Sewing September - Day 29

Hand sewing like a freak today. I'm not sure how many projects will be completed by end of business tomorrow, but I have put in a valiant effort.  I started the night with my final LilyPad project. I worked on it before, but something was missing. Today I sorted out that it was missing the negative trace from the final LED. Glad we have a multimeter and my husband is smart.

I love learning this stuff.

Since I was playing with LEDs, I wired up the LEDs on one side of my corset. I have to attach the power supply; it's going to be removable because I'm smart. Lights first, trim on top, then rhinestoning to enhance the look.

I couldn't help myself.

I ended my sewing night with the bottom binding of the other side of my sister's corset. I'm looking forward to finishing it and sending it to my sister. I love finishing projects.

This is going to look so good.

Sewing September - Days 27 and 28

I got absolutely squat done Friday. That's three days off this month. I tried making up for it over the past two days.

I'm working on panels for my skirt to go with my corset. I draped them on my new dress form this morning. (I've also stuffed the cups because the dress form doesn't expand to a DD, even though the chest and waist expand. The shape is wrong if I alter the dress form measurements to try to make boobs.) They're getting serged tonight when I get home from the Dodgers game.

Excited about this number and its new direction.

I also finished the cardigan! That took forever. I found that by lengthening the stitch just a bit more made it easier. I also folded the area to be hemmed under and let the feed dogs do the work, instead of having the inside of the folded area against the presser foot.

FINALLY FINISHED!

And I replaced the rear panels of my sister's corset. I grommeted and assembled it yesterday, adding a couple more boning channels and starting the bias tape this morning. It's going to be adorable. I'm really excited about it. Andrew's cutting the bones while I'm watching baseball. I figure it will be complete by Wednesday if I have no more interruptions.

This is going to look dope with the red laces.

I'm in the home stretch and there's so much I didn't get done! GRAH!

Sewing September - Day 25

My Thursday was a bit packed. My husband and I started our own social media company because we dig storytelling, problem solving, and being able to help people achieve their goals.While we get enough clients to focus on doing social media "full time," we're working on that in the hours we aren't at day jobs and aren't working on burlesque stuff. I'm also enrolled in three online courses (not Craftsy) that all have deadlines, so I'm spreading myself thinner than usual ... maybe. My excuse for not getting much sewing done last night was the new new job and a hot minute of actual social time.

I still got something done. I cut the panels for a panel skirt to be attached to a corset I made a few months ago. I was going to perform a number in that corset with a regular skirt, but I wound up with anemia, had to cancel the gig on doctor's orders, and didn't get to perform in the corset. Time passed, I found the perfect fabric for my panels, and I decided to change up the choreo. I think I may attach some of the panels with buttons and others with velcro. We'll see what comes to pass.

I love how this looks.

My goal for the weekend is to finish assembling the corset, serge all the skirt panels, finish that pesky cardigan, do a fancy t-shirt hack, and turn a lab coat into a dress. Let's see if that happens.

Sewing September - Day 24

I was making great progress last night. I got the busk completely set and it looks fantastic. I stitched the boning channels in the back panels so I'd be ready for grommeting, but something happened.

I use Chacoliner to mark the stitching lines for the channels. I used my new red Chacoliner on the shell of the corset, and it didn't wipe off as easily as the yellow. I tried using a scrap of the same fabric to rub the red chalk off, but that didn't work. I took the panels into my kitchen and hit them with cold water and a little dish soap. I scrubbed the lines with my fingers and rinsed the panels, leaving them to dry in my dishrack.

When I dyed the coutil for the quickie corset, I rinsed that stuff until the water ran clear. I rinsed it and air dried it, then rinsed it again and again and again. You can't wash a corset because of the bones and grommets, but there were no bones and I bought the coutil that was already dyed black. Imagine my surprise when I found that the dye in the coutil ran all over the shell. This was just from the hand washing in cold water with soap. Not cool at all. I have to remake these back panels. (What the hell is the deal with having to make corset rear panels twice per corset this month?!)

