If you've experienced either of these, well, you have my sympathies. They were both the source of many colorful words - mostly since they happened with a new machine.
When sewing PUL, I tried several different needles to alleviate the skipped stitches. Ball-point needles are a must. I'd get skipped stitches with an 80/12 needle, but when I switched to a 70/10, life was good.
For a little more information on proper needle choice - Threads Magazine has a few good articles:
Threads Magazine - Machine Needle Know-How
Threads Magazine - Sewing Machine Needles - An Overview
Bird's Nests were another issue. These are the loops of thread that build up underneath the fabric and just jam up the works. Typically, a bobbin that's popped out of place is the culprit. What happened with my new machine was that the needle thread was slipping off of the take-up lever (the arm that goes up and down along with the needle). This wasn't an issue with my older machines because the lever was out in the open. The new machine has the lever hidden behind the machine's plastic cover & it's just a hook - easy to thread, but nothing to hold the thread in place.
Wednesday
Affordable One-Size Diapers (Without Sewing!)
To be frank, the start-up costs of cloth diapering with the big, name-brand, fancy-schmancy diapers scared me. Come on, it may save me money in the long run, but I can't afford the start-up costs *now*. Even with hand-me-downs (including a crib) and gifts, baby gear just about tapped me out.
I bought one of the one-size diapers from Assunta Store (the owner operates a coop called NotionSupply on Yahoo Groups) when she was testing them out. It's my favorite purchased diaper. I also bought a cover that I used with pre-folds that worked wonderfully until my DD outgrew the prefolds. The pocket diapers may run a little small, but my DD's about 30 pounds now and there's still room for her.
The price is the thing - the Pockets are currently priced at about $7.50 with two inserts & shipping's free with the purchase of 12 diapers (using a code at check-out). The Sized diaper covers are about $4 each.
Yes, the diapers are made in China and they are being shipped from China. On the other hand, the store helps support abandoned babies in China.
Tuesday
Good Intentions
Leave it to my dad to let it spill. I made some diaps for my nephew. They were cute. They were appreciated. They really aren't getting used. Ugh. Apparently they aren't absorbent enough for my nephew's fire hose. I was out of bamboo, so I had to resort to birdseye from Joann (and I'm not that thrilled with how they turned out). That, and I think that the diaps were "nice" ones with microchamois instead of suedecloth as the inner layer. Sigh... I know they were appreciated, but I really hate hearing things in a round-about fashion about something that I might be able to fix.
Sunday
FOE - The Acronym for Fold-Over Elastic is Quite Appropriate
FOE and I don't get along. Have I mentioned this before? I'm a very dominate lefty, so trying to stretch the elastic and get it to hold in place is just plain *hard*. I've been making snapping Tinkle Time Trainers for my DD, so I'm making myself learn how to use FOE.
What I've learned:
1) baste the layers together (zig-zag the edges) to get the diaper sandwich to act as one piece (just one less thing to fight with).
2) Pin. Yes, Pin. It made things much easier to pin the FOE in place so I knew how much I needed to stretch the FOE as well as to keep the fabric going into the FOE at the right depth (this goes along with being a dominate lefty).
3) To make a FOE pocket, the liner gets cased elastic, just like a "regular" pocket diaper. When sewing the FOE, have the inside of the diaper up (PUL to the feed dogs). Pin the FOE at the edges of the casing. When sewing the FOE, sew all of the layers together until the pocket opening. At the pocket opening, pull the casing away from the FOE and sew the FOE to the PUL only. Ideally, the edges of the casing (where the elastic is tacked down) should be under the FOE. For some reason, pattern instructions make this really hard to understand (if it's even described). I'll try to take some photos the next time I sew up some more trainers.
What I've learned:
1) baste the layers together (zig-zag the edges) to get the diaper sandwich to act as one piece (just one less thing to fight with).
2) Pin. Yes, Pin. It made things much easier to pin the FOE in place so I knew how much I needed to stretch the FOE as well as to keep the fabric going into the FOE at the right depth (this goes along with being a dominate lefty).
3) To make a FOE pocket, the liner gets cased elastic, just like a "regular" pocket diaper. When sewing the FOE, have the inside of the diaper up (PUL to the feed dogs). Pin the FOE at the edges of the casing. When sewing the FOE, sew all of the layers together until the pocket opening. At the pocket opening, pull the casing away from the FOE and sew the FOE to the PUL only. Ideally, the edges of the casing (where the elastic is tacked down) should be under the FOE. For some reason, pattern instructions make this really hard to understand (if it's even described). I'll try to take some photos the next time I sew up some more trainers.
Joann Pattern Sale - April 10-16, 2011
I went on a splurge this week - Joann had Simplicity patterns on sale for 99 cents. It proved that I had a bag fettish - I think that I picked up four patterns for bags and several other patterns for my DD. I then had my sister begging for bibs (her DS is teething and drooling through bibs at a rapid rate). So what did I do - bought a few more patterns .
Next up on sale at Joann are McCalls patterns (with the exception of the Easy Stitch 'N Save patterns) for 99 cents and vogue for $3.99. This is running from April 10-16, 2011.
My email flier had a coupon code:
40% off one item (expires 4/23/2011): EEDX113
Next up on sale at Joann are McCalls patterns (with the exception of the Easy Stitch 'N Save patterns) for 99 cents and vogue for $3.99. This is running from April 10-16, 2011.
My email flier had a coupon code:
40% off one item (expires 4/23/2011): EEDX113
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