Evening View

Evening view out the window behind my sewing machine.

Just finished hemming a mother of the bride dress.  Tiny, skinny hem on a chiffon overskirt.  And I was reminded that a little while ago I was lamenting about having so many supplies in my studio.  And yet.  Today I am grateful that one day I bought a package of those tiny little silk pins (not really made of silk) that made all the difference.  And that package of 60/8 sharp machine needles, rarely used but so needed for something like this.  And the thin rayon thread, usually used for embroidery.  I'm pretty relieved to have this project finished.  I prefer sewing on cotton or linen, when I can press a crisp fold.

Thinking of those needles - 60/8 refers to the size of the needle.  The smaller the number, the smaller the needle.  The "60" is a metric measurement, the"8" the English measurement.  Sharp needles do in fact have a sharp point, nice for thin synthetics or tightly woven batiks.  Usually I keep a 90/14 universal needle in my machine, it's a good size for most things and the needle point is slightly rounded, splitting the difference between a sharp needle and one used for knits.

Just don't try to use your machine's needle threader with a size 8 needle.  The needle's eye is just too small to accommodate the needle threader.

The mother-of-the bride dress will go out the door and a throw pillow project came in.  These are not like the porch cushion pillows that I promised to not do again.  I actually enjoy making throw pillows, very easy.  

A hoodie zipper repair didn't go well.  The zipper had been damaged, so just replacing the slide didn't work.  It's really too bad, the zipper in the hoodie was too flimsy to begin with and didn't hold up.  It would have been easy enough for the manufacturer to put in a sturdier zipper but that would have cost a dime or two more.