Six Serger Students on Saturday

The Serger 101 class is an unpredictable class because I never know what machines are going to show up in what condition. (Fitting is also an unpredictable class, but in a different way, as it doesn’t require a toolbox and a bottle of sewing machine oil.) Still, the serger class is fun and challenging and I enjoy teaching it.

I had six students yesterday. One brought a machine that she found in her basement, an unknown brand (Rex) which turned out to be a clone of the White Superlock brought by another student. My T-shirt student from earlier this week brought her lovely BabyLock combo machine. Amanda—whom I have known since she was three years old and in dance class with DD#2 and who asked for the class in the first place—brought a vintage Singer she inherited from her grandmother. Another young woman had a more recent model Singer of unknown provenance. And one student had a new Brother serger, which was a bit temperamental until we changed the needles.

The Rex needed copious amounts of oil and a bit of coaxing to move; I was worried it was binding due to something like thread wrapped around the handwheel, but its owner was calmly persistent and eventually, it made a lovely stitch. I think it had just sat unused for years and frozen. The newer Singer did not want to cut the fabric even with the knife in its proper position, so I suggested to its owner that a new knife blade would not go amiss. She seemed a smart cookie and said she thought she could change it using the instructions in the manual. In the meantime, she used the blade as a guide rather than a cutting instrument and got a good result. Amanda’s Singer will make basic serger stitches but is missing some of the features of later models such as differential feed. It is also old enough that it requires special needles. Most newer sergers use household sewing machine needles.

The owner of the White Superlock was able to thread her machine successfully but the only two presser feet she had with her were an elasticator foot and a gathering foot. I had her use the elasticator foot and it worked fine for the basic stitches.

[I have a White Speedylock that I bought at the local Goodwill. It originally went to a friend of mine, who brought it back to me and said she just couldn’t make it work. That machine is upstairs in my sewing room and I am hesitant to pass it along to anyone else because it is awful—AWFUL—to thread. I can thread most sergers in my sleep. That one took me over an hour to thread. The person who christened it Speedylock obviously never had to thread it. The Superlock is a huge improvement over the Speedylock.]

By the end of class, each student had threaded her machine and made several basic stitches. The goal of that class is to demystify sergers and get the owners comfortable with working with them. I think we achieved that yesterday.

*****

One of the patterns I would like to mess around with is McCall’s 7349:

It was on sale on the Simplicity.com website a few days ago but only in PDF format. I bought it, but I did not see that it only comes in legal, letter, and A4 format. There is no A0 copyshop format, something I have been taking for granted as being included in PDF patterns these days. I will either have to print and tape together 56—yes, 56—pages or purchase the pattern in paper format. I don’t have a pattern for a garment like this, which is a combination raglan/princess seam style, and I’d like to try it.

A Teaching Conundrum

I can’t be everywhere at once. Believe me, I have tried. I could get so much more done if I could clone myself. My 2027 calendar is filling up and I am going to have to start prioritizing teaching requests. I just can’t fulfill them all.

I’ve added knitting classes to the schedule here, starting in January, because some of my sewing students have asked about them and because I’ve been drafted into teaching them elsewhere (Sew Expo and Quilting Mayhem). Knitting might not be my current focus at the moment, but it’s a skill set I possess and I might as well leverage it.

And I am all registered for a day-long class with Ryliss Bod at the Sewing and Design School in Tacoma just before Thanksgiving. She thought my idea of making some pants patterns out of my trouser draft was great, so that’s what we’re going to do. It will be good to see her again and spend the day working with her.

*****

I did not get to make a muslin of my raglan swing top yesterday, but I did make another Simplicity 8909 raglan-sleeve woven top. This fabric is lovely. I bought it at Pacific Fabrics in August and it’s been yelling at me to use it ever since. I need to start taking pics of the ends of bolts because I’d love to know who made this fabric. I don’t think it has any linen in it; if I remember correctly, it’s all cotton. The weave is a bit loose, almost like a gauze, although it didn’t fray much. It was a dream to sew. I will look for more the next time I visit Pacific Fabrics.

I have discovered it’s a good idea to take pics as you work because then you notice that you haven’t mirror-imaged the two-piece sleeves before you sew them. 😯 I fixed that.

I finish all my edges on the serger and clean up my thread tails. I can’t stand working with all that thread hanging out. Here is an assembled sleeve. I much prefer the fit of this two-piece raglan sleeve to a sleeve with a shoulder dart. (Shoulder darts or two-piece sleeves are required in woven raglans.)

The color in this last photo is much closer to reality—it’s a very dark green.

I am finding it difficult to dress like a parrot now that the seasons have changed. I have had to switch from “bright winter” colors to “dark winter” colors, which are still jewel tones, but more muted ones. Eventually, I am going to have to break out some hot pink.

*****

Tomorrow is my Serger 101 class and I am really looking forward to it. I think that class is my favorite one to teach. People come in totally baffled by their machines and leave being able to use them.

I have also started planning for a serger retreat in April. The event space should be reserved by next week and I would like to have registration open by December. I have an assistant helping me with this. So much to do but so much fun at the same time.

Raglans on the Brain

I really got into the weeds yesterday. I went through my pattern library and pulled out all the patterns with raglan-style seamlines. There was this one:

And this one:

Both of these were purchased when Hobby Lobby put their New Look patterns on sale for $0.99 apiece.

I thought I might frankenpattern these two together—I like the dress version in 6298 but I really prefer turtlenecks in the winter. The first order of business was to press the wrinkles out of each pattern. I usually cut the pattern pieces apart to make it easier to work with them.

