A Favorite Past Time: Hobby Ideas You Will Like

What is your favorite past time? Hobby enthusiasts know that spare time is not to be "spent" but savored. If you have a past time you enjoy, you will never look at your spare time in the same way again. If you're not sure what past time hobby you would enjoy, here are some suggestions.

Many people listen to music as a favorite past time. There is much you can learn about any style of music. You can learn composers, famous melodies, and all about performers past and present. You can develop sophisticated tastes in jazz or classical music or collect a large assortment of CD's. Music makes a great past time hobby.

A lot of people love animals. Pets of all sorts can become your hobby. Perhaps you enjoy watching birds. If you have trouble finding them in the trees to watch, maybe you'd like to get a pair of canaries, a budgie, or a cockatiel. People who live in the country sometimes become interested in raising ornamental chickens, pigeons, or pheasants. It is very interesting to watch a mother bird take care of a nest of young chicks.

Perhaps you can even raise some prize winners! Dogs make a great hobby, too. Walking and enjoying a pet dog is one thing, but breeding and raising show dogs is something else entirely. Show dogs may require a bit of an investment, but many puppies are free. There is also the aspect of training a dog in obedience. Dogs give a lot of love back to their owners, too, so if you start a past time hobby of caring for a dog, you will never be lonely. However, dogs require quite a bit of work and attention, especially when they are being trained, so keeping dogs is not for everyone.

Bicycles can become your favorite past time. Hobby bicyclists are becoming more and more common to see cycling along lesser traveled highways seeing the countryside up close and personal. Bicycling requires a helmet and suitable clothes as well as a small tool kit for roadside repairs. Or maybe you would enjoy cycling on a smaller scale, simply taking fun rides with your family.

The choice is yours. The world is full of interesting things to learn and do. Don't merely sit back and watch TV. Get interested in a past time hobby. It's good for your mind. In fact, it might even keep you from going senile in your old age, if you stay active in a past time hobby. And it's a good example to our kids and grandkids if we spend our time doing something meaningful.

