The sewing thread

today so far before I tidy away: cut the facing off dress number one, nice firm fabric, just cut it all off in one fell swoop. Cut the front neck down by 3/4 of an inch. Ironed vilene tape on, pressed a narrow edge at the top and cover stitched. Very pleasing result so what was stopping me from similar with dress 2

I cut the facing off and rested the fabric on the board as it is so very difficult and stretchy. Ironed the tape on and tacked around. Cover stitched, did three attempts, couldn`t make it nice even with the differential increased a tad. Overlocked instead and stitched carefully with a walking foot, good result. My walking foot is a life saver but that type of fabric is the pits to sew

Took two tops up, could never wear them because too tight at hips, showing unwanted bumps and curves. One was I thought wool or acrylic, no, polyester/elastane made to look soft. Both were successful, curved hems again. Took 6 inches off one top, curving up to 8 inches at the sides. Very flattering and comfortable easy-wear shaping

Just about to tidy up and postie came bearing a gift from a dd. A find from a cs, thought it was perfect for me. You guessed it, a top, batwing, good name but far too tight below waist. Did another curved shorter hem and bobs yer uncle

Had a good chance to examine how all these things are made and so easily and cheaply. Overlocked seams and cover stitched hems and neck. All dropped shoulder types so would fit everyone. I also had a good examine of a David Nieper nightie. This exact style in very thin cotton
https://www.davidnieper.co.uk/yoke-n-dress.html
Two yokes sewn together, turned r side out. Lower side and back seams overlocked. Yoke overlocked to lower part. No neck or sleeves as the straps are part of the yoke and it all irons neatly at the edges when turned. Hem stitched normally and two little belt loops over at the shoulders, overlocked in with the yoke and tacked at the top. 2m tops, estimated £12 for fabric, no zips or buttons

I am using all three machines all the time and tbh I never appreciated how good cover stitch is until recently. Got to tidy now as several pins and needles fell on the floor. Oh yes, in the middle of hastle with dress two, I swapped overlocker needle from narrow to wide, ran a length off the machine and realised that I had not tightened tiny allen screw for the removed needle. It was missing, near panic, was almost about to unscrew the machine base, looked in the waste plastic bag hanging below the overlocker and it was in there, phew, not going to make that mistake again

Lunch was a plate of veg and some fish, was too busy for anything else

Huh, I like the jacket idea for over the dresses for work, You can nonchalantly slip it off and fling it over your shoulder when exiting the door. Also the hour on the curtains, its little by little, the only way to plod through sometimes. My downfall was when my projects were out of sight, they were soon out of mind

I put all my newly cut tops in the wardrobe yesterday, was a good project. I just need to whip up a navy skirt, to go with some of the tops. Have to buy fabric for that, probably a linen again, maybe with a bit of something in it, so it doesn`t crease massively. I have to link up with KM soon, I have too many rarely used skirts, in fabric I don`t really like, the slinky types. Bought most when I went on my first solo holiday, my one and only ever cruise and people were panicing me about clothes, so I went overboard on mail order, big mistake. I have to travel today but will pull out all my rarely used skirts first and see how I can salvage them, or not, when I get back

Next stage now is to go through my wardrobe, MK again and see what I can re-vamp. Rarely/never worn will go into a shopping trolley for the cs, if I cannot adapt them. Got to be methodical and cool about it

Hi arty, trick is first to use a french curve so that you get the very smooth curve which looks nice and is easy to sew. I tend to flatten the curve at the sides and at the bottom of the hems. You don`t want a very acute angle, otherwise you might as well do splits. To finish your curve, I would use the overlocker and then vilene tape, or not, depending on the fabric. That sticks just on one side, I put it on about 1/4 inch away from the edge. Then I fold over a small hem and it is best then to tack before sewing. You will be able to see at that stage if you can get that neat upside down curve at the sides. I didn`t do any other finishing than that. Trick really is to flatten the sides a little, I could not get a smooth curve at one point on a top side so I just took the scissors and flattened it out a bit. It worked

I had to spend the day out today and could not stop myself looking at what people were wearing, not whether they suited the clothes but the general design. I also found a lovely little fabric shop with a sewn up merchant and mills dress in the window, it was striking, made in a cotton/linen fabric. She said that the patterns had all sold out and so had the fabric. The fabric was by cotton and steel, never heard of them before but am suitably impressed. I love the fact that so many people are going back to natural fabrics

grhh, its frustrating when you lose a post

Yes purpleivy I agree re the threads. The only fault I ever had with the evoilve was a blockage in the lower looper, I managed to work out what it was and had to remove the looper and it was a tiny hard plug caused by fibres. Servicing is easy, canned air, micro vac tools, unscrewing the base and no oiling needed. I can only see the blade having to be changed in future, if needed and that is only with a screw. I am going to be much more selective re my threads, a few of the cones do indeed look fuzzy, they will be removed for the cs. I am wondering if they are moon, I do know that some are old buys. The seracor threads look very good but I am having to buy them in fours, however I have just realised that I can get one and re-wind on old spools
https://squirrelsdosew.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/winding-bobbins-and-extra-thread-spools.html

or an easier way for me is to use my electric spinner, which has a spindle. Why didn`t I think of that before! I`ll be saving my empty spools from now on. I do have a small white bobbin tray somewhere, it holds 4 bobbins and is meant to use with the overlocker, Enough thread apparently for a t shirt. I`ll hunt it out later

Having had a sore lumpy arthritic index finger for a few days, gone at last and caused by scissors, I decided to look into using my olfa rotary cutters. I do have an ergonomic scissors but they hurt my thumb joint and I cannot see them being accurate around bends. So I have ordered an extra large olfa cutting mat, two mats held with clips. It needs to be stored flat and I don`t want to move it. Kitchen/dining table is about 1m x 1m and turns and flips open to make 2m x 1m, excellent size for cutting. I keep it protected with table protector, oilskin (grandchildren) and a nice plain hm cloth on top. I intend to keep the mat at the bottom, on the table, then I will cover again with all the covers. There will be a space and a ridge, so I have bought a roll of 3mm cork, which I will stick to thin card, which I have for permanent patterns and that will fill the gaps. The added attraction is that I won`t have to carry any cutting mat and it will always be handy and protected from sun and heat

out of the ordinary fabrics, just found this site and have pre-ordered two
http://thefabricfox.co.uk/pre-order-bees-yellow-magical-forest-cotton-steel/

and

http://thefabricfox.co.uk/pre-order-squirrels-neutral-magical-forest-cotton-steel/

and I ordered the merchant and mills hattie and ellis pattern. I have seen the ellis pattern sewn, it was heart stopping and I saw hattie on a blog (low waist) without sleeves, with a bodice liner and worn with long sleeved tops underneath

omg what is happening as I get older, I think I am being re-visited by the 60s and 70s era. I am wanting to get away from all the `modern` clothes that I have, the ones that almost everyone wears and am on a mission. Now to go wardrobe clearing and back to KM