At one point, my cutting table looked like this:

Before I frankenpattern anything, I always check sizing. Even within one brand, sizing can vary; I was one size in the N6298 pattern and a different size in the N6469 pattern. I also look at each pattern piece to see how it was drafted. Part of the reason I have a sleeve laid out in the photo above is because both New Look patterns had sleeves with a dart at the shoulder.

I have a theory that the Big 4/7 pattern companies sometimes use the same draft for a knit that was already developed for a woven. In my opinion, that is sheer laziness. I have run into more than one pattern that was far more complicated than it needed to be because it used a technique for a woven fabric that wasn’t really appropriate for a knit fabric. These sleeves do not need shoulder darts. That white pattern piece on top of the N6469 sleeve pattern is the Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater sleeve. Do you see a shoulder dart in that pattern piece? Nope, neither do I. I have made five Toaster Sweaters and not one of them needed a shoulder dart in the sleeve.

Frankenpatterning—or working with a new pattern, in general—always includes a check of the Sewing Pattern Review website. Numerous reviews of New Look 6298 indicated that the sleeves were way too large and that the fit was overly generous, both of which will happen if you swap a knit for a woven in a pattern.

New Look 6469 also included a zipper at the back neck—again, not really necessary. (Some SPR reviewers noted they left it out.) The neckline of N6469 is exactly the same as the neckline of the Toaster Sweater and I just pull the Toaster Sweater over my head. I’m not afraid of zippers, but neither am I going to put a zipper into a knit if I don’t have to.

I already have the Toaster Sweater pattern and I love the way it fits. I realized I could frankenpattern the top half of the Toaster Sweater with the bottom half of both New Look patterns and call it good. And then it hit me that I don’t need to make a raglan swing dress; I could make a raglan swing top. 💡

At that point, I had to get out the Wexford Swing Top pattern to determine how much to shorten the New Look 6469 pattern pieces. Eventually, I distilled everything down to four pattern pieces—front, back, sleeve, and neckband—for a raglan swing top.

This will get run up as a muslin today if I have time. I will also frankenpattern New Look 6298, which might look nice in a ponte.

*****

If the schedule permits, I am giving myself an all-day private lesson with Ryliss Bod at the Sewing and Design School in Tacoma for my birthday when I am in Washington State for Thanksgiving. I’ve done this twice before and it has been completely worth it. I pulled out my trouser muslin from Kenneth King’s class two years ago. I would like to have Ryliss help me turn that into a formal trouser pattern with a waistband and front zipper fly.

How to Melt Your Fabric

A wise woman (Zede Donohue) once said, “There are those who test and those who wish they had.”

I ran up another pleated raglan top yesterday afternoon. It took about two hours to pull some Walmart remnant rack fabric out of the stash, cut the pieces, put it together on the serger, and hem it on the coverstitch machine. Everything was going swimmingly until I decided that the hem could use a quick pressing.

The thing about Walmart remnant rack fabric is that it doesn’t come with any fiber content information. The most the label might say is, “Fibers of Undetermined Content” or some such thing. I am reasonably good at identifying most fabrics. This one felt like a rayon/spandex or polyester/spandex.

I have a cheap Rowenta iron purchased for about $29 after my hideously expensive Oliso iron stopped working. I like the Rowenta iron very much except for the fact that it tends to be very hot on the hottest setting. I rarely use that setting unless I am ironing linen. I know this about my iron and am very careful to set it below the highest setting.

I also have a silk press cloth sitting on my ironing board. Did I use it? Of course not. I put that top down on the ironing board and put the tip of the iron down on the hem without using the press cloth and smelled the sickening smell of melting fabric. I had melted a dime-sized hole right in the hem. Fortunately, I was pressing from the inside so the hole was inside the hem.

I guess that fabric had some nylon in it. Nylon is just about the only thing that would melt like that on that heat setting.

Sigh.

I undid the coverstitch hem and took the top back to the cutting table where I proceeded to cut off an inch all the way around, thus removing the damaged fabric. I then re-hemmed the top. In the end, it turned out fine, although a bit shorter than planned.

Lesson learned. I will not press any Walmart fabric without testing a scrap, first, preferably using my press cloth. I also cleaned my iron.

I think I should stay out of my sewing room today. 😮

I do like this pattern. I have so many nice fabrics in the stash that I could use with it. And I’ve developed quite a fondness for raglan sleeves.

*****

It’s raining today. I love these cool, rainy days because they are a good excuse to make a big pot of soup or stew. I think tonight’s dinner is going to be beef stew. Anna made me some curry with the Blue Kuri squash the other day and it was delicious. Sarah also gave a big thumbs up to the Blue Kuri squash so I will keep that one in the rotation next year.

Forty Feet in the Air

I finished my top yesterday afternoon. Part of the problem is that I was trying to use the plastic curve foot on my serger to attach the neckband. The curve foot is shorter and thus “better” for serging curves and tighter areas. When I finish this blog post, I am going to send an e-mail to Bernina to ask them to please make a metal version of the curve foot. I had one for my previous Bernina serger, but it only comes in a plastic version for my current serger. The plastic foot simply doesn’t provide enough pressure or friction to move the fabric properly through the machine, even if I adjust the presser foot pressure and/or differential. As soon as I went back to the regular metal foot, I had zero problems.

This fabric is not a colorway I would normally choose, but I buy stuff off the Walmart remnant rack for making muslins and occasionally I decide I like one of them enough to make something nice out of it. I will wear this with a pair of gray jeans and a black knit cardigan and it will be fine.

The husband wanted to install the chimney cap yesterday afternoon, which required me to lift him up with the forklift. He was up there for 20 minutes—he took the brush with him and cleaned the chimney, too—and even though I know he moves like a cat and would never do anything to endanger himself, I was a nervous wreck until he was done. He had to climb out of the cage and onto the chimney to attach the cap.

