I was frantically cutting off nine (yes 9 inches was where we pinned it!) whole inches off that prom dress last night and sewed the cutest best itty bitty baby hem on the chiffon, with ironically, my Project Runway sewing machine.
If you don't see the irony of that, then you haven't been watching PR enough...
Everyone on there complains about chiffon.
This sewed surprisingly better than the prom dress hems I sewed on Maddy's! The foot of this machine holds the fabric together better or something. I haven't figured it all out yet... But anyway, this type of hem requires 3 seams. One to mark where you want the hem to be, plus a tiny bit. Another when you fold over at the previous seam and sew another stitch deathly close to the edge. Trim off the raw excess as close to the 2nd seam as possible. Third, when you fold it over again and sew the final seam.
All was going well, until I was 2/3s of the way into the 2nd seam. I was pulling back a bit of fabric that was going to be sewn in crooked and my middle finger got in the way of the needle...
Yeah, I sewed through my middle finger! The needle went in right next to my nail and out the center of the pad! yeow.
And the (you would think) sweet thing about THIS new Project Runway sewing machine is that whenever you take your foot off the pedal, the needle sinks in, so you always have to crank it back up to get the fabric out.
Or finger in this case.
It didn't hurt as much going in as it did cranking it out... And no blood pooled until I was free of the dress. Thank goodness for that! And thank goodness the dress is black!
When I got done with chiffon part of the skirt, I hung it up so I could tell where I'll be serging the rolled hem on the linings. I will NOT do the triple seam hem on the linings. JUST no time!
As it hung there, I noticed that the pin marking where to cut on the lining was 3 inches longer than the hem I'd just made...
WAIT a minute... What have I done??
I held the dress where I "thought" the girls shoulders were but the dress just seemed so short now!
I refuse to put in the lining hems in until I confirm this. I've been texting with her and her boyfriend a lot this morning to find out when I can meet up with her after work today. With any luck I can finish it all up tonight. And it will be luck! I won't have time Saturday at all, so it needs to be tonight.
I'm guessing that the lining got bunched up somehow when I was pinning the hems on Wednesday when she was here. But before I go and screw up her prom night entirely, I want to make sure she's as short as I think she is...
BTW: The cryptic drama I alluded to yesterday has gone away for the moment. Life is never simple, is it?
5 comments:
Oh me oh my I sure hope that girl hasn't grown since yesterday!! You've got nerves of steel!
That is the scary part about working for others. I put a pin in all four sides of a dress. Then I put a safety pin on top of the pin in front. Just in case it thinks of falling out! I have at least 10 more dresses to hem and more coming in and Jane is right nerve of steel. I have also sewed through my finger before but the machine got stuck and I had to get the repair man who was working downstairs to come get it out. I passed out , and I still have the scar....
OW at sewing through your finger!
I know what you mean about stopping until you are sure you are not making a mistake. Been there, done that.
Glad the drama is past.
Sewing is like underwater basket weaving to me...impossible! Can't believe you sewed through your finger! Holy Cow!!!! You know we will need photographs of this dress you are working on....
Oh my goodness! i am so horrorfied that you sewed through your finger! I am so nervous thinking how that could happen. I hope it's healing up all right doesn't still hurt.
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