Clarity in All Things

I’m going to have to switch to other sewing until I get this serger stuff figured out. My frustration level is too high right now and trying to push my way through this isn’t the best course of action.

I started working on the serger pillow pattern that I bought in Spokane in August. Oh, my. This is a line of very attractive patterns with full-color printing, but they are not written well at all. I can tell when patterns haven’t been tested or tech edited and these could have benefitted from both.

Problem #1 is that there is no schematic or up-front instructions to indicate how many pieces to cut in what size. The general supplies list on the back specifies 1-1/2 yards for the pillow body and ruffle, 1/2 yard coordinating fabric for the fringing strips, and 1/8 yard fabric for the ladder (flatlock) and chain stitch sections. A simple schematic identifying which fabric was which on the pillow would have gone a long way toward improving these instructions, as the fabrics used in the sample pillow in the photos are similar in color and print. A cutting list would be even better. And there needs to be some consistency in terminology, units, and other picayune details that annoy people like me.

After puzzling out what needed to be done with which fabric, I set the Bernina serger up for a two-thread wrapped overlock stitch on the widest setting—needle in the left position and cutting width at 9. This pattern is written for the Bernina L-series sergers, specifically the L890. It does say that, in tiny print, on the front of the pattern. However, I would rather see this pattern written more generally, to apply to a wider variety of sergers. I do not think it is necessary to have an $8000 serger to make a pillow. Even my $400 Juki serger will make this stitch.

The two-thread wrapped overlock stitch is serged on the folded edges of three strips. That stitch then needs to be secured on the sewing machine before cutting the needle thread and releasing the lower looper threads to form a fringe. It’s a slick technique, but it requires a bit of practice. I had to serge the edges of the fringing strips, then take them over the sewing machine and run a very short straight stitch through the serger needle thread to secure the fringe before cutting.

As suggested in the pattern, I used two 12wt threads in the lower looper (Spaghetti, from Wonderfil).

It took me over two hours to make three fringing strips. This is part of why I have to make things ahead of time for classes, because I need to know how long each step is going to take. I got this far and just didn’t have it in me to figure out the next couple of steps.

This project is in time out. I may try again at some point or I may not. We’ll see.

I did get a couple of good class project ideas from the woman who coordinates the classes at one of the quilt stores. I’ll see her on Tuesday after my Serger 101 class at that store and we’ll discuss them further.

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The husband and I went to Missoula yesterday morning to get the wood boiler. One the way, we listened to a couple of podcasts, including an interview with Danielle Dimartino Booth. She’s a very sharp financial analyst and I always like to hear what she has to say.

We hauled the wood boiler back here on a trailer. The husband will get it hooked up soon and I’ll get some pictures of that process when it happens.

Date Day continued with a visit to the finished home of one of the husband’s customers. The homeowners hosted an open house for all the contractors. We don’t get to do this very often, so it was lovely to go and talk to the homeowners and the other subs and see the home. Most of the husband’s work was hidden, holding up the structure, but he also did some concrete patios around the outside.

And after that, we went to a new-to-us restaurant courtesy of a gift card from another homeowner. I think this place has been there for a long time; we’ve just never eaten there. I felt rather like we had been sent back in time 25 years. The decor was old-fashioned (very Montana), the food was great—it’s a steakhouse—and the service was exemplary. I think we’ll be going back. The husband said he wished it was closer to home, but it’s not that far from Home Depot, which was where we went afterward. I am looking for a rolling case for my Juki serger so I can transport it back and forth to class. I’m using a rolling milk crate at the moment, which is adequate, but I need something sturdier that will also hold more of my supplies so I’m not carting around three or four separate containers. I looked at a few different systems but haven’t decided on one yet.

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I’ve got a Serger 101 class tomorrow morning at one quilt store and a Serger 101 class Tuesday afternoon at the other quilt store. People can be very particular about what store(s) they patronize. I’ve had some students take classes from me at both stores. Other students will only take classes at one store or the other. I don’t sense any overt hostility from either store toward the other one—and I have zero desire to get caught up in any drama—but I probably need to be more mindful of scheduling issues.