Word Puzzle

By the way, what's a polite term for a person who sews? I've gone to write "sewer" several times in recent posts and each time I've gone back and changed it, when I read over what I'd written. I don't think anyone wants to be called a sewer, at least not in print. It comes off the tongue ok for me. Sew-er and sewing person both sound a little stilted.

Suggestions, please . . .

Please! Can I Have Some More?

You would think I'd have learned by now, but that irresistable sense of frugality, determination, with perhaps a hint of creative genius, caught me out again.

There was fabric left over from the cotton voile skirt project. Now, this is where it gets tricky. There was a fair bit of fabric left over, but not a lot of fabric. And I thought it would be good to see if I could get a nice little singlet top out of that bit of fabric--or rather out of those bits of fabric, because of course it was lots of little bits rather than one big bit.

There's the trap!

Once I start trying, it's so hard to stop.

It would have been easier if the fabric hadn't been voile, because I needed double thicknesses for most of the panels. I also had a small piece of hand-dyed embroidered cotton fabric in a matching colour which I incorporated. So I tried and tried again and turned and contorted in my brain, until I came up with this layout: Both back panels are cut out of the teal voile left over from the skirt project. The front panels are cut from the hand-dyed fabric, but there wasn't quite enough to get the full length of the centre front panel, so I've added a bit of the voile, which I'm hoping will blend easily enough. I still have to work out how to get a second thickness out for the centre front, because I haven't got enough of the voile for that piece.

And yes I did put in a call to the fabric shop to see if they had just one metre or so of that fabric left! I tried not to sound too desperate, because of course this whole thing is a bonus. And no, they didn't have any more.

Moral of the story: I suggest you don't try this, unless you are a more patient person than I am, or very good at spacial orientation puzzles!

Overlocker Pros and Cons

I'll admit it, I do love my overlocker. I've had it for four or five years now and it certainly makes life easier, especially when I'm doing lots of sewing.

Advantages. . . as I hinted in my last post when I whipped up the double flounce skirt in a couple of hours

• * It stitches a double row of straignt stitch and a neat raw edge finish all in one go
• * what's more it trims the fabric to match the overlocked edge, so there are no raw edges visible at all
• * more importantly, the straight stitching line is stretchy, so when sewing stretch fabrics the seam moves with the fabric--the alternative on a regular sewing machine is sewing seams with a narrow zig-zag stitch instead of a straight stitch or stretching the fabric as you stitch.
• * the rolled-hem function gives a nice narrow edge finish which I'm happy with as a visible feature on my garments. I'm lucky, my overlocker switches to rolled-hem by moving a couple of levers and a dial--older overlockers had to be re-threaded and adjusted to do rolled hems

. . . so, what's not to like?

Disadvantages . . . or why delay?

• * It's another expensive appliance, and unlike sewing machines, I don't see a lot of second hand overlockers come up for sale
• * It sews with four threads (the number of threads is variable, but mine has four)--that means four lots of threading up and four lots of tension adjustments. The threading and tension adjustments can be fiddly.
• * It's another set of skills to learn

. . . so, not really disadvantages, just good reasons to think first.

I fell in love with my friend D's overlocker when I was making up a bunch of stretch garments. I'd just been on the Great Victorian Bike Ride and had made a lot of my own bike knicks, jerseys etc on my regular sewing machine. Then I made a set of rash vests on D's overlocker. The contrast was amazing! I bought my overlocker a week after I got home from that trip! And I do use it a lot. I'd definitely recommend an overlocker if you're planning to do a lot of stretch sewing, but for regular sewing, it can be nice--very nice--but you really don't need it.

Confessions of an Overlocker

Here it is: I admitted in my last post that I used the overlocker to help me whip up the double flounce skirt in just a few hours. At the same time I'm saying, "you don't need an overlocker".

Here's why I used it for the skirt

• * the fabric is a cotton voile which is semi-transparent. That means the seams are sort of visible through the fabric from the right side. The overlocker makes a nice neat finish for the raw edges.
• * I was in a hurry. The overlocker finishes the raw edge at the same time as it stitches the seam. That certainly speeds things up. For a light-weight garment like the skirt, the overlocker seam is strong enough on its own. For something heavier, like shorts, I would have used a machined seam as well as the overlocker seam.
• * I had two flounces to finish. That's a lot of curved raw edges. The overlocker has a rolled hem function which makes a narrow edge which I don't mind as the finished edge of the skirt. Again it was a quick solution.

There are solutions to all of those challenges using just the regular sewing machine. That is, there are solutions to all the challenges except time. I'd got it into my head that I wanted to wear that skirt yesterday. The overlocker made it possible.

Having said all that, the reason I bought the overlocker a few years ago, wasn't to finish ordinary garments more quickly. I bought it for stretch sewing, which is a different challenge altogether, and a story for another day.

Done!

Here's the skirt done! And I'm about to head out the door wearing it.
I'll admit now and explain later: I did use the overlocker, and no, you don't need one, but it does make some jobs nice and quick.

This One's for Me

If there's anything better than a flounce, it's got to be two flounces! This is an old favourite skirt pattern of mine. I must have half a dozen of these, all made from different fabrics. This one is going to be teal cotton voile. The pic shows the pattern pieces all cut out and a scrap of fabric so you can see the colour.

Lost in Space

The patterns for the little skirts are somewhere in my sewing space. I can remember labelling them neatly and putting them away somewhere other than in my usual patterns box. At least I think I remember doing that. I've been through my pattern boxes several times and I can't find them there.

I remain, ever yours, truly frustrated out of my brain!