Aaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!

[dreamflower]

Definition of frustration: spending a #@~%#$&* hour re-threading the $%&#* serger!

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

*walk calmly over to wall* *bang head repeatedly against wall* The resulting headache will make you forget your frustration. Have a nice day.

*hugs* I have some idea of how you feel, having dealt with sewing machine problems in the past.

[shirebound]

Oh gosh, I don't envy you that. I never got beyond basic sewing skills, and even threading a regular machine isn't fun.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I shudder at the very word "serger" -- my mom (an excellent seamstress) tried fruitlessly to teach me for years...and well, clearly it didn't work ;D. I can't even hem my pants without looking like I picked the pants from a garbage can, lol!

[mumstheword54.livejournal.com]

Oh FUN!

Makes me glad my mother's serger went to one of my sisters and not to me!

Hmm, Mama used to swear at her serger too ...

*hugs and non-fray fabrics*

*remembers*
*gasps*

Oh, have you heard that Hancock's Fabrics has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy? I don't know what I'll do for fabric or zippers or thread, don't even know where a JoAnn's is ...

*more hugs*

[dreamflower]

*walk calmly over to wall* *bang head repeatedly against wall*

*THAT'S* exactly what it felt like I was doing! Compounding the problem, I am still not quite used to my new graduated no-line bifocals yet , so I had difficulty *seeing* where the stupid thread was going...

Ah well! The DH took me out to dinner unexpectedly, which helped! 8-)

[dreamflower]

Normally I have no problem. If you are careful, you can tie the new color thread to the old one, and just pull it through. If I'm lucky, then I can do that with all four of them, but I do usually have to re-thread at least *one* spool.

However, last night, all four of the darn things came untied/thread broke, and I had to re-do all four of them from scratch--not fun. And I'm not used to my new glasses yet, so that makes it worse.

*sigh* But the serger's so much *faster* most of the time than my sewing machine.

[dreamflower]

(((hugs)))

I love being able to sew, and therefore free of having to buy clothes off the rack, except for jeans and T-shirts and underwear. I *HATE* clothes shopping with a passion. And of course, you can't exactly buy a hobbit costume off the rack, anyway...

And I usually love my serger--but not last night!!

[dreamflower]

90% of the time, I love my serger; it makes the sewing of nice finished seams so much *faster*! But when all four spools have to be completely re-threaded, and I'm not used to my new bifocals yet--well, um, I know where your mom was coming from...

Oh, have you heard that Hancock's Fabrics has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

Good heavens no! I hadn't! Though now I have to go into OK City to *FIND* one! Makes me even more ticked-off than I am already that Walmart is taking away their fabric dept. I could rant about that for hours! I was in one of the "new" SuperWalmarts the other day, and let me tell you, what passed for a "sewing dept." there was pathetic. And I've never liked JoAnns much, though I have to go into OK City or Tulsa for one of them, too. There's a Hobby Lobby in Stillwater carries fabric, but selection is limited...

Pretty soon there won't *be* anywhere to buy fabric in person except for dingy little shops that sell seconds, and high-priced shops that sell only specialty fabrics. I'll have to buy online, I guess...

*moans*

*hugs fabric stash*

[mumstheword54.livejournal.com]

So the rumor about the WM fabric departments is true? Ugh! That's where I get much of my sewing supplies -- and it's 45 minutes away! Hancock's used to have a store 3 hours away, in Rosie's college town. And I'm sure Austin has had one, 1+ hours away, but I never drive there alone. San Antonio is at least 1 1/2 hours away ...

*sigh*

There's a quilt shop 1/2 hour away, and one 45 minutes away, but those sell mostly expensive cottons, and no patterns or zippers.

I guess I'd better stock up on thread and such, and start looking for a good online source for fabrics. Any good ideas? I know about eQuilter and Keepsake Quilts, but not any others.

UGH! This makes me feel positively ill! With the surge in quilting and in general sewing, why are these stores reducing their fabric inventories?! *grumble grouch*

*hugs you*

*eyes your fabric stash*

[poppymuddyfoot.livejournal.com]

Hoo boy, can I sympathize. Personally, I hate sergers. I'm in charge of costumes for my church's Christmas program (approx 500 costumed characters!), and a couple of years ago, another lady brought her serger in help with some costumes. Yes, they sewed together much more quickly, but they all came apart much more quickly too. They just couldn't stand up to the 4 nights of performance. I had to almost completely re-sew every one of them! I'll stick to my tried and true Singer, thank you just the same.

As for Hancock's, several of the stores in OKC shut down this summer. But they did consolidate a couple of the others into larger, better stocked stores. The one near me, where I had shopped for at least the last 20 years, was closed. So now I'd have to go to the larger new store on NW Expressway in north OKC. (And that's a bit of a problem since I am temporarily carless right now.) That's probably the closest one to you as well, unless you wanted to go to the one in Edmond. I'm told that it's still in business too.

