Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Fabric Score!

I went to JoAnn Fabrics today and saw this beautiful home dec fabric on clearance for $3/yd.  I knew exactly what to make with it.  I've been wanting to make a nice Regency-era dress (think Jane Austen), but didn't want to spend a ton of money on the fabric.  This was perfect!

I took the fabric up to the cutting counter and found out that it's actually silk dupioni and costs $16/yd!  The amazing part is, JoAnn's honored the $3/yd price!!  I can't wait to have some spare sewing time to make my dress!

Frustration

Don't you hate it when something that you expect to take two hours ends up taking ALL day?! That was my day today. I've just started making laptop cases and was working on my first custom order, and I ran into problem after problem.

This was my first time making a case for something based only on the dimensions given and not having the actual product to help make adjustments, which caused a lot of problems with getting the closure just right. Thankfully, I was able to find a book that is the same height as the customer's item and used that to fine-tune the closure. I FINALLY finished and will have it ready to present to my customer tomorrow. Yay! :)

It feels good to be done. I love sewing and making things, but sometimes it's really frustrating and stressful. It didn't help things that while I was struggling with sewing through several thick layers and trying to get the raw edges all lined up, I kept thinking "This would be sooooooo much easier with a serger!".

I hope I win the giveaway on Sew, Mama, Sew, but there are a lot of awesome entries! However, I have decided that if I don't win, I will definitely get a serger. I found some decent ones for around $500. Although they won't have all the nifty features of the $1000 Husqvarna S21, they'll at least get the job done and, once I get a job, it'll be easier to save up $500 vs. trying to save up $1000.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Serger Contest and First Post

So, one of my favorite blogs (Sew, Mama, Sew) is giving away a free Husqvarna Viking serger! How awesome is that?! One of the contest rules was that you post your entry on your blog and link to it in the contest post's comment section. I wanted to enter, but I didn't have a blog, even though several of my friends said I should. I figured this contest was a good excuse to start my very own blog.

Without further ado, here's my entry for Sew, Mama, Sew's serger contest:







Wish me luck!