One week later and the sun is shining. The last of the February Fashion Sewing Club meetings is this morning. The coffee in Dunn Bros smells great.
Jacket Techniques class met last night and everyone got at least one sleeve in.
Laurel and I attended the U of M Design Department Senior Style Show last weekend. It was amazing to see the progression of the students from sophomore to senior. There was a wide range of styles, and talent could be seen in them all. For only a $15 ticket and great parking it is definitely something to make sure you see next year.
Ripping Stitches and Beyond
So I’m working on Marcy Tilton’s t-shirt (V8497-see Laurel’s version in January Club Garments post) and I think I’ll be clever and use my new roll of one inch fusible interfacing (a Sewing and Quilting purchase) to mark the hem and give it more stability. Well, I kept getting puckers on the right side fabric of the hem. Did I mention I’m using my Babylock coverstitch? I tried using the differential feed but that didn’t help. As I’m ripping out the hem stitches for the third time, I decide to look in some of my serger books to see if there’s an easy way to rip coverstitch. To quote Singer Sewing With Your Serger, “Remove cover-stitch threads just as you would remove chainstitch threads. With a seam ripper or a straight pin, remover the last two or three stitches formed by each of the needle threads. Turn over the fabric and gently pull on the looper thread until all the stitches unravel. Remove the loose needle threads.”
I tried. It didn’t work. Several times, I tried. I’m wondering if the Babylock stitch formation is different? I settled on this method: Slide seam ripper between needle threads and under looper stitches on the wrong side. Pull needle threads out-they should come easily in one piece. Use your serger tweezers to pull out small pieces of looper stitch to save your fingers and get a few more at a time.
Getting back to the hem-I removed the fusible interfacing from my hem and the problem went away. Maybe the puckers wouldn’t have happened if I had applied the interfacing at the 1″ hemline and above but then it wouldn’t have saved the measuring. Or if I stitched the hem with the hem allowance/interfacing next to the presser foot, would that have helped? But then I’d have the looper side of the coverstitch showing on the right side.
Any suggestions? Ripping out coverstitch or turning up a hem with fusible interfacing strips are the challenges for today.
Looking for fashion forward events?
U of M’s Design Department has its senior student style show, Insight, this Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 and 8. Tickets are $15 purchased online.
Fashion Sewing Club meets next week-Tuesday, Feb. 9, at Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul and Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 11 and 13 at Associated Sewing in Bloomington.
Dress Your Best is Saturday, Mar. 6. Pick up fashion, makeup and image tips from several speakers.
Christopher Straub from Project Runway, Season 6, will speak at The Sampler in Chanhassen on Friday evening, Mar. 12. Call to reserve your $30 ticket-952-934-5307. At last look, it wasn’t on their website.
January Garment Pictures
With no major snow or electrical outages to put a damper on things, the January meetings of Fashion Sewing Club came off without a hitch. Here are the pictures of the garments plus a few show and tell items. If you are a subscriber and didn’t make it to the meeting, email us and we’ll send you copies of the sheets. Otherwise they are available for $3.
Enjoy!
Unfortunately, Zach’s vest is on its way to California and the Ruffled Pajama Top is on display at Treadle. Will do better next time.
Project Runway Star to Speak in Chanhassen
If you watch…Christopher Straub will speak about his experience of being part of Project Runway. See the Shakopee native from Project Runway Season 6 at The Sampler on Friday, Mar. 12, from 7:00 to 9:00. Cost is $30. Call 952-934-5307 to register.
The Sampler is a few doors down from the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and there are some good restaurants right across the street if you want to gather with friends and take in the event.
The Sampler also has a great idea:
Speedy Service Saturday
Saturday, February 20, 10-5
Drop off your machine (all makes & models) and get your machine cleaned and oiled while you shop!
$24.99
Call & make a time slot reservation!
