Accidents Will Happen

There's good news and there's bad news. And its all mixed up together.

The good news is that I got the invisible zipper foot (#35, in the red box, for all you ancient Bernina users out there). The bad news was that it was was pretty pricey - about $25. I know that its an investment, but it still sucks, as I've laid out a lot of money so far on this "investment" of mine, this hobby that I love and love and love. So, I guess I should quit complaining. I cut the fabric using my personal pattern, sewed the darts (another first) and assembled the skirt, zipper and all. I only did it backwards once, and was able to fix my error at about 1 1/2 inches in, rather than a whole side seam. Yes, yes, break out the bubbly. Inserting the zipper was actually easier than I thought, and my tutorial at class last week totally applied to my situation last night.

Now, here comes the bad part. Those who are less than okay with graphic stabbings, now would be a good time to stop reading.

I was setting up to stitch along the bottom edge of the zipper, perpendicular to the zipper, to close the gap there, and stitched my finger. Oh, the pain. Oh, the blood. M. was cooking dinner right behind me (the machine is now set up on the kitchen table...) and all I could say was "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god" as I ran to the bathroom dripping blood from the middle finger of my left hand. It turns out you should move your hands away and position the fabric from a little farther out in order to prevent jabbing a machine-propelled insanely sharp needle into your finger. I did not puncture all the way through, but I think I got pretty deep. I can't tell how deep, but there was a fair amount of blood and pain. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on it, slapped on some neosporin and a bandaid, and decided it was time to stop sewing for the evening.

That's the bad news. The good news is that my skirt is freaking awesome. Ok, well, its almost freaking awesome. I still have to turn down the top for the waistband and hem the bottom (and finish that pesky zipper bottom) but its definitely a skirt. And its definitely seethrough. The cotton poplin or whatever it was that I got is not as thick as I initially thought. So, I will now learn how to drop in a lining. I was thinking - I'd like to do the same fabric in a white or other pale color that matches the navy, and let it hang an inch or two lower than the hem of the skirt itself. Then, I'd apply the same decorative edging to both hems to tie the whole thing together. Eh? My sister thought that would be very interesting, but M. thought it would be silly. I think my style is a little too out there for him sometimes. I'm sure once he saw it on, he'd like it.

Whew. I suppose that is all for now, as I realized that I just wrote a freaking novel. Its a good thing nobody reads this yet.

Oh, and I finished Cleaves, but I'm not sure I like it. I may un-bind off and add a few more inches to the cowl, as its sort of awkward at the length specified in the pattern. How hard is it to un-bind off?