My new Bernina Serger

A couple of weeks ago I found this Bernina Serger on Craigslist. Brand new, never used, for an unbeatable price. It was worth the four hour round trip and the hour spent in a little room at border control, but that's another story. 

Before I set out to buy this beauty I did a lot of research on this particular model. After reading through many reviews of  disappointed owners I was really questioning my decision. I am so glad I bought it anyway, because it is an amazing machine!

The new serger will replace my old one. Also bought via Craigslist. The Singer serger is a very good and reliable machine. I never had any troubles. The only reason why I replaced it was because this amazing opportunity came along. 

 Bernina 2500DCE

Bernina doesn't produce this model anymore. I don't even know if it was build by Bernina or by another company for Bernina. I think I read something along those lines when I did my research, but don't remember anymore. Anyway...

It has all kinds of overlock stitches including coverstitch and chainstitch. The main complaints I read were about the cover and chain stitch. I have no complaints whatsoever! 

I would not regard this machine as beginner friendly, though. It is an amazing workhorse, but a bit sensitive too. When I first tried it out I spent a considerate amount of time trying to figure out how to correctly thread the damn thing. It went crazy with me a couple of times, and I was very close of regretting buying it. But it was also after 10 pm and I had just spent four hours on the road etc. When I finally got it threaded correctly it produced impeccable stitches. 

Now that I am more familiar with the machine I don't see the threading as a problem at all. I just finished my first dress with it, including a 5mm, 3 thread coverstitch! (will be in another post, my camera gave up on my today) I am using universal needles 80/12, because I had them handy, and it is working just fine.

Converting from overlock to coverstitch isn't complicated at all. Since I have never done any coverstitching I tried on a couple of test stripes of my jersey fabric. The only thing that drives me absolutely nuts is the wooly nylon thread. Not because of this machine, but because it stinks to handle the thread. It makes wonderful soft stitches, but man do I hate to have it stuck to my hands all the time.

I have yet to try out the chainstitch, but I am not too worried about it since everything so far is working perfectly.

Adria Dress by Amelie Clothing

I made this dress last year for my little niece. It is the Adria Dress by Amelie Clothing.

This dress is a very quick make and looks super cute. The main fabric is leftover Italian cotton from my Hawthorne Dress, the lining is white cotton lawn.

The lining is actually even. It just looks crooked because of the way the dress is on the hanger.

Pattern Description: 

Full Circle Dress for children
 

Pattern Sizing:

Sizes 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes
 

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Very easy and detailed instructions with many pictures
 

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like everything about this pattern.
 

Fabric Used:

Main Fabric: Italian Cotton
Lining: Cotton Lawn
 

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
None
 

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes, and I highly recommend it.
 

Conclusion: 

Very cute dress. The bow and lining details give many options to play around with different colors.

City Gym Shorts by Purl Soho

The City Gym Shorts is a free pattern by Purl Soho. So far I have made four and there will be more for sure, because I absolutely love these shorts!!!

These shorts are perfect to lounge around the house in the summer. They use up very little fabric and are a perfect way to get use out of those leftovers from other projects. 

The upper one is some linen blend in the front and I forgot what kind of fabric I used for the back, sorry. The lower one is Robert Kaufman Chambray in the back and Anna Maria Horner Rayon in the front.

 Both of these have Robert Kaufman Chambray in the back. Upper one is Anna Maria Horner Voile in the front, lower one is lightweight Italian cotton. I used bought bias binding on all four, because sometimes I am lazy.

 All four of them together :)

 

Xmas presents part II

I am back from my vacation and in full sewing swing. But before I start posting new projects lets catch up with part II of handmade Xmas presents. 

For my nephew/ godchild:

 Explorer Hat from "Little Things to Sew" by Liesl Gibson.

 And the matching Explorer Vest. I used snap buttons instead of real buttons, because I figured snaps would be easier to use for a child.

 Ooops, I guess I forget to clean off the markings for the back pocket. I decided against it, because I thought it might not be easy to access it.

 The lining is flannel with a science themed print. Quite fitting for little explorer, don't you think?

For my brother-in-law:

The only non handmade gift. I found this awesome leather satchel in an antique store in Albuquerque. 

 The inside is lined with some kind of velvet.

 For my older sister:

A Sew Together Bag in Moonshine by Tula Pink

 For my younger sister:

A Sew Together Bag in Acacia by Tula Pink

Xmas presents part I

The first two of many self made Xmas presents this year. 

Did I mention that I love the 241 Tote by Noodlehead? It has just the right size to fit everyday stuff in it including an iPad. The design offers so many options to play with different fabric constellations, and it is very easy and quick to sew. 

