Monday, June 24, 2013

"the treasure of a honeymoon"

So my cousin got married and I couldn't go. I decided instead, I had to do a present. As I'm poor, I couldn't get them something off their register or whatever so instead I made them a book.

It's meant as a scrapbook for the honeymoon. The moon and star stab bindings are golden to evoke a "honeymoon" literally. There are real constellations in there though the moon is definitely not in the right place. It's 8x10 with a glittery dark blue cover. The star stab binding is another of Becca's designs. The binding has accordion folds to allow the book to expand. That means you can paste stuff on the pages and it won't turn into

overburdened binding
If a stab binding becomes overburdened, it breaks. Most bindings will break eventually (the above spiral binding included) but stab bindings are particularly inflexible and might crack off in the first month of being overburdened. (Yes, I know this from experience.)

To accompany the honeymoon was this map.


This map of Greece (where their honeymoon was) is hand drawn with dip pen & brown ink. Certain islands are labeled as is Athens and Thessaloniki and it is fairly accurate to a Mercator projection. Along all the coast lines are woodcut-esque lines to make it seem old fashioned and particularly hand drawn. I know not everyone is as into documenting their geography and making story maps as I am but I think my cousin is the sort to appreciate it.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Sewing Machine Review: JS110 SE



I've had my machine for a year and a half now and I quite love it despite it being a partially plastic department store branded modern machine that so many disdain. With the exception of a few “I bought it for my niece” reviews, there's not much online about it.

First, I'd like to establish my sewing machine credentials. As an undergraduate I gained a lot of experience on three machines. One was a computerized Brother (something similar to the BC2100) which I ended up pretty much hating what with its crazy computer faults, bad automatic tension and its general inability to handle medium weight fabric not to mention anything automatic. One was a fairly modern slightly above beginner level Singer which was alright but I found had tension problems in the bobbin which no tune up could fix. The final one was a fairly modern Janome which was my favorite and the one I ended up using most of the time. While I was lusting after a sewing machine of my own and using the faker, I took a special trip to Rotherham to spend a day at Lennox Sewing & Knitting Machines shop where I learned a bit more about machines.

Brand and Model:
So my machine, Audrey, is a JS110(SE) from John Lewis. The special edition refers to the color (solid purple).

I ended up getting it more through restrictions and price rather than research but since then have given a good amount of research. Quite frankly, it's remarkably close to Janome's USA-only 2212 in look and capability.

How much did it cost? £99 is the list price, mine ended up being £70 because of sales. (They switched to a color blocked one a few months after I bought mine.)

What do I sew? In general I mostly sew clothing.

How much do I sew? Practically everyday. I've sewn over 10 triple circle skirts on this baby. 

Fabrics:
I sew a lot of knits of all weights. I also sew a lot of clothing weight and quilting cotton. It has failed to snag on lace fabrics. It sort of swallowed some of the felt and chiffon but quickly recovered when I started a bit further in. The home dec fabrics that I make my tote bags out of have also gone through this machine without much of a problem. The corduroy and thicker suiting fabrics have also not really given it a problem. 

The only fabric it's ever really had a problem with is this awful completely synthetic slippery stuff that really was so horrible to cut that I wasn't terribly surprised no stitch would stay on it.

User Error
Every time it has given me problems was completely user-error. Like with most machines you have to thread it correctly every time. The three times I've been genuinely worried I'd broken it, it was just late and I'd threaded it wrong.

Stitches:
I use primarily the straight stitch and zig zag stitch. I've had no problems with needle positioning and twin needle use. I like the buttonhole-I practiced it a lot before using it on a garment and find it nice and easy though it's tricky if you have particularly thick buttons and need a wider buttonhole. I've used the tricot/three step zig zag on knits without a problem. The blind hem stitch takes a bit of practice but also works well when needed. The applique stitch is close and tight.

Bobbin:
The machine recommends plastic bobbins but takes metal ones too. Elastic thread for shirring runs through just fine.

Other Advertised Functions:
Obviously, you can make it into a free arm for sleeves. And the free arm has a little storage compartment for your extra feet. The drop feed is a little plastic plate that you snap above the feed dogs and it stays in place.

The Good: (that they don't really tell you about)
A. Snap foot. I love snap foots because they make switching feet a cinch.
B. Bobbin tension is good and steady. Top stitch tension is easy to control and tweak. I've managed to troubleshoot all tension problems with just top tension tweaking.
C. Handles knits pretty well. I've sewn with machines that hate knits and whine & tug more than they should. This is not one of them. Also didn't swallow my felt or thin fabric.
D. Reverse button is well positioned. You're not going to accidentally press it.
E. Though John Lewis doesn't sell any branded accessories, it works with the general snap feet and general needles. This does not lock you into branded accessories.
F. Easy to maintain. You can easily reach the feed dogs to clean out the fuzz. It's simple to reach the moving parts for oiling. I've not needed to replace the bulb but I checked that it's simple to unscrew.
G. The warranty does include tune ups. I sent it in out of paranoia because the warranty was about to end telling them something vague like “oh, it was sounding a bit...odd”. They tuned up the tension dial, cleared dust out of the engine, and gave me some oil.

