This is not a Halloween top!

No really this top is for every day life. 

Its just I finally got it sewn up just before Halloween. Still its a bonus I suppose. 

 

I bought the fabric which is Oekatex french terry cotton back in the summer. I suppose though the fabric shops do tend to get halloween fabric in then to give people time to make things but I bought this just to wear because its my kind of pattern.

The spiders are actually house sinders ( UK ones) because they have that cross on their body. I do not know the exact species but there is one living for the last year or so just outside my back door and you have to be very careful when going out the side gate not to get caught up in his / her web. My other half who hates spiders really freaks when he gets caught in it. So far though our resident spider still lives on despite the web being damaged several times.

Well this top then. 

Its a TNT pattern (McCall,s 6612) and its made from just 1m of fabric so thats an achievement really. To have the sleeves long though I had to piece them so added the ruching to make a feature of this rather than have it look like I ran out of fabric ( as really I did!). 

I seem to be getting quite good recently at squeezing tops out of 1m. I managed it with turn back cuffs on my plain black top and I have used this ruching lengthening idea before as well and its been worth it, I could get a 3/4 sleeved top from 1m anyway, but its so much better in wet, nasty, cold UK winters to actually have full length sleeves, so that tends to be what I aim for.

Its a strange one really. I accidentally bought this particular pattern (McCall,s 6612) . Must have added to basket and forgotten to delete before paying. I tend to add all contenders to basket then narrow things down, but on this occassion I bought it by accident, and didn't realise until I received the order. Postage back was more than the pattern so I kept it, and what a good idea that was, because I think this actually may be my most made pattern ever. Just shows you need a few basic patterns how ever boring they seem on the cover. Most things I made from this pattern look completely different to the cover versions as does this top.

Here is a close up of my sleeve extension with ruching. You add elastic to the "cuff" first to create the ruching, then sew to the main part of the sleeve before sewing up the side seam. Easy!

Its also the first long sleeved top made in french terry that is tight fitting. This fabric though has lycra and is quite stretchy so no reason not to use for fitted garments. So why not try a full long sleeved fitted top?

So far I have worn this twice and its looking like a big success so I am very happy with the 1m of fabric I bought for this. When looking back at these photos I found it interesting I had chosen to wear it both times with my rather lovely and very comfy tracksuit trousers which are also made from the same range of french terry fabric. That was not thought out but just happened.

Anyway I wish you all a very Happy Halloween and if you do celebrate it Happy Samhain. 

Thanks for popping by, 

Bracken

Green baby aran completed - size 12 months.

 This is an up-size ( is that a word?) of my original baby cardigan/ jacket which was knitted for a newborn. 

You can see the size difference here:

This version also has a cable down the centre of each sleeve which the original didn't since that would have made it too bulky for a new born baby I think. You can also see there are more panels to make this bigger but with hindsight I should have done a stocking stitch edge on each side not the reversed stocking stitch I used. I think that would have looked better,  Maybe I will do that if I knit aother next year though it will have to be in a different yarn due to this being the end of the green. I do have a few scraps left but not enough to make another of these in bright green anyway.

I have not blocked this yet. Its just as fiished being sewn up.
I think I have two extra rows on some of these sleeve cables but I am still unsure so left it alone. It will bug me all the next few months when I see baby wearing this I expect. I do not think most people will see it though - thats if I am right and its not quite identical on both sleeves. I am not good at counting rows on cables. I used stitch markers for the front and back so they are correct but I got a bit lazy on the sleeves. Should know better really!

That newborn version actually fitted the child in question until he was 5 months old. He was born at just 2.4kg though. The latest version is for 12 month old average sized baby. Both are my own design so there is currently no pattern for them other than in my own notebook. 

However, I recently bought this book to teach me to write knitting patterns with a view to publishing them so watch this space for if I actually manage to achieve that. 

 What else can I say? 

Its the same green acrylic DK yarn, which came from Aldi, as the previous version and also as the frog jumper and hat and should go ok with the hat as well which will be a bonus for its owner. 

This one measures 22 inches or around 56cm ( 55.88 apparently!) around the chest. Thats what most 12m old patterns say it should measure to I just aimed for that. I have not yet given it to its owner so I hope this is the correct size.

Its actually taken me ages to get this finished. I began it I think in June. The first one took 2 weeks. But life has just not been helpful to my crafting in the last few months with various relatives being ill and then my Dad passing and its just seemed there is no time for mundane enjoyable things like knitting.

I sincerely hope going forward we have better luck than we have so far had in 2023. Hopefully the ill time has now settled and we can just get back to normality.

Anyway at least this week I do feel I achieved something just by actually getting round to sewing this little cardi up and finishing it at last. Its also cold now in the UK so I expect it should get a lot of wear over the next few months.

Thanks for popping by and have a great week won't you. Go and do whatever you really want. Take some time out to be free and relax. Life is just too short for all this working we all seem to do instead of having fun.

