sewing Archives - Page 25 of 42

It happens to everyone

Ah, there it is. What we used to call “bobbin art” in the costume shop, and what I just discovered online is called “birdnesting” by others. This happens when there is insufficient tension on the top thread to pull the bobbin thread up and out of the way, so it gets caught by the hook again and again, along with the later lengths of bobbin thread. “Insufficient tension” really means “no tension” in this case, so let’s have a look at the tension disks.

Yep, I missed completely. That thread should be one disk back from where it is.

Now, I’ve been sewing for well over 20 years and sewing with this specific machine for close to 15. This is just something that happens from time to time, and why we recommend completely rethreading the machine as the first step to diagnosing or solving any machine problem, “we” meaning us at the Sew-op. Learning to deal with these sorts of problems is the main benefit of Basic Sewing – thread gets caught on the presser foot. You catch a part of the fabric in your seam you didn’t mean to. Your seam line veers too far toward or away from the edge of the fabric. In the era of seam rippers, all are fairly quick and easy to fix, and if you want sewing to be a relaxing hobby I think it’s better to just accept the occasional necessity of ripping stitches. [Though thread caught on the presser foot typically just needs to be pulled out.]

In other news, I’ve decided to mostly depart from scheduled posts. I have one lined up for tomorrow morning, and I will try to post twice a week still, but I think it is silly to delay things I’m ready to show until some arbitrary time.

Mini saddlebags

I am really excited to show you today’s project, now that a flat tire and wet weather have gotten out of the way of my photos. Look what I made for my bicycle!

I’m a little obsessed. I only ride on bike paths, and so far, in fact, on only one path that begins really close to where I live, so I didn’t really need carrying capacity – I can put my keys and phone in my jeans pockets and it’s not too uncomfortable – except that I neeeeeeeeeeeded something. Those looping gearshift and brake cables disqualify a basket, I think, not that it stopped me from mentally designing one crocheted from nylon mason’s twine. I also have extensive notes on a seatpost bag, that hangs from the back of the seat and secures to the seatpost to keep it from swinging around, but I couldn’t get the logistics of assembly to work out, so it’s tabled indefinitely.

Meanwhile I went riding and noticed I had a decent amount of space behind the handlebars. Certainly enough for keys and a phone. It’s a little time consuming and a little awkward to sew, but should you want to make your own, here’s how.

[and incidentally, I have decided to try to balance the inconvenience of scrolling past something you’re not interested in with the annoyance of clicking through to read something you are interested in by cutting long tutorial/pattern posts so the pattern itself is past the cut. Other posts will remain in one piece.]

Continue reading Mini saddlebags

Modular organization

I’d been tiring of my large wallet, especially how much effort it took to travel light (to go see a band or for a bike ride, for instance, and be bag-free). It was time to change to something with more flexibility. Enter the modular purse organizer set.

There are five sewn pieces, including an outer pocket that holds the other four. I was happy to see my keychain of store loyalty cards also fit in the pocket. We’ll start with the simple ones.

On the left is the coupon and gift card envelope, a smaller version of the outer pocket. On the right, a folder for checks, stamps, and fortunes. I read advice once not to drag your whole checkbook around with you if you rarely write checks, and since I write only a handful of checks a month I took it.

Each of the last two took as long as the first three combined, of course. One is a card holder with six slots. I miscalculated and had to make the slots shallower than intended, and still cover over the top with the contrast fabric in order to keep the teal seam allowance for pocket-making. However, that’s turned out to be a good thing – the cards are really easy to get out and put away even without taking the card holder out of the outer pocket, and since it’s in that pocket there’s no danger of losing a card into the depths of my purse if I miss the slot.

The centerpiece is the cash holder. It also has my license, insurance information, library card (for potential bike rides to the library), and one credit card (for emergencies if this is the only thing I have with me out on the town). There’s a zippered pouch for change and a pocket on each side for cash and cards. It fits in the back pocket of my jeans, though I hiked for an hour with it there and it was… kinda damp. But still, very handy.