more needle and thREADs

This might just be my favorite (sorta) Alabama Chanin yet.

Even though it's white. and floral.

go figure.

I cut it out while the kids ate snow cones Monday evening, when Tyler was at a meeting.

I quickly sewed up all the seams on my serger,

watching the thread cones closely, as I have two that are very close to empty.

Then I sat down at my sewing machine to add the neck and arm bindings,

tickled that I was going to have made this shirt in about an hour and a half,

start to finish.

I selected a programmed stitch, and slipped some fabric under the presser foot to test it.

It sewed for a second,

then there was a soft clunk

and it quit sewing.

I cleaned the bobbin case, since I hadn't done it after I finished my quilt,

and popped it, and the bobbin, back in.

I turned the wheel to bring the bobbin thread up, but it just sat there.

The needle went down, but no thread came up.

I re-threaded the machine.

Still couldn't bring up the bobbin thread.

My baby had to go to the shop :-(

so I sat down with a needle and thread.

I tried to figure out a different stretch stitch,

but I just can't do it from words and one picture.

I wish Natalie Chanin (or anybody, really) would post some videos of each stitch

for those of us who need a little more help.

Since I couldn't (quickly) figure out a new stitch I just went with the cretan.

While sewing on the first arm binding, I thought,

a few beads might be nice on the collar,

so when I went to town the next morning to take my machine in,

I ran in to Hobby Lobby to grab a tube of beads with a 40% off coupon.

I sewed a bit throughout the day

and in the evening while watching the Olympics

(I've discovered that all noise doesn't bother me nearly as much if I sew while I watch)

and finished it up yesterday afternoon when I needed to rest my feet.

I could have skipped the hemming, since this fabric didn't roll,

but since I'd serged it I didn't want to have problems with all those tails.

It did not occur to me until just this moment,

that I could have buried them in the seam.

oh well.

I did the cretan stitch again, but on the inside

which gave me a really nice stretchy mostly blind hem

on the outside.

Instead of overlapping the binding at the seams, I left a tail when I attached it 

so I could actually sew the ends together,

which I think looks much neater.

It is soo comfy ~ and as an unplanned bonus ~ I might just be able to wear it with my shoes :-)

As usual ~ I'm joining Elizabeth's 

oh. speaking of reading, I hit the jackpot at the library last week,

getting Heaven is Here and Kisses from Katie

as well as a few other new books that looked good, but I'd never heard of,

My life, deleted, Immortal Bird, and The Woman Who Wasn't There ~ all memoirs.

So far, I've read Heaven is Here (not as good as I was expecting, actually)

and I'm about halfway through My life deleted, which is ok, but I'm kinda hoping it gets better...
Yes ~ my standards are just a wee bit high ;-)

and now, I'm off.....