Take care 

Bracken

Review of the Brother 4234D Overlocker

This is a slightly different type of blog post but is totally related to what I normally post about because this is my new overlocker and since I use overlockers far more than a regular sewing machine ( I think!) it makes sense to get the right one - for you anyway - so I intend to do my very best here to explain the Pros and the Cons of this model.

First of all and I have to say I found this a real plus when I read up on the different models is the fact you can move the lower looper to make it easy to thread and on both my old Janomes this is a terrible problem to the extent I sometimes get so wound up trying over and over again to get the thing threaded I actually stop, give up and wait for a day or two to go back and try again. I also found it is often either luck you get the thing threaded or if its dark and you have no luck that day threading is virtually impossible by electric ight. Even a torch helps little.

But this model has a bit that moves!! The entire looper bit underneath - sorry I do not have the technical names for this part but if you ever tried to use an overlocker and had to thread it you will kow what I am on about:

All you have to do is open the front, locate this blue slider

 

 and the lower looper part moves so its really easy to thread it.

Below normal position:

 

Threader part moves accross:

 

Thread easily and push back to where it lives for sewing and Job Done!

Next possible Pro - I am actually not sure but that could be a Pro. I just need to get used to this one. To lift the needle/foot the lifter lever is on the right not where it usually lives behind the foot:

I am not used to this so its seriously slowing me down but once I get used to it that might actually make it safer to sew with. Not sure TBH. 

 

Anyway its worth a mention. It might be a Pro or a Con depending on what you like.

 

Raising the needles fully is really easy and thats got to be a plus because you have a mark to the highest point where on my other you need to do it by eye. See above there is a centre point which works to show needle up point.

Now then the weird stuff. 

This is not necessarilly a Pro or a Con just its unusual (for me anyway) to have a machine where you need to thread the left needle first.

You have to select which needle to thread by this switch/ lever. Its easy since they are labelled "L" and "R". So quite straight forward.

Thread guide is straightforward for all threads so you just follow etc.

You can remove the side to make overlocking sleeves easier. Anyway this is sold as a Pro but personally I have sewn a sleeves and I did not find it really any easier than with my old one so not sure this counts really as a Pro but there you know about it.

And maybe the removable bit on the Left to make sleeve edges easier might be useful but right now I just sewed a sleeve and left it on. So Jury is out on that but I will not be throwing that bit away anyway. I might just leave it on except when I remember its there or actually need to use it.

Now Cons and this is a biggy

A MAJOR MAJOR CON!!!

How the hell do you change the needle if you break it?

Or if like me you tend to change regularly because they get blunt and the machine just runs better with nice new sharp needles?

Well I am hoping its just the first time I had this problem because I have only needed to put in a new needle once due to me breaking the thing but I have to say this was hard. It took me and my partner FOUR HOURS to just get a new needle into the slot.

We did eventually manage to change a needle but I already dread having to do it again. You just cannot get them to locate. I had good needles too not some cheaper Chinese ones which I tend to top up with when I do a lot of sewing. Might not for a while, and just use the expensive ones in the hope they will stay sharp a bit longer. Anyway Changing a needle is a complete nightmare. It certainly wipes out the brilliant lower looper easy threading Pro for me. I prefer to have the normal problems with that and have a super fast easy needle change. I change needle more often than I totally rethread my machine.

OK other Cons:

*This machine comes with a CD which is supposed to give you basics on how to use it. My CD did not play in either CD player, DVD player, PC etc etc. Tried every thinga nd even tried an external CD player on my PC but that did;'t work either. Thanks heaven for YouTube.

*Unless you know what you are doing this is set up and sold so you have to call a dealer to help you and pay another couple of £100 to just get to use the thing. I did't. I have my partner who is used to bailing me out and fixing the old machines when I reck them and I have the last 9 years of virtually daily using an overlocker to fall back on. Machine cost me £419 so I really did not want to pay another £80+20% VAT call out fee, plus the fee to then set it up on top of that. Bought from Amazon if you want one.

* Similar to above but worth stating anyway. This machine is not set up when you get it so if you do not have any idea on how to totally set up everything - tension, cutters in right place ( mine had been disconnected), stitch length/width etc etc pay the extra £20-50 and buy from a dealer who will not only set it up for you but also show you what it does. I am still working it out after a month and I am used to using an overlocker that is quite similar.

* I have always bought an overlocker with a few metres/yards of thread to try it out. This comes with nothing. Yes they never give you much but its nice when you get a new toy to be able to play straight away. I actually used old reels I have to start this one off, but I know it works now, so have ordered new overlocker thread, which yes you have to do anyway, but its a bit like being a kid at Christmas and you get a toy and no batteries. I think Brother should provide a small amount of thread and of course you can then also see easily how to thread the thing. 

