Serging like a Newbie

My sewing skills are rusty, but my serging skills are just plain "New".
*update: "Define serger" ok! Click here!

I made the first little dress for Gracie and then I made a pinafore dress and bloomers for Libby, a sundress for Libby, and the two Snow White dresses. I also serged up some tears in my favorite worn out jammie pants and I sewed patches on Lexie's jeans. That was on the sewing machine though.

I've been able to find little snippets of time to get in my sewing room and spent some quality time (that's using the word loosely!) with my machines and patterns and scissors and fabric... love it! I love the room. It's too dark in there at night, I need a better lamp. But otherwise I just love the room!

I finished the Snow White dresses just in the nick of time! I decided Snow White's sleeves were too hard to mess with, so I incorporated a red ribbon at the waistline to give the dress that bit of red that it needed to make it authentic. I omitted the white collar and didn't make a red cape either. Gracie said she needed a red cape, but I told her it's ok, Snow White doesn't wear her cape except when she goes in the woods and we weren't going to the woods.

I made them from a light glitter infused satin. Satin is hard to sew! It frays so badly. Both girls' dresses had issues with fraying. Gracie's dress frayed right through the threads and got a hole in the shoulder seam. I was at Disneyland and kept focusing on that hole. It drove me insane! And Libby had a spot right on the front neckline that wanted to fray out. That'll teach me not to topstitch!

I wonder about my serger knife. It doesn't cut well with gathers and thicker seams. If there is a spot where the fabric is doubled, it seems fine, but if there are more than two layers of fabric, the knife often times does not complete the cut, making the seam absorb the excess and sew a big lump.

I need to learn how to use the differential feed.

Here are the dresses. I did receive several compliments and comments on them, but best of all, the girls loved wearing the dresses!

Sewing Class - Let the serging begin!

I went to a sewing class at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. I was the best student there! Top of the class! Star Student! Teacher's Pet! Yeah, yeah, you guessed that right, I was the only one there. The One-on-One was great though.

Before the class, I thought I should at least try out my new serger and see if I could familiarize myself with it before I go to the class. I figured I should do my homework so I don't walk in totally dense. The machine was all threaded and set up with a scrap in the feed when I got it. I hadn't touched a thing.

I looked it over, fiddled with a few things, reviewed the manual. Then I did it. I stepped on the gas.... Oh baby! I grabbed another scrap to run through the machine. Wow!

I ran out and got some cute printed fabrics and some new patterns - sundresses for the little girls. After getting them all cut out, I whipped up a sundress in lime green with Tinkerbell all over it for Gracie. The serger was smooth as butter!



I used the 4 colors of threads that came on the machine. Are you kidding me? I wasn't going to attempt to even think about finding the thread trails! Four colored seams are just fine for practice. They weren't perfect, but I'm a newbie.

I had my issues. I was having trouble sewing curves. Wondered a thing or two about when you get into this situation or that. Hmmm, good, now I know what types of questions to ask when I go to class. Good. Here is my practice dress:





As you can see, it's a bit wide. Ok, it's really wide! I followed the pattern! I ended up taking it all apart and skinnying it up enough to fit. Looks about the same on a hanger, but it does fit. I have another dress cut out and ready to serge.

When I was in class, I did ask my questions. The instructor/saleslady was glad I asked and she said they were good questions.

Before I could do anything in the class, the lady checked out my machine. I had to take my own machine to the store, accessories and all. It was a lot to lug around, but whatever. She checked it out and said it was in pristine condition, probably only a few seams ever ran through it. Mechanically it was in perfect shape and it sewed like a dream. Really! A Dream!

She discussed the mechanics of the machine, terminology, how to oil it, etc. We talked about what types of needles to use, how to replace them and the light bulb, what kinds of threads and fabrics to use, how and when to change all the settings. Fun stuff.

Then we went over threading. The serger has 4 cones of thread to weave in out under around and through all sorts of gizmos and hookymajings. She showed me a couple of times how all the threads go here, there, here, there, don't forget that one, this one over that one or you'll screw it up... Ok. Then she cut off the threads, pulled them out and said it was my turn! Ack!

Guess what, I did it just fine. So I threaded the machine three times for her and she said that I was ready for the next class, which is how to coverstitch. I forgot to ask how to do a rolled hem, so I will consult my instructional dvd and see if I can figure it out on my own.

For now, I have a great start on how to use my machine and I am not as intimidated by it. I'm ready to make Snow White costumes for the girls! Wonder if I can get them done before our next trip to Disneyland? Hmmm... that might be asking a lot.

All I need is Time in a Bottle

My sewing room is all set up!


This was a lot more work than I thought it would be to set this all up! First, I had to clean out the teenager's stuff. Lordy! What a chore that was! Once I got her disaster picked up and cleared out (mostly) I was ready to start making it my own.

I taped and painted. Taping is such a pain. And a lot of good it does me, I still manage to get squiggly lines at the corners. And how do I get blobs of paint on the ceiling? It's an amateur paint job but its all done. The color doesn't really show up well in the photo on my monitor, but it's a light sage green. It has a grayish hue more than a yellowish one. A good neutral color without being tan or white. Took me forever to paint the room too. I only did a little at a time because I had so much "help".

After the carpet had been vaccuumed really really really well (proving it needs to just get yanked out), I moved in a table and my little plastic storage bins. The room was ready for machines!

I unpacked and set up my Father-In-Law's machine in the corner on a little sewing table. I inherited these things from him when he passed away a couple of years ago. I'm sure they belonged to my Mother-In-Law. I'm glad he kept them. It's a Viking sewing machine circa 1950. It's in excellent condition and all the parts and accessories are in the case, including the instruction manual. Can't wait to give it a run.

Next I moved my Singer sewing machine into the room from the far corner of my bedroom. It was happy to move into the light. This is a great little machine and I've sewn a lot of miles of thread and fabric with this baby.

The Grand Finale! I took my new serger out of the box! First exposure to the great big world! It's a nice machine, Husqvarna Viking Huskylock 936. You can see it still has all of the initial thread cones on it with the nice bright colors. Once I learn how to use it, it's going to be my dream machine.

Last but not least, I put a baby gate in the doorway! Ta-Da! My sewing room is ready for me. Now, I just need to find time to get in there.