Uganda part 4 - the trouble with treadles

While we were in Uganda, we bought 2 sewing machines. Both of them are treadles. Since there is no electricity in the villages (and even it the cities it is very unreliable - more on that later) treadles are the best bet for sewing of any kind. You see them everywhere. Apparently, they still make new treadle sewing machines in China or someplace and send them to third world countries. The machines (with cabinets) ended up costing us about $100 apiece. There was no choice over make and model - you take whatever they have. The machines we got are singers and very pretty. Unfortunately, it seems they are pieces of you know what.

So, since we missed our shopping day in Kampala (lots of flight problems, delays, and cancellations) we ended up doing our shopping in Jinaja. This actually ended up working out better because we had to take BOTH machines back and get them replaced. Jinja is much closer to where we were than Kampala.

We struggled with one of the machines all day the first day of sewing, and discovered that there was a mechanical problem with it. Florence has some experience with machines, so she figured this out. We took that machine back and borrowed another machine from a tailor in the village. (The term tailor is loosely used - in Uganda, anyone who sews is a tailor.)

On the third day, we couldn't get either of the machines to work. We had a sewing machine mechanic come over and we worked on the machines all morning. The one we bought also had a mechanical problem (different than the first one) and had to be returned. The one we borrowed kept jamming.

If you've ever sewn on a treadle machine, here's the problem You have to get the machine going forward. I know this sounds simple, but when you are working that treadle, it can start off going backworkd. So, you spin the fly wheel toward you and start peddling. This makes the machine go forward. An experienced treadler can keep it going forward. I am not experienced. The ladies I work with are more experienced than I am in using this kind of machine, but still considered "learner." When learners are using the treadle, we tend to let our feet slow down or stop when coming to a curve, corner or end of a seam. Then, when we start sewing again, this makes the machine go backward. Of course, then we hit the flywheel to make it go forward, which it does - until it jams. This is hard on the machine and causes problems. I think we spend more time fixing the machines than productively using them. Also, you need to oil treadles frequently while using them. I'm not sure why this is.



























The mechanic who came over was named Enos. He was very helpful and seemed to know what he was doing. If I had to spend all that time fixing my machine instead of using it, I don't know that I would really want to sew!

Uganda part 3 - the Villages & a New Plan

The last week of our trip was spent in the village of Kayunga Kasanna. This is a small and beautiful village outside of the city of Kayunga. It is on the Nile River (if you walk far enough into the village, which we did not do this time, but did last year.) It was wonderful to go back and see familiar faces as well as new ones.
During the first week of our trip Karen and I spent a lot of time refining our plan for the villages. A few things came to our attention that we were not aware of. First of all, with this being such a male dominated society (and abusive) there was concern that the sewing machines could be destroyed or sold if put in the women's homes. This brought on a chain of other concerns and considerations, but finally we came up with a plan. My biggest concern was what we had planned and how much time we had. We only had 5 days at the most and we wanted to teach 2 women how to make shorts, button shirts, and dresses. OMG, under the best of circumstances I don't know that I could teach 2 new beginners to make these three garments well in just 4 or 5 half day sessions. I was really stressing out about this. I knew we did not have access to electricity, pressing equipment, good light or reliable machines (another post about that later). In addition, there was the language barrier. (I do not speak Lugandan and very few women speak English. Those that do, don't understand us and we don't understand them.) Nonetheless, we really wanted to make this work, so Karen and I did a lot of brainstorming. Also, our original plan was to do a basic micro-economics business plan, but after talking to some of the women, we realized this would not work either! I did a lot of praying about all of this. Well, thanks to God, we came up with a new plan.

We knew that the women we worked with (we planned on two, but ended up with three) would need a lot of practice time. There would be no way that we would be able to get them up to speed enough to be making uniforms in one week! We went into the city of Jinja and bought a lot of fabric in beautiful colors. We now were planning on training 3 women. (Actually, I was doing this part and Karen was working with 20 other ladies on hand embroidery.) We came up with a "business plan." The women would each need to make at least 4 pair of shorts (elastic waist), 3 shirts and 3 dresses in order to develop their skills and confidence. These practice garments would then go to children in their villages who needed clothes. This was a perfect solution. Their giving back to their own villages would be their "payment" for use of the machines. The machines would be kept at the church (2 in Kasanna and one at the resource center in Busanna.) After the women completed making clothes for the children of the village, they could then use the machines to make garments to sell. The patterns that we used would still work perfectly for school uniforms when used with different fabric. Also, at this point, if the women wanted to buy the sewing machine so that they could take it home, we made an affordable price (1/2 of what we paid) available to them.