That project is done, though, and we shouldn’t have to worry about baby birds falling down into the house next summer. The stuff we do for the wildlife here. 🙄 I have one blue jay hanging around that can tell time and shrieks at me every afternoon at 3 pm because it knows I am taking scratch grains to the chickens and wants a handful.

I went shopping in my stash and pulled a few more fabrics for tops. I’d like to knock those out this week if time permits. I have a lot of stuff on the schedule.

I Like to Paint

We had a work day at church yesterday. I do not like to wash windows, so I avoided that task like the plague. A couple of walls in the upstairs bathrooms needed to be painted. I got that job, which suited me just fine. I like discrete projects that allow me to work by myself and painting is something I know how to do.

Elaine washed windows. Others mopped, cleaned the fluorescent light fixtures, and did some landscaping work. I think we accomplished quite a bit. Two of the women prepared breakfast and lunch for us, so we also ate very well. Food always accompanies Mennonite activities, even the mundane ones.

After I finished painting, I did some work downstairs in my sewing classroom area. The basement hasn’t been used in a while and I wanted to spruce it up a bit.

*****

On Friday, while I was waiting for salsa to process, I whipped up a Burda 6329 top.

This is a pleat-front raglan knit top pattern. It is one of my favorites and I would like to make a few more. I pulled a fabric out of my stash that feels like a rayon spandex, although it might have some polyester in it. I am pretty sure it came from the Walmart remnant rack. I got as far as putting the top together and cutting the neckband on Friday but had to stop there.

Against my better judgment—truly, I know this—I tried to attach the neckband after I got home yesterday. I was too tired and it came out a bit wonky. I thought I would leave it and deal with the neckband this morning, but I decided to take it out and re-clip it while the husband and I watched heavy equipment repair videos after dinner.

I should be able to find five minutes before leaving for church this morning to attach it again, correctly this time. I’ll hem the bottom and sleeves this afternoon.

I’ve also made this top in double-brushed polyester, which is one of the fabrics that I think Joanns managed to do really well. I still have a few pieces in the stash that may get used with this pattern, including one screamingly loud cheetah print in bright green and hot pink. 🤪 I bought a lot of their DBP when they were going out of business.

The Finer Points of Pattern Grading

This post falls under “things I know but sometimes forget when I am in the midst of a project” and it’s going to be a long one. This issue came up in Tuesday’s class on fitting the Cashmerette Concord Tee and I have been mulling it over ever since. I want to address it here because talking through it will help my thought processes going forward.

Pattern companies have become much more size inclusive—both smaller and larger—over the past several years. The indie companies were the first ones to respond to customer requests for expanded sizing, but now the Big 4/7 pattern companies are also offering expanded size ranges.

Generally speaking, most patterns are built for a woman 5'5" tall with a B-cup. If your bust is larger then that, you are usually required to make a full bust adjustment, or FBA. It’s important to note that cup size here refers to dressmaker cup size, not bra cup size. Dressmaker cup size is the difference between high bust and full but measurements. Bra cup size is the difference between full bust measurement and band measurement.

Bust measurement isn’t the only consideration, though, when expanding sizes. And pattern grading does not—should not—consist of making the entire pattern proportionally smaller or larger all the way around as the sizes decrease or increase. Human bodies are not built that way. Some parts change in size at a faster or slower rate than others as the sizes change. Most pattern companies that offer expanded sizing use different “blocks” for different size ranges. The block is the starting form from which each design is drafted.

I did something similar when grading knitting patterns in my Excel spreadsheets. Sizes in one range started with certain assumptions and sizes in a larger range started with different assumptions. That could be another post in itself so I am going to leave that there for now.

[I am trying not to make an encylopedia entry out of this post. There is a lot to unpack here.]

Cashmerette offers a lovely size calculator on their website to help determine what size pattern to make.

You enter your measurements and your bra cup size and the calculator tells you which pattern pieces to use. My high bust measurement is 38", my full bust measurement is 43", my waist measurement is 37", and my hip measurement is 46". My Wacoal bra cup size is G because of that size difference between band (38") and full bust (43") and because a gene for large Eastern European breasts runs in my family. 😁 The size calculator tells me that I should start with the size 14 bust, grade out to an 18 at the waist, and back to a 16 at the hips.

Those measurements put me in the 12-32 size range—the other range is 0-16—and the E/F cup pattern piece, although I usually go with the G/H pattern piece because I like the extra room there. When I made the Concord Tee, I used the 12-32 pattern and the G/H cup pattern piece and did the suggested grading between sizes. It isn’t really possible to grade between the two size ranges because they are based on different blocks, so if the measurements put you in that situation, you may have to grade manually within your size range (e.g., make the hips a size 18 within the 0-16 range).

When I downloaded the Wexford pattern from the Cashmerette Club last year, I printed the 0-16 pattern for some reason instead of the 12-32 pattern. According to the size chart in the pattern, I could make the size 16 and be fine, so that’s what I did. Because it’s a swing top that isn’t fitted at the waist, the waist measurement is not as critical. I traced the size 16 (not 14) G/H pattern piece, then cut it at the cutting line, lengthened it by 3", and redrew the seamlines to smooth them out.

I did not simply add length at the bottom. The lengthen/shorten lines are there for a reason. You can see that there is no bust dart as such in this pattern; it has that “boob bump” to accommodate the bustline and that works fine in knit fabrics.

This size and modification fits me fine. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about the differences in the two pattern blocks and how that would affect the size and pieces I chose, so I had the 12-32 pattern range for the Wexford top printed at the blueprint shop yesterday. I pulled the G/H pattern piece and laid my modified pattern piece on top.

