Getting to Know You

I've got a lot of sewing to do in the lead up to the wedding. I'm staying at my friend D's place--in her rumpus/sewing room to be exact. She and I have a long history of making things together so I'm quite familiar with her old sewing machine and overlocker. Unfortunately, her old overlocker is no more, and she hasn't got a replacement yet. Enter D's friend P. P brought her overlocker over for me to use. It's a Huskylock, 4-thread. Similar enough to the Janome I have at home to do the basics, but the controls are all in different places.

My first step when getting to know new machine is to thread it up from scratch. This time I used four different colour threads. That way it was easy to see which tension dials needed to be adjusted.

Having done that, I've got the overlocker working happily with me on ordinary seams. The skirt I'm making for the wedding, though, has a silk chiffon flounce. I'd like to do a rolled hem to finish it off nicely. So far I haven't managed a nice narrow hem with the Huskylock. I'm hoping to get hold of a manual in the next few days and see what I can manage. Failing that it will be back to the ordinary sewing machine's rolled hem foot--and a fair bit of practice for either D or me to get that hem looking as neat as possible. Meanwhile, there are more tablecloths to be cut and stitched. That's straightforward sewing and a great way to get familiar with new machines. I've also promised myself a creative break some time today. I've got some pretty paper and stamps and I'd like to make a Wedding card before things get too crazy here.