It's POURING here in NYC this morning, AND it's Monday. How dreary. I am still in the process of recovering my energy after a nasty cold that lingered for more than two weeks.This is a great opportunity for me to organize myself and set down some clear sewing goals for the week.
1) I really need to find a permanent spot for my new Brother 1034D serger, which is currently sitting on the table in my living room we usually eat on. It has sat there since it arrived a week-and-a-half ago, so we now eat on our laps while sitting on the sofa. (As you can see, this relates closely to yesterday's entry about having too much stuff.)
2) While I sew in the kitchen (where my sewing table is located), I cut, iron, assemble, and fit (on my bodyform) in the living room. I share this room with Michael and our two chihuahuas, Freddy and Willy. Nobody's happy when this room is cluttered. Unfortunately it still hasn't quite recovered from last week's project, though I did straighten up quite a bit yesterday. But there's more to do.
3) I have new serger thread (4 spools of off-white and 4 spools of black) and I want to start serging in just one color, rather than the four different colors I was using so I could check the balance of the different threads more easily. This will mean spending some focused time changing thread and practicing with it. I'm excited about incorporating the serger into my sewing projects. If you read the review of my Simplicity wrap dress from last week (the photo link is on the right with some of my other recent pattern reviews), you'll see I was able to serge a lot of it, with very good results.
4) I want to choose my next project. Among my choices is the 70s Vogue pattern I posted here on Saturday, a new pair of pants for Michael (he's been asking me to sew him pants for months now), or some piece of activewear I could enter into the Pattern Review activewear contest that ends at the end of January -- time's running out! Also I'd like to make something for my mother some time soon. When I see her this coming weekend I'm going to take her measurements. At the very least, I'll sew her a fleece vest or jacket, like I did for Michael's mother.
4) I have two fitting-related books on order from Amazon and I'll want to spend some time going through those if they arrive this week. I have a lot to learn when it comes to fitting, though luckily I haven't needed to make dramatic alterations on anything I've sewn so far. I'm a pretty standard 36" chest (men's Small), and Cathy seems to fit pretty well into a standard size 14 vintage dress pattern (36" chest).
That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have updates as the week progresses.
Hey, the sun is peeking through the clouds. Hurray!
Hi Peter. I came to your blog from The Selfish Seamstress. I just ordered the Brother 1034D from Amazon on Sunday. It's good to see someone else who owns it. Did it take you long to figure it out?
ReplyDeleteBTW, your blog is great.
Hi Peter,
ReplyDelete(and Sophia!)
Peter, The Selfish Seamstress sent me on over too, and I just wanted to say that I've been overlocking (serging) with a 1034D for about 5 years now and it is a great little machine! It does fantastically well at finishing many different sorts of edges for me - from roll hemming chiffon to overlocking through 4 layers of lycra. Love it! And don't worry about the thread changing, the diagram on the inside of the machine makes it really easy!
Great job on all of your creations, it seems you have found your calling!
I'm still figuring it out, actually, but so far-so good, Sophia.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear you've had such great luck with it, Kiraph. That's great to know!
I have the same serger too. I usually need tweezers to pull the threads through the loopers but aside from that it's straightforward when you've done it a few times.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that for inside seams, you can get by with white, black or gray serger thread for the loopers (whatever is closest in tone to your fabric) and just match the needle thread to your fabric. Since the 1034D takes regular thread or serger spools, you only have to buy two spools of matching thread instead of four. And because the serger thread is usually a little finer than spooled thread, it's supposed to add less bulk to the seams. It works for me, but I rarely sew anything but black or white or gray fabric :)