Answer: Cutting holes for the lacing
Corsets and stays (the type of corset used before the 1830s or thereabouts) require lacing, which is usually cording or ribbon that lace them up. An awl can be used to punch holes through which to run the lacing; or you can use grommets with the hole-puncher that is usually included with them. Corsets and stays are the basic "foundation-wear" for women's historical costuming.
From Quiz: Awl of the Above
Answer: Back
Back stitch is generally used for outlining. The pattern is two units forward and one unit backward. It highlights the area inside, though it can also be used to join pieces of fabric.
From Quiz: A Stitch in Time
Answer: Purple Thang
The Purple Thang brought relief to seamstresses and quilters everywhere. For years I had been using butter knives, and the backs of pen caps to push out my seams, but no longer! It has a flat 1/4 inch plastic head and on the opposite side, a "poker" with a slight curve, ideal for pushing out corners.
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions
Answer: Blind stitch
The idea is that you don't see the stitches on the outside of the garment. Some of my stitches are "blinder" than others!
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: 45"
There are many calicos that are also 44" and 43", but 45" is the most popular.
From Quiz: Sewing and You
Answer: all of these
Porcupine quills were used in woven decorations.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: A mock-up of the garment to check the fit
Making a muslin is a very wise choice before making a garment that requires a good fit; making a mock-up allows you to check for loose, tight, or poorly-fitting areas of the garment that you can adjust before making the finished product. Muslins are usually made out of old sheets or other fabric scraps. "A paper pattern of all your measurements" is called a sloper; "An undergarment to wear under a corset" is called a chemise.
From Quiz: Awl of the Above
Answer: Tacking stitch
Also called basting stitch, tacking stitch temporarily holds a seam or fabric in place. It is also used to attach brand labels on sleeves, or hold together skirt pleats during display. It can be X-shaped to act as a marker, almost invisible from outside.
From Quiz: A Stitch in Time
Answer: Presser foot
There are actually many different kinds of presser feet you can use for different types of sewing.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: Acetate
Acetate tends to discolor when it gets water on it.
From Quiz: Sewing and You
Answer: five-eighths of an inch
Patterns were developed in Europe and still hold to the convention of the metric system. 1.5cm equals five-eighths inch. (1" = 2.54cm)
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: Fine grade sandpaper
Cutting sandpaper won't hurt your scissors; it will actually sharpen them. Emery paper is best for this. Of course, if they're really dull, it's best to have them professionally sharpened.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: 44 inches
Originally quilts were made from scraps or recycled fabrics. Today fabrics are milled especially for quilting to minimize waste.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: Buckram and wire
Buckram is a very heavy fabric that has been coated with a starchy stiffener. When you dampen the fabric, it can be shaped into the proper shape for your hat and then left to dry. What you are left with is a very hard, perfectly shaped base to cover with fabric for your hat! Millinery wire is used to stiffen the buckram further by sewing it along all raw edges.
From Quiz: Awl of the Above
Answer: angora goat
Mohair comes from the angora goat. There's also an angora rabbit, which causes some confusion, but only the curly hair of the goat becomes mohair. The goats were tried in various areas in the 19th Century - Australia, South Africa, the U.S. - but there was little success in the U.S. except in Texas, which is still one of the top producers of mohair today, along with Turkey, Argentina and South Africa, and Australia and New Zealand also produce some. The goats can be sheared twice a year, but require better nutritional care than sheep and their fleece is more difficult to spin. Mohair blended with wool is used as suiting, and pure mohair can be used for upholstery and other tougher jobs.
From Quiz: Fabrics of Many Fibers, Common and Unusual
Answer: Any of these
If you've made your own pincushion, it might have old scraps of cotton or wool in it. It keeps the pincushion lightweight and squishy, or if you buy your pincushion from a store, it's filled with sand to keep the pins sharp.
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions II
Answer: Try to set it on fire
Burned silk smells just like burned hair.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: Cross stitch
A uniform cross stitched pattern looks like a tiled area from a distance. Each 'cross' consists of two diagonal stitches crossed over each other.
From Quiz: A Stitch in Time
Answer: Pinking Shears
Pinking shears, of course! They look like regular shears but the blades have a zigzag pattern on them. When you finish a garment, trim the raw seams with pinking shears and you won't have tons of thread!
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions II
Answer: It depends on the type of sewing you do and your technique
Most people (myself included) will wear a thimble on their middle finger. However, some people will wear them on their index fingers as well.
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions
Answer: Pinking
Unfortunately, my pinking shears are in desperate need of sharpening, so this is not a method I often use. The others are all brand names of companies which make sewing shears.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: Distance from your nose to your fingertips
This measurement was established in England long before the metric system.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: Hoop skirt
Hoop skirts were an integral part of Victorian bell-shaped dresses. They can be made out of a strong, tightly-woven fabric, which is usually canvas or thick cotton. Metal or plastic "hoops" are then inserted into casing tubes in the canvas skirt to give the hoop skirt its classic look.
