PatternReview.com online sewing community
Join our community of 579,285 sewists!
SIGNUP Membership is free and includes 1 free lesson
Login |
Join our community of 579,285 sewists!
Signup | Login
To participate in the PatternReview.com forums please Login or Join PatternReview
123 
Member since 7/27/13
Posts: 63
Body Type:
Send Message
1 Replies
thumbsup 1 like
Posted on: 2/28/14 1:33 AM ET
We use sewing idioms all the time... Here are a few of my faves:

"A stitch in time saves nine"
"zip your lips"
"all sewed up"
"you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"

Anyone want to add to this list? What are your favorite sewing idioms?

(Also, was wondering about the expression "on the cutting room floor"? Is this from filmmaking or sewing?)
  
Member since 8/28/08
Posts: 6569
Send Message
thumbsup 2 likes
Posted on: 2/28/14 3:29 AM ET
"Hanging on by a thread" is the only one I can think of at the moment, which I actually use at times.
------
Oops, forgot what I was going to put here.
  
Member since 8/29/06
Posts: 5755
Body Type:
Send Message
thumbsup 1 like
Posted on: 2/28/14 3:40 AM ET
In reply to Chopinzee
What about: needling/being needled.
  
Board Moderator
Member since 7/26/07
Posts: 15343
Body Type:
Send Message
thumbsup 1 like
Posted on: 2/28/14 7:42 AM ET
yes, "on the cutting room floor" is about film editing.
-- Edited on 2/28/14 7:43 AM --
------
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Anais Nin

"Attitude is the difference between an adventure and an ordeal." unknown

“Be curious, not judgmental.” Ted Lasso
  
Member since 10/27/05
Posts: 5976
Send Message
thumbsup 4 likes
Posted on: 2/28/14 11:15 AM ET
She had me in stitches.
They patched up their relationship.
Sitting on pins and needles.
She fell apart at the seams.
My stomach was in knots.
I didn't have a stitch on.
They pinned the crime on her.
Mending fences.
A pattern of behavior.
Ripped to shreds.
Cold feet.
A biased opinion.
He eased right into it.
The gathering will be held at her house.
On the fringes.
We tacked it.
She needs her wings clipped.
-- Edited on 2/28/14 11:18 AM --
  
Member since 12/3/06
Posts: 10072
Send Message
thumbsup 1 like
Posted on: 2/28/14 11:35 AM ET
Basting (fabric or the turkey)
Knit Picker (persnickety person or a whole lotta serger/CS thread to remove)


-- Edited on 2/28/14 11:39 AM --
------
OLD CHINESE PROVERB: I HEAR & I FORGET; I SEE & I REMEMBER; I DO & I UNDERSTAND.
  
Member since 12/30/11
Posts: 4423
Body Type:
Send Message
1 Replies
thumbsup 3 likes
Posted on: 2/28/14 11:48 AM ET
By the seat of my pants
Going through the eye of the needle
Feeling frayed at the seams
Button your lip
Buttonholing "someone"
You're losing altitude (when the fly is down)
Dressing "someone" down
Hmmm, these come form the more sad
side of sewing.

And some happier ones-
Zipping along
Dressed to the nines
Every cloud has a silver lining

Love this thread, thanks for starting it. Looking forward to more.

Just remembered-
The whole 9 yards!
------
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. Andy Rooney

Pfonzie- my honey Pfaff Creative Performance and Pfaff Passport, Bernina 930 and 830, Evolution and Enlighten sergers
  
Member since 2/17/07
Posts: 2506
Body Type:
Send Message
thumbsup 2 likes
Posted on: 2/28/14 1:09 PM ET
"Your work is cut out for you."
I think that might have originated in industrial clothing production, when your "work" as a stitcher would be to sew parts together that had been cut by a separate cutting department or person.
This is conjecture on my part.
------
A sewing machine is just a welder for textiles.
  
Member since 2/12/06
Posts: 2679
Send Message
thumbsup 1 like
Posted on: 2/28/14 4:48 PM ET
Some good ones.

A stitch in time saves nine.
Zip your lip.
I was in stitches. (laughing)
Needle in a haystack.


Debbie
  
Member since 7/23/07
Posts: 7276
Send Message
2 Replies
thumbsup 2 likes
Posted on: 2/28/14 9:17 PM ET
In reply to wendyrb
Wendy - I think "the whole nine yards" refers to the amount of concrete in a full cement mixer truck. But for our purposes in this scientific setting, we can fudge it to be about fabric.
------
http://bgballroom.wordpress.com to follow the progress on my next ballgown.
  
123 
* Advertising and soliciting is strictly prohibited on PatternReview.com. If you find a post which is not in agreement with our Terms and Conditions, please click on the Report Post button to report it.
Selected Reviews, Classes & Patterns
Discovery Fabrics
High Performance Fabrics
Specials!
Fancy Frocks Fabrics
Fine Designer Fabrics
Elliott Berman Textiles
High-end Fashion Fabrics
Specials!