It’s hard to see without a closeup, but in this size range, my pattern piece actually corresponds to the size 12 at the bust. (The two ranges do not correlate one-to-one in sizes.) And I could have saved myself some work by using this pattern piece because the extra length is built in—most of it, anyway.

Cashmerette has a page on their website about choosing your size range. They note that the size 0-16 range has the following characteristics:

• The bust darts are slightly higher

• There is less ease at the waist and hip (this varies by pattern)

• The waists are slightly lower (i.e. less short-waisted)

• The front lengths are slightly shorter

• In some cases, the side seams are slightly straighter.

This explains why I should stick to the size 12-32 size range: I need lower bust darts, more ease at the waist, and I certainly need the extra length. The higher waist of the 12-32 range also works better for me. I may make another wearable Wexford muslin from my size in the 12-32 range just to compare the fit of the two versions. Knits are very forgiving, so it may be hard to pin down specific differences, but it would be an educational exercise nonetheless.

*****

I canned up 14 quarts of salsa yesterday with one almost-full quart left over that went into the fridge to be eaten this week because it is delicious. (The canner only holds 14 quarts.) I have enough tomatoes ready for another seven quarts or so and will process those today. That puts us at about half the needed amount for this year. I’d like to try to finish the rest next week but I’ll have to see how things go.

Salsa Production

I cooked down enough tomatoes for at least one canner load of salsa—14 quarts—but I may get more than that. I do my salsa in the pressure canner. This is not gourmet salsa. This is the salsa you make when your husband eats a quart of it a week and you have to put up 50+ quarts. I will heat up the sauce again this morning and add the vinegar, garlic, onions, peppers, and spices and see where I’m at with the quantity.

While I was waiting for the tomatoes to cook down, I did some pattern work and made a wearable muslin of the Cashmerette Wexford:

The fabric is some rayon/spandex from the Walmart remnant rack. (I see that it needs to make the acquaintance of an iron.) The length is perfect after adding 3" to the pattern. I made the neckline higher but I think I went too high. I’d still like to frankenpattern it into a cowl neck. I need to lengthen the sleeves by about an inch.

It looks like I am spending my time on dead simple garments—and to a certain extent, that’s true—but I am trying to cement some basic drafting principles into my brain. I am also trying to determine how different designers handle full bust adjustments. Some of them do it better than others. This approach probably only makes sense to me and that’s okay. If I didn’t experiment and sew up new patterns, I never would have found that Simplicity darted raglan pattern.

I am itching to move on to princess seams.

*****

Our neighbors went to Greece last month. I watch for anything odd at their property while they are gone because I have a great line of sight from our front windows. Theresa always brings me a gift from their travels—sometimes scarves, sometimes aprons, both of which she knows I love. This time, it was an apron:

The embroidery on this is just beautiful. And the apron itself is linen. This is a special dress-up apron, for sure. 🥰

*****

Sewing classes are still filling up, and I am working on an event for next spring. It is gratifying to see how everything is coming together. I like to be busy and this is a good kind of busy.

Still with the Wildlife

Being that we are out in the boonies (relatively), people often drop off unwanted animals in our area. Dogs and cats are not uncommon—we have a couple of feral cats patrolling the chicken coop for mice—but I’ve even seen roosters wandering around until they get picked off by coyotes or mountain lions.

This is a new one for me. About a month ago, the husband asked me if I had seen the new bunny in the yard:

This is not the wild rabbit that lives under our porch. This bunny was someone’s pet or 4H project. It has been busy gorging itself on the lush grass in our yard, although it does seem partial to knapweed. 🧐

I do not want a bunny. I am not bringing this one into the house. I have no idea what will happen when winter arrives. Will this bunny survive living under the porch? I think it’s awful that someone just dumped it out here.

*****

This is sitting on the porch waiting to be installed:

After two more baby chimney swifts fell down the chimney this summer (four in the past three years), the husband ordered a cap. I’ll have to lift him up on the forklift so he can install it. We’ve done that before when he has needed to clean the chimney. The top of the chimney is 40' up in the air.

The forest animals need to live outside. I would make an exception for another Charlotte in my kitchen because I hate flies, but that’s it. No mice, no bunnies, no chimney swifts.

*****

I have three days in a row at home now. I should work on salsa. I would rather sew. We will see which wins out (probably salsa). Paperwork is first on the list this morning.

A Flowery Concord Tee

The Cashmerette Concord Tee pattern is destined for the tried-and-true pile, although I probably will tweak it a bit more. I made one yesterday out of a cotton/lycra print from the quilt store in town. (The fabric and the dress form cover want to stick to each other, so it was hard to get the top to hang properly.) In the next iteration, I am going to make the lower neckline. I normally prefer higher necklines but I am not fond of the shape of this one. It looks wonky on the dress form but it sits properly on my body.

The fit of this is good and it’s long enough. I am eager to see how Kim’s version turns out in class today.

I belong to the Cashmerette Club, which is Cashmerette’s all-access membership. I bought myself a subscription last year for my birthday. I think it’s a good value and I will probably join again this year. I haven’t made as many of their patterns as I thought I might but there are additional resources that are very useful. One of the Club patterns I downloaded is the Wexford Swing Top.

After I finished the Concord, I got out the Wexford pattern and traced it. I am curious to see how it compares to the Love Notions Laundry Day Tee. I made several of those a few years ago and wore them to death. I had to lengthen the Wexford by 3"—that is a standard alteration on just about every top I make—and I am hoping to zip one out tomorrow to check the fit.

