Before I get into this post, I wanted to thank all of you who filled out my Reader Survey in the last week – you all ROCK and I was overwhelmed at the number of responses I received.  It was really interesting reading every individual response (believe me, I did), and seeing some almost-universal themes, the biggest one being: fitting.

Shocked? I’m not, and I bet you aren’t either.

I get the why of why fitting in and of itself is a challenge.

Every body is different and has it’s own unique proportions and measurements.  That’s why we sew, right?  Because RTW is for a standard body size and shape and not everyone fits that shape.  Ideally, we can create clothes that fit and flatter our body and make us look and feel our best.  What was evident from reading comments from all of you, the majority of which have been sewing for over 10 years and identify as sewing at an intermediate level, is that this isn’t happening on a regular basis.  Pattern fit and ease vary from brand to brand, even within one brand depending on the design intention, and it can be hard to figure out if size A will work this time or maybe we need to blend together sizes A and B to achieve a good fit.  And that’s just one factor of many when it comes to getting fit right.  We spend hours adjusting and retracing pattern before we can cut into our fabric and get to the fun part – the sewing!!

What’s perplexing is that there’s so many resources out there that cover how to fit patterns to our bodies, yet we’re still having a hard time.

That’s the part that’s making my head scratch.  Do a book search on Amazon, or even look at the class offerings on Craftsy – there’s a lot of different sources out there that tackle how to fit our sewing projects.  I have a whole shelf on my bookcase of books devoted to fitting, and it’s usually what I spend the most time with on a project.  After a lot of trial and error over the years, I have a pretty good understanding of how to fit patterns to my body (well, I admitted defeat with that above coat from earlier last year – I don’t know what was going on!!  And yeah, I have the occasional wader from time-to-time, I’m not perfect), but it’s evident there’s a lot of sewists out there that are still having a hard time.  Don’t even get me started on fitting pants.

So let’s talk: are the fitting resources out there not tackling topics that are relevant to you and what you need?  Maybe there’s too many books/videos/etc. to choose from out there?  Write a comment below or send me an email!

You know what’s great about sewing?  Being able to whip up a new garment on a Sunday night and wearing it to work on Monday morning.  I made a new Archer shirt this weekend and proudly wore it to work this week, and it’s probably my best button-down shirt to date.  I owe a lot of it to my pretty, perfect-looking buttonholes that my new Bernina stitched with no problem, thanks to the automatic buttonhole feature (I’m in love!!!).

Even if you stitch the best buttonholes, they can easily be ruined it you cut them open incorrectly, or slice through your stitching with a seam ripper.  Eeeek!  Above is a quick Vine video of how I open my buttonholes using a buttonhole knife, block of wood, and a hammer.  After I slice them open, I seal the edges with a little bit of clear nail polish, just for extra insurance from fraying.

Here’s how my shirt turned out!

Got one more cut out and ready to go for this weekend – I definitely think I’m in fall-sewing mode now.

Hey there, blog readers!  I made a quick, 9 question survey to learn more about you lovely peeps who read Sew Wrong – what are your sewing habits, what you like to sew, and what you find to be the most challenging part of sewing.  With your feedback, I’m planning on creating content for the blog to fit what you’re looking for and make Sew Wrong even better.  It’ll take no more than three minutes to fill out, I swear.

And hey, if there’s more info you’d like to share that isn’t covered in the survey, feel free to leave a comment below.  I love reading comments from you guys!

Here’s the link to the survey: Reader Sewing Survey

Thanks in advance!
Lucinda

Happy Monday, fellow sewists!  It’s been a little quiet around these parts for the past two weeks because I recently moved in with my fiance, and I’m knee-deep in unpacking.  Almost literally, really…we’ve been wading through a sea of boxes since I moved in at the end of July!  It’s a little cramped since we essentially have two units worth of stuff in his one-bedroom condo, but we’re making it work.  Plus, I have a storage unit I’m renting for my furniture and other odds and ends that don’t fit, which has been a lifesaver so far.

Above is my new sewing area – quite a lot smaller than what I had in my old apartment!  I’m using one table for both my Bernina and serger now, which is tight, but I keep reminding myself that I used to sew in spaces about this size and made it work.  I’ve just been spoiled the last three years letting my sewing take over my entire apartment because hey, I was the only one living there and why not!  This weekend I bought a pegboard to put on the wall above the space with some hooks and baskets for hanging my scissors, thread spools, and other knickknacks – vertical space is your friend when working in small spaces.  I also picked up that ubiquitous Ikea cart that every sewing blogger has, in the right corner of the above photo, and loaded it up with most of the notions and tools that I used to store in drawers on top of my work surface.