Things to Consider:
A. This is not a machine that sews at 120mph like some machines. Foot to the floor on the pedal at 2 stitch length this machine takes a few minutes for every foot of sewing. This is a relatively slow machine which suits my style just fine since it forces me to actually think about what I'm doing (I used to sew at 120mph and spent a lot more quality time with my unpicker). You don't need a max speed limiter.
B. Stitch length gets a bit vague. It's difficult to get a good machine basting stitch (I baste by hand). Similar problem is regulating the zig zag width. Nice and vague so you need to test it out if you have specific width needs. Buttonholes can also get a bit difficult if your button is not the average width.
C. Stretch stitch has tension problems and often snaps. Really annoying because it means you're often going to have to do some troubleshooting. This works fine for me because I've familiarity with what to do but I can imagine that beginners would have no idea what is going on.

Some Nitpicks:
A. Requires long threads at beginning. Maybe it's because I often get down to the very last 3 inches of thread and hate having to buy a new spool of thread for the last seam but I get a bit frustrated that the machine seems to want such a long tail. If it's even the slightest bit too short, it pulls out of the needle. I'm not entirely sure if this is a general oscillating hook problem though.
B. You need to keep an eye on it while winding the bobbin as the motion can pull the spool of thread right off its spool and catapult it across the room.
C. If you're planning on carrying this machine on the bus, keep in mind the free arm will fall off the instant the bus hits a pothole. Simple solution is to take it off preemptively and put it in your bag of course.

The conclusion:
This is a beginner's entry-level machine and so has all the basic capabilities. If you're relying on one step buttonholes and crazy stitch options and mechanized convenience, this is obviously not the machine for you. However, it is an excellent beginner's machine as it relatively behaves itself and is surprisingly tough. I use mine much more than its description described and it gives me little problem.

I should also mention that I'm the sort who reads the manual which has probably saved me a lot of grief. It's only 27 pgs of a lot of white space so it's no chore in this case.


If I were to buy a new machine, I'd probably go one step above. I'd like a variety of buttonhole styles and the ability to be more specific about my stitch widths and the like. However, I'll happily use this machine until it fully dies as my complaints are minor and are mainly of convenience rather than function.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Countryside? Fabric

I made a trip down to London and then thought the fateful words: maybe I'll just pop out to Walthamstow Market to see if there're any cool deals and/or blue flowery paisley suiting (don't ask).

Of course I ended up with over 30m of fabric and loads more of ribbon/trim, etc.

Among them was this mystery fabric.

It is exceptionally soft and burn tests show it has some organic fibres in it. And it's cute, it has horses, hares, and stags...and some random blotches of what-is-that. It's probably meant for small children with its...woodland? countryside? theme and the soft lilac background on which the purple animals repeat in a small scale random pattern. It frays easily, drapes lightly, and gives a little.

So! What to do?

First up was a box blouse. I made it for St. Patrick's Day to go with my green trousers.
All the hems and neckline are narrow rolled hems. I added little side slits to make the box blouse shape fit my figure without too much fabric overuse. Soft and comfortable.

The fabric got re-rolled and put back on the shelf. Until I had sewn two more knit triple skirts for my rapper team. And I thought to myself, I should definitely do a woven circle skirt!
 If I do say so, it looks good.
the Successes: I successfully installed my third zipper ever. That's piping going on below the waistband-my first successful piping attempt (I need smaller cord is what I learned). I got the buttonhole right the first time and that rolled hem worked a treat.

the failure (and some optimism): Of course, I should've thought to check my math. The problem with circle skirts is always the math. I forgot that my current working formula was for knit fabric which allows for a huge bias stretch. Yes, bias stretch this fabric completely lacks. Eurgh! This ended up 4 inches too narrow with the waistband being exactly my waist width. I had to add a panel on the side to make up the extra width. Not a problem for non sewers who all have told me it looks so lovely but an annoyance. Luckily the pattern is random so that's not an obvious flaw and the panel is exactly the width of my side. The skirt looks unseamed from the front and from the back and the panel hangs exactly the same way as the rest. So I've kept it.

some more failure: This last minute panel used up much of my last bits of fabric but I still had some largish pieces. So like with the zig zag fabric, I decided undies were the order of the day. So I tried out the Amerson undies. There's no photo because I ended up making a pair that was joined at the wrong point. *headdesk* Seems like many who got the first version of pattern did the same. Then I finally got them right and I tried them on to find out...they didn't fit me. The style didn't suit me either. But don't let me scare you off, it's a free pattern, forces you to learn some new techniques, and has other people who love them.
Mine ended up pulled apart and harvested for the elastic back.

