Elsa finally gets a new shirt !

Who knew that toothpaste and a soft rag removes china marker / grease pencil from textured plastic ? I didn’t, but I know now ! Was trying to erase the thrift store’s price marks from my new sewing machine, and plain water and paper towels were only smearing it in circles. Orange degreaser, Awesome Spot Remover, and knockoff Windex all struck out. A gaming chat board discussed how to remove marks from second-hand board games, and that was suggested. Worked like a magic charm. Removed a few other stray marks, too, and discovered that the LCD display was still protected by the thin plastic it shipped with. Between that and the Brother-wound bobbin, I seriously wonder if my newest machine was ever used at all. Either way, it’s now minty fresh ! And my hands smell good.

It’s actually a good thing that the sewing machine was there. It’s the only possible thing that would have distracted me from the $3. TV. True, it was an old CRT, and not even very big, but it’d allow me to actually watch cable in here. Told Beloved Hubby about it, and he said I was welcome to fetch home an old TV if I wanted, but he was planning on upgrading our family room TV soon, and allocating our current one to the Salon. So, if I find another super-cheep one, I’m going for it !

Dearest Son’s hard drive spun in last night, so we’re sharing my computer. Fine with me, gives me more of a reason to sew ! Figured I’d get that embroidery design worked out, and if there was enough time, sew Elsa a new t-shirt. Even though it’s an awesome Greek goddess design (Nyx) from Urban Threads, things did not go well. Ever do the right thing, and it backfires on you ? The fabric I washed yesterday was nice and dry, and wrinkled as a great-grandma pachyderm. It’d sew just as well wrinkled, but it’d be easier to work with and end much nicer if I ironed it, so I got it all set up. Very first stroke left a huge rusty spot square in the middle of the fresh white fabric. Arrgh ! Washed it out in the sink, cleaned the iron’s sole plate, and ironed it dry. Same end result, just took a lot longer. And I used a press-cloth this time.

Once I started Brody, there was some trouble with the design. Thread broke four times, for no apparent reason. Probably time to replace the needle. Or my thrice-used stabilizer, now down to odd-shaped strips, was a bit too thick in spots. Had to make a few hand-stitches to recapture the flow, but while I can’t set a straight stitch, at least it didn’t take long. Give me a day and I’ll forget where my stitches are and like it better. I only had one of the three recommended colors, but I think the ones I chose blend together just as well. As for now, I think it came out pretty good, despite its shaky start. Both Beloved and Dearest could make it out as ‘a doll shirt with a girl on the moon’, so I consider that a success.

Used my trusty KJ today to sew the blouse together, instead of the new, as yet unnamed Brother. Figured I’d take tomorrow to stitch up a cover, and just play and familiarize m’self with all its charms. Maybe even learn his or her name. Turns out, the new one’s a lot like Brody, even came with nearly all the same initial accessories, so I’m not missing much buying used. Mostly a hard case/cover, a walking foot, and a quilting table, and the usual consumables. Truth to tell, if I didn’t already have a couple years with Brody, I’d have been a bit intimidated by this one. It has the same ‘stitch ‘til you say stop’ function that negates a foot pedal in the first place, the option to cut threads and raise/lower the needle automatically, and a needle threader that’s a bit more challenging than Brody’s, but that may be unfamiliarity talking. If I didn’t have any experience with them, I’d be sort of hesitant, instead of hopeful.