No Bag For You

I planned to write today’s blog post from the airport since I usually get there plenty early.  I had to meet with the contractor this morning one last time before I left thoughh so I didn’t really have any extra time (fortunately, I had enough time to get my usual airport burrito…leaving without it would have been a tragedy).  So now I’m writing on the plane.  What’s cool though is that I’ll actually be able to post from here!  I finally hit a Delta flight with the gogo wireless service.  I consider this $10 well spent.  I can catch up on blogs, write email and generally keep my mind off this 3+ hour flight.  If I get tired of catching up on blogs I have reading and of course, knitting.

I’ve been wanting to make a new handbag for a while so of course when I found myself out in Arizona by myself with a sewing machine this is the first project that came to mind.  Pattern?  I don’t need no stinking pattern!  I did have a new technique I wanted to try though..a concealed top edge zipper.  By the way, for inquiring minds it’s Michael Miller fabric purchased from The Olde World Quilt Shop.  Well, let me just say that if you plan to try this technique, prepared to be annoyed.  Getting the zipper disassembled and reassembled again is VERY fiddly.  Annoying even.  If I try it again I’ll go with one of those “make your own zipper” kits.  I think that would be much easier.  After all that work, I have no new bag.  One thing about not having a pattern is that one tends to forget things.  Whole steps even.  There is definitely a specific order to making a lined bag.  An order that somehow got a little off track and caused me to abandon the whole mess.  I’m going to chalk it up to being distracted with the kitchen situation.  As a future project, I think the size and design I chose really look great.  I’ll probably tackle this again once I’m back in Cincinnati.

I did finish something; Burda 8361 purchased from sewingpatterns.com.  It’s the first time I used a printable pattern and I loved it.  It’s so nice to have a pattern on real paper rather than on tissue without the whole having to trace part.  It was easy to assemble too so no worries there.  It was also the first time I did a full bust adjustment.  This pattern doesn’t really need it since it’s a knit but I thought the simple construction made it a good candidate on which to practice.  This blog post at Sew Mama Sew has some great explanations and links to doing the adjustment on different types of garments.  The pattern was very easy and I’ll be making at least one more .  I’m not sure if it was caused by my adjustment, but I had to sew the shoulder seams with a two inch seam rather than the ccalled for 5/8″.  I’m short waisted but I never imagined my shortness being from the shoulder to under-bust!  With that adjustment the fit was pretty good although I’m taking out some of the FBA on the next version.  I’m not afraid to take pictures without makeup but, OMG…MUST. HAVE. EYEBROWS.  I had to delete the first batch so I didn’t scare y’all!  So here you have the top and me, with eyebrows.

Thanks to the Sew Forth Now podcast, I tried a new edge finish called lettuce trim.  I can’t remember the episode number (it was somewhere between her first and number 11…maybe 2?, interview with Anne St. Clair of Needle Nook Fabrics who specializes in knits) but I’ll give you a mini tutorial here.  First, set your machine to zig zag at the widest width (mine was 7mm) and the shortest stitch length (mine was 1mm).  Then place your fabric with the edge in the middle of the presser foot so that the “zag” part of the stitch occurs off of the fabric. (darn it…I had a good picture of this but forgot to upload it)  Then as you feed the fabric through the machine, stretch it from the front and the back.  Don’t fight with your machine too much here or you risk breaking a needle.  Practice on a scrap with the amount of stretch and stitch width to get the amount of curl you want and voila, you’ve got a great knit edging without the use of a serger.

Back to the grind in Cincinnati tomorrow!   I hope “re-entry” doesn’ burn too much.