Dispatch no. 49 - Updates Podcast

Ugh, I didn't know etsy sellers took all the identifying marks off patterns, but I had a similarly annoying experience recently buying needles for my 1885 White treadle. Took ages to find any that were long enough, and the etsy listing had no manufacturing information at all and photographed them without the pack, so I didn't know what exactly they were till they arrived. And it turned out there are only about 2 other places to get that size, plus the manufacturers site where you have to buy 100 packs or more, so why??? How much business would she really lose by being transparent about the size and brand??

I'm late to this podcast update, but I highly recommend Pittsburgh as someone who also wanted the amenities of a city without the anxiety of one. I find it's the perfect size and houses are relatively affordable. It's a smaller community in some ways but I've never lacked for friends in the queer community or any niche interests. I also have friends who have moved to Philly and live it. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!

Have you investigated New Hope, Pennsylvania? My sister-in-law who is also living in LBGQ+ areas . She lives in New Jersey in the area just over The Walt Witman Bridge.

As someone who is currently selling their house in the Northeast (having almost doubled in value in seven years - insert mind-blown emoji here) I'd say May is the busiest time in real estate over here. And that does drive prices up a bit. If you can wait, places listed in the Fall will have fewer buyer competition and prices might be lower. People generally avoid moving with kids half way through the school year.

I'm biased, but consider the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area. We have - beautiful old Victorians - a thriving queer community - SR Harris fabric store (enormous deadstock warehouse with cheap prices - ShannonMakes did a whole video about it) - Trader Joe's - tons of antique stores at all price points If you can handle the cold, it's what keeps the housing prices down. So yeah!

I've noticed that I don't get advertisements on some of your videos from about a year ago - many of the projects from the synapse look book actually. I don't know if youtube removes advertisements from videoes you watch a lot and that's why I don't get advertisements, but I thought I would bring it up. :)

There is a Trader Joe’s in Ithaca. Just saying …

Bianca: ~refuses to go into the current state of the US government~ All the real ones: ~nod knowingly, do not need explanation~

By the way, did you ever get around to using your Indian peacock mylar? I bought some after you showed it and have just used it for a Bridgerton/Regency dress!

Until you mentioned not moving to Scotland I was thinking of recommending Frankston (Melbourne Australia) to you... but that's even further away and I'm pretty sure there's no castles there waiting to be renovated.

https://zerodown.com/search/details/94-salem-ave-fredericktown-oh-43019/41554933

Illinois is great! I know the Midwest seems weird politically and, it is. But the blue areas are incredibly blue. But Maine…. is my favorite state.

I cannot listen to this for some reason.

Glad you're happy with your decision to stay with us in your niche 😘 You worry so much about hitting your deadlines. They're yours, you make them, so if you miss... move the deadline! 😊 We don't mind. I watch a channel called Shannon Makes. She has just bought a house in Nova Scotia. She mentioned there were a lot of cheaper old houses there. As someone from the UK, I have no idea how feasible / desirable a move across the border would be 🤔 but is it?

My husband and I lived in Youngstown, Ohio for a few years. It a large college town in fact most of downtown has been taken over by the college and they have done a beautiful job. Little shops, restaurants and cafes . We found that most people were very friendly and had no problem with any kind of discrimination. Their historical district , 5th Ave are have beautiful old homes and in your price range. The taxes and insurances the overall cost of living is down right cheap compared to western NY. If we had stayed we would have bought a house on 5th but family bought us back to NY. I know it’s not blue but it is a nice place close to Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is also a nice location. I attended college there in the 80’s great clubs at the time. From what I understand it still is a nice place to live.Hopes this is helpful.

Try looking @ Maynard MA- it's artsy, vintage stores, funky cinema, a gay community. TJ in the next town but a co op grocery is in town.

We do not do things bc they are easy, we do them bc we think they will be.

Wow! Such fun podcast! Thanks for giving me good news over my hours of pressing children’s clothing at my work. I dream a little dream listening to the glamour of sequins and fabrics! Oh goodness Shogun was epic!

I think it is great that there are still fabrics and ideas that excite you. A true creative who gets inspired as a way of being. Looking forward to the 30's dress demo. Thank you so much! ...and don't forget Rhode Island and the School of Design in Providence. No mater where you live in the state, you are only half an hour away. (Plus there are WF and TJ here.)

