sew and tell
I forgot to tell you, dear readers, that last week I sold my doorstop old coverstitch machine (Brother 2340C) because quite frankly, we had never bonded.
I had fallen in love since the first time we met in the sewing forums online, but once I got her home, well… let’s just say things didn’t work out as planned. We had never gotten along despite my many attempts at reconciliation. To put it bluntly, she was very high maintenance. For a long time, I felt obliged to keep her around but with a heavy heart (and dollar signs in my eyes) I put her up for auction at ye olde eBay and had someone in Melbourne “Buy Her Now” within a day.
It wasn’t long before a younger, fitter model caught my eye - and she had to be mine.
So I have done a little practice sewing on her, read up on all the info I might need, and had some binders on the way. Today I thought I was ready to sew a tee with her. After all the alterations I did to Simplicity 4076 recently, I wanted to try it out in a more suitable fabric. I used a tshirting weight soft pink jersey and white rib binding at the neck and sleeves.
I somehow ended up cutting two front pieces (instead of one front piece on the fold) and I have no idea how that happened, but once I realised what I had done, I thought I had better do some topstitching (coverstitching) and call it a feature. I was very happy with how it turned out.
I also added a wide band at the bottom as a bit of an afterthought, but I am calling that a design feature as well! I have received some of the binders from the eBay guy but I am still waiting on a couple and the ones I have weren’t wide enough for what I wanted, so I applied the rib binding the usual way. First I sewed it on with my sewing machine and then wrapped it around the edge and then I used the coverstitch machine to topstitch it in place.
You might notice the blue lines on Pinny, above. After padding her out (tummy and bra) I added some tape lines to use as markers for my Centre Front (CF), Centre Back (CB), waistline, bust, hips and princess seams. I don’t remember where I read about this trick but it has been really useful for fitting and design.
I also did a little bit of refashioning for Emma today. She has a size 3 pair of jeans that are still in good condition and fit her well, except for being a bit too short now.
I bought this cute ruffle binding (with red ric rac, it killed me!) off eBay a while back and knew this was a perfect use for it. Emma loves these “new” fancy pants and she can’t wait to wear them tomorrow.
Quick and easy and we’ll get a bit more wear out of these now! More refashioning over here.
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tags: binders, cover pro, coverstitch, dress form, Fashion Sewing, fba, fitting, full bust adjustment, mannequin, op shop, pattern, refashioning, ricrac, ruffles, sewing, thrifting, wardrobe refashion
wow, i envy you for your cover machine! i might even fly over and steal it
but, right now i’m happy with my serger (also a janome!) doing its duty.
and i agree with you about the lines on the dressform - it’s a very good hint, thanks!
Waving hello from Brissie
Sounds like you and your new CS machine have bonded nicely.
Im glad I found your blog.
You are really taking Wardrobe Refasion by storm! I love the pink shirt and those pants are the cutest!
Love that pink shirt! There is nothing like having a machine that works for you and is no stress.