The weekend before, I also made the mistake of trying to crank out a dress to wear to a wedding the next night, and most of my sewing supplies were still packed up.  Thank goodness Chris wasn’t home that night and was at the rehersal dinner an hour away, I tore up the place ripping through boxes trying to get the thread I needed, finding my scissors, and setting up my iron and ironing board in the kitchen.  Not my best work ever, but I was pretty happy with the results considering the circumstances:

I need to get some proper photos of this dress – it’s a cross between a Simplicity jumpsuit bodice and a skirt I drafted, out of a silk jersey from Metro Textiles.  Thank goodness for stash fabrics!

So that’s what’s been going on in these parts, just trying to get through alllllll of these boxes so normal life activities, like sewing, can resume.  Oh, there was some wedding dress shopping this weekend I can’t wait to share!  No, not trying on dresses to buy, just making sure that what I’m thinking about creating for the big day is what I actually like and looks how I want it to.

For those of you living in small spaces, any tips to share on maximizing sewing space?  I’ve already come to terms that I’ll need to go back to cutting out my projects on my cardboard cutting mat spread out on the bed, lol.

Happy Monday!  I’ve been up to my eyeballs in packing/life-organizing this month for my big move happening a week from today (merging households with my fiance), but I wanted to share my new baby I came home with at the end of June.  Say hello to the newest member of my sewing machine family, the lovely Bernina 550!

I wrote a post right before I went on vacation to visit my family in PA of all the things I was looking for in a new machine.  Namely, it came down to what I could afford, but this guy fit the bill with all of the features I was looking for and came in right at my budget.  Plus, this is the exact machine that my mom has at home and I’ve used it several times, so I knew exactly what kind of machine I was getting.

Technically, this pretty lady is a “pre-owned” machine (a nicer way of saying “used,” because she’s classy like that).  Apparently, the previous owner only used this machine for six hours before she came back in to trade it in for a newer version.  Some people have more money than sense, I think!  It was alright for me though, it helped to knock down the price considerably,  Plus, I got allllll the feet for this machine (including a walking foot), a carrying case, bobbins, and a stitch regulator as part of the deal.  There’s no way I could have gotten this kind of a bargin at the Bernina dealer near me.

It’s so simple, but I love the fact that this has two different types of thread spindles depending on what type of thread spool you’re working with: cross-wound or stacked.  In the photo here, I’m working with a cross-wound spool of thread, and having the spindle horizontally makes it a lot easier for the thread to come off of the spool in smooth way.  Plus, I can put a spool of thread on the other spindle to wind a new bobbin and not have to unthread my machine.  Love it!

I also wasn’t sure how the knee bar and I were going to get along, but I became quickly addicted to using it.  How did I sew without one of these bad boys?  It makes it so easy to adjust the fabric while sewing with a quick little bump of the knee to raise the presser foot, and it’s great for those times when you feel like you need a third hand to keep things in place as you adjust.

Besides those little details, it comes with a whole slew of stitches that it can sew because this is a quilting edition model.  That wasn’t something on my list that I wanted/needed, but I’m sure I’ll play around with them.  And this sews like a dream!  The stitching is so smooth and I have much more control over my speed than I ever did with my previous Bernina.  I feel much more comfortable having this machine as the machine I’ll be using to sew my wedding dress.

Deep in the heart of Lancaster County is one of largest, if not the top, Bernina dealers in the United States.  Hinkletown Sewing is where my mom bought the last few of her machines, and they know their stuff there.  Even if you’re not in the market for a brand new machine, they have quite a few used machines, and they also have used machines that Bernina sends them to sell, which is why the prices are so great.  They turn through a lot of inventory in this tiny store.

The sales associate took her time with me and walked me through all of the different options they had on hand based on what I was looking for.  She even showed my mom and I how to use the automatic threading feature, which is a little tricky but we got the hang of it.

I loved all of the vintage Bernina machines around the shop, it was neat to see how some of the older models were designed.  They even had my mom’s Bernina 980 on display that she bought in the 80’s when I was born – that machine is such a joy to sew on, and still purrs.

How cool is this see-through Bernina??

They’re also a long arm quilting machine dealer.  It was neat playing around with this Bernina Q24, definitely not something I’m interested in but it’s great to see that Bernina is making a quality long arm machine.  They also had the brand new Q20 which the sales associate demo’d.  Long arm machines are a completely different way of sewing, it’s like thread drawing with a machine.

Something else that was great – we ended up dropping off our current machines at the store for cleaning, went to lunch and did some more shopping in the area, and came back in the afternoon to pick them up – they were really busy, too!  What place do you know that does same-day sewing machine cleaning?

All-in-all, I’m pleased as punch with my new machine and already made two garments from it that turned out beautifully, which I credit it to my new machine.  If you’re ever in the Lancaster County area, and in the market for a new machine, I highly recommend checking out Hinkletown Sewing Machine Shop!