What the...

This seems to be another helpful resource.

I was hoping HomeEcOnline would be a one stop shop for my sewing learning needs, considering I had to pay for it.  However, they can only do so much.  I forget that the internet is a wealth of information (and porn, my boyfriend says). 

Their site is so cute! And, I like to cuss a lot. Even when I'm not mad, but especially when I'm mad! So, now instead of screaming "WHAT THE FUCK!!!" in frustration, I'll just go on whatthecraft. Ha Ha.

Is it the machine or is it me?

How does backstitching work? How do you do it properly without effing up your machine? When I tried it a while back, I thought that when you pressed the reverse lever, the needle would move back.  No, it didn’t. At least it didn’t look like it was moving backwards. 

Watching Leigh Ann's video (from HomeEcOnline) a few times, I thought you just have to forcibly push the fabric backwards. Nope, that didn't work. Plus, I think that it have might fucked up my machine, the needle, and/or the needle holder thingy. Because when I tried again, the seams bunched up and were too loose. 

Then, on my third try, I thought that you had to manually move the fabric back to the area where you want the backstitching to go.  I thought the lever was just to move the needle up or something, but that it didn't really move backwards on it's own. I don’t know.  Still, the seams were too loose and a complete mess!

Maybe I have to continue adjusting the tension and length? I set the tension at 3 because I read that that was average.  Or, maybe forcibly pushing the fabric backwards messed up something? I noticed that after I did the seams were loose, no matter how I adjusted the length and tension. 

Luckily, I found a very helpful video from Sewmarm that quelled my frustrations (a bit) and serve as a supplement to HomeEcOnline’s instructions.  HomeEcOnline should link them on their site! They clearly and succinctly explain/show backstitching, seam allowance, and that you can keep your pins on your fabric while sewing.

Thank you Sewmarm!  

Finally!!!! (kind of)

It's been almost a year since I last wrote. I attempted an entry in the fall, but soon became discouraged when this site was taking FOR-EV-ER to load. You know what I’m talking about. You type something and it auto-saves so there’s this lag.  I love auto-save. I am fortunate for auto-save.  But when it kicks in every 15 seconds and causes a 30 second lag in between writing, I curse auto-save, Google, scream, “Fuck it!” and end up browsing etsy.com for 45 minutes.”

You didn’t miss much anyway. My last entry was just pictures of some beautiful shoes with my weak ass captions.

After my failed blog entry, I dabbled a little in winding my bobbin and that other thing where you loop the two strings together. I even practiced making a straight line on pieces of cut-off hems (when you hem pants and the extra piece is cut off—my mom saves those). I don’t know how many days dabbling would translate to, but I think it probably means more than just two days, which is how many days I spent “sewing.” 

Finally, after much library/internet research, book borrowing, and more blowing off, I signed up for an online sewing course. 

 http://homeeconline.blogspot.com/

To which I actually just started sewing today (more than two weeks after I signed up).

The sewing course is okay… It was really frustrating. I think I need someone there to walk me through the steps. I will provide a detailed review of the course later.  I don’t want to just start bitching, especially if it may be unjustified.  

Anyway, on to the good stuff like SHOPPING! I found some really cute fabric at Wal-mart.  This (cupcakes and gingham) will be for a little drawstring bag from the the Home Ec course’s first project 

This one will be for later when I get really, really good. Love the vintage sewing machines. Yes, I bought the whole bolt. That shit was more than $40 bucks. 

Here is me almost done undoing my “handiwork” because I was trying to figure out backstitching.  The stitching was also too loose and somehow the string ended up bunching together. It was a huge mess so I decided to turn in early.  

I think I ended up sewing (for real) for only 30 minutes, max.  However, leaving on a positive note, I’m one step closer to becoming a fashion designer!