Where is the Problem?
Troubleshooting is a process. When something isn’t going well, what is causing the problem?
Is it the pattern? (ahem, Little Poppins Bag)
Did you chose a project beyond your current skill level? While it’s good to challenge onself, challenging oneself too much just leads to frustration.
Is it the materials? Are you trying to make a pattern with a woven instead of a knit?
Is it the tools? Does your sewing machine need to be adjusted or serviced?
Of course, some of these categories overlap, which makes pinning down the problem even tougher. One thing I have noticed is that makers almost always assign blame to themselves, first: “I must not be understanding this correctly,” or “I’m a terrible sewist.”
[I, on the other hand, have plenty of confidence in my skills (too much?), and usually assume it’s a problem with the pattern or the presentation—or, in the case of sewing, the materials or the machine.]
DD#2 needs more reusable makeup pads. I made a batch for her a couple of years ago and they’re about worn out. I got a yard of the same organic cotton fleece I used last time as well as half a dozen microfiber washcloths. Because I was cutting up scraps yesterday with the Accuquilt cutter, I took the opportunity to cut circles of the appropriate size from both fabrics. Two circles—one of each fabric—get serged together around the outside to make the pads.
I’ve made these before. This is not unfamiliar territory, but I was having a terrible time with this batch. I checked the needles. I checked the thread. I vacuumed out the serger. I serged with the microfiber circle on the bottom. I serged with the microfiber circle on the top. I adjusted the presser foot pressure. I adjusted the differential feed. No matter what I did, the microfiber circle was scooching and stretching as I serged and the circles looked more like amoebae than circles.
I suspect it’s the microfiber cloth. It’s very thick and springy. I am going to see if the Dollar Store has some thinner microfiber cloths that might be more suitable. Making these shouldn’t be this hard.
[Microfiber fabric generates a lot of lint. I made extensive use of my lint roller while cutting. In a very strange bit of serendipity, DD#2 texted me mid-afternoon to let me know that she had been at Ikea and picked up two more packages of lint roller refills for me there. They were out of stock when we shopped at Thanksgiving. My kids are so thoughtful.]
After the makeup pad debacle, I thought I might experiment with making a neckwarmer from some cushy black microvelvet I found on the remnant rack. I paired it with a length of flannel, also from the remnant rack. Again, this is something I’ve done before, although with jersey knits rather than microvelvet (which is still a knit). I tested—always—and adjusted the settings to where I thought they should be, but when I serged one long side, I realized that the serger was gathering the microvelvet faster than the flannel. Ugh. I cut the stitching on that side, adjusted the differential feed, and tried again.
It took more fiddling than it should have, although it’s done. I like the neckwarmer and will use it, but by the end of the afternoon I had started to ask myself if maybe I should give all of this up and become a greeter at Wal-Mart.
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My Amanda Murphy circle rulers came yesterday:
I will spend this morning with the Q20 again. I have to do my homework for Ruler Club, which meets this afternoon, and I want to practice with the circle rulers on that yellow, green, and purple sample piece.
The rest of my lettuce-growing supplies arrived, so getting them set up is on the to-do list for this morning, too.
We are at the “skating rink” stage of winter, when it snows, then melts, then freezes. One of our friends on the fire department gifted these ice cleats to the husband a few weeks ago. These are a different design than the Yaktrax he usually uses.
The husband tried them out yesterday and said they worked well, so he’s just going to leave them on his rubber boots. The boots are on the boot dryer, in case you’re wondering why they are upside down like that.