Month: September 2014

Yesterday afternoon, I started sewing this knit shirt. I worked on it for quite a few hours and still have some things to complete.

In the above picture I hadn’t even started to sew and you’re looking at the wrong side of the fabric. The actual shirt is quite colorful and bright. I just pinned the front and back together.

Of course yesterday afternoon, when I tried on the sewed shirt, I wasn’t pleased with what I’d made. However, the fixes needed are only minor. The original shirt pattern wasn’t fitted at the waist, just straight down. I decided that I did want to a slight fit and so I made the waist more pronounced instead of having the side seams go straight down without a hint of a curve. Also, I decided that it would be nice to add ruffle to the shirts neckline. I’ll use the rolled hem on my serger machine to expose and finish the edges. You usually see a rolled hem on delicate scarves.

Serger Machine

I’ve had my serger machine for well over a year and really like how it closes and finishes the raw seams of some of my garments. I don’t always want a french seam on some of my sewing seams and there are times when a french seam would not look nice either. In those instances, the serger does a wonderful job.

Coverstitch Machine

I must say that the coverstitch machine does a nice job with finished hems, take a look at the above picture. It’s my newest machine. I’ve had it for less than a month, but I’m already wishing I had purchased it much sooner. It does a wonderful job finishing hems on knitted garments. It can also be used on woven items also.

Finding information about the Blind Hemming machine has been a challenge; however, I have found a few links that I think are valuable.

You can find that info located in the “resources” section at the bottom of this post. This way, if I get stumped, I can refer to this post for easy reference. Hopefully, it’ll help someone else also because if I’m having trouble finding relevant information about the Blind Hemming machine, others most likely are too.

Resources for the Blind Hemmer machine

1. Blind Hem Machines
2. Elasticated blindstitched neckline finish
3. Stadharn Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland – Machine maintenance

I can’t comment on how to use a Blind Hemming machine, since I have not purchased one yet, but once I do and am comfortable with using one, I’ll try to post a few tutorials about the process.

I research before I buy

I guess you could say my recent posts about the blind hemming machine, you get to step into how I go about researching before making a purchase.  It’s not a quick process, which is good since I’m rarely disappointed with my purchases. I take my time, educate and learn as much as possible before I buy

This past weekend, I stumbled upon James Steward’s video and I was blown away by some of his designs.

I love elegance and classic style with the designs I make and he was giving me it in spades.

What was interesting to me was that he was doing his sewing on HOME machines. Say what? I thought for sure, he’d have industrial sewing machines. Here’s hoping he’s reached a point financially where he’s able to purchase industrial sewing machines for his design business.

I’m loving Nick Verreos videos…

I’ve included two below. The first will show you how to drape a cowl on a dress form

…and the next shows you how to turn the pinning into an actual pattern.

The majority of the tools he talks about in the above videos, I already have. I’ve had them for years, in fact some were my mothers. It sure makes pattern drafting much easier when you have what’s needed.

I’ve been wanting to purchase pattern cutting shears for quite some time, but I was unsure of what type to buy? My Gingher shears are out of the question since they are used exclusively for cutting cloth. However, I knew that I need something strong that could cut through oaktag paper, but I was uncertain of what type I should purchase.

I’d seen many videos of pattern makings with some formidable looking shears that seemed to blast through everything, but I was stumped at the type of scissors they were using until this past weekend.

Enter Nick Verreos…

I watched the above video and the light bulb went off. Most of the stuff, I already knew but their were a few tidbits that were helpful. For example, he called the shears used to cut patterns, “pattern cutting shears” and it all fell into place. Ahh, such a simple name to describe what I wanted.

After some research, I was able to find and order my own.

…and I also snagged a notch cutter! I should receive both by Thursday of this week. I must say that I’m looking forward to sewing this weekend!