Life goes on; Sewing with my Brother PC420 and Brother 1034D

Even with the unfortunate events related to my Aunt, life still goes on…

I’ve always found working with my hands to be soothing, even in stressful situations.

Yesterday, I started sewing a simple 100% cotton jacket for my nine-year old daughter. It’s a simple bolero jacket and I drafted my own pattern. I used my newest sewing machines for this project; the Brother Pc-420 to sew the seams and I used my Brother 1034D aka serger/overlock machine to finish the raw edges. I love these sewing machines!

All my fabric is washed before I use the material. The main reason is because the bolts can get dusty sitting on the shelves and it can be handled by a lot of people before it reaches me. Yuck! Another reason (although minor) is that some fabric will shrink after it’s been washed. I’ve had some fabric that wasn’t supposed to shrink, but the material shrank after it was washed! Good thing, I prewash fabric, right? Otherwise I’d have had an outfit that might not fit. Because of those experiences, I don’t always believe fabric labels. 🙂

One key to making professional items is to press each seam right after it’s sewn… while it adds to the total production time, the end result more than makes up for the additional time that’s added.

Sewing: Bolero jacket
Sewing: Bolero jacket

 

Adding a lining is another way to add to an outfits longevity. In the above picture, I’d just sewed the lining to the jacket. I’ve placed the garment on the ironing board and am about to press the seams. I usually like really wild fabric linings, but my “wild fabrics” are being used for a few other projects and so I selected plain fabric for this garment. Yawns, ho hum… My daughter chose the dotted fabric and was thrilled when I told her I was going to make part of it into a jacket. The background color perfectly matches a long dress that she has.

Freshly sewn sleeve. Time to press!
Freshly sewn sleeve. Time to serge and press

 

After finishing the body I moved on to the sleeves. I use double seams on most outfits and this jacket was no exception. And although the raw edges are hidden (because of the lining) I serged all edges.

I’m thrilled to say that her jacket is complete and once the outfit is washed, I’ll take a picture and post it on Celebrate Life.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

CommentLuv badge

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
suituapui

Spring is here, summer will come soon… Will certainly need lighter clothes for the sunny days ahead.
suituapui recently posted..Big balls…

Jennifer

Doesn’t it feel AWESOME to complete a project!?

WAY TO GO!
Jennifer recently posted..Vegan Irish Stew & Diet Clarification