complete novice, I cannot imagine how I would learn to
thread a needle if I didn't at least see a video of the process. Better
still, have someone stand over my shoulder and push my hands through the
motions a time or two. I know you know this since you already use video
as a teaching tool.

Why would I think someone who has never threaded a needle would be
interested in needlework studies? Why do people who have never touched
a piano sign up for piano lessons? Why do people who have never so much
as applied a Band-Aid to a scratch attend medical school? Why do people
who have never had a coherent thought become philosophy majors? VBEG

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: "Pink Baby" photo frame, Candamar

You might be surprised but the Beduins wear their Woolen Jalabias also
in summer in the desert .
Some wools are so light , and are wonderful to insulate you againt all
nature elements . Good quality cotton ismarvelous to wear in summer
and never makes us sweat ,,, I would not advice using man made
threads in summer knitting .
mirjam
On 03 Jan 2004 20:07:19 GMT, (Olwynmary) wrote:

Why not knit yourself a bikini out of that string that gets used for
crocheted doilies and bedspreads? (I've never seen anything knitted
with that string, but I don't know why.)

Because it is *very* hard, that's why. Combined with sweat, it would probably
rip the skin right off a person!

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

I don`t know your Age EJ , thus i don`t know which machines you tried,
I learned my first machine sewing on one with a foot treadle . later
we had one that got an Electric additional little engine ,,, and now i
have this computer+needles , half Industrial machine , which i bought
mainly to sew [clothes as always do] and do have a good + strong
finnish for my Woven cloth . I didn`t have much interest in it`s
Embroidery `skills` , and also since i bought it of a demonstrating
lady ,[this way i could aford it] , part of the embroidery was STUCK
,,,, with time and 2 repairs i started using it , slowly working my
way through the abilities ,, haven`t mastered all of them ...but have
used those i studied , for many features, [if you look on my site at
"zalafe" the dress is made on the machine , all embroideries were
made over net than worked more with hand embroidery additions,
I have a colleagur who embroiders with her machine , like a painter
uses his brushes ,,,,,each of us can develop and use the machine as
one can ,,, but i would advice to try , and try and play with it ,,,
and see where it gets you eventually .
mirjam
On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 10:17:52 GMT, EJ wrote:

In article , kmc528
says...
you have to
have a "feel" for them
snip
It's like music...you can teach anyone
to hit the notes, but that doesn't make them a musician. To make the
notes more than a mechanical exercise you need to have that "feel" for
it.

Yep. My aunt could always tell whether it was me or my cousin playing the
piano. My playing is precise as a robot, with all the emotion of a robot. He
makes more mistakes, and plays with far more emotion. I play like I'm using a
typewriter keyboard.

Like Eva, I know how to use a sewing machine, I just don't enjoy it, and
therefore never got very good at it because there were too many other things
I'd rather do.

When I was dirt poor, I sewed clothes ... till I discovered that I could find
really nice already-made clothes at a second-hand shop, a lot cheaper than
fabric, and without having to torture myself with a couple hours of machine
sewing. I got a Pierre Cardin wool blazer for $4; just why should I spend $30
on fabric, lining, interfacing, thread, buttons, and a Sunday afternoon
swearing?

My grandmother's generation learned knitting, sewing, embroidery, etc. in
school (that's what girls did while boys were taking math). My grandmother did
a lot of sewing, while my great-aunt preferred knitting. In our generation,
it's flipped. I'd rather knit, and my cousin whose grandmother rarely sewed is
the one who creates exquisite couture (designs them, sews them, makes her own
cording for trim). She wouldn't pick up a knitting needle if you threatened
her. Her sister doesn't do any of that stuff.

Machine sewing is one of those skills -- like cooking scratch biscuits over an
open fire -- that I have in case of emergency, and hope that I never need it.
If civilization comes to an end, you'll probably find me with a couple yards of
fabric creatively wrapped and knotted around myself, trying to persuade
everyone else that this is the "in thing" and sewn dresses are passe'.

Actually, no, you'll find me wearing knit dresses ... which will require
spending summer somewhere other than here in the desert, but better than having
to sit at a sewing machine and try to match up seams and try to sew a straight
line. I'll walk every step of the way to Atlanta and get Tia Mary to do my
sewing if it comes down to that.



And I will be walking right behind you draped in some really cool fabric
G

I have tried machine sewing many times and I just can't "get it". I
understand exactly what I need to do and how to do it in my head but my
hands and heart, instincts, whatever it is, just have no clue.

But then no one is good at everything are they

EJ

Debra I generally agree with every word and idea in your letter , but
the word , I have no talent , this i would not put like that.
Having taught for `some` years . I think now that much more deppends
on Visual problems , or shall we say abilities, of people than we give
credit for. Wht you call not having a talent for beads , might be an
inability to see the hole of the bead , or like one student i had ,
who had no 3d grasp . If i gave her threads , she was ok , anytime she
got some Object , from bead to buttons , she could not visual how to
sew/embroider it on . i put her to glue work , gave cuts of paper and
some objects ,,, paper went wonderful , any `object` totaly confused
her , she said she had no `feeling` waht to do with ,, while when she
had a thread on a needle ,, once the needle anchored the thread in the
cloth she would do wonders . so i threaded some bead on her thread ,,
this she could handle .... the Optometrist , confirmed after very long
tests , that she some weird , rare sight problem.
some students have no 3d `imagination at all , you speak , describe
etc,,, nothing registers ,, but show them something ready , they grasp
it !!! other can imagine a 3d object when they look at a piece of
cloth..... Talent ? yes in a way !! but i think it has to do with the
way our minds work , our genes , etc,,,, nobody is a Tabula Rasa we
all come into the world with some ready traits..... mirjam
On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 19:44:51 GMT, Debra
wrote:

