Muse Playsuit Vest | Week 2 | #52wonderfilledweeks

Week 2

I finished this cute vest for Bubba early this week.  I had started it over Christmas break and hoped to have it finished by New Years so myself and the kiddos could match for the holiday. That obviously didn't happen but I am happy that all three pieces are done now.  I hope to get some pictures of us all together at some point.  I'd make the Hubs one but he only wear black so... 

This vest is actually the same pattern as the take home outfit I made for Bubba's arrival and his Christmas PJ's this year.  It is all part of Stitch Upon a Time's Muse Playsuit.  I had I wanted to make something to coordinate with P and me but I didn't want to make a full fledged sleeper/romper again.  Then I noticed the pattern came with a sleeveless option and I thought, BINGO! Overall it turned out great.  This is the third time I have made this pattern and I think I learn something each time.  I'm always a little to close to my projects and that's where this blog come in...because regardless of how things turn out I am challenging myself to share and the truth is, I doubt anyone would really see what I see as mistakes or things that could be better.  Bubba looked so cute in his little vest this week.  

SUAT Muse Playsuit, sleeveless option

SUAT Muse Playsuit, sleeveless option

Wonder Tip

One of the "learning" experiences this week was dealing with fat...no... really FAT seams.  I am no stranger to this.  When I was making my baby bibs I had rather fat seams I had to sew or serge over but the waist band of the sleeveless muse presented its own set of issues.  I thought I'd share a tip, well known in most of the sewing community, but for newbies this could be very helpful! I had to sew thru 5 layers of knit and one layer of fleece (used as the interfacing in the vest for the snaps) in this project.  This creates all sorts of problems.  Mostly it can cause your stitches to bunch or your machine to stop from advancing, literally because the feed dogs can not get all the fabric under your presser foot.  In the first picture you can see how my presser foot is at an angle, the fabric cannot feed easily through the machine and often you will just keep sewing in the same place over and over. This makes your stitches start to bunch and your bobbin start knotting up. It's a major pet peeve of mine.


Newer machines have a nifty black button on the side of the presser foot that allows you to raise the foot to the height of the fabric and it will automatically go back down after the "fat" seam has been sewn over.  I have this feature, and I use it (sorry no pictures of it here!), but I have found using the Jean a ma jig to be far superior.  You literally place the JAMJ under the the presser foot and butt it up to the "fat" seam and lower the foot onto it.  It keeps the foot even/parallel with the fabric allowing you to sew over it with out any bunching or pulling...or in a worse case scenario a broken needle or knotted bobbin mess.  Once you've passed your "fat" seam it falls off the back of your machine.  Pretty cool right? And it works in a serger as well.  In the below picture I am actually using the JAMJ on its side.  Usually you would line up the long opening under your needle.  For me I find this bunches up the fabric so I prefer to just raise the tail end of my presser foot and keep adjusting the JAMJ until I'm done sewing over the chunky bits.  Personal preference.


I have often found that the JAMJ is too big, or thick for what I am sewing.  So I grabbed a needle case the other day and tried using it in the same way and it was perfect! I offer this suggestion to those who don't want to go out and buy a JAMJ. If you needed a thicker block you could tape two cases together as well.  Since the cases come with any needle purchase they're basically free!! Why not use what you already have on hand.



So next time you are struggling to sew over a "fatty" seam grab a needle case and try out this nifty little trick!


***this week's watermark font is LumberJack 

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