Ties and skirts/kilts

[Kirbstone]

Alastair,

This is something I've had to live with for a long time now and SWMBO won't be drawn on the subject. Far and away the most expensive item(s) she disposed of was a new suit of North sails for our aged wooden Albacore sailing dinghy. You may have observed from pics. under a different thread that the old sails have rust marks.
Some five years ago I had North make up a new set with orange & white panels and the AL709 numbers on &c for serious money. We took them down there and our younger son & I took them for a trial sail, which was most satisfactory from the performance point of view.
Wifey took one look, said they were too crinkly (material), the orange was too pink and they put too much strain on the mast, causing it to split along its central glue line. Unfortunately the night after our sail a storm blew the boat right over on its trolley burying the masthead in the sand & That's what caused the split (easily mended). She insisted we revert to the old sails and somehow disposed of the new ones plus bag & all!

On the plus side she typically rabble-roused some 21 of our close friends all to come 200+ miles down to share a glorious week-end there with us and play music &c, she being a very social/gregarious type, so I have to go with the flow....

Tom

[Sinned]

Tm,

As anti-skirt as MOH is I would go ballistic if ever MOH disposed of items of my clothing in such as fashion as she would if I did the same to her. Such behaviour to me comes over as very controlling, bullying and almost amounts to abuse! There is a recent term for it - intimate terrorism. There was an article in the Daily Mail recently - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... s-all.html. I showed the article to MOH and told her that her behaviour amounted to bullying. I don't believe that she has actually read the article but her behaviour has been less extreme lately. I even managed to wear a skirt all day yesterday without any snide comments from her. A person from my Church called to see me and I talked briefly with him at the door and afterward there was no reaction from her at all which was a bit unnerving as I expected something akin to Etna's eruption. I'm hoping that she will see how much this means to me, is now part of what makes me, me. Sometimes I feel much like this:

I am in the process of weeding out some of the things I obtained when I thought that the only way to wear a skirt was to dress up as a woman. The shoes I bought I will never wear and I will offer them to other females in my family first. Some of the skirts I have are too short ( in the 11 to 12 inch range ) and I will never wear them out of the house so they will go. In the past she has accused me of having a sexual motive behind my skirt wearing. As she put it once, "I suppose that you had a hard-on at that time," after some situation when I wore a skirt and someone else saw me. I explained that my wearing a skirt has nothing to do with sex and is simply me wearing a comfortable garment and expressing myself in an individual way.

Anyway, Tm, I sympathise and am glad that MOH isn't that reactionary. I hope that in expressing my opinion that I don't upset you in any way. That is not my intention. I hope that in every other way your relationship is strong and based on harmony, love and understanding.

[skirtilator]

Off course not, if you dress up a skirt exactly like most women do, you'll end up either with something unconfortable or emphasize something you don't have.

[dillon]

I suggest, Tom, that the next time your wife disposes of something you held in regard, that you reciprocate by disposing of something she likes but that you don't care for. Turnabout is fair play, and it should deliver the message effectively. Respect is a two way street, but it begins with self-respect. Honestly, I am beginning to wonder if I should mourn for the manhood of you guys on the Isles. Is it from the amount of sheep in your diet?

Just poking a bit of fun...

[JohnH]

If I had a wife who disposed of my dresses and skirts, guess what? Her pants wearing days would be over. I would insist she wear nothing but skirts and dresses while out in public. Having said that, my wife has bought me a number of dresses but she likes to lounge around in old flannel nightgowns, and shirt and pants. She almost never wears a dress or a skirt.

John

[Kirbstone]

Speaking of eating sheep, Dillon,
In my youth the meat from a sheep was called mutton. Lamb was just that, young pre-pubescent animals slaughtered for that meat, like Veal is from calves.
Nowadays all sheep are grown fully before slaughter, yet the meat is still referred to as 'Lamb'. Nowhere has this more of a social cachet than in England.
In London there is a smart elevated urban village called Hampstead. Nat far away is an area known as Kilburn, where a lot of Irish people lived. In the mid 60s my young naïve Irish sister-in-law strode into a butchers in Hampstead (where we lived) and asked for a large leg of mutton, as she was expecting guests to Sunday lunch. The butcher snootily looked down his nose at her and suggested she try the Kilburn High Road!
The word Mutton has largely disappeared here too over the years and recently we invested in a good-sized leg to feed to our guests during our Kerry musical weekend. 28 Euros, Modom, roughly $35, which makes it just about the most expensive red meat you can buy.

