Vintage Simplicity Pattern Video & Ginger Jeans Progress

After hemming and hawing and reading everything I could get my hands on about fit and grading, etc., etc., I finally cut out my Ginger jeans. I'm a size smaller in my waist than in my hips, but not being a pants expert, I didn't know how/where to grade. I was terrified I would ruin these jeans! I'm someone who likes to have all of the information before I jump in. I kind of wish I were more a fly by the seat of my pants kinda gal. But nope. I'm a planner. My in-laws will call at 7am on a Saturday morning with, "Let's go to breakfast. Meet you there in 40 minutes." That just sends me into a frenzy although since they've moved here I'm getting more used to it. Luckily I'm a super early riser! Anyway...after all that research what did I do? Cut the size for my hips anyway! I'm making the lower rise ones so maybe I won't have to make as many adjustments. Maybe. I've also never cut without pinning before. Did I overdo with the weights? :)

I've also had a few bumps in the road. My industrial Juki overlock kept breaking one of the needle threads. Over and over. I don't know if you've ever been blessed with the oodles of information in an industrial machine's manual but yikes! Not so helpful, which thankfully I knew going in. Not that it made it any easier! After lots of Googling (what did we do before the internet?) and trying to look at the pics in my manual, the mechanically-inclined Mr. SmileDogstitches and I (not so mechanically inclined) discovered mine is missing a piece. It's used but soooooo much quieter than any of my home overlocks have ever been...thank you Servo motor! After a bazillion calls back and forth with the place we got it from, which is in Los Angeles, the part finally arrived yesterday. Fingers crossed! Of course I could use my "Little Brother" but... 

Then as I was getting ready to fuse my interfacing I DROPPED my gravity feed iron on right on this big metal piece of something that goes on one of our industrial embroidery machines and was left behind in our move out to our studio. Obviously not an important working piece! There's nothing else on the floor in my entire sewing room (which I just moved back into) except that and a small plastic trash can. My iron got some sort of grease on it and a NICK on the edge which I (meaning Mr. SmileDogstitches) will need to grind smooth. I tried to clean it like I have before with a Bounce sheet and that made it worse. Hello Google. I used Magic Erasers. They got the grease spot and almost got all the gunk off from the Bounce sheet that was supposed to clean it. Then I got talked into some jean needles at a newer, local sewing machine repair shop and the heads were too large to fit into my industrial. And I don't give up easily! "Must be me," I thought. But they do fit in my Singer Slant-O-Matic. And I got a slew of needles with my machine so I really am covered. I just thought since I got some for my Singer I might as well try!

I was hoping/planning to have my jeans finished by Thanksgiving so I could wear them and my in-laws would oooooh and awwww over what miraculous work I do. Yeah well. Soon!

We also got in 50 more Air Force chef coats that needed to be embroidered by today so the military kitchen staff and base Colonels could serve the military personnel at our local base for Thanksgiving tomorrow. So although that's great for business, that rush job has taken up some of my planned sewing time.

In the meantime I leave you with this great vintage 1948 Simplicity Pattern for Smartness video that I saw over on http://www.coletterie.com/. I love it!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!

Til later,

Susan