successful whip-up evening...

Don't you love it when you conceive of a little project idea and then it goes off without a hitch?

I do.

I got a serger for my birthday (such a surprise!!).  It is the Brother 1034D; much beloved on the internet by hundreds of reviewers, and at the very bottom entry-level pricepoint:

So, my birthday was nearly a week ago, but it was on a Tuesday, so no time during the week to do more than read the users manual and steel myself against my fear of a complex machine that I'll have to teach myself to use.

Then we went camping over Labor Day weekend - great fun, and BTW, the Vegetarian Chili from my last post turned out to be extremely tasty - I will make it again despite the required vegetable prep time involved.

So today we get home, unpack, rest a little, buy a whoopie cushion for Wild Thing (don't ask), do some laundry and grocery shopping, and at last I had a chance to fire this baby up.

I just used the pre-threaded spools which are color coded and useful for practice. Practiced a few times with a 4-thread overlock, then hauled out the rest of my scrapbag. I made a new flag for our little flag holder "welcome" thingie in the front flower bed - you know, it sticks in the ground and you change the flags with the seasons. Only I never do, and am chronically 2 seasons behind... So there's some rather unattractive weathered rag greeting me each day for months and I keep thinking "Hey - I could probably whip up a little patchwork flag to hang there"

But I never did.  Until tonight that is!  I pieced some strips together using the 4 thread overlock, then finished the edges with the 3 thread overlock - and finally made the loop in the top using the Blind stitch foot and 3 thread overlock stitch (having never done this I had to battle minor dislexia to the the folding right, but it worked!

The 4-thread overlock piecing

3-thread overlock finishing edge

Blind stitch hem for making a loop at the top of the flag

I will have to post a completed photo of the flag hanging in the yard tomorrow because it is pitch black outside at the moment.  It isn't fancy, but it is colorful - and the main point is that I no longer fear the serger! What a cool new toy!!