Stretch thread and another Ottobre 06/2010-13 jumpsuit

Since the first fleece jumpsuit/PJs have been so successful, I made Myra a second one, this time out of hot pink velour.   She loves them!

This time I shortened the collar 1 inch so that it wasn't in her face and I skipped the topstitching.  I also did a plain twin needle hem on the sleeves and leg openings.  Last time I gathered them with clear elastic, which is cute, but tends to ride up when she's sleeping.  I thought about adding some rhinestones (Happy Birthday, Elvis!), but she sleeps in it.

It's really hard to accurately photograph hot pink velour...
Mom reminded me, in my post asking about serger thread, about the importance of wooly nylon thread in your upper looper for serging stretch or particularly fray-prone fabrics.  For those who may not be aware, wooly nylon is a thread composed of multiple, unplied threads of nylon.  It is very strong and stretchy.  As the name suggests, it has a wooly texture, as the unplied threads don't "stick together" the way that a plied thread does.  Since it stretches, it is great for knitted and stretch fabrics and adds additional elasticity to your serged seam.  I also love it for a twin needle hem.  Wound loosely on the bobbin (by hand or slowly on your bobbin winder) it adds a significant amount of elasticity.  It is also great for fabrics that are prone to fraying as the unplied filaments of thread sort of spread out.

You can see the difference here.  (It's easier to see if you click on it to blow it up.)  The seam to the right is the upper looper side with the stretch thread (this one is actually Maxi-Lock Stretch, stay tuned for more on that) and you can see that the coverage that the thread gives is very good.  To the left is the lower looper, which is threaded with regular Maxi-Lock.
Wooly nylon has been around a long time.  I can remember Mom talking about it when she taught me to sew, which was a few years ago.  I recently heard, on ~E Made This, about Maxi-Lock Stretch thread.  Since I like to match colors as exactly as possible, I thought I'd give it a try for this project.  Since both threads are Maxi-Lock (color Swiss Beauty if you were wondering), the color match is exact.  But is it as good as wooly nylon??   Inquiring minds want to know!
For me, one of the most important qualities of wooly nylon is the stretch, so that was what I was really interested in.  To compare, I did this very non-scientific test.  I took a 4 inch piece of Maxi-Lock stretch and one of wooly nylon, and stretched them to see which went farther.

And wow!  No contest!!  The wooly nylon (the bottom, blue thread) stretched a full inch farther!  The Maxi-Lock (on top, pink) only managed to stretch 1/8 of an inch.  So, for me I will definitely be sticking with wooly nylon for my stretch projects.  The Maxi-Lock did provide excellent coverage in the serged seam, so it is still a good option if you are working with a fraying fabric and you can get an exact color match to your Maxi-Lock, so there are some benefits.  If you are looking to purchase some wooly nylon, I have purchased mine at Thread Art.  They have the lowest price I've found ($2.99 a spool!), and fairly quick shipping.  You can also find it at Atlanta Thread and Supply and Sew True.

Something new I learned...

I've been reading this book. I grabbed it the last time I was at the library, not really sure that I was going to get anything out of it, since I don't have an embroidery machine. And it is mostly techniques that you need a more advanced machine than mine to use, but I did learn something that has really helped me, and I wanted to share it with you.I'm sure that you have noticed that different brands of thread are wound differently. This one (A Coats & Clark Dual Duty) is parallel-wound - that is, the threads are wound parallel to each other.
This one, (a Mettler Metrosene) is cross-wound - that is, the threads cross over each other.
I never realized that this made a difference in the way that you should treat them, but I learned from this book that a parallel wound spool of thread can kink and twist (and break!!) when used on a horizontal spool. And look - Janome has a horizontal spool...
No wonder I was having such trouble with satin stitching with C&C!! I thought it was just cheap thread, but it turns out that I was doing it all wrong!!

Well, I learned my lesson!!
Since I've been spooling my parallel-wound threads on the vertical pin, I have had so much more success.

Stars...

I usually sew clothing, and occasionally a baby carrier, but when we were getting ready for Myra's arrival, and moving she and Logan into the "big" room I realized that boring blue curtains were just not going to cut it for the little prince and wee princess. The curtains that came with the house were blue twill, obviously home sewn by a seamstress that is still learning, but they do keep out the sun, so I decided to just work with what I had. Since Logan's room had a bit of a dragon theme, and Myra's was all about princesses, I thought a castle would be a fun melding of the two, so that's where I started. I cut out big giant battlements from some sturdy twill and appliqued them onto the bottom two thirds of the curtain, then added stars and a moon to the upper two thirds. This was definitely the biggest applique job I've ever done and I did learn a few things. For the castles, I didn't interface at all, since the fabric was already so thick. That worked fine, and I think that the curtains have a nice drape as a result. The stars and moon were a thin broadcloth left over from another project. I attached them with stitch witchery. This was a bad plan. Should have used heat and bond or just interfaced them, but I didn't want any extra stiffness. Oh well, live and learn. They turned out really cute, and Logan loves them. When he looks up from his bed, he can always see the stars!
Don't they have a pretty "glow" with the sun behind them?
Another thing I learned is that my sewing machine is not a fan of Dual Duty thread. It kept skipping stitches and stripping the thread - even with a larger eye needle. Once I went and got some Gutermann, all was well.Sleep well!