Getting Ready

It's that time of year when we all feel the need to clean and purge from the long winter and being indoors. It's still pretty cold here in Minnesota but the bug still bites and we are cleaning out. The Textile Center Annual Garage Sale is April 14 and I've collected a few things and then started to clean out some drawers. This prompted me to set aside fabric for making those cute zippered circle bags/pouches/holders for earbuds (or mirror, coins, etc.). Only a small amount of fabric was returned to the drawer but I fear I have too many of the earbud circles cut out to be practical. But I soldier on!

After a bit of mending I noticed the cotton knit swimsuit I had cut out for my granddaughter that needed sewing and the serger was all set up and ready. I forgot how easy these were to make and quite satisfying. This isn't for swimming but for the gymnastics class she is now taking so I asked if she could use a skirt or pair of shorts so here's the final result:

Kwik Sew 3785 in cotton knit size medium

Suit, shorts, and drawstring bag

I still had a small amount of fabric left over so I made up a drawstring tote bag for the whole outfit. Doesn't every diva need a bag for their items? Of course.

While the serger was set up I also stitched up the dog pads that were all cut out but they were a bigger challenge that I had hoped. Two layers of fleece and polyester batting, too? My serger would stitch it but the differential feed struggled as I did to keep things straight. In the end they turned out pretty good and the not-great-edge didn't look too shabby:

My collection of fleece dog pads

It's hard to see in the photos but after they were stitched on three sides, I turned them right side out, stitched the fourth side closed, then stitched about 1.5 inches from the outside edge. This is in hope of the filler not shifting in washing but I'm going to wash them to see how good they actually work. Although I want to keep the center open (without stitches) they may need more work to make them really washable.

As always, I need to report on the machines I used in making all of the above. My main serger is a Bernina 1100DA that I continue to love, but it's a Bernina so I would expect it to be good. For the fleece fourth edge and top stitching I used the Consew CP206R, an industrial walking foot machine that is not a joy to use but it gets the job done and does it well. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can get out to the garage and sew on the industrial Singer 78 but it's only March in Minnesota and there's a whole lot of winter left even though the calendar says spring. I know the wonderful summers in Minnesota are coming but there are days when it's hard to wait!

Consew CP206R portable walking foot industrial