Fortunately for me, the local Hobby Lobby carries a good supply of fabric, mostly quilt and craft types, but better than nothing. I'm not overly fond of JoAnn's either, but I guess it's better than shopping online. I HATE buying fabric without being able to see it and touch it myself.

[dreamflower]

Yes. They will still carry *some* thread and notions and crafting items, but no more fabric. Stupid. In some places they are the *only* place to buy fabric. But all they can see is how much they will save by not having to have two employees man the fabric desk to wait on customers. I think Sam Walton would spin in his grave at the attitude. Anyway, none of the newer Walmarts will have them, and the others are being gradually phased out.

I don't know--I've looked at fabric online, but never actually *purchased* it that way. *sigh* But it seems it will soon be the only option for most of us sewers. And not having a local outlet is going to mean fewer *new* sewers.

((((hugs back))))

*guards stash*

(By the way, have you ever seen this bumper sticker: "She who dies with the most fabric is dead. When's the estate sale?" LOL!)

[dreamflower]

I find that it depends on what I'm making as to how well the serging holds up. As long as you are cutting off the seam allowance as you serge, most serger seams hold up fairly well--when I try to skimp by serging too close to the edge, however, it doesn't work as well. However, if I'm making something that will see a bit of use and abuse (e.g. a cloak or something) then I do reinforce the serging with a line of machine stitches. It's *still* a timesaver, because I sew along the edge of the serged seam, and I still have a finished seam. I'm kind of picky about finished seams, and serging is a lot easier and quicker than my previous preference: french seams or flat fell seams.

Thanks for the info on the Hancock Fabric stores in OK City! You are a font of useful information!

Yes, as much as I dislike it, I will probably be doing quite a bit of my future fabric shopping at Hobby Lobby. *sigh*

And I agree about touching the fabric.

[mumstheword54.livejournal.com]

I agree about Mr. Sam. Sad.

I've received KeepsakeQuilting fabrics as a gift, as well as inheriting part of my mother's stash that included KQ fabrics. And I've ordered from eQuilter -- with much trepidation -- took almost a full year to choose fabric for which I'd received a gift certificate! What I've received from those two online sources has been very high quality quilting cotton, wonderfully silky to the touch (as compared to the coarse WM $4.00 cottons, which I also use). In fact, the quilt shops carry some of the same brands as those two sources (Moda, for example). The price is roughly equivalent to what you'd pay in a quilt shop -- $8.50 - $11.00 a yard, depending on the manufacturer. And of course the shipping is usually a bit higher than what you'd pay for sales tax, but if you have to travel far to get to a store, you might actually save by buying online. The eQuilt site is very good about allowing portions of yards (I don't remember whether it's 1/4- or 1/2-yard increments), and they're always putting fabrics on sale. I don't recall what the return policy is, but as I say, I've been very pleased with my fabrics.

As for new sewers, one of my sisters has taught her young grandsons and the grandchildren of some friends how to sew -- on a full-size electric machine -- and they loved it! In fact, her 9-year-old grandson now has her old machine at his house so he can make more projects! Warms me old heart, it does.

"She who dies with the most fabric is dead. When's the estate sale?"
ROFLOL! No, I hadn't seen that one! But I'm ready!

[mumstheword54.livejournal.com]

I'm with y'all about touching the fabrics. I seem to remember that the two companies I mentioned will send swatches, but it's still not the same as spending time in Cloth World, browsing, feeling the fabrics, discussing projects with the ladies who worked there ... *sigh*

[dreamflower]

What I will miss at Wally World is the $1 a yard table. True, 90% of the time the fabric was cheap poly/cotton or polyesters, but I found some great buys, and I would get like whatever was left on the bolt. Once I was able to buy 10 yards of really good oatmeal colored Osnaberg cotton; another time I got a whole bolt of ecru cotton; then there was the time I got 15 yards each of tangerine and purple cotton gauze--when you sew garb, you *need* that much fabric! But my best bargain one time was nearly a half a bolt of 14-count Aida cloth for cross-stitch! It was soiled along the fold line, so they put it on the $1 a yard table!!!

[dreamflower]

Amen to that! A swatch can only tell you so much--not how it drapes or anything like that. And you can't really tell much about prints, either.

It's really distressing.

[mumstheword54.livejournal.com]

Aida?!?!

*swoons*


*suddenly revives*

Oh, man! I've got to get some birdseye flannel and some muslin before they run out! Wide, I'll get the wide muslin ...

*wanders off, muttering incoherently*

[dreamflower]

Yep. *AIDA*

I still have a few yards of it left (and I scored it nearly ten years ago.)