The Many Ways to Sew

My friend Deana and I went to Thursday sewing for a bit yesterday and we laughed so hard my belly hurt. Sunnie and Robin and I are going to try to get to Spokane for a few days in August if nothing is on fire. It rained again yesterday and more is in the forecast for next week, so I am optimistic.

After sewing, we grabbed some lunch, ran a few errands, then ended up at the quilt store. I dropped off the Harper Cardigan and the Kaffe top and got fabric for a few more store samples. I am going to hole up in my sewing room after Robert and Deana leave and do nothing but sew for at least a week.

The store owner and the class coordinator and I sat down with our calendars and scheduled several classes between now and the end of the year. I had prepared a list of potential classes in five different areas—quilting, general sewing, embroidery, garment-making, and serging—and we chose one class from each category for every month.

I am trying to maintain control of my schedule, and referring to sewing and teaching as my job—which it is—seems to be the only way I can keep people from assuming that my time is up for grabs. I am not retired. I don’t have unlimited leisure time to be at other people’s beck and call.

About that new serger . . .

When I bought my L860, three years ago, I chose that model rather than the L890 coverstitch/serger combo machine because I already had a Janome coverstitch machine. And my coverstitch machine mostly does what the L890 does—mostly. The Janome is particular about certain threads. It tends to shred metallics because the thread path takes a hard 90-degree turn against a metal guide. 😕

Bernina recently came out with some belt loop folders for the L890. Photo from the Bernina website.

The belt loop folders do exactly what their name suggests; they make belt loops. (If you look at the underside of the belt loops on jeans, you will see that they are usually done on a coverstitch machine.) I’m not in the business of making coverstitch belt loops, but Gail Yellen has used these folders to make some very cool (not belt loop) sewing projects. I had the chance to try out these folders at BU in the Overlocker Accessories class.

I want to make some of the Gail Yellen projects. I also teach classes on this machine model. I decided it was easier just to have one of my own. I’m going to keep the Janome coverstitch set up for hemming knits, because it does that very well. I’ll use this machine for other coverstitch techniques.

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I mowed the grass in the garden yesterday morning—before it rained, thankfully. Everything is looking great out there. The raspberries are ripening. I weeded the potatoes a few days ago and accidentally dug up two classic russets which were already a respectable size. We had them with dinner last night. The brassicas look amazing and I think I am going to have a lot of cabbages. The peppers, squash and cucumbers are still small but I don’t expect to start harvesting from them for another couple of weeks yet. I am satisfied with where we’re at right now.