I worked with 3 women from 3 different villages. The first is Kathy. She lives in the village of Kasanna. I have known her the longest and of the 3 women, she speaks the most English. Last year Kathy took us on a walk through her village and we even took shelter in her home (mud hut) during a rainstorm. She has some basic sewing skills, but is still a beginner.




















The next of the women in Florence. We met her last year and she lives in the village of Busanna. She has intermediate sewing skills and does a lot of sewing already. For example, she knows to understitch a neckline, but didn't know to trim corners or seam allowances. How I wish I could work with these women for a much longer period of time. Florence understands some English, but not as much as Kathy. She rarely speaks in English.


















The newest to our group was Phobe (pronounced "Faybee") She lives in a village called Sababu. I have not been to this village, but hope go go there next year. It is more primitive than Kasanna. They do not have a church building there, so she will have to walk to Kasanna to use the sewing machines. It is about a 2 KM walk. She was very shy and quiet, but had such a beautiful spirit and really wanted to learn. I think she knows a few phrases in English, but doesn't understand much. Also, I think she has had no previous sewing experience. Fortunately, sewing is very visual, so she picked up very quickly. I'm really missing these women right now.

While I worked with Florence, Kathy and Phobe, Karen worked with the other ladies (about 20) on embroidery. We had decided before we came that we would do embroidery since this is something that they could all do, each having their own piece to work on. The women loved this and were proud of their work. They also told us that this is something they could do to make items to sell. They were very excited about it.
















The women that did embroidery, also hand sewed a little drawstring bag to keep their supplies in. We also completed 1 pair of shorts, cut out 2 more, 1 dress with two more cut out, and one shirt. Hopefully they can do the rest on their own.
You can see more pictures here and I'll be adding more sometime this week.

McCalls 5586 - now maternity.

I've wanted to make this top forever but have been putting it off for just as long. The problem was that I did not know what I wanted to use to embellish it with. I'd looked at JoAnns (our only resource) a few times and had never found anything I wanted. I did see some beads I thought would work, but really wanted something that I could just glue on. Yesterday I decided to pull out McCalls 5586 and make it for my daughter. I was surprised to find that there are very few maternity patterns in the pattern catalogues, but thought this top would do well with some minor adjustments. I had some wonderful rayon jersey that I thought would be perfect, but I still didn't know how I was going to embellish it. I went to JoAnns this morning and picked up a few different things, but as soon as I put these rhinestones on the fabric, I knew it was just what the top needed.


I cut an 8 in the back and a 10 in the front. The yoke is an 8. I also pivoted the Center Front on the fold out about an inch at the bottom to make the front bigger and lengthened it about an inch and a half as well. This should make the top still fit well as she gets bigger. I like this top so much that I wish I would have made it for myself! hahaha!

The rhinestones were just some black acrylic packaged rhinestones that I found at JoAnns this morning. I used Aleens Jewel-it Embellishment adhesive to stick them on. The package says to let the glue come up around the jewel, but I found that this made a stain on the fabric, so I used less glue on the rest of the jewels. It says to wait 7 days before laundering and at least 24 hours before wearing. Hopefully the "jewels" won't all fall off the first time she washes it!

Rebecca - first attempt

Well, after many hours, and lots of ripping out seams and discovering mistakes, it is finished. I made a big mistake with the elastic, which, in turn, caused me to have to cut the back band shorter. So, it is a little tight in the band, but not too tight to wear. (unless I gain back the 5 lbs I've lost lately!)
This bra is basically a muslin, so I just used what I had on hand. It is wearable though, so that is good.











Here is a partial of my review at PR:

This bra took me 2 days to put together. The next one should go together much faster. I now realize that I prefer non-elastic straps, so next time I will make them out of fabric. Also, this pattern has a fairly wide back, which I did not think I would like. Even though I made a mistake that made my band smaller than it should be (in circumference), I still think this wider back really helps eliminate “fat back” and looks nice under a top.
back view

Fabric Used: the pattern calls for lingerie lycra for cups and sides. I did not have findings that matched any of my lycra, so I used tricot instead. The lower and side cups, as well as the sides and back are all lined with powermesh, so you really can use any kind of knit you want.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: For this one, I made a straight 75E. I’m going to try the F next time to see how they compare. I did not make any intentional design changes, but I did run into a few problems that created unintentional changes.

