It's November! What’s up?

[nou]

Hello sewists! What’s up? Have you finished anything recently? Started anything new? Learned a new technique or read a new sewing-related book?

I finally got all the stupid crinkle linen cut out and have started assembling it. I’m using french seams because it’s very inclined to fraying, but I’m doing them a bit differently from usual. I stay-stitched all the edges on the individual pieces at (not inside) the seam allowance with soluble basting thread, then sewed the narrow part of the french seam at the width I wanted it to be, rather than sewing it wider and then trimming. The stay-stitching meant that (a) sewing an extra-narrow seam to start was easier than it would have been otherwise, and (b) I could see exactly where to sew on the second pass.

Still to do: bias binding on the bottom hem, elastic casing for the sleeve hem (I want to be able to push the sleeves up and have them stay where I put them).

I also made myself another silk pillowcase, since only having one was annoying (you’re not supposed to dry silk in direct sunlight, so getting it washed and dried in between getting up and going to bed could sometimes be challenging).

Comments

[shermarama]

Ooh, that sounds excellent! I have a Janome DC4030, bought after years using a perfectly decent 1970s Janome of some sort, and it did make some things just so much easier. The ability to set the needle to finish either up or down was probably the single biggest useful thing for me.

[nou]

My sewing machine doesn’t have that needle-setting ability, but I have been making a list of features I’d want if I ever replaced it, so: what do you use this ability for?

I know that it’s often useful to finish with the needle up or down, e.g. when you’ve finished sewing or when you want to pivot, respectively. But when I want to pivot, I want to pivot in a specific place, so I’m sewing slowly enough to stop the needle where I want it anyway, and if I accidentally don’t stop quite in time then I can wind the needle back down by hand, without advancing the fabric. Would the automatic feature make me take another stitch in that case?

[shermarama]

It is mainly useful for pivoting, yes, but I also find it useful for any situation where you want the seam to stop at a specific point, like doing things with pocket welts.

I find I don't take an extra stitch, except through my own carelessness, but it took me a minute there to work out why... It's because this is effectively a stitch digitiser, so once what you think will be the last stitch has started, you can press the stop button or release the pedal at any time and that stitch will be neatly completed - so it's less of a trick to stop, because you don't have to do it at a specific point in the stitch cycle, and you get no trace of the loose thread you can get if the stitch goes over and has to be turned back. If it turns out the first place I stop isn't far enough, I can just engage any amount of sewing (usually a double-click of the stop/start button for me - I actually don't ever use the pedal now, since that button sits right next where my thumb does anyway) and know I'll get a single complete stitch again. It's maybe not "I'd never go back to a machine without!" territory, but it's one less thing to be a judgement call in the middle of a heap of judgement calls.

I find I also use it as an automatic 'about to start sewing' action too - put fabric under foot, position, put foot down, put needle down, and then if that's all in the right place I know I can let go and fiddle around with arranging how I'll hold the rest of the fabric for that seam etc., and when I go to actually sew, the needle is definitely where I left it. I could always do that with hand-wheel or pedal or whatever but 'click button' is even less thought.

[nou]

Thank you for the thorough explanation — very helpful, and I see now that I want one too :)