Sewing Accessories from Wawak

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Yesterday, I received my order from Wawak. I love Wawak, I normally receive my orders from them the very next day. Purchasing from them saves me the hassle of going to the fabric store, which isn’t exactly close to our home.

It was a small order…

  • three rolls of elastic
  • two cones of thread
  • one seam ripper

but the total came to a little over $50. All the items ordered, with the exception of the seam ripper, were bulk items so hence the high price.
Wawak Haul_2 12.10.14

I now have plenty of elastic, and black and white thread, to last me for quite some time.

Wawak Haul_1 12.10.14

Take a look at the cone thread, it is huge! I had a chance to sew with the black thread and I like it a lot, so I’ll be placing an order for more in additional colors.

Newly created garment

Today, I wore the maxi skirt that I’d sewn. In fact, this morning before work, I made last minute adjustments to the hem using my Brother 1034D (Serger) and my Brother 2340CV (Coverstitch.) I love those machines! I’ll have to take pictures so you can see the finished garment and the coverstitched hem. In that post, I’ll be sure to include a photo tutorial of what I do to cover the raw edges.

Stocking up on sewing essentials

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If you were to stop by my sewing room, you would see a lot of thread.

I use three different types for the various machines that I use, and you want to know something? Even though I have a lot of two of the threads, I’m lacking regular sewing thread. Spools? Sure, I have plenty of those; however, I much prefer the cone thread because of the amount of yardage that you find on them. Well… to remedy that, a few moments ago, I purchased some cone thread for regular sewing.

American & Efird Thread
American & Effird – General purpose thread

The above brand, is the general purpose thread I chose. I ordered it from Wawak. If past orders are an indication, I should be receiving this order tomorrow. This particular thread that I ordered has 6,000 yards of thread on each cone. I chose the standard back and white thread. If I like it, I’ll purchase more.

 

maxi-lock Serger Thread
Maxi-Lock Serger Thread

 

Now let’s take a look at the cone thread that I do have in abudance. See the above thread, it’s Maxi-Lock, I use that and Gutermann Thread for my Serger and Overlock machines. No, I can’t use this thread in my regular sewing machine. Why? This thread is much  thinner than standard sewing thread, so it would not be as durable. Serger thread is thinner because you are using more than one cone (or spool) of thread for stitching.  I normally use four cones of thread at a time, when I use my Serger or Overcast machine.

 

Metro Embroidery Thread
Metro Embroidery Thread

I also use cone thread for embroidery, but that thread is shiny and it’s made for one purpose… embroidery. I could use it for general sewing, but that would be silly and very costly since my embroidery thread costs more than the other threads that I use.

Maxi Skirt – Work in progress

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Yesterday afternoon, I finally got around to sewing something for myself, hooray! My daughter took these pictures a few moments ago. Note to self, use a better background.

Maxi Skirt_2 12.8.14

It’s a maxi skirt made from knit fabric. I don’t work with knit fabric too much, it’s super slippery, but that’s not why I don’t use it. I find it much easier to sew than cloth that does not stretch. I find that you really don’t have to do as much with stretchy fabric. While some might enjoy this since it is indeed easier, I much prefer working with cloth that lets your sewing skills shine.

Maxi Skirt_1 12.8.14

But back to the skirt… I won’t be wearing it until I get the proper elastic. I have 1/2″ elastic but that’s too small. I need at least 1″ and I do have that elastic somewhere… but for now it’s laughing at me from it’s hiding place and so I’ve folded up the long maxi skirt and have set it to the side.

Maxi Skirt_3 12.8.14

I do think I’ll make an adjustment with this skirt and add a small split at the bottom. I most likely will do that later today and then, I’ll tuck it way until I get the elastic.

Now, my focus is on that ruffled shirt. You know the one I posted about way back when. I removed the ruffle and am thinking about adding a teeny tiny ruffle around the hem. Hmm, decisions, decisions, decisions. I hate giving up on this shirt, because it has the potential to be something lovely, once I decide exactly what needs to be done to make it right for me.

Adding finishing touches to my daughter’s dress…

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I’m thrilled to say that my daughter’s dress ensemble is finished.

Coverstitch_2 12.6.14
I used my Coverstitch machine to finish the hem. I’m sewing through the fabric and horsehair braid.

I decided to secure the hem (where the horsehair braid is attached) with my Brother 2340 CV Coverstitch machine. I love this machine!

Edgestitch_1 12.6.14
Understitch- stitching close to the seam on the lining/facing side of the fabric.

The bodice has a lining and I decided it would be a good idea to understitch on the lining/facing side of the fabric.

I can’t wait to show you an up close and personal look at my daughter’s outfit, but I can’t right now since she’s at our Lutheran Church’s Middle School dance. I will say that she was all smiles when the outfit was completed.

 

Pressing Cloths: What can go wrong, sometimes will…

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You would think being as super meticulous as I’ve been with the dress I’m making for my daughter, I would not make a boneheaded mistake, right? Hah!

Yesterday, while pressing newly sewn seams, with my vintage American Beauty iron disaster struck. The petticoat melted because the iron was too hot. Yes, I should have used a pressing cloth. I know, I know…

Now, I could have gotten upset and blamed it on the iron, but let’s get real… this was user error! Thankfully, the fabric melted near the petticoat waist. Whew! What did I do? I cut 2″ off the waist. I then cut 2.5″ of the same material and sewed it onto the waist of the petticoat. Boom… Done! I totally Mcgyered that!

Lesson learned, I won’t, won’t, won’t,ever, ever, ever do that again without using a pressing cloth.

 

Pressing Cloth_2 12.05.14
I made my own press cloth

 

Making a Proper Press Cloth

This evening, I took a brief break from working on my daughter’s dress to serge a proper press cloth. I had some old tightly woven cotton sheeting laying about. Perfect! Initially, I was going to do a single layer, it is pretty thick; however, I got paranoid and quadruple layered the fabric and the result is what you see above. This was a quick and dirty job. I didn’t feel like measuring, so it’s not exactly even and I’m fine with that.

I tested it out with my American Beauty iron and the fabric didn’t melt! The “press cloths” I’ve used in the past have been old fabric remnants or bed sheets. It’s what I made today, but I serged the ends to make it “pretty.”

Last minute purchases…

Of course, I need smaller elastic for the waist band and so I’ll be purchasing  that tomorrow morning. The zippers I ordered from Wawak (yesterday) arrived today. Currently, I’m in the process of creating my hand-picked zipper.

Sewing needs – Making a list

While I thought I’d had everything covered, with my recent purchases of sewing accessories, it’s obvious that a few things, such as appropriate sized zippers have slipped through the cracks and so I’ve been mentally going over my sewing items in my mind and creating a need to purchase list.  Elastic is going on that list and also buttons. I’ll be stocking up on plain buttons. I might toss some fancy ones in there, but I tend to hold off on the those buttons until I start on a project.

Resource

  1. Guide to Press Cloths