Month: February 2014

Finished the pink shirt!

Boyd

Finally!  I finally finished the pink start I started several months ago.  It’s been sitting in my sewing room waiting for me to finish the hems and make the buttonholes and sew the buttons on.  It is a Simplicity 7030 in XL and is made with one of Anna Marie Horner’s fabrics from Free Spirit, a very fine and silky cotton voile made in Korea.  The quality of the fabric is exceptional.  I used Bottom Line thread for the construction and top stitching because regular 50 weight thread was too big and the shirt really required a little more finesse in the topstitching especially.  I used the sewing journal that someone shared a long time back to record the project details, and I the Japanese basting thread – it worked superbly in basting down fine details, like setting in the collar, doing the hems, basting the plackets on the shirt front – they all just turned out wonderfully.  My only real flaw in the shirt was that I forgot to cut the organdy for the collar on the bias.  I knew better, but that’s what you get for sewing late at night because you have a little one at home.  Since I will never button the collar, it won’t be too bad, but I won’t make the same mistake again.  It fits really just the way I like and I’m very pleased.

mypinkshirt

Hello, Bernice!

Boyd

Imagine the musical:

“Hello Bernice, well Hello, Bernice, it’s so nice to have you back where you belong!”

I took my beloved 1630 (I am the original owner) to a local dealer in February, 2013 for repair (yes, you read that right) and just got her back today. I can’t even begin to tell you how anxious being without this machine for a whole year has made me. Despite the fact that I have wonderful other machines, both newer and older, some of which have far more features than she does, I have missed this machine so much I almost cried when I went to pick her up and saw her plugged in a sewing like a dream. They fixed everything that was wrong with her and put her back into “as new” condition. I’m thrilled to say the least and will plan to use her as much as I can – after all, I don’t know how many more years she is going to last.  I am seriously considering buying a spare as a backup.  I know several other 1630 owners who have done this.

It all started last February when I went to make a dress for my, then 3 year old, daughter and the decorative stitches and zig zag would not work, and I could not move the needle position for topstitching. I had no idea it would turn into a year-long ordeal. Without getting into the weeds, it was a lot of misses – misunderstandings, miscommunications, missteps, and she didn’t actually get sent off to Bernina corporate for repairs until December of this past year.  The tech’s mother was dying the process, the Bernina dealer closed quite unexpectedly – it was just such a long, drawn out saga with too much drama.

I have so many quilts to finish and an evening gown for a cousin to make before June, and I was hoping I could have my quiet-as-a-church-mouse 1630 back so I can sew the next couple of weeks while watching the Olympics.

To say I am over the moon with happiness would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

And my husband?  I am just not sure he gets it – I have a sentimental attachment to this Bernina, the one I waited for 13 years after graduating tailoring school before I could afford to but it – I will never have the bond with any other sewing machine that I have with this one.  But we have a trip to Norway coming in June and I’ve got plenty of hostess and family gifts to get ready to take along – I’m thinking napkin sets, hankies, lots of lovely things that can be extremely well-made and packed flat.  I just got to sew a few seems and she is so very quiet and smooth – nothing has ever sewn as well as this machine, at least not for me.  I am so very, very happy that she is home again.  Here is a picture of her in all her glory, sitting in her custom table cut-out, ready to get to work!  Isn’t she lovely?

P1020091