Building a T-shirt

 I'm here at the retreat! We're back at Retreat at the Farm in Shelbourne. I arrived at 7 PM, and it's good to be back even if I have to work most of the week. Hey -- I have presentations to prep and samples to sew, but I can have more fun doing that while visiting with friends than being at home. 

I brought most things I need, and whatever I'm missing, then we'll make it up! There is one thing that I have a big issue with my phone charger. I have two, but again, I've misplaced the spare one. Now, how the heck can I do that? So I threw the main one in my bag, only to discover this morning that it was the charger for my headphones. Are you kidding me? 

However, I brought my data cable for connecting the phone to the computer, and with the block from the headphone charger, I'm in business. OK -- so this is ridiculous, and when I'm back home, I'm finding that spare charger, and it's going in my office backpack, and it will stay there. I'm also labeling the darn thing. It's a pain with all these chargers, and those ends look so similar, but they are not! 

However, I brought enough stuff to make it work! 

Yesterday was a lot of fun! Dealer training is always an interesting experience, and there are a lot of "COVID" dealers. These people came on board during COVID and have done exceedingly well in getting their businesses off the ground. That is super exciting to see. 

So we went through all the NEW products that are coming. Sorry --- not going to talk about it in more detail, but LOTS of cool new things and some of the exciting things we currently have and that you love are being brought to lower price points, which is VERY exciting. 

And then there is some BRAND new stuff and one of them we chatted about it Ditto. I love it but haven't had time to play with it. In case you don't know what it is -- it's the garment projection system. I won't have time to do much this month as my laptop, and I will have developed quite a relationship by the end of this month. I only use my laptop when I'm away, which should tell you about my schedule. The girls are NOT going to be happy. 

Neither will my steps. Oh boy -- I didn't make my steps yesterday. I still managed about 8 KM, but well below my goal of 12.5 KM or 13 if you go by my current virtual challenge. I'll try to make up some of that today, but it will be hard as I have two presentations to prepare and give. And I have to make a trip to the grocery store. 

However, one of the presentations is almost finished, and the second is well underway. I won't need much more time to make it happen. 

I'll be able to get out bright and early this morning to get in the first walk, so that'll be good. Two months make a big difference in the lightness in the morning, although that will change this coming weekend. 

Back to the dealer meeting. It was great, and hopefully, after they see the samples, the dealers will want us to come to their stores for events! Yep --- it's going to be a fun year. Oh shoot -- I'll have to share a photo of one of our projects. I'll add that to the blog tomorrow, as I'm not downloading another picture this morning. 

This was my car when I left the house. At the last minute, things just randomly got shoved in there. I had stuff for the dealer meeting, so that bag is gone. I have some things to give to others here at the retreat, so I'll have a lot less stuff on the way back and pack a little more carefully! 

Packed for retreat

Even the front seat got filled with stuff. OH -- see that bright turquoise color? That's part of the project that I'll share tomorrow. 

The front seat is also full

Yep -- I was full up. I need a NEW BIGGER car! I wasn't all that happy with all that stuff because I didn't really have a clear view for shoulder checking, so I had to be careful. 

Packed to the top!

When I walked into the sewing room this morning, it was BRIGHT. There's a full moon outside, and it is beautiful. 

The full moon

However, I've no idea what happened to my sewing table. It looks like a hurricane blew threw. I'm not usually that messy ever! But that happens when you randomly pack and then randomly unload the car late at night. I've got a few things to serge, so I'm starting with that. Then I'll put the serger away and dig the sewing machine out of the car. 

My sewing table - a MESS

So what am I serging? I'm finishing off my T-shirt. It was mostly done, but I needed to hem the sleeves and add the band to the top. I added the band last night, and I'll finish the sleeve hems this morning. 

My new T-shirt

I've made T-shirts before, but I'm still learning some of the ins and outs of the serger. I confess that I've had a serger for many years but never a cover stitch, which is new to me. This PFAFF admire air 7000 has a cover stitch, and it's a BREEZE to convert from cover stitch to overlock. And it's a breeze to thread with air threading on all three loopers. 

Plus, I've added the cover stitch hemmer attachment into the mix. But my cover stitch hem on the bottom looks pretty decent. Can you tell that's my first attempt? I know!!!!  OK -- I confess that the hem could be better where I went over the seams (more practice needed), but I learned a ton putting that on. 

The cover stitch hem

Even the neckband got a coverstitch treatment. I see that some commercial t-shirts have a band that covers the back neck seam. I've always wondered why, but it's to cover up the messy start and stop!!! Who knew? Now that's my guess, but it sounds good to me. My back neck seam is a bit messy. 

The cover stitch neckband

You can learn so much by taking things apart -- well, most times, you just need to look at the garments to see how they were constructed. You don't even need to take them apart. 

So it was a great day, and we're still missing one person, who will arrive on Wednesday. It was just a crazy week, but it couldn't be changed. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I need to get out for that morning walk to clear my head, go to the grocery store, and finish the presentations. Then I can sew. I won't get much sewing done today. But I'm OK with that. I knew that was going to happen. Today is probably the only "tough" day, and after that, the presentation prep is much easier or already complete. 

Have a super day!!

Ciao!!!!