The Holidays

marleycoat
Originally uploaded by mclittledrink.

I feel that I am depriving what few readers I have of sewing goodness, but have no fear - I come with good news! As you can see, I have (pretty much) finished the dog jacket and booties. I am supposed to add a strap, but I am still contemplating on that one. The booties even have vinyl on the bottom for extra snow protection! too bad this pattern is out of print now.

I don't have the little dog around to see how it will all work out, so I have to devise a plan and see if it works. >:-) I'm crossing my fingers hoping it fits.

Anyway...

The other day I got this great magazine - Classic Style - in the mail. It really is a great magazine, and seeing all the beautiful people and clothing in it, it really hit me. I really started questioning whether I will ever make clothes like that for myself and be successful. It kinda bummed me out. Okay, it really bummed me out. I get frustrated sometimes because I think I'm getting too old to dress a certain way or that once I get to be a certain age (like maybe by the time I really do start sewing clothes a lot for myself), that I wont be able to wear them.

I know that must sound ridiculous because these clothes are timeless -talking 1940s/1950s/early 60s clothes- to me. I think I got over that thought and am just getting into the swing of things again. I have had a long break from sewing due to all the other crafting I am doing for Christmas. Not to mention my computer addiction (it IS a problem).

So once the excitement of the Holidays is over, I will seriously start some muslin mockups of some stuff I want to make. And undoubtedly, I will get started on the real shirt I am making for Ben. I'm only on his mockup right now, and I feel so bad for being so behind.

Sorry for the lack of...

Sewing goodness, and videos! I have been so busy knitting and reknitting my brother's Christmas gift. I messed up twice and had to redo it. I am done with the first half and should be back to sewing for his DOG tonight! So be on the lookout for in progress dog sweater pictures.

The videos are horrible, so they are not up yet. Sorry! Gimme time...please :D

Basic Stitches

Here is the monologue I wrote for the most basic stitches on the sewing machine. The zigzag and the straight stitch. I intend on making a video with this as the narrative, but thought I'd let you read it too. A video will follow shortly, in the coming days.

"There are 2 basic stitches in machine sewing. They are all you really need to make anything. There's the straight stitch and the zigzag stitch. These stitches will be on any sewing machine since the 1870's. In the newer machines, there are fancier stitches, some have more some have less. The basic sewing machines being made today could have from 7 basic stitches to over 20 elaborate ones.

The machine I am working on has 26 stitches on it. I am only demonstrating the basic stitches today; the zigzag, and the straight stitch.

In order to start sewing the straight stitch, you need to make sure that your machine is set to sew the straight stitch, and we can do this by simply turning a wheel. Sometimes this wheel is on the front of the machine, mine just happens to be on the side.

There's usually an indication telling you which stitch the machine is set on, whether it be an arrow on the wheel, or on the machine pointing to a diagram, or like on my machine, there's a red dot which slides to tell me which stitch I am about to sew.

Once you've set your machine for the straight stitch, you need to set your tension based on the fabric, thread, and needle you are using. All of these things are important. I suggest using a constrasting color for your bobbin in the beginning.

Basically, here, if you see your bobbin thread peeking up on the top side of the fabric, the tension is too tight. If your spool thread is showing up on the underside, the tension is too loose. The lower the number, the less tension (pressure) there is, and the higher the number, the more tension there is. There are other reasons for poor tension, such as the wrong needle, the machine's timing is off, or the thread is poor quality or too thick/thin for the fabric or needle."