I'm an accountant and have been self employed in the past. There is a form you can include with your return to reduce your FICA tax to the normal amount. You can look it up on irs.gov or ask your tax person about it. There are a ton of Victorian houses in and around Saratoga Springs, NY. They vary widely in price, but there are some that are in the $200k range. I am a fan of Saratoga as I've been going there since I was a teenager. It's very low key during the off season, but it get's busy during the track season.

Thank you again for sharing your writing last month. It was very captivating to be let into this other of your creative selves. I happened to be reading the first chapter (The Sisters) from James Joyce's The Dubliners, and noticed that he did away with quotation marks, using em dashes instead. It really made the dialogue flow. Apparently, a lot of writers are going quote-free. I know the dialogue is important to you, and so wanted to share. I don't write much myself, but at the piano, interpreting phrases and gestures, points of arrival, cadences, etc., it's very much like punctuation and so these things are on my mind. You mentioned Trader Joe's, which we don't have here in Canada, and it made me think of my grandparents who used to winter in Arizona and we would go to that store and get all sorts of treats and it was such nice quality. Your podcast prompted me to check and see if are any TJ's near Fort Erie, where I just moved and yay, I see there is one in Buffalo. That will be a fun field trip, one day, along with some of the FLW buildings there. Good luck and please be kind to yourself with everything you have on the go!

I just watched Casey Renee cosplay’s video on her dress which had hundreds of hours of tambour applied sequins, I admire the dedication to shiny things but my back hurts just thinking about it! It would be interesting to see a demo on how you do it though. I definitely have complaints about the UK government but hearing about the US tax system makes me appreciate that we don’t have to worry about that at least, if you work for an employer, they do it all for you.

I always joke with my American friends that when I come over they better take me to a Trader Joe's. I have no idea why that store intrests me so much, it's not like I can take frozen products, or even most products, back with me. Excited to see what will come and I am so curious for the samurai coat. And to see what the sequined eveningwear top will look like. But I get the problem, I love to hyperfocus on handwork and just forget the world around ne for a bit.

So glad you are staying here, in our weird little niche - you are our Weird Little Nichette and we love you. 😍

I think the Ithaca, NY area checks all your boxes. I know for a fact they have a TJ’s! Ithaca itself is expensive, but there are lots of cute towns in the surrounding area. Trumansburg is neat, for example. The Finger Lakes are gorgeous and there are lots of cool local spots with great hippie/crunchy vibes. Ithaca itself also has a huge food co-op and the best farmers market I’ve ever seen (disclaimer: I’m biased because I grew up in the area and my family has a booth at the farmers market). Also, hi! I’m new here and I just wanted to say that your channel got me started with sewing. The way you explain pattern drafting really fits with how my brain works. Thank you for what you do!

Worcester, Mass is my recommendation.

The moving drama is real. I keep going back and forth between Philly (where I can afford a whole row house in the hood) and NYC (where I cannot)… My mom is 100% nyc, it’s the big/real/near family goal. But gods those cheap houses are so so sooooo tempting. Anyway, good luck with the house hunt. And the shoulders. And also the sequins.

While doing some practice sequining of an Art Deco motif I want to use to embellish a 1920s-style evening dress, I hit upon an idea for holding a straight line of sequins while I sew them down: drafting tape, the low-tack tape used to secure paper to a drafting table. I just corralled the sequins against a straightedge, spaced them appropriately, pressed a length of tape onto the sequins (with the tape edge running alongside the holes), transferred the line of sequins to the proper spot marked on the fabric, and pressed the free edge of the tape to adhere it to the fabric. Then I was able to stitch the sequins down pretty quickly and peel off the tape easily. Who knows whether it was a net time-saver, but it definitely felt more orderly! Good luck with the house hunting!

I'm sure people would have floated the idea before, but if Patreon is at a point of drastically outweighing YouTube income, would you consider going down to posting fortnightly? I'm sure all of us just want you to have a sustainable workload.

Sounds like you had a lucky escape with that project. The right one will arrive some time and you’ll know it when it comes.