Not cool, black coutil. Not cool at all.

I'm fortunate this happened when it did. I've made black coutil corsets that didn't stain while being worn, but those were from a different dye lot. She's not going swimming in this corset, but she is going to get sweaty. I can't have it dye her skin or ruin the shell. The lesson I've learned is that you must rinse coutil that has been dyed to dark colors before using it, even if you didn't dye it yourself. I'm going to rinse all of the coutil I bought until the water is clear. I'm going to rinse the inside coutil panels that have already been assembled. It's a bigger pain to pull out the busk and rinse that coutil, so I'm going to try interfacing the coutil on that panel, essentially creating a fusible condom to protect the shell from the coutil. The panel is so small I don't think it will be an issue.

Learning lessons quickly by sewing so intensively. :)

Sewing September - Day 23

I'm trying to make up for lost time. The bobbins of my primary machine work on the spare, so I finished installing the zipper and attaching it to the handle for the crazy Craftsy bag. Shopping for corset supplies and that little project took a nice bit of my morning.

Slow and steady wins the race, yes?

The early evening was spent finishing a ridiculous alien sock creature for Coca Carter. It's front heavy so it doesn't stand on its tiny feet very well. I'm sure it will provide her some fun times, even when she guts it.

Felt eyes with marker pupils so it's totally crunch-free.

My last project for the night was my sister's corset. Since I finally have the busk and coutil, I cut the remaining pieces and assembled what I could before retiring for the evening. I'm really excited that I found a black busk and white grommets, which will make the corset look even cooler. (I think I can dye the grommets, based on what they were telling me at the supply store!)

I think the black busk and white grommets look cool.

I learned a technique in the bag Craftsy class that I'm using on the corset. The instructor used a glue stick to temporarily bond some velcro so it was easier to machine stitch. Busks can be slippery until they're stitched into place. I used a glue stick to seal in both parts of the busk. We'll see tomorrow if that makes it easier to sew.

Sewing September - Day 22

I feel so thwarted with my primary machine out of whack. The spare machine has less stitch variety and isn't as smooth. It functions but I'm spoiled.

Tonight I worked on the storage bag from the Craftsy class. I installed a stabilizer pocket and handle, and I started on the zipper. I may just finish up the zipper tomorrow before I put on pants. I have to restock some corset supplies in the morning so I can get my sister's corset done.

Completed handle on my janky quilting job.

I had so many awesome plans for this month of sewing, and things have just come up. We'll see if I get a few more things completed by the end of the month. I've done some form of sewing for twenty days of the month, which isn't too shabby.

When Your Brother CS6000i Throws Shade

I noticed a lack of information on the error code F4 this morning when I discovered it on my machine this morning. Since I recommend the Brother CS6000i to people who want a nice machine for a reasonable price, I feel it's my responsibility to share what I've learned about this error code.

If you read my blog about my derailed sewing plans for today, you know that my baby dog pulled the pedal from my machine. My husband tried bending the plug back into place so I could use it. I was concerned by the F4 code that she actually caused internal damage to the machine based on that information.

The nearest authorized service center is in the San Fernando Valley. That's way the hell out of my way. I was willing to pay up to a certain dollar amount to get it checked out next Saturday, but I was prepared to purchase a replacement machine to save myself the hassle of arranging two trips to and from the Valley to get it fixed. (The machine manual recommends to call an authorized service center if you get any F codes.) Andrew is just as tenacious as me, so he obsessively combed the internet for a solution. If we could get out of spending much money and/or going to the Valley, he was willing to do whatever he could.

The F4 code meant the foot pedal was not properly connected to the machine. This was consistent with the baby dog shenanigans. There either had to be something wrong inside the machine at the point of connection, or the pedal plug was damaged. He turned the machine on without the pedal and there was no error code, which indicated that it was indeed the pedal plug. A little trolling on eBay provided a replacement pedal for under $30 and no trip to the Valley.

You know I'll be picking up my pedal when I leave my machine unsupervised so there are no more baby dog shenanigans with it.