New projects and that @%$#** serger!

I was able to get into my sewing room for a good block of time this week.

I had Thursday and Friday off from work and since my leg is 'on rest' from the barn I decided to spend half my time off in the sewing room and the other half outside getting the pots ready for spring planting.

I decided to pull a couple knits from my stash and sew up some new tops. I am in desperate need of some nice business casual wear that can double up with a good pair of jeans. Using knits lets me pack things better for work travel too.

cowl neck line, flutter sleeves with a gusset side.
I sewed clear elastic at the shoulders and in the sides for support of the seams. This slinky is pretty heavy .
It is very flattering on!



flutter sleeves



sleeve flutter folded back to see side gusset

I cut out both tops and got started on the first. I had to sew one and then the other because I needed to change the serger threads between the two. Well somewhere about part way with the first the serger started acting up. It happened about the time I tried to switch over to a rolled hem. That obviously was not working out, so I switched back to a regular stitch and after about re threading the upper looper about 20 times decided that enough was enough. Something is definitely hinky with the tension disc of the upper looper.

I hate running into issues when I am on such a good roll! That darn serger had me so frustrated that I wanted to kick it and cry at the same time! The darn thing is at the shop now... hopefully it is only a minor problem and that it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to get fixed. They are supposed to call with an estimate in a couple of days.

The first top is done except for the hem. I will wait for the serger to be returned before moving forward with the finish. I don't mind too much because the top is a nice weight slinky and it will be good for it to rest and hang out for a bit before I actually hem it.

The second top is a lighter weight slinky knit and I will just wait for the serger to come back to do that project as well.

In the meantime, I whipped up an e-reader cover for my e-reader. Or as I affectionately call it, My Book. It came with a bulky zipper cover that I find too big for my travel and have just been sliding the naked book into my purse. Probably not a good thing to do to it. So I used from stash fabric and made a cover. The outer fabric has a heavy weight interfacing and a layer of fusible batting. The lining did have interfacing at first but I re cut it without because I thought it made it a little too bulky.

I made a flap to close it with a simple piece of sew in Velcro. Super cute, somewhat easy to make and now my book is protected.

E-reader cover

 nice snug fit with a bit of protection without being too bulky

I say somewhat easy to make because I decided to do a bag lining which required me to sew around the top and I found out that my new sewing machine has a big free arm. Certainly would not be able to sew a child's sleeve hem or cuff with it! Well, never to worry! I pulled the dust jacket off my trusty old Necchi and got the job done :)