Thanksgiving Turkey Tea Towel

My Thanksgiving Turkey Tea Towel project got finished just in time to drape it over my oven handle, or better yet - hang it from the drawer of my antique pie safe where it won't accidentally get used!  I decided to use my serger for a rolled edge all around the flounce edges with a gold metallic thread.  Then, I stitched it onto the tea towel with a zig-zag stitch using the gold metallic thread in the needle and clear thread in the bobbin.  The metallic thread sparkles nicely.  (I like sparkly things!)

At our October Sew What? class, we had a lesson on how to calculate the size needed for the circle pattern that would be used to make the flounce on the tea towel.  Then, we determined the width we wanted for how wide the flounce would be.  It was much more easy than it sounds!

I had a lot of fun working on this tea towel project.  It was begun last year for our November Sew What? class project; but, I had to put it on hold due to some health events.  Everything is back on track, now.  All the praise goes to God!


My birthday was on the 25th and my Mother gave me three stamped, ready-to-embroider tea towels as a gift, so I guess I'll be doing some more hand embroidery - which I am rather enjoying.  They are really cute, with days-of-the-week printed on them.  When I get them stitched, I'll post them on my blog, but don't hold your breath - it could be a while!

This is my favorite holiday of the year - no presents necessary, no decorating necessary, unless we just "want to".  Let's all remember to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the abundant blessings He has given to us and to our wonderful U.S.A.!  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Beginning Serger Bootcamp

On Monday, June 20, I taught a beginner serger class to a group of wonderful students at the Bullitt County Cooperative Extension Service office.  There were 8 students in the class who were eager to learn about their sergers.  Some of them hadn't taken their sergers out of its box, yet!  But, with a lot of practice and some demonstration, they were re-threading and experimenting with new serger techniques - getting comfortable with their sergers - by the end of the day.

The students know each other from a sewing club which meets at the Extension office regularly, so they interacted very well with each other.  I quickly became very comfortable instructing them in learning their sergers. 

Every student had a different serger, which made the class a little more interesting!  Everyone was instructed to bring their machine manual, and they had to refer to it from time to time.

The students were given instruction on how to set up their sergers for a narrow three-thread balanced stitch, using three different colors of threads.  I instructed them in how to look for the upper looper and lower looper threads interlocking on the cut edge of the fabric.  They had to make many samples while tweaking their serger tension settings to get just the right balance of stitches.  Then they were instructed in how to find the quarter inch stitching line on their individual serger.

I had such great fun teaching this class, and the students were thrilled with their success in learning to use their sergers!  So much so, they asked me to come back next month to teach them more.  So, we'll work on serger rolled edges and serger flatlock stitching.

Steps to Finishing the Serger Cover Stitch Shadow Work Heirloom Pillow

This is what the pillow looks like after the cover stitch is stitched on the wrong side of the pillow top.  A dark thread is used so it shows through (shadows) to the right side.

The pillow top section is turned to the right side.  See how the dark thread in the cover stitch shows through?  That is shadowing at its best!

Next, the ruffle strip edge is serged with a rolled edge using rayon thread.  Then, the opposite edge of the ruffle is gathered in preparation for applying it to the pillow.

Can a zipper be inserted with a serger?  Absolutely!  This is what the zipper looks like when stitched by the serger.  It really is an easy way to insert a zipper!

 The right side of the serger zipper application.  It is an exposed zipper application, but it's still pretty.

Here, the piping strip is applied to the edge of the pillow top.  Can you see how the groove in the piping foot glides over the hump of the piping?  This foot makes applying piping by serger so very easy!

After the piping is serged onto the pillow top, the ruffle and the pillow back are layered onto the pillow top, then all layers are serged together.  At this point, I have to admit, pinning the layers together is necessary.  Just remember to place the pins parallel to the edge of the fabric.  The ruffle layer has to be contained along the straight edge of the pillow layers so it lays properly.

All layers are serged together.  Using the piping foot, place the groove of the foot over the hump of the piping just like it was done to apply the piping to the first layer of the pillow.

This close up photo shows how all the components have come together in the finished pillow: the rolled edge on the ruffle, the pink checked piping strip, and the cover stitch shadowing through.  This project would make a fabulous gift for someone, don't you think?

Serger Shadow Work Pillow Finished!

My Serger Shadow work pillow is finished and now on display at Austin's Sewing Center!  What a fun project it was to make!  I loved stitching the dark pink cover stitching on the reverse side of the pillow top, then turning it over to see how it shadows through the white batiste fabric.  The piping went in easily with the piping foot attachment, and the ruffle went on just as easily using the same foot.  I even set in the zipper with the serger.  The only sewing machine work on this is to stitch together the ends of the ruffle.  Since I cut it so the ends were on the selvedge edge, I had no raw edges to finish.  How easy is that?  This class is scheduled for January 25.  I'll add some close up photos of the pillow in another post.

Tailored Boys Serger Bib Using Bias Binding and Cover Stitch

This closeup shows the bottom of the bib, with the bias binding attached, using a narrow cover stitch.  The binding can also be attached with twin needles on the sewing machine.  I used light blue rayon thread on all of the stitching that shows.

Tailored Boys Serger Bib with Rolled Edge Pintucks

This closeup shows the top of the bib, with the topstitching around the neck, the rolled edge pin tucks that attached the embroidered insertion to the strip of white batiste and the strip of blue linen.