Thursday, August 9, 2012

more needle and thREADs


This might just be my favorite (sorta) Alabama Chanin yet.
Even though it's white. and floral.
go figure.


I cut it out while the kids ate snow cones Monday evening, when Tyler was at a meeting.
I quickly sewed up all the seams on my serger,
watching the thread cones closely, as I have two that are very close to empty.
Then I sat down at my sewing machine to add the neck and arm bindings,
tickled that I was going to have made this shirt in about an hour and a half,
start to finish.
I selected a programmed stitch, and slipped some fabric under the presser foot to test it.
It sewed for a second,
then there was a soft clunk
and it quit sewing.
I cleaned the bobbin case, since I hadn't done it after I finished my quilt,
and popped it, and the bobbin, back in.
I turned the wheel to bring the bobbin thread up, but it just sat there.
The needle went down, but no thread came up.
I re-threaded the machine.
Still couldn't bring up the bobbin thread.
My baby had to go to the shop :-(
so I sat down with a needle and thread.

I tried to figure out a different stretch stitch,
but I just can't do it from words and one picture.
I wish Natalie Chanin (or anybody, really) would post some videos of each stitch
for those of us who need a little more help.
Since I couldn't (quickly) figure out a new stitch I just went with the cretan.
While sewing on the first arm binding, I thought,
a few beads might be nice on the collar,
so when I went to town the next morning to take my machine in,
I ran in to Hobby Lobby to grab a tube of beads with a 40% off coupon.


I sewed a bit throughout the day
and in the evening while watching the Olympics
(I've discovered that all noise doesn't bother me nearly as much if I sew while I watch)
and finished it up yesterday afternoon when I needed to rest my feet.
I could have skipped the hemming, since this fabric didn't roll,
but since I'd serged it I didn't want to have problems with all those tails.
It did not occur to me until just this moment,
that I could have buried them in the seam.
oh well.
I did the cretan stitch again, but on the inside


which gave me a really nice stretchy mostly blind hem
on the outside.


Instead of overlapping the binding at the seams, I left a tail when I attached it 
so I could actually sew the ends together,
which I think looks much neater.


It is soo comfy ~ and as an unplanned bonus ~ I might just be able to wear it with my shoes :-)



As usual ~ I'm joining Elizabeth's 

needle and thREAD

oh. speaking of reading, I hit the jackpot at the library last week,
as well as a few other new books that looked good, but I'd never heard of,
So far, I've read Heaven is Here (not as good as I was expecting, actually)
and I'm about halfway through My life deleted, which is ok, but I'm kinda hoping it gets better...
Yes ~ my standards are just a wee bit high ;-)

and now, I'm off.....

2 comments:

  1. I love that you are finally making clothes for yourself :) cute beading!

    ReplyDelete

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