How to Darn with Darn (ing) Cotton

While I listed this vintage darning cotton, I realized most people have no idea how to darn or way. Something that was once a necessity is now an almost cuss word.

Once a upon a time, socks were special and repaired when they developed holes. In the throw away society we live in today, darning is seldom done. In fact, most people don’t know what darning is or how to do it, but once learned it can save money and reduce waste.

To darn you need a large needle, matching thread, and a darning egg, if you can find one. If you can’t, a light bulb will work just has well.

Darning is a sort of weaving with needle and thread. In this tutorial from Bea Johnson of Zero Waste Home, she shows how to darn a sock and thereby saving it from the trash bin.

First place the darning egg inside the sock positioning it is under the hole.

Run horizontal stitches over the hole, making sure that they cover an extra 1/2″ on all sides

Weave rows of stitches perpendicular to the previous ones.

End your last stitch inside your garment and cut the yarn. When fixing socks, do not make a knot (comfort).

Pat yourself on the back! You’ve saved a piece of clothing and your budget!

Thank you , Bea, for the tutorial.

Post by Eileen of GoofingOff Sewing

New Fabric Listings in GoofingOff Sewing

 Here's a few new fabric listings in the GoofingOff Sewing shop. Some of the fabric is vintage stock sold in one piece, no cuts.

Anchors from Waverly Fabrics...available per 1/2 yard.

Great for quilting, maybe a little boy's room.

Vintage green little white red rimmed flowers fabric. 2 1/3 yards long, 44 inches wide

Little dresses, quilting...

Flowered Knit Fabric 1 way stretch
Beautiful fabric with a cross wise stretch, 6 inches stretches to 9 inches. 1 2/3 yards of 60 inch wide fabric.

I see T-shirts and tank tops from this beautiful fabric.

Silky pink abstract design fabric 2 3/4 yards long, 44 inches wide. Entire piece

Pretty and light weight.

Beautiful pink silky fabric, 23 inches wide by 50 inches long. Sold as one piece.

Enough for a scarf, beautiful and feels good, too.

Vintage Light pink dotted swiss fabric. Light pale pink vintage stock, never used, clean and fresh. 45 inches wide, 1 1/2 yards long. For sale as one piece. 

Enough for a baby dress, a fancy quilt...very pretty.

Ladybugs and daisies on colorful stripes....by the half yard

I love this! So colorful and fun! I'm making pillowcases from this. I will count ladybugs until I fall asleep.

Post by Eileen Patterson.

Monday Morning Stuff

Hi, all! Yes, it’s Monday once again. Got plans for today? I am back to work after a week of family fun, grandkids, and creating. I did yoga with my daughter (kept up but couldn’t quite wrap myself into a pretzel like she did), made “Big Bro and Big Sis” T-shirts (tutorial will follow now that I ironed out the wrinkles), made a diaper cake (so cute and so appreciated), and went to a Pomegranate Guild Meeting (Judaic Needle crafters….I am sooo inspired!).

New listings in the GoofingOff shop….just click on the picture for information:

Fabrics:

More fabric listings coming, even new Judaic fabrics.

                                                           Vintage Wool Fabric, 2 yards, 60 inches wide.

                                                               Vintage Concord Farmland, 2 yards, 45 inches wide, all cotton….Great for quilting.

Sewing Patterns

Here’s a few of the sewing patterns I listed this week. More coming.

Crochet Patterns:

Here’s a couple of the crochet patterns I listed. I am making a couple of my own, too. They’ll be ready for purchase soon. I’ll keep you posted.

Notions:

I am now carrying Schmetz sewing needles. Just add them to your order and get free shipping.

Post by Miss Eileen aka GoofingOff
MissEileen vintage
Goofingoff Etsy Judaic fabrics, sewing patterns
GoofingOff Artfire Sewing patterns, plus size patterns
Metal Woods N Water unusual stuff and metal work

Tribal Colors Wine Bottle Cozy

I finally got it done. Last month was the Creative Challenge. Wine was the subject. I had all kinds of ideas and waited way too long to get started. Took me forever to get it right. I think my name should be Day late and a dollar short. Well, anyway, the cozy is done. Yay for me.

This is it, the Cowl Neck Wine Bottle Cozy in tribal colors.

