Blind Hemming

Everybody knows I totally dig sewing, and I'm pretty good at it, too.  I couldn't make a period-true Renaissance gown, I can't embroider and I'd need a more versatile machine to make jeans or dance costumes really well (and a lot of patience to fit them properly), but I can cut, create and tailor modern clothing and fabrics without trouble.  I learned the basics in two sewing classes, but the rest I learned through trial and error, failure and triumph.

Take today, for example.  I guess I mentioned that I bought a few pairs of nice slacks, in various neutral shades, made of poly synth and wool blends with a bit of stretch.  In my previous professional position (meaning I was in an office with a strict dress code), I couldn't be bothered to take action if my slacks were too short or long for the heel of my shoe.  If they were too long and moderately expensive, I brought them over to Wang's Tailoring for $8 and had them done.

Now, my "work-worthy shoes" all have heels between 2-3.5 inches (I did this on purpose), so I tried on my slacks one by one and pinned them up to a position that would fall in an acceptable range when worn with all of the shoes, but specifically tailored to the most comfortable/versatile pair.  I love continental heels, and almost all of my dress shoes have a very vintage (1940s) profile with rounded toes.

Then I took out my blind hem foot, which I have been putting to completely different ends than it was originally intended for (like top-stitching extremely close to a hem).  I can do blind hemming by hand, but it takes forever.  I was never confident enough in my skills to actually cut up and hem a pair of nice trousers...  But I took the plunge and, with a nervous squeak, decisively sliced off the desired amount from the legs of the trousers.  No going back now.

I had some trouble with the pinning, which looks complicated but is actually pretty simple, and then my stitches/foot/machine weren't calibrated properly for the first couple attempts, which I ripped out with the seam ripper.  Finally, after trial and error (and stupidly, not a single glance at the millions of tutorials on the internets), I discovered and understood what stitch length and other calibrations would do to the hem, and how long to make the stitch for the folds I'd put in, etc.  And it looks MAAAAAHVELOUS.

So.  If you are a seamstress and have never tried blind hemming with the machine...  Do it.  It rocks and looks super professional.

Projects and Musings

I should have started taking before & after pictures of our apartment before assembling about 20 boxes and packing up all of our books and some of our fragile items.  The place is in a sort of ordered shambles, with boxes neatly in corners, bare bookshelves against walls, rolls of bubble wrap and packages of unassembled boxes everywhere.  It is going to take ages to pack up the kitchen.

My sewing machine sits on the desk, unused, in its beautiful little brocade drape.  Maybe after Caspian leaves on Friday, I'll make an excursion to the fabric store to start on my new little projects, which I wrote down in Elena, my planner:

- Cases for ugly brown pillows
- Pillowcases for bed
- Knitting bag
- Scrap bag
- Shopping totes

I also have to somehow eat all of the staples we've stocked up, and I have no idea how I'm going to do that.  I have been told that international relocation goes much more smoothly if one doesn't pack food and other consumables.

How am I mind-wise, you ask?  Feeling like my life is finally moving again.  Slightly hungry and about to eat the dry cereal I packed for a snack.  Victorious. Chilly.  Feminist.  Particularly satisfied by the work I've been doing this week.  Happy that thunderstorms are brewing.  Equally sad and eager at the opportunity to live and travel alone for a month.  While my mate is exceedingly fun to be around, I think we will both enjoy being responsible only for ourselves for a little while, and I'm pretty sure he'd agree with me!

I'm not always the easiest person to be around.