Social Sewing

I used to do a lot of social kntting back in the days when yarn was my drug of choice. There's something very soothing about chatting with a group of women while everyone's fingers are busy. It's like swimming in a pool of friendship. You can dive down to focus on your knitting when you need to, then surface to rejoin the conversation.

Social sewing is a bit harder to organize; at least with sewing machines. There's more stuff to cart around and you need a bigger space. Still, every once in a while we can make it happen, and it's always a total blast.

My friend Carol came down to visit last weekend, and she brought along her new sewing machine for a test drive.

Carol used to do a lot of sewing. In fact, at 14 she had a job sewing dresses for sale at a shop on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. Then marriage, a lot of moves, two sons, and a teaching job came along and absorbed her creative juices. Sewing took the way-back seat.

We planned our get together to dive into the features her new machine has to offer. Since Carol's sewing experience was on a Singer Featherweight, there were some fun things to explore. One of them was the stretch (a.k.a. "lightening bolt") stitch, so we sat down to sew us some tee shirts.

Here's her version of BurdaStyle 09-2011-108, or the Easiest Tee Yet.

I've written recently about my angst over attaching neck bands to tee shirts. Take a look at Carol's work here! Smooth and flat, just like a neck band should be.

Neckband attached - Like A Boss!

It was like riding a bicycle. Once she got her hands on that presser foot, she was off and running.

 

What a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon! Just wait until she gets a chance to play with her buttonhole foot.