Coverstitch Video

Waaaaaaay back, I promised to make a video with some tips on using the Brother 2340CV Coverstitch machine, because a few of you had bought one and were having some troubles.  Ooops!  I did get my machine out a few times since then, but it always seemed to be on dark, dreary days.

Yesterday I got it out for the first time in a long time, and it was sunny.  So I made a video showing how the machine works best for me.  If anybody else has any other tips, I'd love to hear them!  I'm not an expert by any means - my samples worked beautifully, but I managed to mess up the first hem I did right after!!

Changes

Over the weekend, I made up my revised version of Dixie DIY's Ballet Dress.  I'm almost there with the fit.

I took everything down a size from my first version and did a sway back adjustment.  I think I'm finally convinced that this adjustment is a good thing for me.  Take a look at the difference:

I think even with the busy pattern, you can see that there's a lot less excess in the back now.  I took a 1/2" wedge out, but next time I plan to increase that to 3/4" - I feel I need just a smidge more taken out.

Looks better from the front too, having gone to a smaller size.  I much prefer the way the shoulders sit on this one.

Here's a recap of the differences between my first and second versions:

Dress 1:
Bust:  size S
Waist:  size M
Length:  size M

Dress 2:
Bust:  size XS
Waist: size S
Length:  size M
1/2" swayback adjustment
neck binding increased to 19.5"

I had to change my neckline binding because this fabric (a mid-weight/10 oz. cotton spandex similar to this one) is a white background with the navy printed on top.  That means that when it's stretched a lot, the white shows through as stripes.   To determine how long to make my binding, I used a trick I learned from the Sewing Fashion Knits Craftsy class:  measure the entire neckline exclusive of seam allowances, and then multiply that number by 7/8 (.875).  My binding is short enough that it hugs my body, but not so stretched that the white background shows through.

Of course, I used my coverstitch machine to do the hems on the sleeves and skirt (and the serger for everything else).  I hemmed the sleeves before sewing the sleeve seam together - I'm finding  this the easiest way to hem small tubes with the coverstitch machine.  I used 3/8" fusible web applied to the edge of the sleeve, then turned it back the same amount and fused, and finally coverstitched on top of it.  The skirt hem was done the same way, but in the round.

Once I had the dress put together, I was a little disappointed in my polka-dot placement at the waist seam:

Not really much to be done about that, since the waistline of the skirt is curved and the pattern on this fabric is straight lines.  But it's nothing a cute little belt can't camouflage:

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  As I said, the fit is almost there.  Aside from taking a little more out in my sway back adjustment, the only other thing I might change is to add some length to the bodice.  As it is, the waist seam sits about 2" above my natural waist.  It looks OK, but makes the placement of the belt a little awkward. 

And now, I'm popping off to lunch with Hubby in my comfy (stretchy) new dress!

Scoop Top, can't stop!

A few weeks ago, Lisa posted a super cute top she made using the Scoop Top (free downloadable) pattern.  It reminded me that I'd downloaded the pattern a while ago and even printed it out, so over the weekend I got busy making one. 

I had a cute fabric I'd purchased in a Girl Charlee sale last fall just because I liked it.  No idea what to do with it!  But when the Scoop Top pattern came out I thought they'd be a great match for each other because my fabric was also a tissue-weight burnout.

And after I finished that one, inspired by Lisa's print-mixing, I got into my box of leftovers to see if I could find two pieces to make a top like hers.  Sadly, everything I found was either too small or didn't coordinate with anything else.  But I did have a piece left over from that Sophie dress that was big enough for a whole top - so then I had two!

And I also found a large piece left from my very first Renfrew, so on Monday I used it to make up a third one, because I wanted to take pictures of how things work with the coverstitch machine  Some people had expressed an interest in how that works?

Anyhow, here's number three:

This is one of those free patterns that is only available in the size of the person who made it.  The pattern says "size S/M."  The whole time I was making the first one, it looked enormous and I was sure it would be too big, but when I put it on it was a little on the tight side!  Have I ever mentioned that I stink at spatial relationships?  For reference, I generally wear a size 4 top in RTW, so I would call this pattern a solid size Small.

The only change I made was to bring the neckline up by about a half inch.  I probably would have been fine leaving it as is though.  And because I changed it, I had to change the length of the binding piece.  I measured my new neckline (minus seam allowances) and then multiplied that number by 7/8 to get the length I needed.

Did you note the slight high/low hemline?  Hubby has dubbed this the "Butt Crack Avoider,"  LOL!  You can see why I love this man!  And he's not wrong!

Here I'm trying to show how the front and back come together at the side seam to give kind of a shirt-tail effect:

These tops were made with the serger and the coverstitch machine.  I used the coverstitch machine for all the hems and to sew down the neck binding, and the serger for the shoulder and side seams and to apply the neck binding.

The coverstitch machine does not have a free arm like the serger or the sewing machine.  I'm not great at sewing seams on small tubes to begin with, and the presser foot on the coverstitch machine is quite large.  In addition to that, you can't pivot a seam with a two-thread coverstitch the way you could on a sewing machine.  So I changed the construction to suit my needs.  Here's what I did:

1.  Sew shoulder seams with stay tape on the serger, then press open.
2.  Sew together short ends of neck binding on the serger, press open and then fold in half lengthwise with right sides out and press.
3.  Apply fusible web to sleeve, front and back hemlines:

4.  Remove backing paper, fold hem in and press:

5.  Coverstitch all four hems (sleeves, front and back):

6.   Sew the binding piece to the neck opening with the serger.
7.  Coverstitch the binding seam allowance down:

8.  Sew the side seams with the serger.
DONE!

The pattern comes with a pocket piece which I left off because all my fabrics were pretty busy.  But if you were adding the pocket, you would do that any time before sewing up the side seams.

This pattern is a winner for me - I'm sure I'll be making up more of them.  And it only takes a yard of fabric!  Have any of you guys made this one?  Are you tempted?