Ruffly Aprons on the Serger

Apron class was a lot of fun. I only had one student—she took my Serger 101 class at this store last month—but she was engaged and ready to learn and that makes teaching that much more enjoyable. She has a couple of friends who were interested in taking the class but both had conflicts yesterday. I said that if they wanted to choose a date, I’d be happy to arrange something for all three of them. I’ve started offering that option to students. The two women who took my Harper Cardigan class also wanted to take the Laundry Day Tee class that I’m teaching next weekend, but they will be out of town. I told them I would do a class for them if we can find a date that works for all three of us and the store.

My student has a serger she inherited from a cousin when the cousin upgraded. It’s a Brother 925D and it is probably the easiest serger I’ve ever threaded. And despite being an older model, the machine was able to do all the techniques in the pattern. We were using an apron pattern designed by Deb Canham for BabyLock and provided as a free download on the BabyLock website. I like to use manufacturer patterns when I can—this store is a BabyLock dealer—but one of the issues I sometimes encounter is that manufacturer patterns are designed to showcase the latest and greatest features of the new high-end machines. Those features might be lacking on older or lower-end machines. For example, the newer sergers can make stitches up to 9mm wide. My Juki 654-DE only makes stitches up to 7mm wide, and this Brother 925D had a max stitch width of 6mm. The apron featured flatlock stitches with 12wt thread on the pocket. We were able to get the Brother to make the flatlock stitch, but it wasn’t as wide or as dramatic as it was on the class sample, which I made on my Bernina.

Still, the apron turned out beautifully:

The last couple of steps have to be done on the sewing machine, so my student was going to do those at home. She also plans to make a Christmas version of this apron. Both of us were very happy with the class. She added several new techniques to her arsenal, including working with decorative thread and gathering. I still think she’s going to outgrow that machine sooner rather than later, but it has been an excellent machine for her to learn on. If I ever run across that model in a thrift store, I certainly would consider buying it.

The store was very busy yesterday. Apparently, a large group of quilters was having a retreat somewhere here in the Flathead and shopping was on the schedule. They split into two groups; one half came to the store north of town and one half went to the store south of town. After lunch, they flipped.

Speaking of that Harper Cardigan (again), I ran across a YouTube video last night where the sewist made the cropped version and added buttons. I am so tempted. I shied away from cropped tops and cardigans during that interminable period of time when they were paired with low-rise pants but now that the fashion world has come to its senses and high-rise pants are back in style—forever, I hope—I find that I love cropped tops and sweaters paired with my high-rise, wide-leg Liz Claiborne jeans.

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The husband stayed home yesterday and worked on replacing all the screws holding the metal roofing in place on the porch roof. Our house is 27 years old and he has a laundry list of things that need to be addressed.

I’d like to stay home and get a few things crossed off my list, too, but we have another lunch and meeting after church today. I hope this is the last one for a while.

I’ve got an appointment with my naturopath first thing tomorrow morning. I want to get my snow tires put on this week, too, because I’ll be driving to Seattle in a few weeks. If I don’t get them put on before that trip, I can guarantee there will be a snowstorm over Snoqualmie Pass the day I drive over. The rest of the week will be devoted to getting ready for the co-op sale and the Laundry Day Tee class.