A Degree in Serging

I feel like I am back in school and studying for final exams.

This week has been about planning future serger classes so I can get them done and scheduled and off my to-do list. I spent a frustrating morning yesterday working on class samples for a flatlock class. I threaded up the machine, did some testing, then knocked out a sample. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the settings before I changed them. When I tried to re-create the settings I had used, I couldn’t get the machine to cooperate. I changed the needle. I re-threaded the machine. I got it working, sort of, but I was still having tension issues. My sergers are usually very well behaved. And then it dawned on me—in Monday’s class, one of the students was using some black Maxi-Lock thread from Joanns and was having all sorts of tension problems. She had brought a brand new Baby Lock serger to class, so I knew it wasn’t her machine. I have never had an issue with Maxi-Lock thread. However, I know that sometimes black thread (or black yarn, for that matter) has quality issues because the dyeing process damages the fibers. Part of me wonders if Joanns got a bad batch of black Maxi-Lock thread and both this student and I ended up with it.

I changed to a different color and the tension issues disappeared. I’ll pick up a different brand of black serger thread next time I am in town. Black is not a color I use often, so I hadn’t noticed this problem before. I almost always prefer a dark gray thread unless I am actually using black fabric.

By the time I got that problem sorted, it was almost lunchtime, so I took a break and headed up to sewing for a bit. We had a big group yesterday. I sat and visited for about an hour and came home to do afternoon chores and attempt a few more serger samples.

I’ve pulled out all my bins of apparel remnants so I can experiment with different stitches on various fabrics. I had a couple of pieces of lightweight rayon twill, so I threaded up the machine with some embroidery thread in the upper looper to see how a rolled hem would look:

This turned out so nice that I made this sample into a scarf.

It’s not enough to be theoretical about this stuff. I need to experiment and make samples and push the boundaries so that when—not if, but when—problems come up in class, I can provide solutions. Also, design ideas sometimes come from the edges or from happy accidents.

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I’m not going to complain about the weather. I can’t change it, and I’m not outside working in it like the husband. I will just say that it doesn’t look like things are going to moderate until the middle of next week.

The seedlings are doing well in the greenhouse and should be mostly safe from rodents now. The chicks are attempting to eat their way through a whole 40-pound bag of feed this week. The other day, I opened the lid of the feeder and discovered a chick inside it happily eating away. There always seems to be one little piggy in every batch. I took her out and refilled the feeder.

I’m a bit concerned about those fruit trees we planted two weeks ago. The varieties are hardy to zone 5, which is us, but that probably refers to established trees, not saplings that got planted and then zapped by a cold snap before they had time to acclimate. I guess we’ll find out.