Cut and Press Boot Camp

Well I had to post some picture didn't I. This is what we spent last night doing. I don't think I got very far with pressing straight but I still have 3 more to do.

I was disappointed because instead of taking my own FQ I decided to just buy some. The shop doesn't really sell FQ like they used to but they do sell bundles. We needed 5FQ and there was a bundle of 10 of these retro Christmas ones so I took them. Boy I hate them *LOL* They just don't fit in with my decor. I think I'd need to be younger. And that line isn't cheap :0(

On the other hand I did learn some neat stuff that I should have known eons ago. First of all how to get an exact 1/4" seam. I had no idea you could move your needle back and forth, did you? You put a ruler under your presser foot and measure the distance from the edge of your 1/4" foot to the point of your needle. Move the needle to the 1/4" spot and then back one notch to the right so you will end up with a scant 1/4". You can see the way mine was set at the factory it is one to the larger side of the 1/4" line than to the scant size.

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Not that it helped cause I had taken my Janome Gem to class and I can't sew 1/4" to save my life on that thing. Oh well. I re-sewed all the seams this morning so they should be all 1/4" now.

The reason we were doing this particular project is look at how many strips we had to cut! I have to do that 4 times to make 4 placemats. Since I've already cut them I'm going to continue. I never know how to cut. I thought my hand was turning and that's why my measurements were out. I was doing 2 things wrong. First of all there's a little ridgy type thing on the top of your cutter. I didn't know I was supposed to keep my index finger on that while I cut. That will keep you from cutting on an angle.

The second thing is where you measure from when you're cutting. I always measured from the black line... it's better to measure from the bright line just to the left.

This also gave us a LOT of pressing practise.... which I still need more of.

The last thing I learned is if you're not hungry before you go to a 6:00 lesson eating a big bowl of fancy lettuces is not enough to keep you full til the end of the class at 9:00. Take a sandwich. I couldn't think straight so at 7:30 had to run next door to the Sushi place and get something to eat. I have no idea what I ate just that it tasted good and filled me up. Kinda looked like Japanese Perogies but with pasta instead of potato. And it didn't make me sick *LOL

So now that I said I had nothing to post about there I go. There is a difference between have to and want to.