The cozy is made of 100% cotton yarn and crocheted by yours truly. Good way to keep that bottle of wine cool when on the beach or at the pool. The colors were inspired by Sarasota, white sand, sea grass, and beautiful blue water.

What do you think?

Next creative challenge is fire.

Posted some new patterns in the Etsy and Artfire shops, like this one: .

Vogue 2878 Infant’s Christening Gown

There are even crochet and knitting patterns for sale.

Vintage Pattern Rescues

Finding vintage patterns is often like finding a needle in a haystack. Sometimes it is pretty obvious, the patterns are out front for all the world to see. Other times the patterns are hidden from sight, down in a box of what looks to be junk, ready to be cast aside. Snoopy me, I often notice the boxes sitting off to the side and just poke around out of curiosity. Sometimes it really is trash. Other times it is fabric cut up with the patterns carefully pinned in place, the pieces waiting to be sewn  together. I was lucky enough to find a couple of these boxes of “junk.” For the longest time they sat in my house looking like they were waiting for the trash man until one day I decided to really look through them.

My patience and efforts were rewarded for in these boxes was a treasure trove of vintage fabric that had never seen the light of day in over 30 years. The patterns were cut from some of the prettiest calicos, tweeds, and wools I had ever seen. In one box was beautiful silky fabric from Merry Mary, a beautiful polyester blend with brilliant red hibiscus on black that shimmers in the light, a full three yards of it.

Merry Mary Fabric, Red Hibiscus

There was little red roses on black, red roses on yellow, and white flowers on purple, all cotton calico, all in big enough pieces for fat quarters. True vintage calico! The quilter in me rejoices!

Vintage Calico, Red Roses on Black

Vintage Calico, Red Roses on Yellow

Post by Eileen Patterson of GoofingOff.Etsy.com and GoofingOff.Artfire.com where every day is a good day to goof off. :)

Hanukkah

Team EtsyChai's Miracles of Hanukkah sale starts on October 31 and I have been filling my shop with the most beautiful Judaic fabric fat quarters I could find. I finally found some Aleph Bet fabric, this time in 2 different colors. I also found some white on white, blue with a country quilt look, dreidels on yellow or white backgrounds, and much more. For some reason, good Judaic fabric is hard to find. The manufacturers just don't make it too much anymore. What I have in the shop took some digging and it was well worth the dig. So many things to be made for the holiday! Little gift sacs, great for jewelry or little gadgets, gelt bags, ornaments. Fun!

New Listings on Artfire

Beautiful clothes start with well-made patterns and McCall's makes some great patterns. The styles are timeless, sophisticated, and can go from fun time to polished; the look is up to you. Here are some I just listed in my GoofingOff Artfire shop. McCall's 2029 Two Hour Skirt Cute skirt in two lengths. Good with lightweight fabrics such as cotton and cotton blends, challis, chambray, and linen. The skirt is either A-line or bias, with zipper closure. McCall's 8750 Sophisticated Suit and Wardrobe What a beautiful suit! With the right fabric it would look great at an afternoon wedding. Polished enough to go to the office and make a statement. Includes a lined jacket, top, pants, and skirt. Fabrics: cotton, cotton blends, linen, crepe, faille, garbadine, shantung. Sizes 8-12. McCall's 8907 Wardrobe Builder Lined Jacket, dress, pants, and skirt, sizes 14-18. The big picture is casual but the smaller ones show how versatile and sophisticated this pattern really is. Fabrics: Cotton, cotton blends, gabardine, wool crepe, lightweight wool and wool blends, linen blends. McCall's 8789 Vacation Wardrobe Builder Got a holiday vacation planned? Maybe a cruise? Here's a pattern that will help you look polished yet casual. Shirt/Jacket, top, dress, and pants. Sizes 8-12. Fabrics: Cotton and cotton blends, pique, rayon and rayon blends, lightweight linen, lightweight crepe. Dress is suitable for border prints. Easy Stitch n Save 3480 by McCall's Dress in two lengths. This is my bargain special. Cute dress, easy to whip up. Why not? Fabrics: Rayon and Rayon blends, lightweight crepe, soft linen, cotton interlock, cotton and cotton blends, soft faille.