Category: Sewing

Last evening my daughter and I attended the Passion Play practice.

 

It was a great chance to see the actors go over their lines (although I suspect many of the performers know them already) since it seems the same people play yearly. I must say that does make me wonder how ‘easy’ it would be for a new church member to try to snag a role? 😉

My daughter had a great time, watching the actors behind the scenes. There was a lot of  joking and laughter which made for a pleasant and laid back play practice. As an added bonus,  I was able to secure most of the measurements needed for the costumes I’m making.

While knitting, I got the perfect idea on how I could keep the ‘demons’ face hidden within his costume. This weekend, I’ll draft a pattern from that idea, sew it, and next Tuesday, I’ll bring it to the Passion Play practice so that it can be tested.

My mom had a lot of patterns from the 1960s…

If I look I might find some of them in my possession. One pattern that I was thrilled to see re-released was Vogue 8875.

Apparently Vogue didn’t keep files of some of their vintage patterns and so they asked folks to share some of their patterns with them so they could be re-released.

Isn’t this style lovely? These type of designs never seem to go out of style. I’m not much for trendy, but I do love classic pieces such as the one above.

Will I make this? I’ve made similar… and I’m tempted to make another outfit, but most likely if I did something such as this, I’d make the coat a bit longer and pair it with flowing wide legged pants and fitted sleeveless top. I most definitely wouldn’t wear the hat.

 

Besides changing the color of the outfit, the shoes I’d choose would have a chunkier heel but they’d most likely be about the same height.

 

Here’s the original pattern. It’s the same pattern, but the re-released pattern was ‘modernized’.

Last Thursday evening I embroidered my first garment.

 

I told my daughter to pick something she didn’t mind tossing out if the machine embroidery didn’t turn out great. I’m still new to machine embroidery.  She chose a t-shirt… smart girl! She decided  on a cute rag doll from Urban Threads. As mentioned in yesterdays post, I didn’t follow the thread recommendations. My daughter chose her own colors for the Urban Threads design. The design cost $3.00. I plan to use it on a lot of different items.

Pressing the green circle starts the machine embroidery function on my Brother SE-400. The only thing left to do was to monitor the embroidery machine, as it created the embroidered design. Even though the machine does all the work, it’s smart to keep a watchful eye on it so nothing  bad happens.

I really love my Brother SE-400.  The maximum design it will embroider is 4×4, so if you want to embroider a larger design, you’ll have to look for another machine.

 

It took about forty minutes to complete the design.

 

And it turned out perfect. A simple but creative way to dress up a plain t-shirt.

A few moments ago, I met with the the director of our Lutheran church’s  Passion Play. Because of both of our schedules we haven’t had a chance to chat in person.

I didn’t say too much about my sewing history since he already knows that  I started hand sewing when I was six years old. I started machine sewing at the age of eight.  Had my designs featured in local shows, boutiques, etc.,  I can say all the things I can do. Anyone can say that… but the proof will be my creations, right?

Now that we’ve had a chance to meet, I can start making those costumes. Instead of four, I’ll now be making five. I’m looking forward to the opportunity since it gives me a chance to flex my costuming skills and more importantly sew!

It looks like my dreams of dressing the wealthy Mary Magdalene in first century finery is crumbling since her costume will be used for the scene in where the demons are cast out of her. But… I can have a little fun with that since he told me he wants the costume to have a jagged edge to the sleeves and hem. I’m thinking of using a tiny rolled hem on the jagged edges…

 

But we’ll see… I’ll make a mockup of her outfit in muslin and play around with those jagged edges.

 

The fifth costume I’m making, will be for a demon; one of those that was cast out of Mary. I readily admit that demons and the role they’ve played within the Bible and throughout history has fascinated me.

The demons scene will be brief.  Of course… the demon is evil, and the director wants him to be hidden within his clothing. I can do that.  I ran a few ideas by him how that could be achieved and he seemed to like them. We’ll see how it transfers onto fabric. I’ll most likely will make a mockup of that costume too, before creating the real thing.

I must say I’m looking forward to this experience, since it combines a multitude of things I enjoy, history, costume design, and because I research everything it gives me a new look at some familiar figures of the Holy Bible.

I’ve been having fun playing around with my Brother SE400 embroidery machine.

I wish I could have more time to devote to it, but life has been busy and I haven’t done as much sewing or knitting as I’d like. However in one of my first adventures with my brand-new Brother SE400, I stumbled upon the following error message…

 

Brother SE400 sewing machine error message:

change the speed controller mode to off

I couldn’t sew/embroider! I opened up the user manual but couldn’t locate the error message… Uh Oh! But, when I looked at the sewing machines screen and found the ‘Sewing Machines Tools’ screen I was able to correct this issue.  I changed the control speed to “Off”. That fixed the problem, and I was embroidering with no problems.