Also when you start out the easiest way to change the thread is to knot the old thread onto the new thread and just pull it through. It what I always try to do hence its actually quite rare I have to completely rethread the thing and that nullifies somewhat the Pro of being able to easily rethread the bottom looper.

*Finally this is sold with a tray to catch the offcuts of fabric and threads. See front tray below.

  

Years ago I actually started off saving these to stuff cushions. They are fine for eg Floor cushions. I do not bother these days but if you want to avoid sending all those offcust t landfill its something to do with them. Now I use the odd offcut to tie my patterns into tubes to store but otherwise I decided my fabric stash is too big anyway so I just do not want to add any more fabric bits to it so they go in the bin. If you do like to collect the bits or if you hate mess then this might be useful. 

For me it just slows me down and gets in the way. Its not for me a Pro but actually a Con ( because it might be why this machine is £20 more than my old Janomes? I don't know but I am not yet convinced this machine is better really) and this tray will probably end up going in the bin. Right now its a new machine and I have still got it. But I do not like it. Yes having the offcuts go on the floor is messy but they are safe there and don't get caught in my current sewing project and a few minutes of using this extra says to me thats whats going to happen so No Dont Like that either.

So heres the overlocker as I am using it most of the time:

I think ultimately there is just one question and I cannot yet answer that because this is new. 

Will it last longer or perform better than the cheaper cousin the Janomes? 

I own both a Janome 8002DX and a Janome 9300DX and I have simply worn them out. The 8002 was new in 2015. The 9003 I think around 2019 so I should know by 2027 because if its similar it will work well for 4 years then be a total nightmare that requires constant fixing to run it and rarely sews even a top without some hitch, adjustment or similar.

Time and lots of sewing will answer the question and I promise once I have that answer I will be adding it to this post. Ah and this post is going out later than it should for which I am sorry, but this took a lot longer for me to write due to being quite analytical rather than my usual: I made this and this works and this didn't, or this pattern works great and this pattern is rubbish etc etc.

I hope this helps someone who has the same dilemma I had on what to buy and / or where to buy from - overlocker-wise that is.

 

UPDATE November 4th 2023 so less than 2 months since I got this delivered!

My overlocker has so far been a let down it has to be said. I struggled to get the needles in when I broke one of them. The needle threader doesn't work and the Brother customer support say from the photos I sent them it should do. The wire goes through the needle but apparently not high enough to achieve threading. I checked I am getting the wheel that riases the needle in the correct position and I am so they say its just weird. Not at all helpful. They have said they will look at it though. When I spoke to them it sounds like despite its a brand new machine the threader being a disposable /consumable part means I will probably end up having to pay for them to put a new one on despite I have never so far used it because it doesn't work.

I also struggle getting the tension right - never had that with the Janomes!

So so far I am wishing I bought another Janome!

Take care and have a great week, 

Bracken

Shooting stars Pixie dress

 

This is the third dress I planned to make in the pixie pattern and I think this is the best one. If you visit me regularly you will have had a glimpse of this fabric last week.

Its a french terry which is cotton and lycra and oekotex from Pound Fabrics and was I think £8.95/m. I bought 2m. I have actually since bought another metre of this for kids clothing because despite the slight disaster with the baby sweatshirt I made last week coming out massive, I love the fabric, and so I think will the small person this is going to be used for.

I am thinking its time to make a coat so my next several blog posts will probably be on that because coats always take ages to make. I was planning to move house so stuck pretty much all my winter clothes into storage then things happened, and we never actually moved, but its just so much hassle to find something when all the boxes look alike and yes I did add labels but even then a large pie of boxes is a bit much to be wasting time opening and then resealing, so I decided why not just make a new coat. Much better idea so thats what I shall do. Of course I have also packed most of my winter fabrics as well, but I reckon I should be able to come up with something. Especially since my packing of my stash has meant of course I have bought even more new fabric and amongst this is some "coating" fabric. Or thats how it was described so yes time to make a coat.

Anyway back to my lovely dress which I actually got a compliment on when I wore it to the library last week. So it must look good.

Its also better than my previous versions in that I made a wider hem to stop it flipping to the inside and showing the overlocking and the underside of the fabric. Well that works up to a point but I have noticed it still managed to flip over when I had been sitting reading for a while. Still its a better finished dress than the others even if it doesn't quite stop the problem.

 Thanks for popping by to visit my blog and see you next week when I am hoping to do a quick review on my new overlocker which is the Brother 4234D and if I am honest, although yes, there are loads of pluses with this machine, its also got some very bad defects but you need to play with it to realise that, hence its taken me a couple of weeks to decide I should write about this. So really I have decided to let the sewing community, and anyone else who needs to know about this to make an informed decision before buying, about the problems with this machine. Anyway more on that next week once I get round to detailing everything.

Have a great week and see you soon.  

Bracken