So today was going through mums 3 sewing boxes and found this.   [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  
Anyone know what is for. I am guessing something for knitting as it has the aero name on it. It is about 4 inches long.

Another book that deals with fitting issues:
The pros:
Well laid out with lots of photos and he uses 6 real life women (who all work at Threads) who are different sizes and have different fitting issues. He takes you step by step what the issues are and how to address them by "reading the wrinkles" and making appropriate alterations.
If you are in the camp that traces your pattern and makes a toile then you will like this, but if you prefer to just get on with things then forget it.
The Cons:
Like all good pattern alteration books (and there are a lot of them) this would be ideal if you are in the business of making for other people. If you are making for yourself and have no like minded person to assist then it is nigh on impossible to carry out the alterations on your toile.
Of the 6 garment he demonstrates on one is a shirt, one a tunic and 4 dresses. 4 of the garments have princess seams so not much variations. Every garment seems to need multiple alteration, some of which, i feel, could have been addressed by comparing you measurement to the pattern i.e. length of sleeve, neck to waist.
Strangely one of the dresses is a Palmer and Pletch pattern from Vogue, which i own, and the instructions in the pattern envelope are pretty good at tackling alterations albeit the P&P way.

Overall a good read and picked up some useful tips but as i make for myself would find it hard to do the alterations, if i needed that many.
What i would like to see is a book written for the solo sewer on how to tackle the alterations instead of looking at photos of some one else doing the alterations for you.
Watch this space i may well sell this book.

Unwanted gift, i will never make any of the outfits. It is quite a substantial book with all the patterns intact (they have not been removed from their sleeve). RRP is £26 but would take £18 including pp.
Details of the book is here.

I have just been ordering some new hand sewing needles (come on, own up how often do you replace yours?) and thought
this guide might be useful to some of you.

Another new mag/book about using your embroidery machine. This is an Australian publication and is a substantial read. Full of projects and free downloadable designs, despite the title it is not all about quilts. Lots of practical advice for both beginners and the more experienced. On the down side there are a lot of adverts about super duper machines to tempt you.
I bought a hard copy from Newstand (£10) only to discover that there is a free digital version available from here

here I have subscribed to this, £22.50 PA. published bi monthly. A good resource for seeing new indie patterns, although if you subscribe to the pattern companies email you will probably have seen them. Plus you get a free pdf pattern every issue and access to loads of other stuff including links to over 300 free patterns which saves you time searching the web.
Overall a pretty useful mag.

just stumbled across this site and downloaded a couple of mags with no obvious problems

OK, so in all my years of sewing i have not yet found a good method of dealing  with those pesky little triangle you have when you have attached the collar band to the garment. I have tried cutting them close to the stitch line, not ideal. Cutting the stand a slightly different shape on the edge, no that didn't work. I usually end up shoving them inside and quickly sewing the edge then give it a good bashing with my toffee hammer (oh so useful for lots of sewing technique's).
But the result is always the same, a bumpy lump.
Anyone any tips?