Tricks and something I found today...

So here's a seam ripping tool we use all the time.  It is a scalpel available at any farm store.  They are disposable and so worth it.  Much easier to handle than a razor blade, which is what they had us using at David's bridal.  Here I'm removing the trim from a lace dress so we can hem the dress.




And here's something I found last night (I used the word today in my title very loosely... as in the last 24 hours...)

This is a pattern making site and they have software available, but they also give instructions for drafting the old fashioned way.  I am reading about Peter's Jeans Sew Along and Tailor Taylor talked about drafting his own pattern and it got me thinking.  I hate my jeans and they are the best fitting I've found so far, but I just continually have the pesky problem of either finding things with such a HIGH rise in them that it reminds me of the mom jeans SNL skit, "because you're no longer a woman" ~OR~ such a SHORT rise that I get plummer crack (HIGHLY EMBARRASING!!)

 

Anyway, here's some examples of things from the website:



Complete with detailed drafting instructions and then pages later for turning this into a jeans pattern (or other types of pants if preferred...  Love it.  I'm feeling a project coming on!! (Like I don't have enough of those going already!!)

Most days in the shop...

Most days in the shop, my lot in life is fixing these canvas filters for food processing company.  As far as I understand it, the shaft of the filters are hooked into a machine that agitate food products and the end result are dry mixes like kool aid, cake mixes, etc. The filters brand new cost around 1500 dollars. The company saves money by having us fix the filters instead of replacing them.  Sometimes the washing machine tears a hole in the body that needs to be patched. That's where I come in. The filters are cumbersome and mom has so much other work to do, like wedding dresses and prom dresses. So I spend my days fixing these filters.  Some of them have a bit of a greasy texture, hence the need for an apron.