I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to sew Simplicity 2561 for my son's Halloween costume. Contrary to most previous posts where I chose patterns to try, this is my first pattern. There are three pieces: pants, a hat, and a jacket. Since I have been blessed with this sewing machine, I have been trying to sew. And guess what? I am getting it. Here is a little post on how it is going.
First, the pants are done.
Because it is cool here when Halloween comes, I decided to use flannel for the pants. Well, when I washed it, I found out flannel frays pretty badly. So, I zigzagged all edges.
For the jacket, I have decided to use blizzard fleece. It is quite warm and with a warm shirt, he may be able to use it as a coat on Halloween. (Pray it is so!) The jacket is not ready yet, but I have the pieces cut and the interfacing in. (I didn't have a press cloth so I used a polo shirt.)
Finally, I changed the thread in my machine from black to red. Then, I practiced on the fleece. I found this article on sewing fleece. It recommended a different needle than I had, so I got to praying. It also recommended a narrow zigzag, so I looked at the pictures on my machine and picked Letter D.
The first time, I tried the fleece, I just used that stitch on two pieces of fleece. The needle got stuck and the fabric stopped moving and the thread knotted all up! When I tried to take the fabric away from the machine, I found that the fabric had been pushed down into the hole. I don't know if you can see, in the following picture, how knotted the thread is at the bottom. (That thread sure matches well!)
I was about to get sad when I remembered Mimi G's Pencil Skirt tutorial. In it, she recommends putting a piece of tissue paper under knit fabric to keep it from being eaten by the hole in the machine. When you are done sewing, you can simply rip the tissue paper off. It worked! In the picture, I had taken the tissue paper off already.
I still need the metallic soutache braid, which I am still trying to decide whether to order from Amazon or buy a substitute from Joann's. But I am going to stay stitch the necklines, put the front and back pieces together, and add the facings to the jacket tomorrow. (Hopefully! Life with a two year old doesn't guarantee it!)
Oh! And I have the stuff for the hat, but is haven't started on it at all. I haven't even glanced at the directions. Mostly because I would not feel bad buying it at all!
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