It’s a bit weird to be working with knits again after making so many woven tops this summer. The advantages are that I don’t have to sew bust darts and I can make many of these tops completely on the serger. However, I don’t feel like I am in my winter sewing groove quite yet. The sunny and 65F weather might have something to do with that. We fall off the weather cliff (again) on Friday. Snow levels are supposed to drop to 3500'. We are at 3250' so we might get some.

And I think I might start working on salsa tomorrow. I will put some tomatoes in the roaster to cook down overnight and that will speed the process. The tomatoes are taking up an awful lot of space in the freezers.

New, Old, and Hacked Patterns

Yes, I have been a Chatty Cathy this week. I have been spending a lot of time lately going over old patterns and making adjustments, frankenpatterning some new ideas, and testing out new patterns. Yesterday, I made a muslin of the Cashmerette Concord Tee. (The description says “The ultimate customizable tee sewing pattern, made specifically for big boobs!” 🎉 ) I particularly love this tunic version with the sleeve tabs.

One of my students in next Tuesday’s T-shirt class is making this pattern and I wanted to test it out. I probably won’t wear the muslin I made because the color and print are not flattering on me and the fabric—a Walmart remnant rack find—is of lesser quality than I like. It worked great for the muslin, though.

[Our Kalispell Walmart underwent renovation recently. The arts and crafts section moved to the back of the store and we lost our remnant rack. I have been mourning this because that remnant rack was a great place to get inexpensive fabrics for muslins. The store in Missoula still has its remnant rack. I called Walmart customer service last week and asked to have the remnant rack reinstated at the Kalispell store. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, I have a stash of fabrics I can use for muslins.]

One lovely feature of the Cashmerette patterns is the size calculator on their website. You put in your measurements and it tells you what size(s) to use from the pattern, including any places you have to grade between sizes. No guessing. The muslin fit perfectly, which was a big confidence booster to me after the issues I had with the On Repeat Top. I pulled some fabrics and should be able to knock out out a few Concord Tees soon.

Yes, it’s October and yes, it’s getting colder, but I like long-sleeved tees for this time of year or for layering under other pieces.

I also lengthened the Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater pattern—which I adore—into a hemmed tunic-style sweater. It has the original turtleneck neckline, but I also created an option for a cowl neck.

I made the necessary adjustments to the On Repeat Woven Top pattern and re-traced it onto Pellon Easy Pattern for future use. My initial pattern tracings are on plain tracing paper, which is easier to manipulate and adjust (and cheaper) than the Easy-Pattern, but the Easy-Pattern is sturdier.

Today, I have five students in the Beginning Sewing II classes. We will be making tote bags. On Tuesday, I have two students in the knit T-shirt class, and then no classes again until the Serger 101 class on October 31st. That one has five students signed up, and they are all bringing their own sergers. I am looking forward to that class. Students come in with a machine that baffles them and leave being able to thread it and use it.

One Down, Five to Go

A few months ago, DD#2’s godmother asked me if I would like to have her Singer 401A. She sews a lot but has a newer machine. I got out the 401 a few days ago for a spa day as it will be one of the machines I use for classes. Nancy had taken very good care of it over the years, keeping it well oiled and free of dirt.

I use Goop hand cleaner on machines because I haven’t found anything else that cleans the innards as well as it does without being toxic or dangerous. I have to be careful with it on the outside of the machine because it can take off decals, but it liquifies the old grease and leaves the mechanisms clean and ready for fresh oil.

This is Nancy’s machine in the process of disassembly. I didn’t take the time to do a complete teardown—I have five other machines to clean, all of which need more work—but I tackled the areas that needed the most cleaning. That base comes off (and did) to let me get at the mechanisms underneath the machine.

After cleaning:

I hooked up a power cord and an electronic foot pedal and ran the machine for a few minutes to let the fresh oil work its way through. This one is ready to use and I expect it will sew beautifully.

I do have a workbench out in my garage, but I’ll often bring machines into the kitchen for cleaning so I can cook or monitor other activities while I work.

******

Pattern Emporium just released the BFF Bermuda Shorts and Pants pattern. (PE is located in Australia, in case you’re wondering why an indie designer would release a pattern for shorts in the fall.) Here is the line art:

These are on the wish list for next summer; I prefer skirts to shorts, but I could be persuaded to make a pair of these in black linen.

A Swing and a Miss and a New Tool

A lot was happening behind the scenes over the summer. One of those secret projects was my application to become a Bernina Ambassador. The open call went out in June. The submission deadline was the end of July. The submission had to include a proposal, photos of a sewing project, a sample tutorial, and an optional video. There were two categories: Social Media Influencer or Educator. Obviously, I chose Educator.

I wrote the proposal, leaning heavily on the fact that I own four Bernina machines and teach extensively. I had lots of photos of sewing projects, I have produced many tutorials in the form of class handouts and patterns. The weak link, for me, was the video. Even though the video was optional, I felt it was important to include one, so I spent most of my time working on that part of the submission. Video is the reason I don’t have a YouTube channel. I have the equipment. I know how to make and edit videos. I don’t enjoy doing it. I did it anyway, for this submission, and when it was done, I was very proud of how it turned out. I chose to video one of the techniques I teach in my serger cording foot class. Maybe I will post the video in a future blog post.

I submitted my entry a week before the deadline so it wouldn’t run up against bike tour. Candidates were supposed to be notified some time in early September. Early September came and went with no word from Bernina. I accepted the fact that I probably hadn’t made the cut, and earlier this week I got the e-mail confirming that fact.