 

 

This morning, my Brother 1034D arrived via Federal Express!  I was busy hanging with my daughter and so I didn’t check it out until this afternoon.

One of the many features that appealed to me about this serger machine is that it can use regular needles and thread. The machine comes pre-threaded. The provided spools are the traditional sewing spools (not the serger spools) so if you have plans on doing a lot of serging (immediately after you receive your machine) you won’t be able to do it with that thread. But since you think ahead, you already are armed with additional thread, right?

 

I like that the thread provided is in four different colors (yellow, pink, green and blue.)  This was helpful since I could easily identify which of the four tensions (adjusted by using the colored dials above) might need to be corrected if I ran into any issues. Additionally using colored threads for each tension, helps someone new to serging (such as myself) quickly become familiar with what each thread (I’m using four spools) does on a serged hem.  Gauge off? No problem,  it’s an easy fix since the tension is represented by its own thread color. Thanks Brother! You really impressed me in this area.

Before I started serging with my Brother 1034D, I oiled it at the points recommended in the included manual. Afterwards I fed numerous scrap fabrics through the Brother 1034D. I played around with the gauge and occasionally, depending on the fabric texture, I had to tweak the tension settings a bit.  I did this for a few hours, and learned a lot in the process. Finally, I serged scraps on the correct settings and am keeping them on file. In doing this, I can easily refer to the proper tension setting depending on the fabric I’m using. Several weeks ago, when I was researching this machine, I stumbled upon a fabulous article about this topic. It was written by Peter of Male Pattern Boldness. I’m so happy I stumbled upon this useful tip. Thanks Peter!

 

 

After understanding what all the threads did (and being impressed by the nicely serged seams) I took off the colorful threads and threaded my large spools of Gutermann Toldi-Lock. I currently have Maxi-Lock thread on order. Although I’ve never used a serger, or threaded one, I found this serger easy to thread and had no problem following the clearly marked guide that’s shown on the machine.

After my serger session was complete, I made sure I cleaned up the loose threads/fiber that was hanging out in my machine. I take great care of my items which might explain why my things last a long time. Today I used a vacuum attachment to suction up the lint that had made it’s way into the gears. You can purchase canned air, vacuum attachments, or tiny vacuums that make loose fiber cleanup a breeze.

My first impression about the Brother 1034D is positive. It’s sturdy, quiet, makes a neat serged hem at the correct tension and I didn’t have any issue threading this machine. I’m looking forward to many hours of enjoyment with my Brother 1034D… and of course I’ll be sharing some of what I create here on Celebrate Life.

 

Today, I didn’t get to create anything for my daughter or myself, but I did learn a lot about serging.

 

I should receive my serger tomorrow.

Hopefully learning how to use the serger machine won’t be too difficult, I’ve done my homework and have viewed numerous You Tube Tutorial about this particular machine and have already read the owners manual. Some folks have complained that it can be tricky to thread a serger machine, but judging by the videos related to threading the Brother 1034D I really shouldn’t have any issues.

I ordered my serger from Amazon. Since I’m an Amazon Prime member I receive free shipping. I didn’t want to wait until Monday to receive the order. I like to order new electronic items towards the weekend since it gives me a chance to test them out. With everything that goes on during my week with my schedule and my daughter’s I’m not always able to do this. I bumped that up to one day delivery, so tomorrow should be here! As an Amazon Prime member, it only cost me  $3.95 to upgrade to one-day delivery.

 

 

I don’t like unfinished seams and so all the items I create look as pretty on the inside as the outside. French seams were one of the first ‘finished seams’ I learned to make and I can still remember the excitement I felt when I made an outfit that included them. I was in my teens when I learned how to do those.

 

I adore french seams but I realize that with certain fabrics a different finish, such as a serged seam, would be better. That’s one of the reasons why I ordered the serger. Most sergers will cut the fabric as they are fed under the presser foot. This machine is small so it won’t take up too much space in my sewing area. Eventually I will have to purchase a bigger sewing table  that will hold all my sewing machines.

I have some minor purchases to make and have saved that trip for tomorrow so my daughter can join me on our little adventure. I’m taking her to a fabric warehouse, it’ll be a first for her and as much as she loves all type of fabric I know she’ll be in fabric heaven. I do know how much I’m willing to spend so I won’t be deviating from my budget. She’s also excited because I told her once I’m comfortable with the serger, she’ll be allowed to use it also. She’s already using my Brother SE-400. Naturally she’s already designed some outfits  for her Monster High dolls that she wants to test out on the serger machine.

 

Photo Source: Wikipedia