A basting stitch that’s twice the max stitch length of your machine

I liked this so much I made a video for it. It’s easy and only requires a double eye needle and a machine with a zigzag stitch. These needles used to be popular and were sold as “magic” or “basting” needles. Now Schmetz is making them again to market them for decorative stitches.  (I’ve gotten them cheaply on ebay here.) You can do regular sewing by threading the bottom eye and basting by threading the top eye and following the steps in the video.

ETA – As pointed out to me by a member of the Bernina Lovers fb group, you can baste with an even longer stitch using the blindhem stitch.

Easy, Casual Knit Top (Vogue 8877)

Just in time for spring, I’ve made a cool weather shirt. That’s alright; we always have some damp, chilly weather again before Christmas. This was straight forward and super easy, so not a ton to say about it, but after the Craftsy cramming fest that was October Free Pass and then some back trouble, I’m glad to finish a project!

Vogue 8877 View C — Loose fitting, pullover top with dropped shoulders. So loose fitting, in fact, that since I was using knit, I made a small, despite the size chart indicating a medium, and still had plenty of room. In fact, I tapered the sleeves down to an extra small at the wrist.

Incredibly easy to make, and the instructions were fine.

Fabrics: Maggy London Fog City Gray medium weight ponte knit, and a lightweight looser weave knit endcut, both from Smuggler’s Daughter with discounts for the endcut and  having reviewed the shop at pr.