Unique Sewing And Craft Secrets

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1. To Open that Stuck Zipper: Rub the teeth with a bar of soap or spray with shaving cream. 
2. An Ideal Pin Cushion: Use a bar of soap. Makes sewing easier and needle just slides through hard material. 
3. To Unwrinkle Plastic Materials: Heat ironing board with iron, lay material on board, then smooth with hands. 
4. Neat and Easy Needle Threading: Dip tip of needle in clear nail polish and let dry. 
5. How to Remove Scorches: Wet scorched area and cover with cornstarch, then brush off when dry. 
6. Lengthen Life of Wooden Clothes Pins: Boil them in a salt solution. 
7. A Neat String Dispenser: Nail a funnel to the wall and pull string out of bottom of funnel. 
8. Tips on Storing Plastic Curtains: Sprinkle talcum powder between the layers as you go. 
9. Basting Made Easy: Just tape then sew around the pieces of tape. 
10. How to Revive Old Clothing: Shave those fluffs off with a safety razor. 
11. Make an Emergency Clothes Brush: Wrap a piece of tape around the hand, sticky side out. 
12. Stop Clothes Catching on Wooden Hangers: Put a coat of clear nail polish over splinters and rough edges. 
13. A Needle Sharpening Pin Cushion: Use steel wool to fill your cushion. 
14. Quick Needle Sharpening Trick: Rub needle against an emery board. 
15. Make a Good Yarn Preserver: Wrap yarn around a moth ball for storage. 
16. Handy Tip for Cutting Fur: Use a razor blade on back of fur when cutting and you will not cut any hair. 
17. Tips on Sewing Slippery Material: Stick a piece of waxed paper in seam, pull away when finished. 
18. Easy Pickup of Needle Spills: Use a small magnet. 
19. Excellent Knitting Tip: Keep ball of yarn in nylon stocking - will flow out free of tangles. 
20. How to Get Rid of Shiny Pants: Make a solution of one part vinegar to four parts water. Soak a cloth in solution, wring out, place over pants and press lightly. 
21. When You Need Heavy Duty Thread: Use dental floss. 
22. Make a Handy Tape Measure Holder: Wind tape around an old adhesive tape spool. 
23. Prevent Nylon from Yellowing: Add baking soda to your wash and rinse water. 
24. Make a Perfect Sock Darner: Pull socks over a light bulb - makes it easier. 
25. Restore Velvet Like New: Brush good, then hang in a steamy bathroom. 
26. How to Get Rid of Knots on Sweaters: Rub lightly with a piece of sandpaper. 
27. How to Remove Lint from Wool: Use a damp sponge and touch lightly. 
28. Caring for Leather: Brush with skim milk every three months. 
29. Repair Scuffed Patent Leather: Cover with same color polish, let dry; then cover with clear nail polish. 
30. Repair Cracking Patent Leather: Before each wearing, rub briskly with your hand, then a soft cloth. 
31. How to Soften Leather Shoes: Sponge with black coffee.
32. Create Rainbow Colors for Bottles and Vases: Use floating art colors available from most paint stores. Take a pail and fill it with water, then put a few drops of several different art colors on top of water. You can now take any article you wish and dip down through the colors slowly back and forth. Great for decorating above items, tye-dye shirts, etc. 
33. To Protect Your Sewing Bag: Stick the point of your closed scissors into a cork. 
34. Neat Pin and Needle Container: Save those stick deodorant containers. They work great! 
35. Renew those Worn Out Blankets: Sew cloth on both sides and you have a new quilt. 
36. To Ensure the Sections of Material Cut from a Pattern are Accurate: First press the sections before laying them to be cut. 
37. Breath Life into Those Worn Lingerie Items: Machine stitch over small breaks. 
38. Keep Needles Rust Free: Stick them straight into a bar of soap. 
39. Money Making Craft Business You Can Start Today with Low Overhead: Try making seat cushions. In many cases you will be able to beat the high prices charged in stores. Try selling for 50% less. 
40. Eliminate the Old Hemline in Your Wool Clothes: When lowering, sponge with vinegar, then press. 
41. Save Repair Bills on Your Sewing Machine: Try oiling and delinting first before sending out for costly repairs. 
42. 42. Handy Substitute for Hemline Chalk: A bar of soap works fine. 
43. 43. Prevent Your Thread from Knotting when Basting: Tie a knot in the thread before snipping off. 
44. 44. Remove Stains from Suede: First rub with a emery board, then leave in a steamy shower or apply light steam from your iron. 
45. Remove Grease From Valuable Silks: Rub in baby powder and let stand several days, then brush out. Powder should absorb the grease. 
46. Tip on Ironing Ruffles: Always iron these on the wrong side and from the edge in. 
47. Handy Tip for Ironing Skirt Hems: Always make sure hems are fully dry. Iron from bottom to top, not side to side. Iron with the grain of the fabric. 
48. To Iron Embroidered Items: Lay right side down on a terry cloth and press out. 
49. Don't Pop Your Button: Cover them with a spoon while ironing. 
50. Ironing Seer Sucker: If you ever have to do so, on the wrong side only. 
51. Fast Easy Way to Remove Lint: Put your garment on the fluff cycle in dryer for a few moments. 
52. Handy Tip for Filling Steam Irons: Your old squeeze bottles work great! 
53. Quickie Iron Tip: Place Reynolds Wrap under the ironing board cover. Heats up faster and cuts your time in half. 
54. Patchwork Tip: Before your sew a patch on any washable garment, be sure to wash the patch once to avoid shrinkage. 
55. Cool Folding Tip: After ironing, be sure to let the garments cool completely before storing.

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Fixing Your Sewing Stitch Problems

by: David Trumble
The closet door opens. Your sewing machine is there neatly tucked away in its case. You pick it up and carry it to the kitchen table. You remove the case cover and take out your sewing machine. You are ready to sew.

Unfortunately, it does not work. Suddenly, the creative excitement and anticipation turn to outrageous frustration. 