On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 06:31:19 GMT, EJ wrote:

I can't do them either. I have a sewing machine...I know how to use it.
In fact I have been using a machine since I was a child and would use my
grandmother's treadle machine to make things. I learned to cut a pattern
and put it together and I have made things using it (though not for
years) because by and large I have no "feel" for machine sewing. I have
a friend who is an excellent seamstress but does no handwork, though she
admires it very much. She has no "feel" for it, though she does a little
machine quilting--the key being "machine". We were talking about it one
day when I was measuring for a sweater I was making her, and we came to
the conclusion that to be really good at things like that you have to
have a "feel" for them...you have to have some kind of connection to the
process, and without it you may know the process and be able to follow
the steps but you won't do really well at it because it just doesn't
make "sense" to you in that way. It's like music...you can teach anyone
to hit the notes, but that doesn't make them a musician. To make the
notes more than a mechanical exercise you need to have that "feel" for
it. It's hard to describe but you know it when you have it...and when
you don't. And when it comes to machine sewing I assuredly don't. Just
ask my jr. high sewing teacher G

EJ

What you and your friend call "a feel for it" I grew up calling "a
knack for it", but a better term is talent. It's the difference
between someone who cooks edible food and a great chef, and the
difference between someone who bakes hockey pucks and someone who
bakes divine biscuits and breads. Some folks have a little talent for
many things, others have very great talent for one thing. I make
hockey pucks instead of biscuits and I can't even make bread in a
bread machine, but thankfully I can cook very edible food as long as I
keep within the limits of my small cooking talent. DH is terrible at
cooking, but he is a very good bread baker, so he makes the bread and
I cook something to go with it and we have a wonderful meal. I
machine sew garments with my mom the same way. We both know how to
cut out a pattern and follow the directions and we can each produce
something "wearable around the house", but if we both work on the same
garment and do different parts of the sewing then together we will
produce something that can be worn proudly in public because my sewing
talents are not quite the same as hers.

My best talent is putting decorative thread and yarn onto different
kinds of fabrics and getting consistent tension using many different
stitches. An example of that is I have enjoyed doing French knots
since I was a little girl although many other stitchers hate French
knots with a passion and would much rather use a bead instead of the
knot. Well, I hate beads with the same passion that others hate
French knots, and for the same reason--I've no talent for beads at
all, they have no talent for French knots. Luckily it doesn't matter
if one is substituted for the other in most embroidery, so we can all
do what we prefer. The important part is that I have tried on
numerous occasions to use beads in different ways and they all turned
out lousy so I have learned that beading isn't in my box of talents,
but that's OK because there is a lot of fabric and thread out there
that I can play with. You've tried machine sewing and it didn't work
out for you, so keep making those sweaters and other things and leave
the machine sewing to those who have that talent, after all there is a
lot of yarn out there just waiting to know what you can do with it.

Imagine what it would be like if your seamstress friend had never
tried sewing by machine simply because she was not good at hand
sewing. She would not have found her talent at all.

I can sew some things by hand and machine, crochet, needlepoint, cross
stitch, do a little hardanger, and do some free surface embroidery. I
found those by trying to do them. I can't do anything with beads. I
learned that by trying. I don't consider the trying to be a total
failure because I learned something. If I never try another form of
embroidery or a new to me stitch in my life I can still be fairly
happy perfecting the needlework I already enjoy, but I want to keep
trying new things in embroidery (and other crafts) because I don't
want to miss finding my greatest talent for lack of trying it. I
doubt Dianne ever thought of someone using her imaginary needlework
school just to try everything and become a good "jack of most
needlework, true master of none" but that is probably what I'd do if
such a school actually existed.
Debra in VA

On Mon, 05 Jan 2004 19:35:33 GMT, Brenda Lewis
wrote:

I'm sorry this thread appeared while I was on vacation. It has taken a
few days for me to get through it all. Here's my thoughts.

Just like most places of higher learning, Dianne is including a "general
education" segment. And just like many college students, there is
grousing about wasting time/money/brain cells learning things which are
not immediately in the student's chosen specialty. Unless you think you
MUST be perfect, a passing grade is all you need for classes outside
your "major". It is only supposed to give you a taste of the subject.
After you have tried it, you can still say you do not like it for
whatever reason. Believe me, I certainly feel that way about philosophy
as it was taught at ISU!

Since pattern fitting, color theory, and design are included (or at
least have been mentioned) but do not necessarily involve handling a
needle, I think there are plenty of other things that should be included
at least as electives. Spinning, weaving, dyeing, macram?, software
use, related history, and business basics for starters. Yes, students
should also learn to knit and crochet. Don't forget punchneedle and
various forms of rug making.

I love those electives!!!!!!

One gentle reminder: Not everyone can learn the basics from text and
still diagrams. Kinesthetic memory is required for some people. If I
were once again a complete novice, I cannot imagine how I would learn to
thread a needle if I didn't at least see a video of the process. Better
still, have someone stand over my shoulder and push my hands through the
motions a time or two. I know you know this since you already use video
as a teaching tool.

I learn both ways. Some things I learn from drawings and books
easily. Some things I am very slow at learning from a book, and a
demonstration helps the learning go faster. Other things I need the
demo to understand at all.

Why would I think someone who has never threaded a needle would be
interested in needlework studies? Why do people who have never touched
a piano sign up for piano lessons? Why do people who have never so much
as applied a Band-Aid to a scratch attend medical school? Why do people
who have never had a coherent thought become philosophy majors? VBEG

Debra in VA