A bit OT! Happy scribble! (and a sewing bit!)

Whoo Hoo! Join the celebrations and shine up your best grins: James it going to have a poem he did for a competition published in an anthology of kids rhymes. :D

I got to the end of a seam when the postie came, so I stopped to read the mail and have a coffee. I am so chuffed! I rang school, as he did the competition there, and the head was delighted. She hasn't heard that any of the others got anything back. I'm arranging with them for the certificate to be presented in class.

I just put another concealed zip in, this time using the little Elna Lotus and its zip foot: this is on silk satin with an organza interlining to give it a bit more body. NOT the easiest combination to deal with! BUT I do have to say that it went in a treat, and is the best I've done this summer! And the crepe de chine ones were tricky enough! Just be aware that YOU DO NOT NEED A SPECIAL FOOT to put these zips in! The standard one that comes with the machine will do fine. Just sew slowly and take care! :) The Elna zip foot is on an adjustable slider, so you can position it really close to the needle, which is a great help with the process. The Lily has what feels like millions of needle positions (26 in all, I believe), but the sliding fitting for this foot gives the same effect.

Oh, and the Brother serger just gets better and better the more I use it! Doing perfect neatening of frazzling edges today... It seems to be much faster than I remember from trying it in the shop, and despite the hassles I had getting it sorted for rolling edges the other night, it re-threaded in moments and did perfect neatening without any hitches today, with the same type of polycore thread! Sneaky thing, it was just teasing me!

Reply to
Kate Dicey
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Congrats to James!

Kate, one of my happiest discoveries in the last couple of years was that my old Singer zipper foot, which also has an adjustable slider, works great on the Bernina 1230. It's especially helpful in applying thicker cording, and a huge improvement over using Bernina's zip foot.

Although it must give you great pleasure to turn out so many gorgeous creations, I have to say I don't envy you the job of handling some of those slinky fabrics! They require a lot extra skill and patience.

Doreen in Alabama

Reply to
Doreen

Thanks. I'll pass it on when he gets in from school.

I must admit that the Bernina zip foot was one reason I chose the HV Lily when I bought my big machine! Dunno what it is about them, but they never were quite as magical as the rest of the machine... Lily has a stonking great hoof, which is great for these zips, but the little baby Elna seems to be just as good for different reasons. Mind you, this was a light weight concealed zip, as the fabric is fairly delicate.

Hm... Not really! The silk satin is a LOT easier to work with than the poly crepe back satin, and other than the fraying issue, the dupion is as easy to sew as quilting cotton! It just sits there and behaves itself, unlike the cheap poly, which throws a hissy fit and sulks under the bench on the floor whenever it can! Mostly its just a case of knowing what to do, like sew the hem to the interlining only, hand baste with silk thread where you need to, use silk thread and tailors tacks to mark darts, and the like. Some of these things take a little longer than hammering it all together on the serger, but I certainly do that with the lining, and while the dress hem is hand stitched, the lining hem got blind hemmed on the Lotus!

Right now I'm taking a squash break while the iron heats up for pressing the seams and hems. Then the lining and sleeves will go in, and this dress will be done. I can finish the jacket tomorrow, but this evening I need to cut and pit together the jacket lining and the fashion fabric for the bodice of the complicated wedding dress.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

HOORAY for James!! Please be sure to tell him I send my congratulations and am proud of his accomplishment!!

Reply to
Pat in Arkansas

I've just been up to school, and three of the kids in his class are in! :D Considering that this is a mixed year group (five and six) in a tiny school (4 classes!), I think they have all done FANTASTICALLY!!! This *is* a very good school. I think they had 115 kids on roll this year! There are only 12 in James's year group.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

Heh...you've just gotten so good at sewing specialty fabrics, they aren't a challenge any more. :)

Having made a fair number of wedding, prom and cocktail dresses, and 20 years' worth of lady-banker suit blouses, I *can* sew slinkies...but I prefer not to. Give me a nice stable cotton, any day! Actually, my favorite fabric to work with is wool, but in the Deep South we don't need much of it.

Doreen in Alabama

Reply to
Doreen

So much for the myth that class size doesn't matter. Congratulations to James. Is this his first publication?

Reply to
Pogonip

What wonderful news, give James an extra hug from us!

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

Congratulations to James! Emily

Reply to
CypSew

How great is that! You have a right to brag!! Give him a heartfelt congratulations! =20

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

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Reply to
IMS

I'm reading this, and it's hot, and I've had ten and twelve hour days at work. . . .and I'm jealous that y'all (I lived in South Carolina for 17 years, so maybe I get to say it that way) can do these things. . .and I've moved into a new house and all my stuff is sttill in an uproar. I hope I get to be as good as you all.

Reply to
Maureen Smith

You will. Don't forget, these skills too us years to accumulate and hone. We try to speed up the process as far as possible for others, but there are some things (like neat hand stitching and really straight seams!) that you just have to do lots of to get right. :)

When you get all unpacked and set up, you'll be fine.

Reply to
Kate Dicey

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