Conclusion There are several things that I need to change or mistakes that I made. I will let you know what they are so you can avoid the same mistakes.

• First of all, I do not like that the lower cup does not come up high enough to cover the nipple. I’m hoping that using the next size up will correct this. Otherwise, I will line the upper cup with flesh colored tricot.
• The center front is a little wide, so I will make that a bit narrower next time.
• The English instructions I used said to add 10mm seam allowances to the upper seams, or whatever size elastic you are using. Well, the pattern calls for 1.5 m plush elastic and with all the changing from metric to standard, I didn’t realize that it didn’t say what size. I had 5/8” elastic on hand and didn’t realize that I had only added 3/8” seam allowances to the pattern. This caused the back to come out too narrow, which meant that I had to shorten it in order to get the hook closure to fit right.
• The pattern didn’t really show any way to clean finish the upper edge of the cups where the elastic meets and there are seam allowances turned under. Next time I will finish this as soon as I add the elastic.
• I like using 5/8” elastic at the bottom, so I will need to widen the seam allowances there, although I can use 3/8” at the top.
• The wires I used I had ordered from Sew Sassy last year, but they were too long and I had to cut them. It was kind of a pain, but I was able to get the plastic tip off and replace it on the wire. You might want to measure the cup and your wires before beginning.
• I used crappy plush elastic from JoAnns which has WAY too much stretch. This is fine for the sides, but terrible for the straps. If you end up using this type of elastic, do NOT make your straps out of it. (also, it's not very pretty)
  

Since it is very difficult for me to find my bra size in RTW, and when I do I’m usually looking at $75.00 up, I’m definitely going to try to perfect this pattern. I do like the shape of the cups better than the result I got from KwikSew 3300, however, I think the construction on the KS pattern was much easier and gave just as nice a result.

There is still some wrinkling under the cups that I'd like to correct, but I still think I need to go to the bigger size in order for it to fit better in the CF. Also, I'm hoping the larger size will bring the lower cup up more

Sewing with Rebecca

I had surgery earlier this week and am not supposed to be doing much of anything. I tried sewing a couple of times earlier in the week, but ended up giving up before I could even get anything traced. Well, yesterday, I finished tracing the Sewy Rebecca bra pattern. It has a 3 piece cup and a band. (Most of my RTW bras do NOT have a band)

I bought this pattern last year as I had been inspired by several bras that Sigrid has made. When I got my pattern out about a month ago, I thought I had the wrong size because of the chart on the envelope. As it turns out, I had the right size after all. I was inspired again to make this bra after seeing the beautiful one that Cidell did just recently. It seems like it is taking me forever to put this thing together. First I traced all the pattern pieces, but then realized I probably needed a 75E, but won't really know until it is finished. So, I traced it again.. The pattern does not have SAs, so I added them. Then, I realized that I needed two different sized seam allowances, so I had to change those. Fortunately, I had a great set of instructions in English from Elingeria, where I ordered the pattern. Unfortunately, they no longer carry this pattern.

I am just using basic white, because that is what I have. I have a beautiful colored plum with matching lace, but no bra hook piece in that color. After making this one, I'll know if that will be easy to alter or not.

This is definitely a heavy duty bra because the back pieces are pretty wide. This is what I have done so far:



I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Uganda part 2 - Compassion

Last year we had a presentation at our church from Compassion International. Karen and I decided that we would sponsor a child together and looked for one from Uganda. We picked out a little boy named Julius and have been supporting him for almost a year now. When we were planning this year's trip to Uganda, we decided to see if we could hook up to meet him. As it turned out, Julius lives in Jinja, right where we were staying! There was a lot of red tape involved in scheduling our visit, and it took weeks to get it approved - good thing we started early.

On the first Saturday of our trip, we got a ride out to the local Compassion headdquarters located in Jinja. We met with the administrator and found out what the program was all about. Basically, the money we send covers Julius's school fees, uniform, medical care, and each Saturday at the Compassion site. There they receive breakfast and lunch, health screenings, and classes in spiritual growth, hygiene, physical fitness, trade skills, additional academics, and some kind of emotional support. What I found most encouraging was the fact that the director (Patrick) was a Compassion child himself, and that's how he survived.

We met our boy Julius and were given an introduction to the assembly of students that morning.



















After that, we got to go out to visit Julius's home.













This was the best part of the trip. Even though his home was a hovel from the outside, and the walls were made of cardboard on the inside, his mother had it neat and clean, and decorated nicely. The home was very dark inside because there are no windows. It only looks bright because of the flash.









