Almost Christmas!!

I've finally finished all of my Christmas sewing, as least what I can reasonably accomplish. There's always more to do, just never enough time. This is the top of the pj's for my granddaughter that I mentioned in my last post.  The pattern is Simplicity 2771, size small (6-8). Since she is just now getting into size 6 I figure I'll make at least two more before going to the medium size. And maybe there will be more grandbabies? I certainly hope so. I made a back facing for the monogram, tucking it under the band and topstitching it to the back. It doesn't take much time, but looks so professional and gives a platform for a nice monogram or other design.

I have to give a big THANK YOU to Bunny from La Sewista for the pattern advice and her technique of finishing the seams, overcasting, then topstitching for that flat felled seam look. I cut out the small size of the pattern, then fused it to lightweight fusible Pellon from Joann's. This not only gives the tissue stability, it also keeps the pattern pieces stuck on the fabric fairly well, eliminating the need for pinning or pattern weights.

I finished the piping by trimming the cord and folding the fabric around the end piece, like you do with quilt bindings. Even though I didn't get the seam of the piping quite right on the sleeve seam, it still looks so much better than just sewing the piping into the seam. It takes a few minutes more, but I'm getting so picky in my old age that I'm willing to invest the time and effort to do this.

Here's a better shot of the piping seams on the sleeves. I love piping, it makes such a nice touch to a garment, even though it's just pajamas.

Get a load of this foot! It's a button foot. The grey thing on the left is a sort of tweezer that you pick up the button with and position it into the foot. My machine has a button stitch that works absolutely perfectly with this. All five buttons took ten whole minutes to attach! The foot even has two different levels for the shank height. When I first saw it demonstrated I knew I had to have it and I'm so glad I purchased it. Notice that there is no yellow cast to the photo. This machine has LED lights which give a pure white light.  The machine is a Husqvarna Viking Diamond Royale which I've had for almost two months now. I absolutely love it.

In the last post I mentioned that this was lovely flannel from Chadwick Heirlooms (which, by the way, has a really good sale going on right now). But as it turns out, I was standing in Joann's and saw the same fabric! Sure enough, upon examining the selvedges at home, I found the Joann label. The other telltale sign was how off grain the fabric was cut. I don't know about you, but this really annoys me. I know they don't want to take the time to pull a thread to get it exactly on grain when cutting, but a little care care of at least making the fabric smooth and the selvedges even does go a long way. I always end up buying more fabric than necessary, just because of this and also as I'm so afraid I'll goof something up. The piping fabric is a lovely Swiss flannel from Chadwick.

As I write this it is Saturday evening, and on Monday we will travel to Colorado, pick up our son who flies into Denver on Tuesday, then stay with our daughter for Christmas, returning home by Friday. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you, and thank you for reading my blog and leaving such lovely comments. I'll be back to write some more of my sewing and embroidery efforts in 2014.