Tom

[Departed Member]

Speaking of eating sheep, Dillon,
In London there is a smart elevated urban village called Hampstead. Nat far away is an area known as Kilburn, where a lot of Irish people lived. In the mid 60s my young naïve Irish sister-in-law strode into a butchers in Hampstead (where we lived) and asked for a large leg of mutton, as she was expecting guests to Sunday lunch. The butcher snootily looked down his nose at her and suggested she try the Kilburn High Road!

And speaking of Kilburn High Road, Flogging Molly fans, anyone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17IsfhA ... redirect=1

[dillon]

Speaking of eating sheep, Dillon,
In my youth the meat from a sheep was called mutton. Lamb was just that, young pre-pubescent animals slaughtered for that meat, like Veal is from calves.
Nowadays all sheep are grown fully before slaughter, yet the meat is still referred to as 'Lamb'. Nowhere has this more of a social cachet than in England.
In London there is a smart elevated urban village called Hampstead. Nat far away is an area known as Kilburn, where a lot of Irish people lived. In the mid 60s my young naïve Irish sister-in-law strode into a butchers in Hampstead (where we lived) and asked for a large leg of mutton, as she was expecting guests to Sunday lunch. The butcher snootily looked down his nose at her and suggested she try the Kilburn High Road!
The word Mutton has largely disappeared here too over the years and recently we invested in a good-sized leg to feed to our guests during our Kerry musical weekend. 28 Euros, Modom, roughly $35, which makes it just about the most expensive red meat you can buy.

Tom

The shops here sell lamb also, but who knows what age animal qualifies. I'm guessing any ewe that hasn't lambed, or a wether of any age and size is marketed thusly. Mutton is never seen in butcher sections of American supermarkets; I suppose the word carries a connotation of a lesser quality grade of meat, though the strong taste can be overcome with good marination. Perhaps some mutton is available in Halal markets, I would guess. In Kentucky they barbeque ewes; the dish is called "burgoo"; I have no idea why. I tend to focus on bourbon and horses when in Kentucky...

[skirtyscot]

Horse in bourbon - what does that taste like?

[Sinned]

To get back to the main thrust of this thread. I have a yellow skirt that has been partly deconstructed ( waistband removed and one seam undone to, but not including the hem ). Thus it needs a new waistband and two inserts ( one each side ) to widen the top of the skirt as it is currently needs widening for me by about 8". I have loads of ties of all colours and patterns. So I thought that I would use some of the ties to put the insert in. I have been looking for some matching cotton material ( bright blue, purple or contrasting yellow ) without success so far. Any of you more experienced sewers foresee any problems before I start this project? The main one I can foresee is getting four ties of the right material and patterns that complement each other. I could look in charity stores, I suppose but it would be nice to give some ties a new lease of life. I want the skirt to look believable as opposed to one that has just had a bit of material grafted in for the sake of it. I could probably have put this entry under sewing as well but this might get the thread back on track.

[pelmut]

... currently needs widening for me by about 8". I have loads of ties of all colours and patterns. So I thought that I would use some of the ties to put the insert in. I have been looking for some matching cotton material ( bright blue, purple or contrasting yellow ) without success so far. Any of you more experienced sewers foresee any problems before I start this project?

If the ties are cut 'on the bias' (at an angle to the threads of the material) they will be more stretchy than the skirt panels. You need to make sure each one is stretched by the same amount (as little as possible) as you sew it to the edge of a skirt panel, otherwise your skirt panels will be pulled out of shape and become all higgledy-piggledy. Laying the pieces out on a board or clipping them to a ruler, then tack-stitching them by hand, or stapling them, is a good way to ensure they line up before sewing them.

[dillon]

Horse in bourbon - what does that taste like?

Better than mutton, LOL!

[Sinned]

Thank you plmt. Another thing I have thought of which may be a consideration. Ties are multi-layered in that as well as the outer layer that you see there is generally also some sort of stiffening material running along the length of the tie or at the very best a lining material. So presumably I would have to deconstruct the tie and remove this lining or webbing-type material? Otherwise the tie insert would be a much thicker construct than the skirt. Maybe I should just continue my search for a cotton garment of the right colour.

[pelmut]

... So presumably I would have to deconstruct the tie and remove this lining or webbing-type material? Otherwise the tie insert would be a much thicker construct than the skirt. Maybe I should just continue my search for a cotton garment of the right colour.

Buy an unpicker and a cheap pair of very strong spectacles, then you can experiment without cutting any material. If one idea doesn't work, just unpick it and you are back at the beginning ready to try another idea.

[Sinned]

I think that next week when the nippers are all back at school I will get a piece of scrap material and see what size and shape the inserts would have to be to produce a skirt that would fit me as that will determine whether ties are suitable for use at all. And take it from there. Thanks for concentrating the mind and getting me to think logically.