She had prepared food for us, which I'm sure cost her dearly. She had Coke (something given for very special guests), biscuits (cookies), bananas, and hard boiled eggs.
















Last year Karen and I sent a little extra money on Julius's birthday, and with part of that money, they bought a chicken. The mother told us that these eggs were from the chicken that we had helped to provide!











The mother was very gracious and hospitable and we also got to meet the brothers and sisters. I think the father was working that day as he was a boda boda driver (motorcycle taxi).





















Our little boy Julius is very industrious it seems. Here is a little car that he made out of an oil can. Of course, little brother had to put his toy car in the picture too!























After our visit, Julius drove with us back to the hotel and visited for a little longer, and then he went back to the compassion center for the rest of the day. We were very blessed by our visit.

Uganda part 1- Jinja

We headed off for Uganda expecting the unexpected, but we didn't expect the unexpected to show up before we got there! We had a number of flight delays, changes, and cancellations, and at one point wondered if we would have to cancel the trip! We did finally make it, but we ended up at the Entebbe airport in the middle of the night when no one was expecting us, so we were fortunate to be able to get ahold of our hosts and get a ride to Kampala. Betty and Moses Odongo are a pastor and wife in Kampala and they were our host for the first couple of days. Of course, we missed the first 24 hours with all of our delays, but we did get to spend a day with Betty. That afternoon we headed off to Jinja where we would be part of a pastor's conference on purity and we worked with the pastors' wives. We knew that domestic abuse was widespread in Uganda, but we did not realize how far it went. Also, it is not illegal in Uganda to have more than one wife, so many men do. Believe me, the wives are not happy about this either.

The first few days in Jinja we stayed at a nice little guest house called "Cool Breeze" and we were actually surprised this trip to have some cool breezes in the mornings. June is definitely a better time to visit than March or April. This was a nice guest house for Uganda, but in the first room we had, the toilet didn't work and the room smelled. None of the windows would close all the way (mosquitos) but they did have wide mesh screens. We asked for another room the next day and they gave us a downstairs room. This room had a window that looked directly onto a mens urinal for "public" restroom use. Great. We also had no light in the bathroom, but I guess that didn't matter since we only had power for 2-3 hours each evening when they turned on the generator. Our room was also near the front porch, so it was noisy when people were talking outside, and the bed was a board with a foam pad on it. I was usually so tired at the end of the day that I didn't have any trouble falling asleep though.
During the day we attended and helped facilitate the Purity conference for the women and got to know some of these pastors' wives. There were also other women there from the different churches and it was nice to get to meet them. Most of these women were from cities although a few were from the villages. Many of the women spoke English, as it is the official language of the country. Most of the women from the villages did not speak English and spoke Lugandan instead. We had one woman who translated for us and it was great to watch her. She was very good.

On Sunday afternoon we worked with these ladies teaching them embroidery. They were very excited to learn it and many said they could and would use this skill to make items to sell to provide income for their families. It was such a blessing to be with these women.

Leaving on a Jet Plane . . .

Well, Ladies, I leave tomorrow morning, dark and early. I am so humbled and amazed at the support from all of the sewists out there. I am grateful for your support and prayers. I am excited for this trip and looking forward to whatever God has in store for us and the women of Uganda. We will arrive at night, and will stay with a pastor and his family in Kampala. The next day, Karen and I will go shopping for sewing machines and fabric to set up a couple of village women in their own business. (Of course, I may have to make a few fabric purchases of my own!)



On Thursday, we will be going into the town of Jinja which is right on the equator and the start of the Nile River. Karen and I support a child through an organization called “Compassion.” This child lives close to Jinja, so we are getting to actually meet him for a couple of hours on Thursday morning. After that, we will be working with a group of pastor’s wives and teaching on the topic of forgiveness.
On Sunday, we will be moving out again and this time, going to a town called Kayunga. From here, we will go out into the villages (Busanna and Kasana). This is where we will be doing sewing with the women. I am a little worried because I want to teach them to make school uniforms, but have had difficulty in getting enough patterns for both ladies in all the sizes. I guess I will also be teaching how to size up or down a pattern! I don’t know what materials they have available for tracing over there, but I’m pretty sure I can get ahold of wax paper, so that is what I am planning on getting while I’m there. We will be in the villages through Friday and leave on a late night flight.

