Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Janome CoverPro 900CPX and Brother 1034D - Good Macine, Bad Machine or maybe Good Machine, Bad Operator

I was recently gifted a cover stitch machine (Janome CoverPro 900 CPX) and the ubiquitous Brother 1034D serger.  I received the cover stitch a couple weeks before the serger and used it on the neckline, hem and sleeves of a sweater dress for my daughter.  It took a few tries to get the threading right (mostly because I didn't realize you have to thread ALL the threads, not just the needle thread).  But I love it and I will sew many more knits now that I have it.  I am a fledgling lingerie sewist and it is the bomb (Do people still say that?  I don't know...maybe it's "fetch" I should say) for making elastic look pretty on the outside and finished on the inside.  Totally worth the purchase price (even if it was my money that had been used) and bit of storage room it takes up.

The serger has been a different story.  The first thing, which I thought was going to be a simple way to familiarize myself with the machine, was a pair of boxer shorts.  Everything was great on the leg seams.  My plan was to mock flat fell them.  The inside curve on the crotch was a terrible mess.  No big deal, there is usually lots of ease in these patterns.  Tried again.  Failed again.  Not too sure what the problem was.  Maybe I just need more practice.  The boxers were a wadder afterward but the fabric can be salvaged for something else.  That was over a month ago and the serger has been trying to incite the other machines to mutiny ever since.  Must return to taming that beast again in the near future.  Can't have the machines thinking they are in charge of the sewing room.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Welcome

After reading sewing blogs for a few years now, I've finally decided to start my own.  This blog will document my sewing successes, failures, and some of what is happening in my life.

I started sewing in high school when my aunt offered to teach me.  My mother has never enjoyed sewing or other crafts.  I thinks she's always been a little surprised that I do.  In her generation, progressive women got jobs and bought their clothes at the store.  In my generation, homemaking is considered a valid choice for women who have other career possibilities.

My career path was fairly linear.  I have a BS: Business Administration and a Master of Accounting degree, both from nationally-ranked programs.  I hold CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner,) CPA (Certified Public Accountant in the USA and Charted Professional Accountant in Canada) and CA (Charterd Accountant) designations.  I have worked with large, publicly held corporations and some by small businesses, mainly in the areas of internal controls, regulatory compliance, and board/executive coaching.  I had opportunities to travel to many interesting places, some internationally.  Throughout this time, my job was higher paying, but not because I was working harder or my job was more important.  My husband is in a career that depends heavily on right time and place meetings with decision makers and he had been trying for a long time to transition from part time to full time in his field.  The opportunity that opened up was in a rural, agricultural community in another country.  Four years ago, my family moved to Canada from the southeastern United States.

One of the things for which I am thankful is that I've had the time to learn and develop my hobbies.  In the past few years, I've been knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, and embroidering.  And working part time (we live in an agricultural area and there just isn't that much demand for the type of work I do).   I'm starting this blog partly because not everyone on Facebook needs to see progress photos of various crafty things.  But some will.