Sweater Upcycle: When poor results help you grow.

Good morning (barely) ... 

it's pushing noon here and I'll be heading in to make the kids lunch soon. 

yum yum enchilada's. 

Yesterday I created a a sweater out of a large upcycled thrift store sweater I picked up for under $2. 

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as nice as I'd imagine it to be. 

With thinner knits I have no issue with wavy seams, but when I move to the medium/thicker knits I get all sorts of it. Ick. 

It's still wearable, but look at that seam where the rib meets the rest of the sweater. 

It's driving me nuts. I'm kind of sad to show you the back, but here goes...

Even worse! 

It didn't do that at the sleeves where I used my sewing machine, just at the middle. Hm... I was so bothered by this that I went online last night/today and looked and looked for any tips for using thicker knits that I wasn't already trying. 

I know I don't have a walking foot, but the wavy seams tend to happen more with my serger than my sewing machine. Since this seam needed to stretch I was using my serger by itself to attach them... a walking foot couldn't have been it. 

As I searched I came across a post that didn't mention anything about tips or tutorials... but in it lied a gold nugget of information. 

It said that when using a sweater, the seamstress would increase her sergers differential feed to an increased speed to keep the seams from becoming wavy.

(cheers and clapping and fireworks here!!!!)

I was oh so happy to have this information! I haven't had a moment to try it out yet, but believe me I will. I have another sweater on my table ready to upcycle and I'm ready for it! 

I'll be back next week to tell you how it goes. 

Until then, thank you for everyone who adds to this sewing community.

 If it weren't for everyone sharing information, we'd all suffer the sewing consequences! Plus, I just love overcoming an obstacle. It's a great feeling for an icky, cloudy, cold thursday morning. 

<3