For more details, here’s the link: www.the-sampler.com
New Classes for Winter ’10
And what a winter it’s turning out to be! Actually it’s very conducive to sewing. But I digress. We have a new listing of classes-Skirts That Fit, Jacket Techniques, Love Your Serger, Beginning Sewing-and then our two events-Clear Your Clutter Stash Swap and Dress YOUR Best. Check them out and sign up!
Speaking of the Stash Swap-this is a great time to be cleaning out closets and reevaluating the fabrics you have collected. Bring your items to January Club meetings (or arrange a drop-off) and we’ll give you “cash” to spend at the Swap. Then let’s all get together on Jan. 30 and get that creative energy flowing. Change is good.
Love Your Serger was the best I could come up with for a name for a hands-on serger class. I toyed with “Exploratory Sergery” but that’s as far as I got for catchy names. Any wordsmiths out there that can come up with a better option?
It’s been some time since I’ve had to update the site so please advise me of any errors you see. Thanks to those of you that keep at me to get classes posted. And as always, feedback is crucial. Are these the classes you want to take? Too cheap? (just kidding) Wrong times? Let us know how we can best meet your creative sewing needs.
December Garments Continued
Here are Laurel and Kristin’s garments. My annual New Year’s resolution-finish projects in a timely manner. I can wish, can’t I?
See you next week at Club.
Procrastination as an art form
If you subscribe to that belief then I am an artist-just kidding! Procrastination is one of my strong suits and this being very close to the end of the year, I have a few ends I really must tie up.
First off, Material Girls is on Marcy Tilton’s list of websites to check out (click here to see her December newsletter). Thank you, Marcy! Her newsletter is great and includes more Paris info and some great things that I missed.
Second, the new Threads magazine features our favorite ponytail holder technique and alot of other very cool ideas.
And third is the first installment of the December Club garments. Debbie’s pictures have been in my possession for longer than I care to admit so here they are. If weather or Christmas chaos kept you from getting to Club, you can get the sheets by email for free if were are a subscriber–$3 if you not. Click here to email.
Laurel and Kristin’s garments will be added before 2010 🙂
Tis the Season for Snow
In the event of bad weather, cancellation of Fashion Sewing Club will be posted on the website.
Hope to see you this week!
Would you like to know when there’s a new post?
My wonderful site administrator has added a feature to the website that will send you an email any time there is a new post to the website. To sign up, go to the the pink bar just to the right and above this post. It says, “Enter your email address here” and “Subscribe”. It’s as easy as that and you’ll always know the latest 🙂 -no more surfing and being disappointed that there’s nothing new.
December Club and New Year Plans
Paris is a very happy memory, the turkey leftovers are fozen and now it’s time to move on with December. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
We had our planning meeting yesterday and are very excited about our upcoming plans-we hope you find something to pique your interest.
November’s meetings had such great Show and Tell. This is very encouraging for us because that’s what we’re trying to do-Inspiring Creativity in the Sewing Sphere. Can’t wait to see what you’ve all done this month or maybe what you’re making for Christmas gifts.
Here are the results of our planning. As always, your comments are welcome as otherwise we can only guess at your interests.
Material Girls
December Calendar
FASHION SEWING CLUB
Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 10:30 and 6:30
Treadle Yard Goods, St. Paul
Thursday, Dec.10 at 10:30 and 6:30
Associated Sewing, Bloomington
Saturday, Dec. 12 at 10:30
Associated Sewing, Bloomington
Jan.-March dates are listed in Fashion Sewing Club Schedule in top bar.
WATCH FOR DATES!!!
January Class-Skirts that Fit
February Class-Jackets-Laurel’s Sleeve Head, Collars, Lining and more
Both are hands-on classes
January-Clear Your Clutter Stash Swap
*Start the new year right –clean out the old and bring in a few new pieces
*Fabric, notions, books, patterns, et cetera
March-Dress Your Best
+Get your colors done -this should be done periodically as “things” change ☺
+Make-up refresher
+What’s up for spring fashion trends-sewing for your spring wardrobe
NEW SUBSCRIPTION-JAN-FEB-MARCH-$25
Material Girl Sewing 