A certain night-attire ‘party’ sewalong!

I’m sure most of you will know what I’m talking about but I’m having to be slightly cryptic as my ‘thingies’ are a surprise gift… and I won’t be able to reveal them in all their glory until the end of May.

I wasn’t going to post any progress reports, mainly because I didn’t know how, without giving the game away, but to be honest, if a certain person endeavours to follow these clues I should be impressed that he shares an incredible interest in what I love to do! Either that or he is bloomin’ nosey!

But the main reason for this post, not only to let the lovely Karen know that I found a window to jump on board, but I made another amazing discovery about my sewing machine. It serges! Well, of a fashion, I’m sure! There I was, head cupped in hands, eyebrows raised in awe and jealousness at Karen’s beautiful serged seams when… ping! I remembered a strange mechanical foot among my machines accessories and reference in the manual to a ‘side-cutter’! Oh the joy, the joy!! I WILL have beautiful 5mm seams too!

side cutter foot

Took a bit of getting used to though, as you can imagine! And I’m sure I can get a better-looking, tighter stitch with a bit more fiddling. But the needle kept falling out! I checked and double checked that I had attached the foot properly, mainly because it does’t sit firmly in position. It is such a clumsy attachment and it kind of wobbles around.

needle falling out

But according to the manual, I had, and there was no reference to this problem in the troubleshooting section either. So I just used the little screwdriver to really tighten the needle clamp screw. Perhaps I ought to be doing this anyway, whenever I replace a needle. I just usually tighten it with my fingers but clearly it needs to be tighter when the fork attachment of the side-cutter is hooked over it.

tightening needle clamp

Anyhows… I am as happy as some Larry’s and quietly confident I will make the party on the 28th once I figure out my disguise!

18 Replies to “A certain night-attire ‘party’ sewalong!”

    1. So sorry, I was not concentrating and didn’t realise the “crypric” was not letting on about the make. I blame the mountain of ironing for dulling my brain last night! :s

      1. Oh please don’t worry Anne! I’m not very good at secrets at all so chances are either Little Miss Ooobop or I will let the cat out the bag very soon in any case!

  1. I always have to use a screwdriver to tighten the screw when I change needles. On my previous machine I never had to, but on my newest (a Janome) the needle always wiggles itself free if I only tighten by hand.

    1. Thank you for your comment. It’s reassuring knowing you have to do the same. My newest machine is a Brother and certainly tightening the screw was the answer 🙂

  2. It’s not only serger feet that make needles fall out, ruffler feet do it as well, very annoying!
    Fabric looks lush, looking forward to seeing the finished project x

  3. That really is a priceless find! I’ve never heard of a foot with cutter, just the regular “overlocker” stitch. Excellent ! Just think what else you can use it for!!

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