Most Times There Is Another Way

Rita Nau
Jul 23, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Mar 4

In August my family and I are traveling to Ireland for ten days. I am looking so forward to this! So I looked in my closet and realized I needed something to wear. Off to S.R. Harris for fabric I went , which I talked about previously, and purchased four different knits.

This week I had time to make something for me. I had a great shirt that I loved but had worn the sleeves out so I had cut up the shirt and made a pattern from it. I cut out all four of the fabric and started sewing away.

This is a short video on how I copied the pattern.

Last Fall I purchased a used Bernia - FunLock 009DCC from a local dealer. When I first used the machine I had issues but assumed it must be me. I had it checked and it would sew correctly for awhile but then the stitches would start skipping. I muddled through but the machine was difficult and I wasn't happy with the results. Last week I contacted the sewing machine dealer but it was a used machine and the warranty had passed. A suggestion - if you have problems with a used machine or any machine you purchase, make sure to address it immediately. It is not the store's problem as I dropped the ball. I should have gone back more than once to address the issues. (If there is anyone out there that has this machine and has some suggestions on how to use to I would be most grateful to hear from you. At the moment the only thing I can think of using it for is a very large paperweight.)

I was in rather a panic as I had all of these tops I needed to complete and no way to finish. I spoke with Judy Bartholomew Dahlin of Creative Sewing Center and her suggestion, besides purchasing a new cover stitch machine, was to use a twin needle on my sewing machine. I tried it with a regular twin needle and the results were ok but purchasing the stretch twin needle was a game changer.

I figured it was worth a try. I also went online and did a bit of research about how to use my machine as a cover stitch. I found this blog with the information I needed: Colette. It worked perfectly!! What a find! Thank you Judy and Colette!

I have a short video below show how it worked. Adding the Wonder Tape made the job so much easier. I use it on so many different like zippers, hems. Next time you are buying notions make sure to pick some up.

I wasted so much time trying to get the coverstitch machine working! Once I found the video explaining how to get it done without the machine it took me about five hours to finish all of them.

Total cost for these four tops was $70.00 in fabric (I purchased a half yard too much of each fabric. I am working on generating as little waste as possible so I was not happy with myself for the overage. What do you do with a half yard of knit fabric? If anyone has suggestions I would love to hear it.); twin needle, $4.99 and Wonder Tape on sale, $3.99. That breaks down to $19 per top. The original shirt was $75 so I feel that it was worth my time.

Next week I am off to my vacation so I will not be writing any tips. I do have a button hole video coming up that I am excited about so stay tuned!

For now I’m give you my Irish goodbye.

Rita