Yes! I’m still here! But I’ve been really quiet, haven’t I? It’s been a strange month or so for everyone. At least that crazy US election is (mostly) over with and we can all heave a sigh of relief. I don’t know how much Americans realise the way the rest of the world is impacted by their politics. Here in Canada where we live just an hour from the border, it’s been completely nerve-wracking having such a completely dysfunctional person as their president for the last four years. So wonderful to finally have a calm, sane, kind man and a brilliant woman of colour poised to take over shortly. Maybe one day we’ll be able to visit there again. (But not until we all beat that pandemic down to safe levels.) Meanwhile I’m waving across that border, invisible in the photo above, and congratulating our southern neighbours on finally allowing saner heads to prevail. Thank you, voters!
Here in BC we also had an election, one with a fairly foregone conclusion and kind of buried in the overwhelming onslaught of Covid-19 and US election news. We voted by mail, by far the safer option. Done. And then there was the Halloween that really wasn’t much of one. We bought a pumpkin, never bothered carving it and kept our lights off. Meh. Right after that I had a birthday, a significant one with a zero in it and catching up to Thom who had his back in September. Not much of a celebration there either. What can you do when it’s not safe for families to get together?
So since I have mixed feelings about turning 70, uncharacteristically I resorted to retail therapy and bought myself some presents! My Janome sewing machine (aka Janny) is only two years old but an issue has cropped up with it again. I was having trouble with the bobbin case popping out of position back when I first bought it but it seemed to resolve itself so I didn’t take it back to the shop. Now the problem has returned so I finally dragged it the hour+ drive out to Abbotsford to take it in for repair. While I was there I asked to see the Janome CoverPro 1000CPX coverstitch machine. They had a couple of them with a reduced price which I thought was reasonable. It’s not the latest model but still quite similar to the 2000CPX which is quite a lot more expensive. Since the shop is adhering to Covid-19 protections I wasn’t actually able to try it out myself but only watched a demo by the salesperson through the plexiglass barrier. Bet you can guess the rest! I bought it.
Her name is Covyn, which apparently means Unpredictable Woman! And yes, she’s can be somewhat finicky. Why did I want this extra machine that takes up space and cost nearly as much as Janny? Answer: I sew a lot and I sew a lot of hems. If you look at your t-shirt, the coverstitch makes the stitch that looks like 2 or 3 rows of straight stitch on the front but like a flat version of the wiggly loops that a serger/overlocker makes on the back. It has a more professional look than the usual zigzag or twin-needle finish that I can do with my sewing machine.
Of course my 14-year-old Pfaff CoverStyle serger (aka Sergio) can convert to a coverstitch (2 needle, one width) but it’s a royal pain in the you-know to do it and then switch back for the next seam. So I haven’t used that feature for years. He’s a great serger though so I just let him do what he does best! Covyn can do a 3-needle wide, 2-needle wide or left or right 2-needle narrow coverstitch. There’s lots of delicate adjustments to tensions, differential feed and stitch length but otherwise it’s simple to thread. There’s a definite learning curve however and online videos have been very helpful. I’ve also ordered the definitive book which hasn’t arrived yet. More on that when it does.
My biggest complaint though is that there are a couple of attachments not included with the machine that absolutely should have been. A clear foot and an edge guide are pretty much indispensable. I’m using masking tape for the latter but will order a clear centre-guide foot. Unfortunately Janome’s “optional” attachments are seriously pricey. Why?
So now I had a serger and a coverstitch but no sewing machine! What to do? I didn’t really want another Janome so I went with a relatively inexpensive Brother machine ordered from Amazon. (Nobody had it locally.) I was actually quite impressed with my granddaughter’s mechanical Brother so I had hopes that this model, the Brother CS6000i, would be a good second machine to round out my collection.
This sewing machine is marketed as a garment and quilting machine so comes with a lot of extras including a wide table, 60 stitches (7 buttonholes!) and 9 feet (including a walking foot).
All I had to get extra was another package of bobbins since BeeBee takes different ones than Janny and it only came with 4. Sigh. Now I have to keep them carefully separated and identified! At least most of Janny’s are pink or blue and BeeBee’s are all clear plastic. I’m beginning to adore the computerised features like auto-needle down and speed control. Who knew I could be converted from my mechanical ways? And why does this relatively cheap machine have a much more responsive pedal than the Janomes’ crappy ones? The only real drawback I’ve found is that it is quite a lightweight machine without the power to go through very heavy fabrics or really thick seams. That’s what Janny is for, when and if she ever comes back from the shop well again. The two machines serve rather different purposes so I can see them both being used regularly.
The Brother does have some quirks however. I found the manual tension is a bit fussy to set. A small increment doesn’t change anything so you have to go big and then go back. But I got it right eventually and now it doesn’t need changing for most sewing. The LCD screen isn’t backlit so can be hard to see without good light and it loses it’s current program if you shut the machine off. Taking notes on manual setting changes are important! I had a great time making a sample book with a swatch of each of the stitches on their default settings. Even though I almost never use anything fancy there’s enough useful ones to keep me very happy. The only thing I would have loved to add is a font for text but it’s silly to miss something I’ve never had. I also found that judging where to line up for my seam allowances is tricky. The lines on the machine bed are calibrated for the default straight stitch (00) which has the needle all the way to the left. Many of the other stitches are centred so those marks don’t signify. I’ve started measuring with a ruler to get seam allowances more accurate.
I’ve found that having three machines going for a single garment means I need a lot of thread on many spools. It’s a challenge! I’ve also had to pick out a lot of imperfect sewing so wasting a lot of thread too. I’m considering it part of my education budget. Heh. (Good thing coverstitch zips out really easily, just saying.) All in all though I’m quite happy with my birthday presents to myself! Lest you think I broke the bank on these, both together actually cost about the same as my two new pairs of glasses. They’ve kept me sane while I wait for Janny’s return (which could be sometime in December) and kept me occupied learning new things which is good for my brain. I’m slowly sewing through my pile of knits.
And there’s more (a black and a dark charcoal) that I haven’t cut out yet. So far no finished garment photos. Still working on necklines which are giving me trouble in the light grey cotton micro-rib knit I chose to play with first. It doesn’t have any spandex content so not good recovery. The neckband stretches out and doesn’t return so it keeps being too wide. And it’s not helping to keep picking out the stitches. Oh well. If I can get it right then I can use the knowledge for the others of that type of fabric.
More soon…er, eventually? Meanwhile, stay well, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay distanced! It’s the least you can do.
Damselfly's Delights 