I don’t often not succeed at what I attempt. (I will not use the word fail here, because failing implies I didn’t even try.) Bernina was looking for something—someone—specific and I didn’t meet their criteria. But that opened up space for me to go ahead with the sewing classes, and those have been a success by every metric I consider important. The possibility of a YouTube channel is still on the table, too, although if I really wanted to have a YouTube channel, there would be one already.

I think it’s important to talk about the efforts that don’t produce the desired results just as much as it’s important to talk about the ones that do. I could have chosen not to mention my Ambassador application and none of you would have been the wiser. However, this isn’t Instagram. You don’t get only the polished, perfect image. You get it all.

*****

It is a bit of a joke here at Chez Schuster-Szabo that the husband has never met a tool he didn’t like. I didn’t think there was a tool he didn’t own, but then I found one.

We have been sweeping out our respective garages using push brooms. For him, that’s not a big deal. His shop has a beautifully smooth concrete floor because it was poured by a professional (him). My garage has a very rough floor with no level spots and a lot of patching over cracks. It takes me a good hour and a lot of elbow grease to get the dirt out of the garage, and I have to sweep it periodically or the dirt ends up in the car and the house. Recently, an ad for a manual sweeper popped up on Facebook. I ordered one. It arrived Monday afternoon, so yesterday morning, I assembled it and went to work:

This thing is amazing. It took me fifteen minutes to sweep the floor. Everything goes into a hopper in the middle, which lifts out for emptying. I dumped at least a pound of dirt and rocks out in the driveway.

They make even fancier versions of these sweepers that are battery powered, but when your husband is a firefighter and you spend your evenings watching videos of fire departments battling structure fires caused by tool and car batteries that malfunction and end up in thermal runaway, you develop an aversion to things with batteries. 😳

I told the husband he could borrow my sweeper if he wants.

The Students Want to Learn

One of the young women who came to the Beginning Sewing class yesterday drove from a town an hour and a half away. Almost all of my students are telling me that they have been wanting to learn to sew but couldn’t find any classes locally. I have some thoughts about that. Why didn’t Joann Fabrics have a corporate policy of offering beginning sewing classes in their stores? That is almost a no-brainer to me. If you want customers—and an ongoing revenue stream—sometimes you have to create them.

[Joanns had a whole host of problems that went way beyond offering classes, but we’ve been over that before.]

These students aren’t looking to quilt stores for instruction. Most of them either assume quilt stores are only for quilters or they are afraid to go in looking uninformed. I make a point of telling my students that even teachers were beginners once. Heck, I didn’t spring forth as an accomplished church pianist. (If only.)

Several of my students are also asking for knitting classes, so I may have to add some of those at some point. And maybe more canning classes next summer. The desire to learn those skills is there.

The husband asked me how I like teaching Home Ec. Ha ha.

Speaking of Home Ec, I need some aprons. Some of mine are wearing out, and aprons are one of those things that I am loath to buy because I can make them. I am a bit particular about my aprons, though, and I am quickly reaching that place where it may make more sense to buy some than to make them. T-shirts are the same way. If I can buy basic Gildan T-shirts at Michaels for less than it would cost me to make them (in both time and money), I am probably going to buy the T-shirts.

I could justify this by buying apron blanks and practicing some machine embroidery on them. 🧐

Salsa production is not going to happen this week. I am aiming for next week. I’m going to clean and organize this morning and do some sewing this afternoon. I also bought myself a new tool and I’d like to try it out today. Stay tuned for photos.

I Almost Forgot to Add a Title

One of the unexpected consequences of starting this new sewing school business is that I have had to get very intentional and organized about advertising, communicating to students, e-mail newsletters, posting on Facebook, etc. Those same things needed to be done for the podcast and I just hadn’t gotten my act together. You might think it would be confusing to have to manage two projects simultaneously, but there are so many similarities that it’s actually been much easier.

I think I am going to need a bigger desk planner, though.

One of my students from Saturday’s class came over yesterday morning to try out some vintage sewing machines. We chose three for her to take home to sew on. The first was a vintage pink-and-gray Japanese machine with a beefy 1.5 amp motor. It’s a beautiful machine and I have been waiting for the right owner to come along. She did like that one. She also took a straight-stitch Necchi Mira and a Singer 401A. She wasn’t sure if she wants zig-zag and decorative stitch capabilities or not. We’ll see which machine she settles on. (She only has room for one.)

Another of my sewing friends (hi, Kim!) came over to get the Cashmerette Concord T-shirt pattern for next Tuesday’s T-shirt class. I set up wholesale accounts with a few indie pattern companies and Cashmerette was one of them. I also tried to set up a wholesale account with Simplicity.com, but I was told that I did not qualify. Oh, well.

And then The Other Janet came over to get more squash (hallelujah). She brought me a jar of spiced pear jam. I tried it after she left and it was all I could do not to eat the entire jar. I’ll stir some into my yogurt this morning.

In between all those visits, I recorded today’s podcast episode and also made the class sample for Saturday’s tote bag class. I am using the Classic Mini Tote pattern purchased from Pin, Cut, Sew Studio. The kits are are all cut and ready to go. This is my version:

I used canvas left over from some other projects with a waxed canvas bottom. The tote is not lined, but it is finished nicely inside. I serged my inside edges and I’ll take my Juki 654 with me to class on Saturday so the students can finish the insides of theirs.

This whole sewing school thing has really been an example of “If you build it . . .” I started by putting a few basic classes on the calendar, but if anyone asked for a class, I scheduled it. And once I scheduled it, other people signed up. I now have four students in the Serger 101 class at the end of the month. I am going to expand my advertising down to Missoula, because I think there are people there who would drive to Kalispell for a class.

I have another Beginning Sewing class this morning, and then I will spend the afternoon in Kalispell running errands. The chickens need need feed and scratch grains.