A success: So now I had some former undie pieces and random rectangular pieces. The fabric frays too much and is surprisingly weak so it wouldn't work as handkerchiefs. But then I was reminded again about tea cup pin cushions.


I bought some epoxy glue and grabbed one of my mismatched and very very sturdy stoneware hunting tea cups. I packed in some strange scraps to fill up the cup. I topped it off with fiberfill and glued the woodland fabric as taut as possible to make the pin cushion. I then glued cup to saucer. And you know, I love it. No longer does my pin cushion roll away from me, M hasn't stepped on it driving pins into his foot, and it works as a pattern weight. I was worried it'd take up space on my cramped work desk but the saucer works a useful little catch plate for the little things (like earrings) that otherwise get lost. When I'm sewing, my embroidery scissors, seam unpick, and a hand needle usually end up hanging out on there too, in close reach. Invaluable addition to my sewing life!

Another success: With some of the last little pieces, I whipped up some hair bowties. Made in the same way as the zig zag ones except that this fabric frayed too much so I used some of the last bit of bias binding I used for the piping of the skirt. Two stashes whittled down? Oh yeah!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Zig Zags!

My current thing is to take a piece of fabric and use as much as I can of it before resigning it to scraps.

First off is this 2 yards of knit red zigzag fabric:

It's a delightful knit that is well printed in straight lines. It pills a little and is slightly see through but it is a dream to sew with if a bit dizzying to try to match up stripes.

Success: I bought the fabric with a straight pencil skirt in mind. With my hips and posterior I really prefer my pencil skirts to be made out of knits because otherwise it gets uncomfortable/rides up real fast. You've seen it already as part of Me-Made but here it is again.


Construction is simple. Two rectangles sewn together (and I did quite well at stripe and peak matching. one side is perfect...the other is close) with a waistband made of a rectangle folded over the elastic. Twin needle hem makes this a figure hugging but not tight skirt.

the failure that turned into a success: My second project was born of seeing that fabric on my floor (where I do all my cutting out). I laid down and confirmed that indeed, I should be able to create a long enough dress out of what was left.

I drew up a croquis:
and made a bodice with shirring elastic in the center to ruche the center and then decided that midriff and skirt could be one piece. That was my fatal error.
Here's the skirt cut out and sewn together:
see the potential problem? (other than that I really need to tidy up)
too slim cut through the hips! Oh no! I'd just made it way too tight for me. Plus ALL those zigzags was doing something to my eyes-something quite unpleasant. Why, I thought to myself, didn't I do the method of cutting a rectangle and sewing the sides afterwards instead of cutting for the sewing line.

I lost heart and decided to stitch the top down to turn the fabric inside out as a contrast but not too constrasty midriff section. I then realized that since I sewed for the entire rapper team I have quite a good idea of their shapes/sizes and that this would fit another girl quite well. Oh good, this wouldn't just be a WIP tossed in the corner of my room. She was delighted to get a free dress and was game for a quick fitting. I determined that it was tight on her but did not show every bulge and unseemly fold like on me and redefined the dress in my mind as hers NOT mine. I proceeded to shorten the bodice, shirr the top of the bodice and then bind it with bias binding. I got out the twin needles again to hem it to length. I looked at my scraps and realized that if I put the zig zag vertical I could use up a particular scrap and so it went. I of course looked at my interfacing stash and went WHERE DID IT GO?! and ended up using the stay tape that I won from StephC (which makes it the third time it saved me some hair pulling and lost project momentum) to make them stronger/less stretchy.




For some reason it looks relatively shapeless and baggy on a hanger. But here it is on her!



Still a bit too slim cut but the fabric isn't working hard as when it goes on me (i.e. the zigzags don't straighten out on her).

Some real success! So after that sadness and debacle with a happy ending, I had some largish pieces left. I had already decommissioned a favorite pair of undies to cut up for pattern making but it had languished in my "things I could easily get on with but don't pile". Once I cut them up and traced them I made up my first pair of undies using the flat construction method (sew crotch together, attach leg elastic, sew one side seam, attach waist elastic, and finish off). They were a bit tight but definitely wearable but as I had just enough more fabric if I did some piecing I determined I could do with an extra cm all around and now those are the most comfortable undies I own.


What's left? Strips of fabric too narrow to make much out of but not long enough to wrap around the head, rectangles of odd sizes etc. Some of the irregular scraps got hemmed to be handkerchiefs but that's so routine for me by now that I barely noticed the decrease in scraps amount.
Success: So hair bowties it is! I've been wanting to do more of the hair decoration route of hairdressing so banging up a few mini bowties was in the books. 


