October Finish, Halloween

Happy Halloween!

October sure blew by fast! And literally, too--it's been very windy this month!

Good news and bad news for my monthly goals and the finish.

Good news:

I got the little guy's costume done....This morning before I headed to work.

Big brother wanted to be his panda again. No worries--everyone loved it!

Cat in the Hat went over well, too! Little brother loved it!

This is after we got back from trick or treating. They were so excited and had so much fun.

Bad news: I didn't get the hubby's station quilt top finished. I worked on it, and showed it to him, and he didn't like it. I completely missed what he had described a few weeks ago!

We had to lay it out on the floor and mess with the border designs again. Then I had to rip out all my work, which took a few nights, because of my wrists and numb fingers. By the time I was ready to start again, I had to work three nights in a row, and it was crunch time for making little brother's costume.

I just saw this posted tonight, and thought it appropriate!

Finally, since both these costumes were made with the same pattern and fleece, here are some tips for sewing with fleece. There are some new that I learned this week, and some I've used stvsaw already. This is mainly to reduce skipped stitches and distortion.

#1 -- Sew fleece using the walking foot. Fleece is a knit and stretches and ripples some, plus it's nappy fuzzy, so a walking foot is essential for keeping the layers together as they're being sewn.

2-- use a longer stitch length. The layers are thick, fuzzy, and spongy. Longer stitches are needed for the thread and needle to lock the stitches together.

3--added bulk from thick fabric means that you need to reduce bulk as much as you can. Hems don't need to be turned up and turned again--the ends won't fray. Seam allowances usually don't need to be finished, because they usually don't fray. Trim seams in curved areas with lots of friction: underarms and crotches. Trim and clip curves. Trim excess seam allowances where the hems intersect with seams

4--if thick seams can't be reduced, and the presser foot can't get up and on top of thick seams, or back down again, use  something to bring the foot up to the level of the seam. One of my favorite gadgets is the Jean-a-ma-Jig, which has a slot for the needle and is rectangle-shaped to help lift the whole presser foot and sew along. A thick rotary ruler would work quite well, too.

5--press lightly and quickly, with a lower temp than usual. Polyester fleece melts and gets scratchy and brittle !

6-- and lastly, use a new ballpoint needle. It's for knits, and fleece is a knit! The rounded tip slips between yarns, not cutting through them like a regular needle. 

Hope you've had a Happy Halloween!