I am so looking forward to seeing these dear women again and meeting new ones. And thanks again for all of your support and also to those who linked my blog entry to theirs. What a wonderful group of women we sewists are!


This is the Nile River - - -

Only a Couple of Weeks!

First of all I want to send out a big THANK YOU to all of you who have made donations to support my trip! Debbie Cook posted a link on her blog asking all of her readers to even just send $5.00. Well, lots did (and some donated more) and that really did add up! Thank you again! Tomorrow we are having a huge rummage sale at our church and the proceeds are going toward our trip. Please pray that we will raise the money we need because I am still about $1200 short, and so is Karen. Our trip is just a short time away - we are leaving on the 13th of June.

This is a picture of Kathy and me. I met Kathy on my first trip to Uganda. She lives in a small village called Kasana. She speaks more English than most of the women I've met there, but maybe she just has more confidence. Last spring she took Karen and I on a walk through the village, and when we got struck by a downpour, she ran us into her home. It is a mud and thatch adobe hut, and it was nice and cool inside. The whole hut was probably about 10 feet in diameter. She lives there with her husband and some children, but I don't think they are hers. She has a job selling some kind of porridge in the evening in the center of the village. For many, this is all they eat. They do grow some different fruit and vegetables there in the village, but I think most of it is sold in a nearby town. The only transportation you see there other than foot traffic, is the occasional bicycle. If someone wants to go into the town (about 15 minute drive by car)they either walk down the main road at the edge of the village or walk until they catch a boda boda. Bodas are motorcycle taxis. They are everywhere. Some people even take a bicycle taxi.

I believe that Kathy will be one of the women we will be setting up with her own sewing machine. She was one of the more adept last year and seems to have a "business mind." Of course, business in Uganda is nothing like it is here. I am anxious to go back and see the women we got to share with last year. Some of them were pregnant then, so we may get to see their new babies.

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and comments I have received regarding our trip this year. Gwen asked if I would consider to "open it up" to new people! Absolutely! We would love to have more people come. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, and feel that God has put it on your heart to serve these women in this way, please let me know and I can give you more details on how to get involved.

I would appreciate your prayers over the next few weeks that Karen and I would stay healthy, that we will have energy and compassion, that we will be well used by God, and have safe travel. Having rheumatoid arthritis, sitting still for more than an hour or two can be miserable. Our air travel alone is over 20 hours, plus we have layovers. I can almost never sleep on the plane, so I am usually a little wiped out for the first few days. I also need to return healthy, as I am having surgery as soon as I return. Pray for the women of Uganda, that they would have strength and faith to endure all of the struggles they face every day. They are always so inspired when they find out how many people are praying for them and helped to support us to get us there. They just cannot believe it.

Again, if you would care to support this mission, you can either send money directly to me through paypal or donate directly to International Messengers. My email is nwinning@gmail.com and International Messengers address is in my last post.

I did get this outfit finished and will be wearing it during my trip. I bought this fabric in Uganda last year. Actually, they would never make a dress out of this. It is too thin. They use a much heavier cotton for their dresses. They use this fabric for something they put on over their skirts, like an apron. I wanted something lighter weight because it is so hot there.

Uganda Update

I'm in the middle (or should I say late stages? ) of planning my trip to Uganda. For those of you who may be new to my blog, I will give you the background.
It all started a few years ago when I listened to a podcast of an interview with Sandra Betzina. She happened to mention that she had just returned from Ethiopa where she goes every year to teach women to sew. She didn't say any more about it, but, I thought "I wonder if that is some kind of mission trip." I also wondered how you would get involved in something like that and thought that maybe I would want to do it. A few weeks later I was talking to a friend of mine who had gone on a medical mission to Uganda. I was asking her about it and mentioned this podcast I had heard. She said she knew someone who could set up a trip like that and that we should come over for lunch that day since he was going to be there on a visit from MN.

Andy and I went to my friends house for lunch and talked to a man named John Pipes, who I had met once before. He used to attend our church a long time ago, but had since moved to MN. John works for International Messengers and does ministry in the villages of Uganda. I told him what I was interested in and he said, "You decide what you would like to do, when you can go, and I'll set up the trip." Wow! I think that was during winter and on my Easter break I was on a plane to Uganda with no one I knew meeting someone I had only met a couple of times before, to go to a country where most of the people don't speak English (even though it is the "official" language) having very little idea of what I'd be doing there.