Connecting the Dots

My beginning sewing class went very well yesterday. The setup worked reasonably well—I am using the church basement, which has quite a bit of room, although perhaps not as many outlets as I would like and even fewer outlets that will accommodate grounded plugs. I put the ironing board and cutting mat in the kitchen and we managed just fine. Capping my classes at six students was a good decision, at least for the moment.

The machines worked beautifully. One of the students brought a machine, which I encourage if the machine is in good working order. I pulled out this machine, a White that I bought for myself in 1991. It was a workhorse which served me well for many years until I bought my Janome 6600P. I sewed all of my girls’ Halloween costumes on it.

I was pretty sure there would be interest in sewing classes here, but I may have underestimated just how much interest. I have five students signed up for next Saturday’s tote bag class. Someone asked about a Serger 101 class, so I put one on the schedule and now I have students signed up for that at the end of October. And I have a couple of Kids Sewing classes scheduled for the week between Christmas and New Year that are filling quickly.

This is a good problem to have. 😊

All four students completed a pillowcase.

I love pillowcases as beginning projects because we use the “burrito” method, which is kind of magical. The students get a lot of practice sewing straight seams. (We do French seams on the inside.) And who doesn’t need a pillowcase?

*****

I am pretty sure I have mentioned the Steve Jobs calligraphy story before. Steve Jobs took a calligraphy course as a college dropout because he found the subject interesting, even though it had no practical application to his life at the time. Later, that calligraphy experience became central to the variety of fonts offered on Macintosh computers.

When relating that story, he said,

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Why was I compelled to buy all those sewing machines? Why was I compelled to accumulate all those Joann remnants? Why was I compelled to sew at all? Maybe it was to get me to this moment. I can’t say for certain, but I am pretty sure that I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing, right now.

Home Ec Machines

I am ready for sewing students this morning. I now have four in the Beginning Sewing class. We are going to make pillowcases, so yesterday morning, I spent a few hours prepping pillowcase kits. One of the side effects of teaching classes independently is that I can provide kits. Stores like to have students purchase their class materials at the store, which is completely understandable, but sometimes the stores don’t have exactly what the students need. (I do try to let the store know the needs ahead of time.) Sometimes the students wait until they get to class to purchase supplies, which takes up class time. Even if I give students a list of suggested fabrics, one or two will show up with material that is completely unsuitable, hasn’t been prewashed, etc. Providing a kit means that I know each student will have exactly what is needed for class. The price of the kit is built into the cost of the class. If students want to buy an extra kit for practicing at home, they can.

I bought all of those Joann remnants for a reason, even if I didn’t know it at the time. 😇

I took my tables, chairs, ironing board, iron, and cutting mat up to the church yesterday afternoon. When I got home, I thought I would look over my sewing machines but the husband had come home early from work. He and I went out and did some garden cleanup in anticipation of the bad weather coming in. I looked at my machines after we finished.

I have—ahem—a few sewing machines. Not all are in useable condition. Some just require a good cleaning. Some need parts. I have half a dozen Singer 403s and Rocketeers which eventually will become my class machines. (Thank you, Nancy!) If they were good enough for high school Home Ec classes, they are good enough for me. They all need new foot pedals, though. I always put new electronic foot pedals on any machine I rehab because those old carbon pile foot pedals run the risk of catching on fire. I made a list of what I need to order and will get those on the way. Apple didn’t invent the practice of changing power cords willy-nilly. Singer was doing that back in the 1960s. Some machines (same model) need an integrated power cord/foot pedal and some need a separate power cord and foot pedal.

For today, we will use some of the other machines that have been serviced and are working nicely. And I am looking forward to tinkering with machines again. It has been an age.

I had someone text me and ask about a Serger 101 class, so that’s on the schedule now, too, along with a Kids Sewing class at the end of December. The Kids class was requested by a mom for her two daughters for the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

*****

I am very glad that I am not driving across the passes this weekend, although the Jeep does have its snow tires on. I expect to see snow on the mountains by Sunday morning. We are under a Wind Advisory from 6 pm tonight until 6 am tomorrow. This weather is coming in as a back door cold front, which means we will get that east wind off the mountains.

And after that, who knows? It looks like another ridge of high pressure builds in, but the temps aren’t going to be much above 60F, if that.

Setting in Sleeves

I took in the On Repeat top by 1/2" at each side—changing the 3/8" seam allowance to a 5/8" seam allowance—and I like the fit much better. I will go down a size next time. It seems odd to me that the front pattern pieces of the Scout Tee, the Cadence/Burda mashup, and the On Repeat top were similar in size and shape but the On Repeat top ended up needing to be taken in. (All have 3/8" seam allowances.) I am still puzzling that out.

In any case, I wore the top yesterday. It will stay in the rotation.

And this is how I do my sleeves. I begin by matching the notch at the top of the cap with the shoulder seam and pinning it in place. I also pin the bases of the cap to the bases of the armscye:

That clip is to identify the back of the sleeve cap. I do snip in the single and double notches, but the clip is a more visible reminder.

Then I pin the back of the sleeve cap into the armscye.

The back usually goes in easily as the curve of the sleeve cap and the curve of the armscye are both shallower there and match up well. I also try to make my pins “bite” along the stitching line.

The front requires a bit more finesse because this is where the excess of the cap is being gathered into the tighter curve of the armscye. I usually begin by matching notches and pinning there, first, then going back and doing the rest of the cap. Basically, I am taking up small chunks of the cap as I work. I unpin and move fabric and re-pin until I am happy with it.

The cap side of the seam goes against the feed dogs, which will ease in the extra fabric as I sew. I place my index finger along the stitching line to feel for any pleats or extra fabric and work them out as I go.

