(no subject)

For the last four days I've been working one to two hours each day removing the stitching around the neck of a chemise belonging to one of my protégées. She can't remember where she got it from but it was obviously a "first timer's" sewing project - the neckline was tucked wrong side out (and then the sleeves finished the same way to match), with pencil or black ink lines to show where to fold it over and where to stitch. And I'm assuming that the maker was new to sewing machines. Because after 5-7 hours of seam ripping, I'm half - HALF - finished with the neckline. Whoever made this used the same stitch length setting as we'd use for a pretty tight zigzag. The tip of my seam ripper doesn't actually fit under most of the stitches so I've been using a straight pin every once in a while. The thread is stronger than the fabric so there is no chance of holding the two sides apart and pulling the thread away between them. Wow. I'll saw one thing for the maker - they were never going to have to worry about it falling apart! They've also got some weird ruffled edges spaced around the neckline where the seams all meet. For some reason, the maker didn't feel comfortable sewing the whole thing as one overlapping casing so each seam edge is separated and the cord has to jump from one piece of fabric to the other. Ah - I bet they were confused about how to handle stitching something that is smaller on the inside than it is on the outside. Neck holes are good for frustrating new sewers.

I'm on the computer now because I just had to get away from it. My wrist and arm hurt a bit from overdoing the job today. That, and in a minute I am going to go online to search for a new seam ripper. It is finally time - mine doesn't have a working cutting edge inside the curve any longer. It's only about 25 years old or something! I wish there was a way to re-sharpen it. The shape of the handle is marvelous for ease of motion and all the new ones I've seen at the fabric store are clunky or else too tiny. But I bet there is a good one online. Once I find it, I can put it on my wish list for Giftmas.