There were some other college kids that we met up with, but they were doing a music ministry and I was the only one doing sewing. It was so fun and amazing and rewarding. I couldn't believe how appreciative the women (and men) were just over the fact that I had come. It didn't even matter if I had taught them anything or done anything, they were just excited that I was there.










The following year, I went again, and this time spent more time in the Village. I got to see some of the same faces as the year before and lots of new ones. Some of the women did speak limited English but they have such a heavy accent that I could not understand most of what they said! They asked me what language I speak. I replied "English." They said, "No you don't" It was so funny. They said they could not understand me either. That second year I took another lady friend with me and we worked with the women in the villages teaching them to sew on treadle machines and doing bible study in the afternoon. Here is a picture of the women in the skirts that they made:



























This year I have the opportunity to go again. I am very excited, but I'm asking for your help if any of you feel lead to do so. Our expenses this year will be much higher because of air fare. Our plane tickets alone are over $2700! This is what we will be doing.

It takes about 2 days to get to Uganda. The first day we are there, we will be shopping in Kampala for fabric and 2 sewing machines. These will be used in the villages. The next day, we will be traveling to Jinja, which is a much smaller town. It is on the equator and is where the "origin of the Nile" is. There is a pastor's conference that weekend on purity and we will be ministering to the wives. There are a lot of problems in Uganda with infidelity, domestic abuse, alcoholism, aides, and corruption as well as extreme poverty, yellow fever, and malaria. Here is a picture of one of the "classrooms" that we saw when we were in the slums of Kampala



























Last year one woman asked us what we would do in her position. Her husband has been having an affair with another woman, and now he has brought this woman home to live with him and the wife. He expects the wife to take care of the children and home as well as cook for him and his new girlfriend! I'm telling you, the situations they deal with are nothing like what we have here. One woman asked us if we could take a couple of her children home with us because she couldn't afford to feed all of them.
After the pastor's conference, we will be going into the villages for the next week. We will be teaching the majority of the women who come hand sewing and embroidery. The two machines we purchase will be given to two of the women who the pastor has chosen to start up their own businesses. I will be teaching them more sewing skills and helping them find a way to market what they make. They will pay us back with a small amount of money each month from what they make so that we can buy two more machines to get more women involved in the business of sewing,. At this point, I'm thinking school uniforms since there are millions of children there and they all wear uniforms. Most of the uniforms you see children in are worn, stained and falling apart. We still don't have all the details worked out on this yet.



Please be thinking and praying about whether this is something you would like to help support. All donations are greatly appreciated. There are two ways to donate. You could send a check to me directly at Nancy Winningham, 1430 S. Grand Street, Visalia, CA 93292. If you would like a tax receipt, you can send a check to International Messengers with a note that it is for me and the Ugandan sewing ministry. Their address is PO Box 618, Clear Lake, IA 50428-0618. You will receive a receipt that can be used for a tax write off. Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and any support you can give. These women across the globe are grateful!

ETA: Debbie Cook suggested that use PayPal and I hadn't even thought of that. Thanks, Debbie! If you would like to support me by making a donation through PayPal, my email address is nwinning@gmail.com.

Performance Fabric

In August of 2009, I bought an length of "performance fabric" from Fabric.com
It is called Dryflex. 90% polyester, 10% lycra. It is print on one side and solid on the other. I bought it to make a tank top, just to see how it would work. The website said that it was breathable and moisture wicking, so I wanted to give it a try. 6977 At first, I had trouble getting my machine not to skip stitches (good thing I tried on a sample first.) I changed to a #10 jersey ball point needle and a narrow zigzag, and that worked perfectly.
The shirt pattern is New Look 6977. I have made this top before and it is pretty easy. What I like about it is that it has raglan sleeves that just cover the shoulder but are still as cool as a sleeveless top.

The neckline has a separate band that is stitched on and is gathered in the front with clear elastic. I couldn't find my clear elastic, so I cut an elastic hanger out of a cardigan and used it!
























I finished the seams with the serger and did the hems with the coverstitch machine.






















I never thought I'd be a fan of one seam pants, but I have to say, I've been loving these. I'll be glad when the weather cools down next week so that I can wear them one day. It was 96 yesterday and probably that again today.

New Pants - V1197

I just finished making these new pants and I really like them. They are not quite a legging, but they are not quite trousers, either. They are a slim pant. They actually look slimmer on the pattern envelope, so I'm thinking that maybe I should have made a size C instead of a size D. I will definitely make these again. There is no side seam,but there is a slit in the side. Super fast and super easy. These will work well with some of the longer tops I've been wanting to make.