This one is made of home decor fabric. First time that I used home decor weight for the outside and omitted the interfacing. On earlier versions I used quilting cotton with Pellon SF101 interfacing, and after washing the bags the outside showed weird wrinkles with the interfacing. By using home decor weight I save on the interfacing and no wrinkles will appear after washing. I don't wash my bags a lot, but at some point they just have to be cleaned.

I love Charley Harper designs!!! It was a challenge to part with these bags, but they found good homes.

 

Feathers

Two of my in between projects, in between Christmas presents and dressmaking that is. One of my big planned projects for next year is a King Size Quilt with the feather design by Anna Maria Horner. You can download the free pattern here.

I made this small single feather and a table runner mainly to try out the pattern, and because I got really tired of my old table runner in orange and brown. What was I thinking? Orange and brown???

Anyway, since I have all  my pillows in the living room from Amy Butler fabrics I used leftover fabrics to make these so it fits with the rest. When I first started sewing I was quite smitten by Amy Butler designs. Not anymore I have to say. One reason for that is probably that I am not a big fan of green and yellow. My taste shifted more towards Anna Maria Horner, Lizzy House, Heather Ross - just to name a few.

The King Size Quilt will be made from different Anna Maria Horner designs. Creating the feathers is way easier then it might look. Here is a tutorial on how to create the feathers out of fat quarters.

The table runner turned out covering most of my coffee table. Sometimes I thing it looks odd. I copied the feather template to 75% of its original size and that would probably make a better size table runner for this size coffee table. But for now I won't bother with that. I am working on four place mats with the smaller sized feathers and it looks promising.

My very own woven labels

I am so excited about my custom made woven labels. 

I was thinking about a way to personalize my handmade items since a while. Even though I don't sell anything (occasionally a bag ends up as a gift for family and friends) I thought how nice it would be to leave my stamp on the items I put so much time and work into.

My mind was set on woven labels, but whatever website I found they just were out of my budget. I did find some options about how to print own labels at home, but I just wasn't too happy with that idea. And then I found a post from Make it & Love it about an Etsy shop that offers affordable woven label options. Woohoo!

The shop is WorldWideLabels. They were really good in helping me choosing the colors and font for my labels. My labels arrived within the predicted time, and they look as fabulous as I thought they would.

They are folded in half with raw edges, which then will be sewn into the seam allowance. I like that it also gives me the option of folding the raw edges in and using them on top of already sewn projects. 

 This is one of the many things I've added the labels to.

And here an example on how they look added into the seam allowance. 

Art Student Tote by Anna Maria Horner

Way too much time passed since my last blog post. This is another post about bags, or in this case one specific bag, the Art Student Tote by Anna Maria Horner.

The pattern offers three different versions of the bag. I made version B, but with the extension panel only half as wide as the pattern instructs. 

I made this bag for a friend, but will definitely make one for myself too. It's a great size bag for traveling.

The fabric used is Amy Butler Lark Sateen (home decor), the gray contrast is Art Gallery Pure Elements in Moonstone.

The metal zippers and d-rings give such a nice touch to the bag. The extension panel adds extra room to the bag and can be folded away if not needed.

 It comes with lots of inside pockets which can be divided however is fitting to ones needs. 

I found this wonderful review about this bag over at Bijou Lovely. Lots of tips about how to interface the bag. Thanks for sharing! 

This bag requires A LOT of cutting and interfacing, but it's well worth it. 

I did change the way of sewing the side pulls. The patterns asks for sewing them as a tube and turn them inside out. But they will be so narrow that it becomes an extreme test in patience. I folded them in half and the raw edges towards the middle, and just topstitched all around. Way easier and safes a lot of time and nerves.

Bags for others, and one for me

These are a couple of the bags I made for other people as gifts.

This is the Multi-Tasker Tote by Anna Maria Horner. I made another one of these for myself and will write a review about it in another post.

Super Tote by Noodlehead. I blogged about my first one here.

241 Tote in Lotta Jansdotter Fabric.

 241 Tote for a music lover.

 And this is the 241 Tote I made for myself. I just love this fabric!

More Licorice Dresses

The Licorice Dress from Colette Patterns is one of my favorite patterns. Very easy and quick to make, needs only a little amount of fabric, and can be worn casual and dressy.

I wrote a review here

Today just a couple of pictures of my other three Licorice dresses. The first one got just finished today. 

The fabric is Peach Skin fabric from GirlCharlee. It is easy to sew with and very comfortable to wear. Works surprisingly well in New Mexico summers, considering it is 100% polyester.

This one needs to be worn with a slip underneath. It is completely see through. Should have lined it, ooops!

Another Peack Skin, also from Girl Charlee.

The last one is a very soft voile by Anna Maria Horner. I saw that the collar and dress are matching up perfectly after I finished the dress. What an awesome coincident. 

 I lined it with white silk. The voile itself was too sheer.

 The hem of the lining is slightly off, but who cares, right?!?