Saturday, May 25, 2013

The Summer Series: Five in Five, Take 3 (Again) and How I Sound Like I'm From 1932

So here it is, V8790, on the second try:


I can't tell you how precisely never it's going to be before I make this thing again.

I could tell you why but do we really want to bother? I know lots of peeps on Pattern Review liked this thing but you can't trust them let's agree to disagree. Look, I may even wear this top despite 5 miserable hours of construction (wherein all of the same problems recurred along with some new ones). But I'm not going to pretend it's worth your time. Hell, I didn't even hem it cuz, um, who cares?! It's not gonna ravel.

Actually, that point leads me to my next topic - how not hemming knits is heretofore an act of protest - until I get a cover stitch machine. I even found one yesterday, in my own town, new from a reputable shop: the Janome Coverpro 1000CPX (apparently an extremely good machine) for $599.00 which would have been delivered to me same day for and extra10 bucks?!?!?! Honestly, this was a gift.

Alas, I ended up spending that money, the very same hour, on a new dryer, mine haven given up the ghost after 16 years, a week before. Yesterday is when the Sears guy came, dug around for a minute, and said: I could open up the machine but that'll cost you 100 bucks. The motor is shot. It'll cost $400 to fix or you can get a new dryer for approximately the same price.

If you're not prepared to shop around, and you tend to buy appliances in 30 minutes by looking a specs online and then calling a store to set up delivery and installation, it actually ends up costing the same amount as a new cover stitch machine. $730 bucks all in. As you can see, I'm no appliance-whore (I went Kenmore all the way. I mean, the last one lasted 16 years.)

Gotta say, sometimes home-ownership sucks the fun out of things. (I know, I know, such a very bourgeois sentiment...)

Let's take another look at the new top with my new skirt - which is awesome by the way and from a pattern which I in no way begrudge...


Sweet outfit, no? One can almost pretend the top was a success. And, as I made it for free (you know, if you think of stash fabric like that), I saved approximately 200 bucks on a new outfit. I guess I might apply that to my savings fund for the new Janome Coverpro - if it weren't already spent 3 ways.

On a final note, last evening, we went for dinner with a friend who told me (much to my surprise) that I speak in the perfect twenty-first century incarnation of the mid-Atlantic accent (youngsters - simply imagine every Cary Grant film you've ever seen the first 5 minutes of). I find this hilarious! I mean, I've often been told that I enunciate exceedingly. And that I am dramatic. But no one's ever said this before! And lest you think I sound like Katharine Hepburn, my voice has none of that fab gravel and is much more in the timbre of a high-note bell. Still super fun. I feel so black-and white!

Today's questions: What do you think of the top? Or the skirt? Or the dryer-debacle? And do you sound vaguely anachronistic? I wanna know!

29 comments:

  1. Huh. I didn't know it was called a mid-Atlantic accent; I always heard it called "Hollywood accent!"

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  2. It must be moon phases or something as my dryer packed up too this week and we had to order a new one. Sigh...I can think of much better things to do with the cash, for sure.
    But on a happier note, I love this outfit. It's really elegant but very wearable.
    And you know what my accent sounds like...;-)

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    1. It's the most boring replacement ever - though I can say that the last one had been on its last legs for a couple of years...

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  3. Your top does look like one that will get a lot of wear - despite all the hardship it caused when making it! I have been eyeing up a coverstitch machine too, my overlocker has given up after 16 years ( so can't complain really). I had thought about a combined overlock/coverstitch but my dealer put me off - he said most people find it too annoying switching between the two, so I'll have to wait another little while :)

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    1. It might. I guess time will tell... When I bought my serger I considered getting a combo machine but I was warned the same. I wonder if saving space and money would be worth the extra hassle of switching up the machine each time. I suspect not...

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    2. The hassle of having to switch the machine around is one issue. To me the more serious issue is that sergers and coverstitch machines do different functions. When you try to combine both into one machine, neither function is at it best in that machine. I had a combo machine some years ago. The tensions never worked well on when the machine was in serger mode and it never could stitch over seams in the coverstitch mode. I now have separate machines (both Babylock) and both perform just as they should. I still do a lot of rethreading because I'm often too cheap to buy extra spools of thread, but that is a small price to pay for machines that don't aggravate the heck out of me. Hang in there - it will be worth it. ;)

      Lois K

      PS the new dryer I bought in January replacing the 16 year old one died this week. Fortunately, the repair was under warranty.

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    3. Ah, what is it with the new machines? I spent a fortune on a new Miele dishwasher last year and it too (under warranty) is barely working. That's being fixed next week.

