Creative articles about sewing

Repairing a hole with your Bernina 350

Groove1

After I had made my first Groove Dress (I’ve made 12 others since), a hole appeared along the hem of the sleeve after just one wear. It must have been because I used the wrong needle (knit fabric requires a ballpoint needle) or the needle was blunt. Hmmm! I’m not one to change my needle after every project, I know some people do, but I have a bad habit of using mine for months, until something like this happens to remind me that there is a reason why you should change you needles regularly.

hem

This image is just to show where the hole appeared, I actually cut this one on purpose just to show the example.

I wasn’t immediate how I was going to repair the hole. Was I to cut off the ends and add a cuff instead? Turn the dress it into short sleeves, three quarter sleeves? Ignore it and hope the hole wouldn’t get any larger?

Bernina 350 stitches

But then I remembered Stitch No. 14 on my Bernina 350. It may look like just another decorative stitch but no, Stitch No. 14 has a hidden talent.

slit before

If sew using this stitch using the default setting, this happens….

stitch 14 default setting

Not bad, it sews it together well, nearly invisible, but if you stretch it you can still see holes between the seam.

stretch

But if you reduce the stitch length to 1 the results is magical. Nearly invisible. Certainly invisible from afar…

AFTER

And here it is during the stretch test…

stretch2a

Hopefully you will never have to use this stitch to make repairs because unlike me I’m sure you change your needle (regularly). But I bet there are other ways that this magic stitch can come in handy for butting fabric together to make a seam. So keep this in mind, because Stitch No. 14 is good to know.

Now time to feast your eyes on my new pattern for Madeit. The Groove Dress. Enjoy!

red Groove_Jaelle_2 stripes Groove_Jaelle_3 paint splat Groove_Millie_2 Groove_BO_stripes_6 Darcy_groove dress_black_Mayfair1

Like I said, I’ve made 13 so far, so this isn’t even half of them. And I’ve more in the making, because my girls and their friends seem to love this dress. But, next time I make one, I WILL CHANGE MY NEEDLE. Promise!

 

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