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I am a mother, a grandmother, and a teacher. But whatever happens in my life, I keep sewing. I have worked as a political communicator and now as a teacher in my formal life. I have also written extensively on sewing. I have been a frequent contributor and contributing editor of Threads magazine and the Australian magazine Dressmaking with Stitches. My book Sew.. the garment-making book of knowledge was published in May 2018 and is available for pre-order from Amazon
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Friday, February 12, 2016

And now we are finishing seams

Not sure how this jeans project is going to go, since I was asked if I wanted a translation of the instructions and being a smarty pants said no of course not. 

And now being too proud to admit I am not as smart as I think I am, am turning my old jeans inside out to figure this out.

One thing I do know is that I need to finish the edges before I go further.

Last year I bought a completely unused old Hobbylock Pfaff serger that was put on the market in the early days when zero went into the user friendly part. This, I am sure, is why this particularly tight, nice, 100% metal, built like tank unit, was left in the box by the previous owner.



It is no piece of cake to thread. Not even a piece of anything.

An illustration is me with a flashlight in my mouth and the tweezers my husband hides for emergency uni-brow repairs in my hand threading it.

I can't believe, BTW, that I left the country without interfacing with me. 

I mean who does that?

I decided to use a light weight denim since the boyfriend jeans have rolled bottoms, and I am making them for my spring and summer with the Jokers, my collective name for the three grandchildren at home. But now I think the waistband might be sort of flimsy.

Such a worry. But I am sure I can find something stiff around the RV to use ... 

Just because it isn't interfacing doesn't mean it can become interfacing.

Onward.

Stay with me.


9 comments:

BarbaraShowell said...

I am thinking that you probably will figure it all out on your own, but if you take a break and wanted to see a tutorial or two, Angela Kane did several youtube videos that were very clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItFaurV5eUg&list=PL34EC01626AC90E73

Also, Peter Lappin at Male Pattern Boldness has links on the side of his blog to his jean's sew along.

Can't wait to see what ends up being interfacing!

Mary said...

Try using some RV curtains for your interfacing. Those bad boys are usually pretty stiff. It will give you an excuse to make new, prettier ones at a later date. :)

Janee said...

Love sharing this journey with you! Reminds me of the days spent camping with my family when the kids were younger. I would've brought sewing along with me, but we were tent campers so electricity wasn't available. Not to mention there was no more room in the car. About your interfacing - would another layer of the denim help? If not, then I'd agree with Mary's comment if you've got fairly heavy cotton curtains you can cut up. A note on the jeans construction - although it is infinitely easier to topstitch seams as you go, especially the crotch/seat seam, unless you're sure of the fit, leave that til the end. Ask me how I know....

Judith Newman said...

Barb, you must have some bits of muslin with you!

bbarna said...

A piece of waistband elastic usually does the trick. Looks like you could use a headband light too :-)
Barb from BC

Anonymous said...

I love this post! The photos are great. Anyone who has ever traveled in an RV can totally relate.

Sydney

annie said...

My serger is not a Pfaff. It's a Viking, top of the line. Same sort of vintage and same sort of threading issues, like working through a maze. It drives me so crazy that I don't use it. I should have sold it right off but it was a very nice Christmas present and I got talked out of selling. Still might do it.

Denise said...

Here in Melbourne, florists use 'non-woven' material for wrapping flowers. It's just like interfacing, but I'm not sure how it washes ! (I don't mind recycling, but that's going too far !) There might be a florist closer to you than a fabric shop. Am going to try washing some right now !
PS I'm currently teaching at RMIT. But not sewing. I think I have the same welders.

SewTypical said...

Just seeing that picture of you threading the serger made me shudder. Threading my old serger used to take hours (literally) and drive me to tears and rage, especially as my eyesight got bad.

a few months ago, I plunked down $500 for a used self-threading one and life is good again. Hopefully, it lasts a while.