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  4. well despite your fighting with the top, it turned out beautifully!

    i completely hear you on the wanting a coverstitch. i could have bought a coverstitch and a brand new bernina for the amount of money we've spent on car repairs over the last two months. oh, it hurts. and yeah, i pretty much evaluate all our "surprise" expenses based on how i could have instead improved my sewing experience or bought new fabric... obsessed much?

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    1. Thanks Lisa. I wonder if I'll wear it. I'm pretty on the fence at the moment. Maybe that's my sewing frustration talking.

      I cannot believe you could have got a cover stitch and Bernina for the cost of your car repairs. Wow! (Keep in mind I don't have a car cuz I live downtown...)

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  5. Yes, home improvements are a huge money pit. At least when you are renovating it's something you've planned out and saved for, but when something kicks the bucket at random, (usually at the worst possible moment) it seriously sucks ass. :-( Sorry to hear about your dryer. Fortunately there's no need to be a brand snob on those things. They're probably all made in the same factory with a different sticker anyway.

    It must be season of contemplating a coverstitch. I've been trying to figure out how to go about replacing my sewing machine and get a coverstitch. I think I've got a while to wait. ;-) But my sewing machine is definitely going to have to find a new home. I think she'd make some quilter very happy.

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    1. I know! And I agree they probably are all made in the same factory - though some of them are nicer than others :-)

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  6. I haven't hemmed knits until I bought my new machine (Bernina 1008) and now I use the "overlock" seam for my knits and then a straight stitch.

    What should I get first - a serger or a coverstitch machine?

    I really like your outfit! You could make another top in deep purple to go with the skirt:)

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    1. Oh Roni, I def think you should start with a serger. Even though Berninas are fab and the overlock option is very good, I don't see how it can be as functional as an actual serger (which uses a knife to cut the fabric as it serges and which produces a very strong and flexible seam due to the serger mechanism.

      I sense a coverstitch machine is the last frontier. All it does is hem.

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  7. Hi, you cute thing! Gotta say, that is such a good price for that Coverpro, I paid 3 times that much for mine. Um, go for it!!!

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    1. Oh, Cherie! How long will I be able to hold out for?? That last machine is probably gone by now.

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  8. Oh, I didn't say how your changes to that top pattern so worked! I'm short-waisted and did not even try that pattern because of it!

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  9. You crack me up. ;-D

    The top looks great - though sorry it caused you so much grief!!!

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    1. You know, these days that how it's been. I'm hoping I'm about to move into a fun, easy-breezy phase of sewing soon. Thanks!

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  10. wish we were spending longer in Toronto today than 55 minutes frantically running from one boarding area to another, clearing customs on the way . . . one of these days I really have to check out that mid-Atlantic accent

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    1. Damn! I'd love to have lunch! Next time... (Happily for you, you're on your way for an awesome, restful adventure. It's hard for me not to wish I were the one running from boarding to boarding!) I really don't sound like those 30s starlets. My friend did say I'm the "modern version". (I think that's code for "not quite as exciting" :-))

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  11. Well, the top DOES look excellent on your dress form, and that's been a flattering neckline shape on you in the past. But a knit top really shouldn't take all the effort you put into this puppy - a testament to your perseverance! I think you have to take into account the sewist and carefully examine the pictures on PR - I know I'm more picky about fit than many people.

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    1. Why thank you! (I actually thought of you when I made this because I think the cut would be excellent for you and your waist is long... Still, proceed at your own risk!) And I know what you mean about looking at the pics and drawing your own conclusions...

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  12. I love the top.... I think you should make it in red and show who the boss is! (ducks!)

    This top wouldn't work on my body either... I need my necklines to show most of my collar bone to get the wrap look to work for my bodyshape.

    While the request to the fab coverstitch machine is being fedexed to the universe, me thinks, you should also give one of these 2 tapes a try!

    Fusible Tapes by Emma Seabrooke - http://shop.emmaseabrooke.com/category.sc?categoryId=3
    I have tried this one and yes, it works FABULOUSLY! Even on flimsy bamboo stuff. Using regular sewing machine. For real.

    Tapes by Lyla Messinger - Design Plus Ultra-Soft Double-sided Fusible Web

    Both have a HUGE fan following when it comes to taming knit hems! And with good reason.

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    1. OK, I'm wearing the top today and, have to admit, it's pretty nice...

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  13. Wait a minute, you don't love the finished top? I think you need to put it in the magic closet and separate the process from the result. I know your dressform isn't exactly you but it looks really good on this side of the screen.

    And I can totally see the Cary Grant accent, it's a good fit.

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  14. I'm much amused by your 30s starlet sound: I sound exactly and ridiculously like Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter. I mean, people stare.

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    1. I have to check her out (I've not heard of Celia Johnson...) :-)

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