Not-So-Haute Couture

I'm headed to jojos (Joannes) after work to use those good-only-today 50% off coupons. I'm needing a few notions--cording and batting for my sewing room projects, and some more stretch bottom weight twill for the Unique pants. I compared the Unique pants pieces against the cut out Purrfection pieces and there are some interesting differences--the Unique pants are narrower (the Purrfection trouseres were quite wide) and are longer where I was going to add length. We'll see. I haven't pants for me since I was in jr. high.

Dh is wearing his 2nd custom-made work shirt today. Hope it doesn't get too dirty during the day--I want to take a picture of it this evening. He has requested that the pocket be adapted for a pen slot, and I will do that this evening on both of his shirts. I got the turkey trousers unbasted and will compare thos pieces against the Unique pants pattern tonight.

Spent yesterday evening practicing on my serger and working on Dh's 2nd polo work shirt. I graded up the pocket as suggested in comment to my review of polo work shirt #1. I have learned that it's very distracting to my sewing while trying to watch a funny movie. Maybe I should just listen to music while I sew. For the work shirt, the pocket and placket are done first, with the sewing machine. For next time, I will clearly marke the center fronts on the front piece and all the markings (cf, stitching line, folding lines, etc.) on the placket. This will make things go faster. Next is shoulder seams, and the first chance to use a serger. The collar follows, and it was evident that I need to learn to properly adjust the serger for the thicker fabric of the purchased collars I use. That should be easy enough. I ended up doing it on the sewing machine and it went fine. Now all that's left is to serge the remaining seams, hem, buttons & buttonholes. I wonde...

Let's get the bad news over with: The Purrfection Perfect Trousers were not perfect. Before I even took my serger out of the box I basted the trousers for a quick fitting. They are too low in the back, undoubtedly due to my booty shape, and there are unattractive smile creases in the crotch area. Since I have a custom drafted trousers pattern waiting in the wings I'm not going to fiddle with this pattern at all. I'm going to unbaste them and try to use the pieces for my Unique trousers pattern, with which I hope to have better luck. And now for the good news! My serger is HERE! She arrived in one piece and works like a dream. Easy-peasy to thread--just like threading a sewing machine x4. Serging is "sew" different! Tonight I plan to serge dh's other polo workshirt after I practice securing seams and serging on scraps from the shirt's knit fabric. Between mailers, emailers and in-store flyers I have six--count'em--six 50% off Jojos coupons--three...

Last night I trekked to jojos in Rohnert Park for some serger thread. I was not surprised to see that the Maxi-Lock rack was all dusty and about 2/3 empty. Jojos charges $2.79 for a spool. There was some chinese no-name serger thread on sale for $1.99. I bought the Maxi-Lock; managed to find black (but only in the extra large spool), white, gray, spruce green, and brick. The green and brick are for dh's shirt. I'd 've bought the thread at either Village Sewing or The Place That Sells Sewing Machines, but it's gawdawful expensive there--like over $4.00/spool. I guess I'm paying for the extra customer service, 'cause both places have a great color selection and the racks are dust-free. Since I was in Rohnert Park I stopped in at Burlington Coat Factory to see Kimbers at work. Saw a cute wrap top in the plus size dept. Also saw a v-neck t-shirt style shirt that was made up in a spongy, stretchy bright fabric, and was detailed with sheer black 1" wide ruffles a...

Stretch and Sew 1745 This is the first shirt made from the graded-up pattern. Read the review . The next one is cut out and awaiting the arrival of my serger, which should come TOMORROW!!!!

Unique 80387UO Here is the Unique jacket made up. I wrote more about it in a previous post .

My serger spent the day in repose at the UPS depot in Richmond. Looks like she'll get here on Monday. S'okay. My brother and SIL are coming up tomorrow afternoon and since I've gotta clean the house in the morning and will be having fun with them all afternoon and evening I wouldn't be playing with my new toy anyway. I'll spend Sunday afternoon cutting out my Unique pants pattern and prepping some of my other patterns.

Oh, dear. I just can't keep from checking that UPS tracker every couple of hours! She left Texas just after midnight on the 13th. Maybemaybemaybe she'll be here Friday. Then again, maybe not. Scheduled delivery date is Monday. I can make it. I'm too selfish. I was thinking about what dh could buy that would make him act like I am about my serger. I thought, "guns". He likes guns and target shooting and hunting. He used to have some guns but he sold them when we used to be poor. What a guy. I asked him and he said he wanted a .350 magnum and a .22. I'm gonna get him one of those.

