Da-doom!

February had been crazy-busy, what with overseas trips and Chinese New Year, and a shirt waiting to be completed before the 9th... (I was still working on hand-worked buttonholes on Chinese New Year's eve, and technically speaking didn't complete them till 3AM on first day of CNY itself, which really made me keenly appreciate a sewing machine that could do nice, workable, consistent buttonholes-- more on this later.)

So, the shirt. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. My first men's shirt ever, and I didn't render it unwearable, yay! :D I feel ever so thankful to have my mom babysit me through drafting, and explaining the basics of classic tailoring for men's clothings (ie like how the buttonholes are on the opposite side of ladies' wear! I would have happily sewn the interfacing on the right as I was always buttoning up on my right!) 

And more thread jams while hemming (2 layers of very soft Egyptian cotton & interfacing) -- the machine basically stalled and refused to sew over hems, and trying to push the fabric forward is to no avail. (I've resorted to begin sewing at the point after the thickest part of the hem, and use reverse stitching to stitch up the front bit,and praying very hard that it doesn't jam up, which it did obviously... Cos' not only did the machine not like anything thicker than 2 layers of fabric, it doesn't like doing reverse stitching, too... Push the reverse stitch knob and it jams without fail. Like clockwork, really.)

And the hand-worked buttonholes were surprisingly therapeutic to do (when the deadline to finish up wasn't breathing down my neck, that is) , and I'm glad that I chose to do them by hand over trying out the machine's manual buttonholes. Because, well, I made myself a blouse as well, and on my blouse I decided to take a chance with the manual buttonholes, and they fell apart when I cut the buttonholes open. It's either me, or the machine, I don't know, but it was awful to watch the buttonholes unravel right in front of me on CNY eve! (when I had another 2 or 3 hand-worked buttonholes to complete on the Husband's shirt, which is much more important to be done well than my own blouse, because, because he deserved a not sloppily done, new shirt for CNY! I was prepared to don a cutesy tee from Uniqlo if I couldn't get my blouse ready in time, heh :P) So, I did a haphazard rushed job of some really not-too-pretty hand-worked buttonholes on my own blouse to save the unravelled machined buttonholes... They don't look good, but they work, and that's definitely better than unravelled buttonholes.) So yeah, I don't want to imagine if this happened with the Husband's shirt. Horror, indeed.

If anyone's wondering why I don't simply bring it for buttonholes to be done professionally, well, I was quoted $4 per buttonhole, and they do not have capacity for me during the busy pre-CNY period. (And no guarantee of producing decent buttonholes either, I've not seen those works done by the shop(s) to be sure so there's always a risk. Just like when I brought the shirt in to have the sleeves serger-ed -- I don't own a serger T^T, the shop managed to mess up the checkered lines that I've taken care when cutting the fabric to ensure the seams match up nicely... It's irreversible, and it irked me.)

I know I rant a lot about buttonholes -- buttonholes are painful, seriously. Do not be mistaken though, I really do love making stuffs -- horrid buttonholes, thread jams et al. :D (just wished for a machine that would make me nice, consistent buttonholes! And keyhole buttonholes! I love those! :P)

Onto the subject title of this post, I've sewn on a Bernina. I'm a new owner of a pre-loved Bernina (for a ridiculously low price for the brand, from generous Uncle Freddy who has given me 5 Bernina presser feet that roughly cost 20-30 GBP each, one of which is even new in the original packaging). And I'm doomed. Doomed to the Bernina quality.

(Do ignore the rubbish binding -- that's not the correct way to sew on binding, and I'm only allowing myself to do it the lazy-arse way cos' it's a random patchwork to use up some scraps, and that it's a casual quick project for a sewing machine cover pockets).

But wow! Binding + 2 layers of quilting cotton, and the machine didn't even hesitate at the corners! No thread jams, not a single one! The reverse stitching is problem-free. The stitches are beautiful. AWESOME presser feet. I used to be sceptical of Bernina prices, of raves about its presser feet (and the prices of those feet), but no longer. They. Are. Awesome. No wobbly up and wobbly down with the usual snap-ons, it's SOLIDLY constructed and I'm beginning to think, worth the price tag. And, lo and behold! The six-step buttonhole work. No hiccup, no jams, no unravelling. There is basis for the hype and loyalty of the huge Bernina following overseas -- in spite of the huge prices, afterall. I'll admit to being thoroughly spoilt by the Juki industrial that my mom used to own -- the one that pierced through ANYTHING as if it's butter-- that I was almost distraught by the limitations of the few home sewing machines that I'd used initially, and then I used the Janome, while it served its basic purpose (of sewing forward) but is proving to be rather frustrating, to finally have a chance to sew on a Bernina! I am very, very, VERY impressed. If this is what a mechanical Bernina can do, I have high hopes for the computerised machines. In fact, I've been stalking the Bernina website for its computerised offerings. Ummmmm can I say the 710 is looking very, very attractive? (I wanted to say 820, but I wouldn't want the Husband to suffer a fit from the listed MSRP on the site if he decides to look it up... But 820, ummmmmmmmmmm... *WANTS*) Ok, I'll be really, really happy with a 530, really. :) I don't need branded bags -- no really, haven't owned one since I graduated from uni years ago, the one or two were purchased ages ago when I was young and foolish (no offense to dear friends who love them, see, I'm old and foolish for drooling over expensive sewing machines, yes? ^^)-- but an awesome sewing machine? YESSSSSSS.

And onto my next upcoming project -- I've been wanting to whip up a passport holder (twin passport holder) for my in-laws. :)

P.S Now that I'm so in love with the Bernina, and it's not given me any problems, I'm almost ready to return the Janome. A waste sitting around the corner when I'm always sewing on the Bernina, perhaps someone else could put it to better use than  I do. :)