When I’ve sewn the seam and verified that there are no pleats or puckers, I finish the seam on the serger and press it toward the sleeve. And this is another reason to have larger seam allowances in garments: When I have to finish a seam on the serger, it helps to be able to cut off a bit of the seam allowance for a neater edge.

That’s it. So much easier (for me) than setting in a sleeve the traditional way.

*****

Salsa production is on the schedule for next week. I’ll can pumpkin/squash, too, if I am motivated enough. I might as well get it all done so I can put the canning supplies away. It’s time to sew.

A Hanger is Not a Body

I finished the On Repeat top yesterday morning.

I have some thoughts. I think this is a well-designed and well-drafted pattern. However, it is not nearly as flared on my body as it appears on the hanger. In fact, when I hung it up to take this photo, I thought it looked like a completely different top. That is the difference between a garment hanging on a hanger and a garment hanging on a body with significant topography. I probably could stand to go down a size, too, even though I made the size indicated by my measurements. The top is designed with relaxed shoulders which are intended to drop off the body a bit. I would probably move the shoulder seam back in on the next iteration. My shoulders are broad enough without having that seam dropping off, making them look wider.

Do I like it? Yes, but I don’t love it, not like I love the Simplicity 8909 raglan top I made. (I need a few more of that one.) Will I wear it? Yes, absolutely. It is the kind of top you throw on and don’t have to think about. I am going to wear it today, in fact. Will I make the pattern again? Probably, although I may want to tinker with it a bit. The linen is heavenly. I was tempted to show the finished top to you wrinkled, because I like my linen a bit rumply, but I pressed it before I took the pic.

[If you have a chance, go listen this this month’s Sewing with Threads podcast episode. It is an interview with Saremy Duffy, author of Fitopedia and a former guest on my podcast. I would love to have her on again if we can get something on the schedule. In the Threads interview, she made so many good points about clothing design and fitting. I have great respect for indie pattern designers because they are trying to please a lot of different body shapes, and I don’t think home sewists always understand that they likely will have to make changes to a pattern to make it fit them well.]

I spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon comparing the Scout Tee, the Cadence/Burda mashup, and this top. It helps me so much to see patterns in front of me and to compare the similarities and differences.

*****

I canned up the second batch of sauerkraut after lunch yesterday. Now I just have to do salsa and some pumpkin/squash for pies. Anna came over in the later afternoon to get tomatoes for soup. Amazingly, they are still going, although some of the plants did get nipped by frost and the turkeys are munching their way through the fruit that is left on the vines. This is the latest in the year that I have ever been harvesting out of the garden. We didn’t cover anything, either. Anna is going to move a bunch of the squash over to her garage and I’ll take what is left to church and the food bank.

I’ve got my first beginning sewing students in a class on Saturday morning. I’ll be taking some tables and machines up to the church tomorrow. I have permission to store a few things there, which is great. I didn’t want to have to be hauling tables, chairs, and machines to the church every time I teach a class.

Winter Approaches

We are enjoying the last golden days of fall before the weather falls off a cliff. Yesterday was sunny and 72F and I drove to Missoula to teach a (very enjoyable) serger mastery class. On the way home, I stopped at the Amish store for a cup of peanut butter chip ice cream, which I ate outside while basking in the late afternoon sun.

By Sunday, highs are supposed to be in the low 40s. It is time to button up the garden and greenhouse. The squash will have to go somewhere. There are flies in my laundry room and I have thought, more than once, of hunting down a barn spider and installing it in my kitchen for the winter. I miss Charlotte.

I’ve put together 3/4 of an On Repeat top. Once again, the lighting is awful.

This linen is lovely despite being wrinkled from handling. You may wonder why I put my sleeves in flat. I have given up trying to set sleeves into finished armscyes. I have been trying for years to do it the traditional way and can’t. I have tried every trick in the book. I set sleeves in flat when I was knitting and I have decided to continue doing it that way because I get a beautifully smooth sleeve cap with no swearing. I will try to take some photos on the next one so you can see my method. I don’t necessarily recommend it as the best way; it is simply the way that works for me.

I also have some thoughts about seam allowances. I am not sure what is leading the charge against 5/8" seam allowances, but I am not in favor of the narrower seam allowances in most garment patterns these days. A 1/2" seam allowance is okay but not ideal; a 3/8" seam allowance is even less so. I have run across one or two patterns with 1/4" seam allowances, which is just ridiculous. We are making clothing, not quilts. I would rather have the wider allowance and trim off any excess with the serger. I may begin adding a bit extra to the seam allowances when I trace my patterns just because I can.

I have not yet decided how to schedule the rest of my week. I have an appointment in town tomorrow at 11, so it makes the most sense to me to wait and run all my errands while I am there despite the fact that the husband is out of the mixed nuts he likes to snack on in the evenings. (He pointed that out to me.) Also—and you did not hear me say this—I am a bit tired of driving. More to the point, I am tired of dodging idiots on the road. I can’t start salsa production until I get some onions and hot peppers, but the second batch of sauerkraut is ready to be canned. I probably will do that today after I finish the On Repeat top.

I watched a YouTube video last week of a sewist in the UK who decided that she needed to reprioritize her schedule to make sewing something she did first every day instead of last. That resonated with me. So often, sewing is the reward I give myself when I finish all my other tasks. The problem is that I am a shining supernova in the morning, which makes morning the best time for me to do focused work that requires a lot of mental energy, like paperwork and writing. Sewing works best for me in the late morning and after lunch. I want to keep that arrangement through the winter but figure out how to put some guardrails around my sewing time so it doesn’t get pushed down the list by something else.