[lattemama]

I’ve been doing a lot of maintenance sewing/non-sewing lately.

Yesterday I finally got around to shorten my co-worker’s ballgown I promised her to fix. (Thai silk, tailor made for her in Vietnam, to be worn for her sons’ weddings this summer – yikes!) It felt scary to put the scissors in it, but it worked like a charm and the fabric was really nice to sew in.

Today I’ve been ironing. I hate that part of sewing for the kids.

Tomorrow I plan to get organized in my sewing room. I have a room to myself, but it’s not all that big so I really need to weed out fabric stacks and WIPs so I can have some room to work.

I have Seashore dresses planned and I have promised Isabel a summer coat based on the School Days coat – with lots of alterations. So I need room to draft new pattern pieces.

I also found out today that Isabel’s Family Reunion dress is torn in the fabric next to the last button. Not sure how to fix that.

So, in all, not much sewing going on here. Mostly maintenance and housekeeping. This has got to change.

[Tamara]

Icicle I hope the chocolate served you in good stead and that you are now feeling better.

Lattemama – I love Thai silk!!

So I’m glad the fabric felt good to sew with – I love natural fibres.

You sound so busy.

I spent yesterday finishing off the Pink corduroy School Photo dress and pulled a “wee hours of the morning” stint to get the matching Music class shirt completed so that it could be worn to today’s school assembly. Have to say I wasn’t very impressed with my brand new not yet one year old very expensive sewing machine doing the most ghastly button holes at 11.30pm – it was probably trying to tell me to knock off! I managed to get it to behave this morning and quickly (whilst in a very tired and grumpy mood) did buttons when I should have been getting organised for school. The things you do as a mum! But I do have to say that out of a sheer fluke the fronts of the shirt were actually matching pretty well with the print – pleasing after the buttonhole trial.

Anyway, I managed photos but having a look at them, I need to do better ones and will get her to pose after school when I collect the kids. Oh and I have to show the beautifully bound insides – my breath has been taken away with such effort!

Right now though, I need coffee really badly and tissues as my nose has announced a cold and I will probably work on finishing the CW music class shirt before going back in to town. That’s if I don’t fall asleep first!

[CILOU]

I’m sewing my first ruffled halter. 🙂

[Tamara]

Good on you CILOU. Hope it goes really well and you’ll want to make more.

I tried and failed to finish the CW Music class shirt this afternoon. Instead I spent the best part of 30 minutes on the phone to the Janome dealer’s machine service person to try and work out why my machine doesn’t want to make a lovely button hole on this shirt!! He is going to get back to me tomorrow as I had to scoot out the door to collect children in town. Chances are they are going to have to pull a sickie on Friday so we can go 450km to the city to get my machine looked at.

Yes folks! This girl is not really at her happiest right now. I hope that I can sort out this problem without having to flee the farm right in the middle of seeding.

[beachmom]

Nothing’s worse than wanting to sew and have your machine going on the fritz. I hope you didn’t have to make a trip to the city to fix it.

I’m working on a Hawaiian print cami for myself to wear to a Jimmy Buffett concert tomorrow night. I also have 2 pairs of Class Picnic shorts that need buttonhole elastic put in. That’s all that’s happening here.

[JohannaO]

Justsewit-

My Janome buttonholer is a little picky about the amount of force I use to sew with it- If I go slowly, it won’t back up and start the other side. I’ve found that I either need to gun it, or press the lever that makes it reverse manually, and then everything works out.

I hope you can get it fixed without a long drive. That would make me cranky too!

[Tamara]

JohannaO, I just don’t understand it though. How can you do really pretty button holes on something like denim and corduroy with no problem but only half the buttonholes on good old cotton (my lovely CW Shirt!!!) turn out decent!!

I’m going to try using the stop/ start button with the speed a little slower than flat out to see if this will make a difference – willing to try anything wierd and bizarre.

The guy seems to think that it may have something to do with my bobbin case as it was making a noise that shouldn’t have been. I bent a needle really badly last week and it may have damaged the bobbin case.

I have: changed the needle, cleaned out the bottom thoroughly, rethreaded everything and even tried making the machine sew without it being threaded as the guy suggested just to see if it has something to do with the electronic side. That worked on other bits but not on the part I need the buttonhole on. I even made mock bound seams on scrap fabric to try and work out if it was that or not. Soooo confusing. But anyway, I will crack on. It still sews but not nicely with button holes on the top yoke of a Music class shirt – oh and it didn’t like the cuff either.

DH is NOT happy about being abandonded for an evening – number one rule is to not go galloping around the country side when you have to put a crop in. But I have to if we can’t find a solution or my past 5 weeks of sewing miss 8’s wardobe will have gone to waste! And I have three Sketchbook shirts in the pipeline for the young master too!

So today I will continue with the magenta sketchbook pants and possibly get organised to “nip” down to Perth and back in a hurry tomorrow.

[JohannaO]

It does sound like a tension issue (from the bobbin case). Have you changed the tension either up or down to see if that helps? My guess is that it works better on thicker materials because there is more tension between the upper thread and the bobbin (I don’t really know how to explain that- there is probably a technical term for that.) If all else fails, and I really want to get things done, I use snaps!

