tension

Sunni, my mom, and I went to the Sew Expo in Puyallup, WA this past weekend. My mom flew up all the way from the San Francisco Bay Area to attend, and we had a blast.  I personally am quite proud of the fact that I managed to stay $40 under my budget. It helps that my mom was there and spoiled me with a few clothing kits for Anne that I had not planned on.

Here is a picture of me & my beautiful mom!

It was so crowded you could barely move!

The Expo was 4 days long and had multiple classes for different levels. They had all-day hands on classes and 45 minute lectures. Altogether we attended four 45 minute lectures. Sunni attended “Sew Like a Pro” and “Sew with Your Feet”. All three of us attended “Thread, Tension, and Needles” and “Ruffles have Ridges”.  The classes were fun and incredibly informative.

For me personally, I think the biggest take away was that adjusting the tension on your machine is by far the easiest fix for most thread problems, that and being willing to spend the money on quality thread!  I never knew that all machines are manufacturer set to a 5 tension and most thread for quilting and clothes sewing requires between a 2 and a 4 tension. No wonder the thread is always breaking!  It is constantly being pulled on.  I will always think of Bob from Superior Threads every time I adjust the tension on my Janome.  Also thanks to Bob I learned all about Water Soluble thread and now I really want to learn how to make swimsuits!

The “Ruffles Have Ridges” seminar was also informative because it taught me a new way to use some of the crochet thread left to me by my grandmother. I cannot wait to try some of the patterns I purchased from Lorene Bonewitz from Sew It Up.com.  My mom won the Bella Pant pattern and she bought the kit that goes with it.  We also bought the Sweet Heart kit, which comes with the fabric and the pattern, and finally we bought The Cherry On Top pattern and kit. I am so excited to get sewing, but I am going to have to wait until I get my serger from California where it currently resides.  On the upside I have Sunni to help me learn how to sew all the outfits seeing as I have not sewn so much as a pair of pants in 15 years!

All my goodies!

Thread for my serger that currently lives in CA!

Many other purchases were made by all three of us (see Sunni’s post) and we had a wonderful day.  I cannot wait for the show next year (March 1-4, 2012) to see all the new gadgets and fabric!