Safari, So Good

I'm feeling a little stressed, these days. Okay, so a little more stressed. I have a week to do the sewing that I would usually try to get done in a month because Someone is heading out of town for ten days on June 4, which means he'll be getting back the day before we have to head out to Illinois for a ten day band gig/gathering.

In that time I may or may not be able to do any sewing because the Evil Genius and Sprout insist on actually being fed from time to time, and they seem to want clean clothing as well. Also, there's the tiny matter of getting the trailer packed and down from Mum's to the Casa, and since the Evil Genius opted out of this trip and is staying with T, I have to get him packed as well. Then there's the pre-cooking for camping, and grocery shopping, and I may have forgotten to line up house/garden minders yet, so there's that, too.

Then, when we get back from Illinois, we will have a few days to do laundry and shop for more groceries before we haul out to Ohio for a show, which is where I'll be trying to sell whatever I managed to sew these next seven days.

Meanwhile, I also have a little once-a-month market to help Mum with while Someone's away, band rehearsals, and did I mention sewing?

So I was trying to get a start on that sewing. I got all the fabric sorted by category and color, made and inventory of what I have and what it'll be turned into, and hauled out the serger to get started.

One serger didn't come back from cleaning/service with the right plug/pedal combination, but luckily it can share the sewing machine's thingy. I don't usually use it since it's the smaller serger of the two I can use. The big serger was ready to go...but then it ran out of thread on one of the loopers. That means re-threading. On a sewing machine, this is no biggie - one thread, one needle, just follow the arrows printed on the machine if you're not familiar with it.

On a serger, though...hoooooie.

There are four threads, two for loopers and two for needles, and gods help you if you don't get them exactly right, in the right order. Talk about some thread-y chaos.

So I tried to re-thread the big serger, but it wasn't having any of me. Ack! Fine, I'll use the small one. Only, I took one of the thread cones from the small one to try and thread the big one, so now I have to re-thread the small one.

In the right order.

I have no manual.

There are four stations for thread cones. Were I designing one of these machines, the thread would go in order from left to right.

I did not design these machines.

An angry person with a grudge against sewers made these machines.

I tried for an hour to get it working, to no avail.

I cried.

I begged for mercy.

I may have offered to sacrificed a cat some M&Ms to it.

Then I realized...there is the Blue Nowhere!

O Great and Powerful Blue Nowhere, I cried, tell me true, in what order does one thread a White Speedylock?

And the Blue Nowhere, in the voice of Jeeves (of whom I ask many things) answered thusly: O confused and tearful woman, it is so - Upper Looper, Lower Looper, Right Needle, Left Needle, and here's a handy diagram to tell you which is which. Now dry your tears and gitter done.

And so I did.

Much serging commenced.

The next day, more serging...until there was a fabric snag, a pull, an ominous CRACK followed by a whinge and buzz that boded no good.

A needle broke.

Okay, okay, we're a big girl, we can handle this.

Umm.

How does one get the needle out?

Apparently I do not know that incantation...must have been out that day at Magical Serger Operation School. Hey, look, there's a screw on the needle holder thingy. Hey, look, here's a screwdriver. One plus one equals...umm...oh.

The needle holder thingy came off, alright. With the needles firmly entrenched in their nests, one sound one, one broken one waiting to get all stab-y with me if I didn't leave it alone.

There are two tiny, wee holes just above the needles. Hey, in my handy, dandy, sewing tools kit there's a sort of thinnish bit of metal that vaguely resembles a hex/Allen wrench if you have good eyes and don't squint too hard at it. Maybe that'll...hey! The needles fell out. Onto the carpet. Near my bare feet.

I need a magnet on a stick, but had to use my eyes instead. Found needles, tossed broken one, rummaged for new one, then...uh-oh...

How far into the needle holder thingy do they go? It has to be right or the thread won't catch or the needles will break. There's no line, not stop, nothing. Aww, dang.

Also, the needles have to go in before the thingy is put back, because otherwise they'll snag on the feed dog. Don't ask.

At this point, I am very happy that my sewing tools kit includes pliers, screwdriver, tiny, wee wrench thing, and a generous stoup of rum.

Needles back in place, silver screw retrieved from carpet, thingy tightened down and...

Oh, dear...

I need to re-thread it. Gulp.

Oh beloved Blue Nowhere....

I have now used a Sharpie marker (blue, of course) to mark the order of threading so I don't have to oil the machine after I've cried all over it again. I've had some more snags but have managed to stop before the looper is pulled into the needles, thus causing more breakage.

I may get one piece finished before next week. Where's that rum?
~~~~~
All of the above to say, thank goodness for iPhones, Safari, and the portable access to the Blue Nowere they provide, or I'd still be in tears!

Sew What?

Yesterday was a lovely break from reality - a day spent in the pool, or beside it, chatting with friends and eating good food while the kids (and a few grown-ups) splashed and played to their hearts' content.

Today, however, it's time to get busy again.

I'm doing some sewing for a friend - she sells costuming at sci-fi and fantasy conventions and other shows, and there's a big one coming up next weekend. Dragon Con. It's in downtown Atlanta, it's huge, and I've always had fun there (I'll be helping out in the booth this year as well). I am especially fond of the Storm Troopers (they invest a LOT in their garb). They're awfully cute, and I'm often offering to fetch a can opener or nut cracker to help them out of their costumes.

The Klingons are fun, too...but don't piss off the Keeper of the Sausage!

Anyway, I'm currently learning to sew cloaks. There's no pattern in any traditional sense...she tells me what to do, I sketch it in my little notebook and write out the steps, and then when I get home I panic because I think I've forgotten something so I call her and ask questions until I feel better about (ulp) cutting and sewing.

The material I'm working with is pane (pronounced puhnay). It is beautiful, drapes gloriously, comes in a variety of colors...and I hate it. it's slippery, stretchy, has a mind of its own (which doesn't often involve cooperating with the seamstress). I don't know how my friend works with it as much as she does - she makes the most amazing, slinky little dresses, skirts, and tops with it. She's trying to teach me the easier things so she can focus on the more complicated work.

The cloaks are simple enough to make...mostly straight lines using a straight or a zig-zag stitch. Until recently, my machine has never done anything but a straight stitch, because that's what I know how to use. The Singer and I are expanding our horizons.

I don't want to get these wrong - the fabric isn't cheap, and it isn't very forgiving of mistakes, and this show? This show is what has to get my friend through the Winter until the season starts again in the Spring...I don't want to be the reason she can't pay her mortgage. No pressure though...

It's been a family effort - Someone and the Evil Genius have both helped me measure, mark, pin, and cut where needed, and if all goes even moderately well today I should be able to finish all two-million (or maybe just a dozen or so) cloaks by the end of the day.

Wish me luck...

By the way - the contest is still on for publication and twenty grand. Do a gal a favor and go vote for her, huh? Puhleeeeeze???

This link should take you right to my thingy...I hope...:Read my Medium Raw challenge essay: It's not always about the ingredients, is it?