Hi. My name is Tami and I'm a trackaholic. I can't seem to help myself from tracking my serger's progress from Lousiana to my sewing table. It left Louisiana on the 11th, had a brief stopover in Mississippi, then landed in Texas from whence it departed shortly after midnight. This behavior is not healthy. I'm stopping at TPSSM on the way home for serger thread.

I did in fact finish both the Unique jacket/top and dh's polo work shirt. I did a hem and 12 buttonholes, including practice ones. Dh is wearing his shirt today and it looks gooood! If it doesn't get too dirty during the course of his workday I will take a picture tonight for the review. The Unique pattern sewed up quite well. The fabric I chose for the toile, a lavender stretch satin-backed sueded blend, is a lovely color. It looked good but didn't sew up very well. It didn't want to ease and there is some puckering on the seamlines. Some fellow PR members had issues with this type of fabric so I'm pretty sure it wasn't my sewing skill. Here's a picture . As to fit, the length of this garment is exactly where the pattern description said it would be--5" below my waist. The sleeves fit, the bust fits, the back fits. In fact, everything is perfect except that it wants to fall down my back. I get this in RTW all the time and it is a pet peeve, but v...

I've got Unique 8038 finished save the hem/buttons/buttonholes. This is the pattern that was drafted to my 'Bodyskan' measurements. Overall, it seems to fit fine out of the envelope, which is wonderful. Per Unique's recommendations, I did a basted fitting and as a result took in a tad (about 1/2") over the full bust. The garment seems short--it is described as ending 5" below the waist--so once I have it hemmed I'll check that measurement. Another other thing I've noticed is that the collar doesn't seem long enough in the front. It appears longer in the pattern picture. And finally, the illustrations did not match the instructions. In a couple of parts of the instructions the right sides and wrong sides of the fabric were incorrectly depicted. Stretch and Sew 1745 --Dh's polo work shirt is complete except for--yep--buttons and buttonholes. I've a second shirt cut out and interfaced. I'll construct it using my soon-to-arrive ...

White 2000ATS Lookit! Lookit my new serger! Ordered it today from allbrands.com . I got the serger, which comes with quite a list of goodies, and the accessory set that includes extra feet and a workbook that I hear from PR is worth getting. $355 from the warehouse to my doorstep. I considered contacting my local dealer to see if they could come close to matching that price, but I don't see how they could. They list the White 1934D--one model lower than the 2000ATS--for $799 , currently on sale for $499. So if they're selling the lower model for $164 more than I paid for the top model and all the extras.....well, I just don't see how they could beat it. My dealer does include classes with purchase, but I hear--again on PR--that the video that comes with the machine is as good as taking a class. Even if I were willing to pay more and have the classes I'd have to come up with more cash. Not willing to do that. What I really think is that they would try to sel...

Got one of Darren's workshirts finished except for buttons/buttonholes. It looks real good and he likes the soft knit (I bought it at a Stretch and Sew event at The Place That Sells Sewing Machines here in town. The first one went a little slow because I kept checking it against his existing workshirt that I had laid out on the worktable for comparison to the pattern, and having to go into the living room where he was watching a baseball game to eyeball the shirt he was wearing and comparing it to the one I had laid out and the one I was making. It really turned out nice, though, and now that I know it fits the next one will go much faster. I really want to get a serger before I make up the 2nd shirt. I could foresee making all his workshirts--cutting them out 2 at a time and whipping them out. I got the Unique Patterns jacket cut out and basted. By golly if it doesn't fit! At least it seems to. Sometimes I can't get a good read on fit until the garmet is finished and I...

Woo hoo! Take Friday and Monday off from work and what do you get? A 4-day weekend in which to sew! Last night I cut out the perfect trousers pattern out of some black stretch twill. This morning I sewed some badly needed back darts into some cute purply black jeans I recently bought that fit me well otherwise. Next I'm cutting out the Unique Patterns jacket; hope to get that cut out before I have to leave to run some errands (like buy some notions and get my nails done). After the jacket gets cut out I'm going to tackle work shirts for dh, and then (whew!) trim the Unique Patterns trousers. I used my new rotary cutter last night for the first time. Methinks I like it!