Sunday, February 12, 2012

Another day..

Well, I did get the pillow started yesterday.  The front and back have been cut out with the zipper installed on the back.  I started my bias trim and messed up the first one.  Somehow, I ended up cutting on the straight of grain and that will not work.  I will work on getting the remaining fabric turned into bias and hope that I have enough fabric left.  Maybe the pillow will not be as frilly.

The new sewing machine (Singer 160) showed up on Friday.  I was so excited.  It really is a pretty machine even if it is fairly plasticy (is that a word?).  I unpacked it and checked to make sure that everything that was suppose to be in the box was in the box.  There wasn't enough time on Friday to do anything else.  Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. I cleared off a spot on one of my tables and set to work getting the machine ready to sew.  First thing, the automatic needle threader didn't work.  Ok, that isn't that big of a deal but this is the nosiest machine that I have EVER heard running.  As I walk through testing all the stitches, I realize that  not all of the stitches stitched correctly.  Now, I know with this being electronic that there could be some adjustments needed but I don't think that there is anyone in the area that works on these machines.  I contacted customer service but haven't heard back from them yet.   It has a 30 day return window for returns and that really isn't long enough to send to a warranty center for work.  However, it is a pretty machine.  It comes with some great stitches and would make a great machine as long as it is functioning correctly.  If I don't hear from the Singer customer service by tomorrow evening, I will be returning it.  There really isn't any reason to keep it if it isn't functioning the way it should be.

Happy Stitching!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

One project down...

Yes, the sleep shirt is finished, mistakes and all.  Here it is:

Sorry, not a great picture but it was the best I could do.  The back of the shirt is black.  My son is happy with the way his shirt turned out and I'm mostly happy with it.  The shirt took 1 1/4 yards of the starwars fabric and 1 3/4 yards of the black fabric.  I do have a little bit of both fabric left.  The starwars fabric will be destined for the quilt that we are working on. The black fabric will probably be binding for something in the future.  The pattern is from the Buckles & Bobbins - A Beginning Sewing Book for Boys.  This is a great pattern. 

It really felt good to have the serger and sewing machine going.  I may have finally bonded with the Behemoth.  Yes, that is what I call one of my machines. 

Ok, it is off to start the pillow project from the "Make It Sew Modern" book.  It will have my modifications because I just can't follow directions.  LOL.

Happy Sewing!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

I must be on a roll....

Yes, I am.  The sleep shirt for my son has been cut out.  I did have to get very creative but I think it will work.  I had to add about 6 inches to the length of this top.  I also, had to change the draft of the sleeve slightly so that I was sure that his hand would go through the sleeve.  I'm hoping that I will have the top finished by Monday.  Let's see if I can really get the machines going.  The serger needs to have the thread changed and the machine that I will be sewing with hasn't been checked since I moved and plugged it back in.  Hopefully, it is working fine. 

After I cut out the shirt tonight, I realized that Vogue had new patterns out.  What's up with the funny poses?  They don't show the clothes at all.  It makes me wonder if the clothes didn't fit the model and that was the only way they could get a picture.  Here are some that I found interesting:


I like both pieces in the pattern.  It is Vogue 1294.  See what I mean about the weird poses.  Does the pants not fit the model? Is the top too wide?

I guess that is the only one that I found interesting enough that I would purchase.  There is another pattern that I liked but you can see the models bra in one of the pictures which tells me that the neckline is really low.  Here's the pic and the line drawings:


This has a really cute neckline.  The pattern number is 1285.

They also had a new men's jean pattern but it looked funny.  Like the rise was too high.  I thought about it for about 2 seconds.  My son is very lean and tall for his age and I have a very hard finding pants.  I have been thinking about sewing them for him.  We'll see.  It may be more efficient to make shorts for him as boys tend to wear their shorts long and I can't seem to find shorts long enough.