When deciding on what I am going to sew next; it goes one of two ways.
- I see a fabric and then decide on a pattern or quilt.
- I see a pattern and pick the fabric.
I would say its 50/50. This particular time it was fabric first, pattern second. I had some stretchy denim left from a different project and I LOVE using up all my fabric, as little waste as possible! I found this green fabric and THEN I found a pattern.
The only problem with the pattern is that it doesn’t have sleeves. I am a sleeve person. I can tell you that because of sewing my own garments I know that my shoulders are 2 sizes bigger than my bust (I either have really BIG shoulders or a really SMALL bust). If you have seen me in real life, you know it’s the small bust. Sleeveless and strapless shirts look terrible on me. I also need a wider neckline to balance it all out. We all have our things, and this is mine. I decide I will figure out how to add sleeves. No biggie. Right?
I have gotten pretty good at these kind of shirts. Shirts that simply have front, back, yoke, sleeves. No buttons or zippers. Pretty much all are assembled the same way. I didn’t even read the pattern. I just cut the pieces and off I went.
My serger is essential for garment sewing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Except, when things like this happen.
When you make a mistake with a serger it is far more devastating. My yoke now just got 2 inches smaller! Sigh.
Since we sell sewing machines and attachments, Kerry tells me I should use the Bernina bias binder attachment. “Okay” I say. I tell Darren to bring it home. I assume it’s some kind of foot. He brings me home this.
WHAT IS THAT? Seriously, I do not even know where to begin. My brain can not even process how to attach it to my machine, let alone how to sew with it. I hate Kerry. Kerry gets me into trouble ALL THE TIME. Remember the Quilt Market? I should learn my lesson. But I don’t. Ever.
This “thing” requires a trip to the store to have a lesson.
Zip, click, screw and boom. It’s on. She makes it look so easy. She then shows me how to feed the fabric through. The binder take a raw edge and encases it in fabric to make it look finished and pretty. Like the photo below.
Okay, Kerry, you win. It does an awesome job. BUT, it does take some getting used too. I practiced on scrap pieces before I got it right!
I also have been using my cover stitch machine on all my garments. I hemmed this one with it. It gives a clean, nice-looking, factory hem.
Project complete. Except….this happened after I washed it.
I missed a tiny spot when binding my collar. Had to rip that small section out and re-sew it. The struggle. However, it’s worth it:)
Cheers!
Andrea
P.S.
Adding the sleeves, was NO BIGGIE. You thought that was going to be the disaster, didn’t you? 😉
