More Learning from My "Mistakes"

It's one thing to get a cargo pocket removed from a pair of cargo shorts. It's another thing entirely to sew it back on. That's one lesson I learned this week but should have already known. 

Of course, "knowing" something in your head and really KNOWING it are two different things. I "knew" that it's very tricky to sew anything to a sleeve (or, if you insist, pants leg*) without sewing the sleeve shut, but I really hadn't thought about this when I removed the pockets from my latest alteration project. Now I've got the shorts hemmed up so they aren't hanging below my knees but I have to figure out how to get the cargo pockets back on the pant sleeves. 

All Hemmed Up and Ready for Cargo Pockets

*I'm still advocating for the use of "sleeves" for both shirts and pants. Short-sleeve pants makes more sense than "shorts." We don't call short-sleeve shirts "shorts." But, maybe we should. Typing "short-sleeve pants" everywhere in this post was a huge pain. 

Other than this little glitch, my short-sleeve pants came out really nicely. No more looking like Charlie Brown.

The correct solution here would be to unstitch the pants almost completely, sew the pockets onto the pant sleeves, and then sew the pants back together. I really don't see me being able to sew the pockets back on without taking the pants apart at least partially, but I'll give it a shot using the free-arm feature on my Kenmore. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and pull out the seam ripper again. I could live without cargo pockets on this pair, but the pair I really want shortened needs pockets. So, I have to figure it out. 

Other lessons I've reinforced this week on this little project: 

1.    Check the bobbin before you start anything new. I got about halfway around one of the pant sleeve hems and ran out of bobbin. Of course, I didn't actually notice this until I had gone ALL the way around the hem. You've done this. I know it. 

2.    Don't be lazy about winding up a bobbin with matching thread. On probably most of my projects it hasn't mattered if the top and bottom threads matched. Definitely didn't matter for a pair of  short-sleeved camouflage/floral cargo pants. Except, the top thread color definitely did matter. No problem. As long as the top thread was black or OD green, everything should be fine, right? Not quite. 

Instead of unthreading my machine, winding up a bobbin full of black thread and then rethreading the machine, I refilled my empty bobbin with some white thread that was sitting right there on the cone stand. Saved myself having to unthread and re-thread the machine. Genius! I could just flip the pants over when sewing to be sure the top stitches were on "top" and the mismatched white thread was on the inside where nobody would see it anyway. Too easy. 

Problem with this is that it's easier to tell where you are on a hem when you can actually see the hem. Since my top thread needed to be on top (i.e. the "right" side), I really needed the black thread in the bobbin. I had to stitch the hems from the outside and guess/hope I was lined up. Not the end of the world, but it sure would have been easier to just wind up a bobbin with black thread and not have to worry about which side of my work piece needed to face up. 

I could have easily grabbed another cone of black thread; I must have at least three or four huge cones of the stuff around here. I could even have wound the bobbin on a different machine so I didn't have to unthread and rethread the machine I was using to sew on. Or, I could have just been not lazy and unthreaded my machine to wind up a bobbin with the exact same thread I was going to use for the top stitches. There was just no excuse for doing this. Next time I'll think it through better. 

3.    Final lesson: for at least the 10th time, put pins in so they pull out easily while sewing. In other words, put the pointy end toward the machine and the ball end toward you. That way, when you get close to the pin while sewing, you can just pull it out as you go. You don't have to stop early and wrestle the pin out. This requires thinking ahead, which is apparently not my strong suit. But, I'm getting better. I at least make sure the pins are pointing the right way when I put my work piece on the machine. There's a 50-50 chance that I could put them in right way when I pre-assemble pieces but somehow I always end up switching them around every single time I get to the machine. At least I catch it before I get everything under the presser foot and my backstitch done. 

Working this project on my Singer 241-12, a self-oiling industrial garment machine which was easily up to this task. The Kenmore could probably have handled it, but it's still tied up on my bell-topper project.