Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Romper Rage; Or, More Appropriately, Sewing Machine Malice

I thought I'd let you all in on the progress of my risk-taking romper.

Again, me and my grandiose plans saw me sit down in the morning of July 1, scissors and pins in hand, thinking I'd get the lion's share of my romper done and maybe even get it finished to wear to my Canada Day party that evening.

Lo, the sewing machine had other plans.
So did the pattern.Photobucket

Story #1: Eeeevil Sewing Machine

Happily I laid out my pattern on the fabric. Discovering one of the pieces was missing, decided that was no biggie. I can sew around that.





Cut out and piled up, down to the sewing dungeon we went.
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Off I sewed, on my merrily merrily way.
Honestly, most of the sewing went rather well.
July2012010

Until this started happening.
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Truth told: I'm no sewing machine techie, so apart from the stitching equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Del, I was totally stumped as to how to fix this particular problem.

And that's where we stand. I got the pleats sewn, the top pieced together and was just on the verge of sewing in the pockets when my machine got hungry for some stretchy cotton.

Story #2: Patterns from the 1970s and my Hubris

Before I even started, I knew that this pattern wasn't my size.
I looked into just exactly what a misses size 6 is worked out to. Each measurement was about 6" too small. Meh, I thought. I can sew around that (every other pattern I've worked with has ended up being far too large anyway. I didn't think I was taking a gamble.)

Now, you'll notice there's no pictures of me clothed in a part-done, half-chewed up, sad, sad looking romper.
This is because it really was that sad.
That and I'm afraid of pins, and instead used alligator clips to "pin" it onto me and get an idea as to just how bloody small this thing is.
The shame associated with photographic evidence of my unorthodox use of office supplies would be too great.

In summation: I know I can work out of the corner I've sewn myself into. The question is: How many adult women have a 21" waist? I'm sure there's some who exist, I just don't think I've ever met them. Children, I'm sure. There's kids running around all over the place with 21" waists.

I shall end this post with a declaration that the romper has not beaten me! The general idea I got from "pinning" it on to me was actually rather positive. And, after someone with a bigger brain than I comes along and fixes my machine, I'm confident that I'll have a somewhat cute but most certainly complete and well-fitting romper to show ya'll.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Good for you for carrying on! Bravo!

Couple things you can try for the machine: pull out the bobbin and--unless it's perfect in every way, and maybe even then--pull off the thread and rewind it. Sometimes uneven tension in the bobbin can make everything so tight it eats holes in your fabric.

Next, clean and oil all the moving parts of the machine. Get out all the dust and lint (especially under the feed dogs--that stuff can be a nightmare). This is the more likely culprit, frankly, but it takes longer to fix.

After that, make yourself a nice cocktail with a little citrus in it to keep away the summer heat. Sip on that while someone else fiddles with the demon machine.

Unknown said...

Oh, and make sure you're using the right needle for the fabric! Sometimes the wrong needle can do horrific things to your project.

Teresa said...

Thanks so much Jennifer! Are you on Ravelry?

Unknown said...

I am--JenberC

Julie said...

oh, a shame that this romper is proving so challenging! the fabric is so cute, but I have faith in your sewing skills!