Magenta Sketchbook Pants- I really want to see those!

[Nicole]

Is it your thread?

[Violaisabelle]

Justsewit, is that 450 km round trip or one way? I fell very sorry for you.

Have you tied doing a google search with the name, Janome button hole problems or something like that. I found one from the Janome site here: http://content.janome.com/fusetalk/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=3069 but there were more links to investigate. I would try a search both with and without model number and see what you find out before heading off on that long journey. I feel so badly for you, that’s really a long way to travel, even if it is a round trip.

Good Luck,

Carol

[Tamara]

It’s one way!! About 5 hours! With one pit stop.

My thread is good quality Gutermann and I use the same in both the top and bottom (because when I first started sewing I didn’t and had no end of problems). It’s not tension either as the stitches are nice and even and I don’t have it where the awful looking loop from the bottom thread pokes through at the top. I had that on my previous machine and consequently spent 3 weeks without sewing because of so called “servicing” from the dealer I refuse to go to who unfortunately happens to be only 150km’s away. I even tried using less foot pressure – taking it from 7 to 4 as the guy suggested with no better results.

I tried doing a button hole on another MC shirt that I did a flat felled seam on (I thought I’d go fancy and practise the couture techniques on my children’s clothes)and it worked.

I plan to call the dealer again after lunch and talk to the lady who does the sewing lessons and ask her professional opinion over whether or not the bound seams were the problem. I don’t much like the idea of going all the way to Perth just to find out that this is the issue. I personally don’t think it is that bulky but the button hole foot thinks otherwise. Either way I will take the sewing down to show them and they may be able to give me some advice on how to conquer it.

The fix-it guy suggested that maybe if this happens to others with the Horizon then Janome needs to come up with a better foot. I suggested an acu-feed buttonhole foot as then it could deal with this – I would think anyway.

While I am there I will ask them why my machine doesn’t like top stitching thread!! Another story to tell at another time.

I don’t know why the corduroy is called magenta. I thought that was another word for bright pink but this is more a dark pink on the border of going into purple. Either way I love the colour and will put a picture up for all to see (along with all the other things). At least I can actually get them made – half way through constructing but have to pause and do other things.

Violaisabelle thanks for the link – will make a sandwich and hop onto it and possibly gain more tips on what to do etc.

[Tamara]

I need to learn how to put working links up on here as I have just uploaded some photos onto the flickr group City Weekend to show you what has been finished but also some close ups of the obstacle a.k.a bound seam that seems to be stopping the button hole from sewing nicely. I’ve also got the pretty button hole picture on the same shirt but further down to show that it has worked but not in the spots up the top.

I’ll know more tomorrow when I take the machine in but hoping it is a problem that couldn’t be actually solved over the phone to make the trip really worthwhile. I’ll take advantage of my Spotlight 20% coupon to sooth my woes lol!

The magenta pants are almost done. Not sure if they will be completed tonight though.

[Toyota888]

OMG Justsewit that is outrageous – can’t you ask a passing truckdriver to take it to Perth for you 🙂 Goodness I will never complain about a trip to the repair shop again. Looking at your photos all I could come up with was perhaps with a thinner fabric it gets pushed down into the needle plate more and then you have all the bulk of that satin stitch building up in there too so it is hard to move on… but I can’t really tell if that is the problem in the picture. It is the only thing I could think of that you have not mentioned… My buttonholes never look as nice as your good one – I always have my stitches further apart and they look much more sparse than yours because I think I have had the issue of them jamming as I described when I tried to do them closer together (and I have a Janome).

Perhaps we could get a kind of “Flying Doctor” equivalent established for you!!!

[lattemama]

Wow – 450 km one way to town! I suddenly feel very spoiled.

My big girl was home sick yesterday so I had some time to prepare a lot of sewing for the coming days.

Ruffle halter in pinks for Isabel

Class Picnic top in red for Sofia – I need some ricrac for this.

Class Picnic Shorts in white twill with red trim for Sofia

Bucket hat in white twill and red lining for Sofia (this is all going to be a birthday present for her for next weekend when she turns 4!!)

Class Picnic Top in pink and lime for Isabel

Class Picnic Shorts in white twill with lime trim for Isabel

Seashore Dress in black elephants for Sofia

Tea Party Dolls dress for Isabel in the same pink/lime fabric as her top.

I want to make a red tea party dress for Sofia’s doll too but I didn’t get around to pinning that. I’ll wait until I made the one for Isabel’s doll and see how I like it.

Everything is cut out and I hope to start on Sofia’s stuff tonight.

While I prepared the patterns and fabric Isabel asked to be allowed to make a little bag using my sewing machine so I let her pick an FQ from my stash and she ended up making two. I helped her with the drawstrings but pretty much everything else she did herself. Including the seam ripping when she sewed the bag together with wrong sides facing.

I’m so proud of her. She’s giving one to Sofia for her birthday. The other one she made for me.

[beachmom]

justsewit, How fares your machine?

Lotta, Wow! You’ve got quite a list. Can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

I’m going to be working on swimsuits tonight. We’re planning on heading to the beach tomorrow and the little girls don’t have anything to wear!