Frayed Temper (and Thread)
Mar. 7th, 2015 10:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76This afternoon, lacking the oomph for much else, I went back to work on the quilt I'm currently quilting on my mother's Singer 201. I got the upper tension dialed up to where there weren't great huge thread loops on the back, and it would work for a while... then snap. I rethreaded. I changed the needle. The thread is a brand new spool. I disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the upper tension. Still the same thing kept happening. I checked the bottom tension and cleaned all the lint out of the (dropped) feed dogs.
It's frustrated me enough that I've ordered a new hopping foot and put the quilt aside for now. If, after it arrives, the problem persists, I'm taking the machine in to be serviced at a local sewing machine center that I know regularly handles vintage Singers.
The thing is, it sews regular seams just fine. It's just the quilting that the machine is throwing a hissy fit over.
So I'm switching to a project that involves regular seams. Namely, a Regency corset. I have two short stays from the Simplicity reprint of Sense and Sensibility's pattern, but I tried them on tonight and remembered why they don't work for me. Not only are the straps right on the edge point of my shoulders, but the cups are in no way big enough. My breasts end up squished behind the entire short stay, all the way to the bottom. I look at Jennifer Rosbrugh's review of the Laughing Moon pattern, however, and note that (a) she's about the same size as me, and (b) holy cow, the cups actually fit her right.
(Despite the fact that the Sense and Sensibility short stays don't work for me, the chemise in the same pattern does. I'm wearing it right now. So there is that.)
I found a few yards of quilting cotton I won't desperately miss, as well as some cotton cording, and tossed it all in the wash on hot to pre-shrink so I can do a test version. Then I'll order a few yards of cotton sateen, since although Joann's allegedly carries it, I can never find it in-store, and make a "proper" version out of that.
All this being for Costume College, of course. Packet stuffing is next month, which means I really need to start thinking about what I'm going to wear. Some people have been working on their garb practically since last College ended. I don't go to the Gala, so I don't need something fancy to wear. Last year I didn't wear any costumes at all! But this year I'm not going to be toting a pump and cooler for breast milk around, so I want to wear something pretty.
It's frustrated me enough that I've ordered a new hopping foot and put the quilt aside for now. If, after it arrives, the problem persists, I'm taking the machine in to be serviced at a local sewing machine center that I know regularly handles vintage Singers.
The thing is, it sews regular seams just fine. It's just the quilting that the machine is throwing a hissy fit over.
So I'm switching to a project that involves regular seams. Namely, a Regency corset. I have two short stays from the Simplicity reprint of Sense and Sensibility's pattern, but I tried them on tonight and remembered why they don't work for me. Not only are the straps right on the edge point of my shoulders, but the cups are in no way big enough. My breasts end up squished behind the entire short stay, all the way to the bottom. I look at Jennifer Rosbrugh's review of the Laughing Moon pattern, however, and note that (a) she's about the same size as me, and (b) holy cow, the cups actually fit her right.
(Despite the fact that the Sense and Sensibility short stays don't work for me, the chemise in the same pattern does. I'm wearing it right now. So there is that.)
I found a few yards of quilting cotton I won't desperately miss, as well as some cotton cording, and tossed it all in the wash on hot to pre-shrink so I can do a test version. Then I'll order a few yards of cotton sateen, since although Joann's allegedly carries it, I can never find it in-store, and make a "proper" version out of that.
All this being for Costume College, of course. Packet stuffing is next month, which means I really need to start thinking about what I'm going to wear. Some people have been working on their garb practically since last College ended. I don't go to the Gala, so I don't need something fancy to wear. Last year I didn't wear any costumes at all! But this year I'm not going to be toting a pump and cooler for breast milk around, so I want to wear something pretty.
