Saturday, July 29, 2017

NO to the 32 Piece Foot Set on the Janome and Elna - at Least For Me!

So now to make a gig bag for the Tenor I just acquired. Got pretty much 3/4 of the way to the finish and discovered I had given away my Elna 720 zipper foot. I don't have a high shank adjustable zipper foot either. I tried the generic zipper foot from the recent generic set, but although it "fit", the clearance was way off , and the thing almost stuck in the holder and I had quite a time getting it off without hurting something. .  So I had to pull out my Janome 8050 and steal the Janome E Zipper foot from the accessories. Must see about a replacement.

SO - for the update on the generic feet on the Elna and Janome - NOPE.   I did try several feet and they attach,  but the needle has almost no clearance through the hole in that foot, plus the attachment for the generic and the Brother feet on my Elna is very tight and it becomes difficult to remove the generic or Brother feet from the machine! So that's a BIG NO on using that set on the Elna or my Janome.  Apparently other people try them or use them on their Janomes and Elnas, but I won't be doing that at all. I would like to buy an adjustable high shank zipper foot for my Elna though.

Footnote: Nope, haven't made the quilt 9 patch blocks yet...projects getting in the way....

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Shirt Quilt and Viking with Bonlux...fun in the sewing room...


Getting ready to start sewing the blocks of the Shirt Quilt 2017. All blocks cut, and it will be a 9 patch. Red patch in the middle of each 9 patch block.  I ordered the Dream Wool batting from Missouri Star, and it surely feels wonderful through the plastic, so I am looking forward to seeing how this quilts! The backing will be the busy print with the paisleys you see lying under the piles of blocks. Writing about it makes me feel inspired, so it could make me kick off the work this weekend!  In the meantime, it's been a mending sort of week - hemming pants. :) The Viking loves that job though, so it was a pleasure to set up the Viking again.
I added Bonlux lighting to the harp of the Viking when I set it up last weekend. WOW....what a difference.  And no lamps to get in the way when you are sewing! 

Saturday, July 8, 2017

It's Always Autumn Breezy Tee...


It's Always Autumn has some really nicely drafted free patterns, and the Breezy Tee caught my eye because she has a woven version. Her site is full of lovely versions of her free patterns...I highly recommend taking a look. :)   SO - I chose to make what I hoped would be a wearable muslin using a nice sort of batik-tie dyed sort of look table cloth in a cotton blend or all cotton (I really don't know) that a friend had given me a few years back for quilting. The colors are lovely and it has seahorses on it! Fabulous!  Pattern was easy to download, and easy to put together, and had 6 pieces. You can also download a sleeve extension pattern and I did that as well.  I bound the edges of the neckline with self binding and also did that treatment to the sleeve edges.  I forgot to read her directions for altering the sleeves, and she does have those....so my sleeves are more like cap sleeves now. Next time - and there WILL be a next time - I will do it right and make slightly longer sleeves.  I cut it just a tad wider on the side seams because I was doing the woven version, and I found the fit through the arms and shoulders was good except that I will need to make the shoulders less broad - I do have a shoulder template I work with for that.  One of these days I should do a post on the shoulder template. It was the project in a bodice fitting class taught by Shannon Gifford, a beloved teacher on Patternreview.com for many years before she passed away in 2010.  She was wonderful.
Picture here of the top - I did a fussy cut for a seahorse pocket. It doesn't scream out at you like I hoped it would though.  I really enjoyed this project. Turns out to be better than  wearable muslin actually. SO - I went and downloaded the Raglan Sleeve pattern from Always Autumn as well and will be making a long sleeved heavier cotton knit garment for Fall and winter out of some nice heavy double cotton knit I have already got. It is the last of my garment stash.

Here is the link for the Raglan Sleeve!

 A word on sizing. Her patterns are all one size - L for large. However, I think they are very adaptable for several variant sizes.  Easy to alter because the patterns are excellently drafted. If you have a measuring tape and some idea of ease to add, you will be be to grade this well. Plus - the fit can be easy with lots of ease or more fitted. I did lots of ease here because I wanted to see how the basic pattern + about an inch or so on the sides until I hit the armhole level would work.  In a knit you wouldn't need the extra inch or so at all, and it still wouldn't be uber-tight. :)