Like a roadside bomb or stepping on a nail; a surge of rage upsets the sewer. Messed up sewing machines can cause the most dedicated sewer to feel like quitting.

Sewing consistency includes regular sewing machine maintenance and care. Infrequent sewing, tends to increase basic sewing machine problems due in part to neglect. For both the occasional sewer and the more active sewers, it is important to identify sewing machine problems and resolve them.

When you are sewing, you may encounter many different types of problems, The challenge is to figure out what exactly is going on to cause those malfunctions.

When you sew, you come to expect certain things. Most of all you expect a properly formed stitch. When a good quality stitch fails to appear, it is a sewing crisis requiring immediate remedy.

Use a quick sewing test to find the problem. Set your sewing machine for a straight stitch with a medium length. Sew a four to five inch seam on standard woven fabric with a new universal point needle. Repeat the same using a medium width and medium length zig zag stitch.

Inspect your test seams. How do the stitches look? Ideally, the threads along the top of fabric snugly lay on top of the fabric separated by small puncture points. It should look the same when you inspect the bottom of the fabric.

What irregularities can be expected? You may see stitches with thread loops, wobbles, or balls. You may see missing stitches and other distortions. In extreme cases, stitches may fail to form altogether.

If you see skipped stitches or if your sewing machine fails to form stitches; there are three things to check. The thread line must be free of snags, drags, and errors. The needle can be critical. Hook-needle timing and hook-needle clearance must be properly adjusted.

The number one source of problems causing bad stitches is the needle. That small, inexpensive, and yet crucial part of your sewing machine can distort and disrupt proper stitch formation due to improper selection, dull point, or burrs.

Needles have different sizes and types of points. If the needle is too large or small for your fabric and/or thread; you will see distortions in your stitch quality. Sharp and universal points work well with woven fabrics, but will skip on knit or stretch fabrics. Ball point needles work well on stretchy fabrics, but will skip on woven fabrics. Bottom line: install a new needle that is right for the job, fabric, and thread.

Watch out for problems with the thread line. An easy and quick solution is to rethread the machine making sure you use good quality thread. Take special care to thread the machine checking for anything might snag the thread, to make sure the thread properly seats in the tension discs, and to double check that the thread flows through the tension spring and take up lever.

When the tensions are unbalanced; excess threads will collect under the fabric or on top of the fabric. While feed timing may, distort tensions causing threads to collect under the fabric due to faulty feeding. This, however, is much less common than the more frequent offset by either the upper or lower tension assemblies. The solution is to adjust the upper tension. If excess appears under the fabric, increase the tension. If excess threads appear on top of the fabric, decrease the upper tension.

If all else fails, trust your sewing machine to the pros. They can quickly repair hook-needle adjustments to restore quality stitches.

Instead of panic; take charge. Use this simple sewing test. Make a few minor adjustments and enjoy sewing for hours. You can do it.


The author invites you to visit:
http://www.sewinganswers.com

Turn a Men's Shirt into a Girly Dress

By: Tatyana Chambers of DBA Art Studio Shanti and Wool Thumb Creations

Inspired by so many refashion projects available on the web, I've decided to do something of a kind myself. I love to reduce-reuse-recycle when I can, and some of my other upcycled and repurposed projects can be found at my online store. Graphic designer and a teacher by education, I started my one-person business two years ago, and have been very active since. I love to work with all kinds of fiber, fabrics, paper, metal, beads, etc.

In this tutorial, I explain how I do things, for I am not a seamstress, and haven't been properly taught sewing, I learned whatever I know myself, and I apologize for absence of proper terminology and details. For this refashion project I used my husband's outdated linen shirt in XL size.

Materials:

• One man's shirt (L, XL or bigger, depends on your own size).
• Sewing notions – thread, scissors, sewing machine, measuring tape, cutting board, tailor's chalk, straight pins.
• 0.5-1 yard of coordinating fabric for ruffles.
• Pin backing
• Bias tape
• Buttons

Jersey's Bag