What I Do Wednesday: Why Is That in Your Sewing Room?

I moved my sewing room last year in preparation for Tiny's arrival.  Fuzzy helped throw things in boxes for the transfer, and he was mystified by a few things, especially the candle and metal bowl.  "Isn't everything in here kinda flammable?"

If you see a candle, a lighter and a metal bowl in a sewing workspace, it isn't to enact a ritual to curse a dishonest trim merchant.  I use a lit candle to seal the edges of poly ribbons and trims.  Just pass the end of the ribbon through the flame.  If the ribbon's on fire, you're too slow.  You just want to melt it a tiny bit to keep it from fraying.  It's like cauterizing the cut edge.  You can also use this method for plastic boning.  The metal bowl is for dropping fabric into when you're burn testing fabric.  If you're uncertain of the fiber content, snip a little bit of the fabric, hold it with tweezers, and then light it on fire.  Hard core.  Then observe how it's burning, what the ash looks like, and the odor of the burn.  If your kid's anything like mine, do not do this in front of her, because she will totally try it.

Then spend a little time on that trim merchant.  He deserves it.