I don't have anything to show for my kcwc day 6 I'm afraid. I started the day with great gusto but I've been doing more stitch ripping than anything else....humpf! My arch nemesis (that's applique in case you don't know) has done me up like a kipper today. Actually it was more likely a bad choice of fabric type and a design with bits that were too skinny and me being adamant that I would machine rather than hand sew.
Never fear I have a plan so with any luck I'll have something to show very soon. Hope you're all having a good weekend and trouble free sewing adventures.
Showing posts with label kcwc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kcwc. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Monday, 20 September 2010
kids clothes week challenge
Elsie Marley is hosting another Kids Clothes Week Challenge, the idea being you spend an hour (or more but at least an hour) a day making kids clothes for a total of seven days. I thought this would be a great incentive to get to grips with my overlocker and make a dent in the rather large stash of knit fabrics that are waiting to be used. I want to make some t-shirts for my youngest and maybe a top for my daughter, maybe a bit ambitious I think but I'll have a go.
Well day one and I have finished a t-shirt, (took a lot longer than an hour) and it does fit more or less (sleeves and hem length will be altered tomorrow) which is amazing considering the complete hash I made of overlocking it. I've re-purposed a couple of t-shirts that were heading for the bin. I stitched the car graphic onto the front before making up the t-shirt. It could have done with being further up but he-ho. I tried a new way of applique which I'll use again. I used temporary spary adhesive to stick the graphic to the shirt and used a bit of tearaway stabiliser on the back before stitching it. I don't like using bond-a-web to attach applique on knit fabric as it always leaves the fabric a bit stiff where the applique is.
This is the first t-shirt I've made and I certainly can't fault the pattern I'm using which is the amazingly detailed All the Rage Raglan from The Scientific Seamstress. The pattern has great instructions including those for a standard sewing machine not jut an overlocker/serger. One of the options in the pattern is to stitch the hems before sewing up the side seams. This means you have a nice straight hem but when I went to overlock the side seams the machine ate the fabric. It's something to do with the thickness of the layers of fabric at the hem I'm sure. I couldn't keep the seam straight and the fabric got all bunched up and dragged into a big mess which resulted in a broken needle and a lot of bad language. After all that I just used my standard machine with woolly nylon in the bobbin, straight stitched and zigzagged the edges and hey-presto a finished t-shirt.
So where does that leave me with overlocker? At the moment I could quite happily throw it out the window, if it wasn't so heavy. It scares me and it's very loud and seems to go at 3 speeds, fast, faster and lightning fast.
It's just teething problems........ isn't it?
Well day one and I have finished a t-shirt, (took a lot longer than an hour) and it does fit more or less (sleeves and hem length will be altered tomorrow) which is amazing considering the complete hash I made of overlocking it. I've re-purposed a couple of t-shirts that were heading for the bin. I stitched the car graphic onto the front before making up the t-shirt. It could have done with being further up but he-ho. I tried a new way of applique which I'll use again. I used temporary spary adhesive to stick the graphic to the shirt and used a bit of tearaway stabiliser on the back before stitching it. I don't like using bond-a-web to attach applique on knit fabric as it always leaves the fabric a bit stiff where the applique is.
This is the first t-shirt I've made and I certainly can't fault the pattern I'm using which is the amazingly detailed All the Rage Raglan from The Scientific Seamstress. The pattern has great instructions including those for a standard sewing machine not jut an overlocker/serger. One of the options in the pattern is to stitch the hems before sewing up the side seams. This means you have a nice straight hem but when I went to overlock the side seams the machine ate the fabric. It's something to do with the thickness of the layers of fabric at the hem I'm sure. I couldn't keep the seam straight and the fabric got all bunched up and dragged into a big mess which resulted in a broken needle and a lot of bad language. After all that I just used my standard machine with woolly nylon in the bobbin, straight stitched and zigzagged the edges and hey-presto a finished t-shirt.
So where does that leave me with overlocker? At the moment I could quite happily throw it out the window, if it wasn't so heavy. It scares me and it's very loud and seems to go at 3 speeds, fast, faster and lightning fast.
It's just teething problems........ isn't it?
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