The fabric gets interfaced (I had gone out and bought some by this point) and sewn into a rectangle inside out. It gets turned right side out, that little gap stitched up and ironed flat. Then you pinch it in the middle and stitch it pinched. I used some more stay tape against a small strip I fished out of my trash, wrapped it around the pinch and stitched it relatively higher on the back so that the rest of the strip could be used to bobby pin it in.

As for the rest, I'm out of inspiration. Quilt? Does knit even work for a quilt?

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Me-Made May '13 Final Week

Sunday
This skirt was originally a dress. A very unflattering dress. A bit of regathering easily made it into a skirt. I replaced the original navy blue underlining that rode up at any excuse with a bright blue static free lining. 

not me made is the top I grabbed from a charity shop

 
Monday
This skirt used to be my favorite skirt but a few years ago, I realized that I had to tug it down a lot and the fabric was ripping at the gathers. So this went on my mending pile to have the rips repaired and hand sewn arrowheads at every possible stress point. There are probably 14 of those arrowheads that get lost in the floral print. Now that I'm much more aware of fitting problems and solutions, I know that this is too long in the torso for my figure and will never work for me.

The tights have stars on them. I put them there.
 
The bag is a remake of the old version. I got the bag from a dig but it was thin cotton. No match for my bookish lifestyle or tendency to carry sharp things. Once it developed holes I could no longer ignore, it was time to remake the bag. The base bag was created out of drill, I added an interior pocket to hold the smaller things that might get lost in a totebag, and flatter straps that won't dig into my shoulder so badly. The original bag had its tears repaired and then the design half got appliqued to the drill bag base to create a much stronger version of itself.

not me made is the H&M top and Marks&Spencer shoes

 
Tuesday
A couple of months ago, the constellation scarf was making the rounds of pinterest. This is mine. I accidentally stained this scarf with red blotches so I decided it was perfect for refashioning with a row of red constellations embroidered along the blotched edge. Now it seems a little more intentionally reddish...or so I tell myself.

This was a fairly early skirt. Elastic waist and tiered design with the dots getting bigger to the hem. Not much to say there but I love it. The very deep hem makes it swing delightfully.

not me made are the Camper mismatched mary janes and H&M top

Wednesday
My first box blouse and it's made out of non-drapey almost quilting cotton so not the most comfortable. But I love the print and the little standing collar edged with lace-it's pretty much me.

not me made are the oddly sized jeans

 
Thursday
The skirt was made on the faker out of buttery soft mystery fabric. The ribbon was to hide the horrible seaming caused by the faker. It's due for a reworking. Maybe the fabric could lie flatter if it were sewn with a machine that had tension. 

not me made are the Menkes heels and H&M top

Friday
Perhaps an overkill of polka dots. This was my first attempt at a woven circle skirt. Trimmed in ribbon and two types of lace, this was a rushed work of love. Does that make sense? Also due for a reworking.

The bag was made by me out of Ikea fabric. I wanted a tote bag for my books. I carry a lot of library books to and fro and it made sense to make a bag that could hold 8 averagely sized books. It's a simple tote bag but the perfect dimensions for my average library loot haul. I like how it displays the large scale print.

not me made is the slip I grabbed from a charity shop that may have been intended as a skirt. As the fullness is like a petticoat and the fabric is nice and thin, I use it as a slip.

 
Bonus Saturday
I didn't realize it was June! So here is a bonus. I got this dress online and on the advice of reviewers went a size up...which ended up a size too big. Obviously, the reviewers were not sewers who know their measurements by heart. Instead of paying the same amount to send it back, I took in almost every seam and tapered the sides to fit my curves. I couldn't figure out how to remove the collar but honestly, even had I not made some changes to the shoulders, it would've gotten modified anyway. The white fabric is too thick and sticks out awkwardly (at the kickpleat and collar) so the kickpleat had to get sewed together (making this a wiggle skirt, going up stairs at an angle and all) and the collar got pleated. I rather like the collar more than the original vision.

not me made is the hat.

Well, I'm proud of myself. This was my first me-made-may and not only did I manage to make sure I had a lot of pictures, I even forced myself to get dressed every day despite lingering unemployment and bad weather.

Some Things I've Learned:
-I ended up hating some clothes after spending a day in them. Some of these items are leaving my wardrobe.

-My revisit/remake pile is very large. Le sigh.

-I look rumpled something like 95% of the time. If it isn't pull lines, it's wrinkles or whatever. I pretty much always look like I slept in my clothes. Nothing lies flat against my body which makes sense but also...makes me look rumpled.

-I need to remember to wear shoes for pictures. While we're on that subject, maybe I should practice non-weird expressions for self-portraits. I either look sad, weirdly tired, or just...yeah. I think I look way weirder in photos than in real life. Or at least I hope I do.