From Quiz: Awl of the Above
Answer: silk worms
Bombyx mori is the moth whose caterpillar form produces a valuable coccoon of silk fibers, but a few other species of moths are also used. The Chinese domesticated silkworm moths circa 5,000 years ago, and have continuously improved them for silk production. There was a craze for silk raising in the U.S. in the early 19th Century, but despite the hope that fortunes would be made, the profits never materialized, and China remained the center of silk cultivation. When the silkworm makes its coccoon, it is killed with heat so it doesn't damage the fiber, then the fiber is unrolled. After it is processed, it can be woven on a loom like any fiber, though it tends to be strong for its size. It dyes with bright and permanent colors, and also insulates from the cold.
From Quiz: Fabrics of Many Fibers, Common and Unusual
Answer: Blind stitch
Blind stitch joins two pieces of fabric without the thread showing. The stitch is hidden in the folds of the fabric. Alternatively, long stitches on one piece and short stitches on the other enable it to be almost invisible as a whole.
From Quiz: A Stitch in Time
Answer: 12
12x3=36. 36 inches in a yard!
From Quiz: Sewing and You
Answer: clip the selvedges
Selvedges are tightly woven and should be clipped to be sure the fabric lies flat and naturally for cutting.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: yucca
Ancient sandals from yucca plants, woven without looms, have been found by archaeologists, and the fibers may have been used for other things as well. The leaves were soaked and pounded, and when fully processed, woven into sandals that archaeologists feel represent art as much as utility. My hint of "yuck" was just a hint; I actually am amazed at what basket weavers or twiners could accomplish from native plants.
From Quiz: Fabrics of Many Fibers, Common and Unusual
Answer: Darts
Notches are used on patterns to help you match the different pieces in the right place. Sizing is a finish often used on fabrics,which is one of the reasons you should wash your fabric before sewing it. Bar tacks are back and forth stitches over one another, used at the ends of buttonholes and to attach items such as belt loops.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: the whole nine yards
In England of the early 1700s the upper classes went to great excess and nine yards of single-fold fabric is approximately the amount of fabric needed for a good three-piece suit, so the explanation bears some merit.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: Petticoat
Petticoats were used for centuries, and are very helpful! Many at a time can be used during colder months, as well as for larger, poofy-er skirts. Petticoats can be like an underdress, such as some used during Regency times, or like just a skirt, as in Georgian and Victorian times, to name a few.
From Quiz: Awl of the Above
Answer: alpaca
Strictly speaking, alpaca cloth can be made only from fibers of the alpaca, but sometimes other fibers such as mohair or Icelandic sheep's wool are sometimes intermixed. Similar to wool without lanolin, alpaca fiber is shiny like mohair, but softer. It was traditionally used for men's summer suits and lining in the 19th century, but has faded as artificial fibers have lowered prices. Alpacas are clean animals that can live on less feed than others their size, and their fiber is considered a luxury item, but prices of animals have varied from speculatively high to practical.
From Quiz: Fabrics of Many Fibers, Common and Unusual
Answer: No, a knit-picker is used to repair snags without tearing the fabric.
If you don't know what a knit-picker is, you might know this notion as a seam-ripper. They are the exact same thing, they just follow different names. They have a small blade and they are used to take out teams or other misplaced threads.
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions
Answer: Baste
My favorite thing about basting (tacking), or stay stitching, is that since the stitches are usually removed or sewn over, it doesn't much matter how even they are.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: straight is to puffy
Roman shades are usually practical and showcase patterned or textured fabric, while Austrians are usually decorative and used for diffusing light.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing
Answer: hemp
Fiber hemp and medicinal hemp are two cultivars of the same species, Cannabis sativa, but fiber hemp contains a fraction of one percent of the chemical wanted by drug users compared to the medicinal cultivar. It was traditionally used as a heavier, stronger kind of linen, and was processed similarly, but was made illegal to grow by the same laws that banned the medicinal plant. Hemp fabric can be purchased in the USA when made overseas, and is usually either pure or blended with cotton or silk. As in the past, it is similar to canvas or other practical linen products, not fine linen. It usually comes in a natural light tan color.
From Quiz: Fabrics of Many Fibers, Common and Unusual
Answer: Overcast
Overcast stitch loops around the edge, keeping it neat. The fabric is thus kept from unraveling.
From Quiz: A Stitch in Time
Answer: An ironing tool that allows you to iron curved seams and darts
I have no idea where they get the name, but it sure is helpful! You can now easily press collars and shoulders without creating awkward bumps!
From Quiz: Sewing Notions and Potions II
Answer: Right sides together
If you picked "it doesn't really matter," you might want to take up a new hobby! You want the right sides together so that the seam is on the inside of the garment.
From Quiz: Sewing Basics
Answer: waxed thread
This pre-waxed thread makes hand-work a breeze.
From Quiz: Pointed Questions on Sewing