Until a year ago, I hadn’t been doing much sewing even though I’d occasionally order a sewing pattern online or would pick up a few $.99 sale patterns from the local fabric store. Recently, it has been fun going through them and I have several that will work with the fabrics here.
I decided that one of the matchups, Kwik Sew 3338 and a stretch jersey ITY knit from Fabric.com, would test my newbie coverstitch skills. I traced size XL adding (in my typical belt
and suspenders mentality) 1” to the hem and ½” to the side seams and the sleeve seam. The sleeve length was shortened for a ¾ sleeve. The extra width for the sleeve and the bust area wasn’t needed and was removed. The t-shirt fits well, but the neck opening is a bit wide at the shoulders. Not bad, but I’ll bring it in on the next version.
Sewing a hem on the coverstitch is as easy as sewing on a serger or a sewing machine. Now, the binder is another experience! Not only have I failed to conquer it, I ended up using the Bernina to attach the neckband to the t-shirt. Well, I don’t know how long it is going to take me to figure the binding thing out. This way the t-shirt is finished, on a hanger in the closet - waiting to be worn instead of waiting to be completed. Makes sense to me...
My next binder session will utilize straight, woven fabric. Perhaps that will be easier to handle.
Suggestions are encouraged.
What size needles are you using? And are they ballpoint or stretch? Also, your stitches look way too short - lengthen them - that should help immediately. What brand of CS machine do you have? Janomes seem to need a lessening of foot pressure. I have a Babylock and have never needed to touch the foot pressure.
ReplyDeleteAlso - I like your tee! The fabric is great. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie! The machine is a Brother 2340CV and it is loaded with Schmetz stretch needles, size 14. The stitches compress when I try incorporating the fabric piece in between the binding. I haven't adjusted the differential feed and the stitch length is set at 3 mm. The hems I have sewn with the machine look RTW and the sewn binding strips (on their own) look fine, too. The binder is a double fold binder, which means I'm trying to sew 5 layers. I'll adjust the foot pressure and see what that does. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy! I'm very envious of your new coverstitch machine - I'd love to get one of those. I'm sure with a little practice you'll get the hang of the binder!
ReplyDelete