Saved by the Mail

I was hoping I would get two projects ready for blog publication, but they didn’t come to fruition.  They will not in the time frame I had hoped.  One is the instructions for the Merida costume I mentioned and the other is the baby blanket.  The Merida costume will have to wait until next Halloween season.  Sorry!

I was saved by the mail for a possible blog post for today.  Two items came in the mail.  The first was from The Stitchery (thanks Susan and Stephanie!).  It was my registration for my machine and my two year subscription to The Love of Knowledge. 

If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out the classes there, please give it a look  (www.babylock.com/knowledge).  They have overview classes for several Babylock machines – sergers, sewing machines and embroidery machines. 

The other article of mail was my December/January 2018 issue of Threads magazine.  

I have been a subscriber of this magazine almost from the beginning.  I discovered this magazine on my mission while serving in Yuma, AZ.  It is one of the only magazines to which I subscribe.  (Nothing against any other sewing magazines out there, just what I prefer.)  This issue has an article written by Gale Patrice Yellen about serger feet.

I’m looking forward to learning more about these feet - lace applicator and ruffler.  (This is a two-part article - next issue will include blind-hem and elastic application feet.  I believe all these feet are included in the Triumph's 29 foot and attachment kit.)  If you have not been introduced to Ms. Yellen, she has videos on YouTube as well as she teaches serger classes through Craftsy.  She has written Serger Essentials: Master the Basics & Beyond!  Unfortunately, I don't have this book in my sewing library.

Triumph - The Unboxing

This will be a picture intensive post.  This is the Triumph from box to assembled.  I’ve included pictures of the Madeira thread kit that was included with my promotional offer. 

This is the box!

This is the literature that comes in the box.  The instruction and reference guide, the handy dandy quick reference thread guide (foldout), something from Koala, something about the Love of Sewing classes, and the registration information - which I had to The Stitchery take care of because the Babylock site is not working well at the moment.  (Thank you, Stephanie!!)

This is the box, once opened, from the top.

These are the accoutrements once removed from the box, (T-B, L-R): the cover/chain stitch sewing table, the extension thread stand, machine cover, power cord, an accessories bag (which contains thread nets, looper threading tool, screwdriver, spool caps with sponge, spools caps, spool pin disks, mounting bolt with washer), the foot control, and the knee lifter.  (I think I've all ready misplaced the machine cover.)

The top of the machine from inside the box.  Can you see the carrying handle?  This machine weighs in at approximately 28 pounds.  This is no lightweight machine.  But it wasn't impossibly heavy either.  What a way to get your weight lifting in, right?!

The Triumph from the front.  Isn't she beautiful?

The Triumph out of the box, dressed and ready to go.  To the right of the machine, under the thread stand is the opened accessory compartment which contains needles, lint brush/needle insert tool (one of my all time favorite sewing tools), Allen screwdriver, tweezers, an extra blade (which you should let a service person replace - not you!), and RevolutionAir Needle Threading Guide.

This is the Madeira thread kit I received as a bonus.  It contains 4 spools of Aerolock Serger thread, 8 spools of Mini King Aeroflock thread, 4 spools, Cotona 4 weight thread, and 4 spools Decora 12 weight thread.

I'm super excited to begin learning how to use this machine.  I actually used this machine while I was taking the Sue Green-Baker 3 Day Serge-a-Thon, so we should all ready be friends.  

What do you do when you have a new machine?  Do you jump right in with a project or do you go step by step through the manual?  I've done samples while in class.  As we joked in the class, "for demonstration purposes."  I'd really like to begin on a project.  Stay tune for that project!

True confessions:  I was in a rush to make a costume and felt more comfortable with the Babylock Imagine, so I pulled her out.  We, Imagine and I, whipped up two Merida costumes from Disney’s Brave in an afternoon, using a basic four thread overlock stitch.

Have you ever done this?  You have a brand-spankin' new machine that has all the bells and whistles (okay, at least more bells and whistles than your current machine) and pull out your trusty ol' machine to do a project?  What have you done?

My Triumph Story - the beginning

This past weekend, I took a leap of faith and financed a Babylock Triumph serger.  As far as I know this is the most expensive serger on the market, with the MSRP at $7999.  I don’t know about y’all, but that is one expensive machine.

My educational background is in clothing and textiles from Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho), Oregon State University, and BYU-Provo.  As far as I know, neither BYU schools offer a degree in clothing and textiles any longer. (They do offer sewing construction/pattern design/textiles as part of Family and Consumer Science though.)  Clothing and textiles is the apparel design major at Oregon State, College of Business.  I’m also self educated in heirloom sewing, doll making, and hand embroidery.  I have spent the last 10 years researching convertible/multipurpose clothing and that’s where my passion lies.

Last May, I left my job of almost 7 years. I had decided to go back to college after a hiatus of more than 25 years.  School does take a considerable amount of time, but I still needed something else to occupy my time (my children are basically grown and out of the home).  I have wanted to start a business - clothing business - for several years but haven’t had the time. 

In June, I realized I would probably need a new serger if I wanted to start any one of my business ventures.  My current serger is at least 22 years old and in bad shape.  I chose to look into Babylock machines because I had used one about 21 years ago and liked the jet air threading.  Also, I was looking for a machine that did cover/chain stitch.  I visited a Babylock dealer and was floored by the cost of the Babylock Ovation at $3499.  Ouch!  I did a little more research and thought I might want the Babylock Diane, but couldn’t find one locally.  I was telling a friend about my serger search and she offered to let me have her Babylock Imagine as she had had it for 10 years and hadn’t used it.  I took her up on her offer and realized I needed to learn how to use a serger all over again.  I found a class to be taught in Rome, GA at The Stitchery.  This was a Sue Green-Baker event.  I wanted to serge on a Babylock Ovation to see if it really did what I wanted it to do.  As the event drew closer, I received a pre-survey from The Stitchery and the Babylock Triumph was mentioned.  I didn’t even know what that was!  So, I googled it.  Come to find out, it’s the newest serger on the Babylock market.  I wasn’t interested in it.  I wanted that Ovation. 

The day of class arrived and I traveled up to Rome, GA from my home in Dallas, GA.  Sitting at my spot was the new Babylock Triumph.  I had received an email from The Stitchery prior to arrival that stated we could purchase the machine at an awesome price with great add ons – a thread kit, the Love of Knowledge membership, a trolley and the 29 foot and attachment kit.  I still wasn’t interested and told my husband so.  The new upgrades just didn't seem necessary to me.  I don’t have a problem threading needles (see RevolutionAir^TM threading).  I like the needle threader on the Imagine which was also on the Ovation.  The higher pressure foot height (6mm), the easier subsidiary looper for 2 thread conversion, and the ability to chain off would be nice, but I was okay with the Ovation’s specs. 

Our instructor, Patsy, began walking us through the Triumph.  She mentioned the above upgrades and I’m like “Whatever!”.  Then she mentioned the newest safety feature - if the pressure foot is up the floor pedal will not engage.  That’s when I was sold on the machine.  I have littles in my home a lot and I’m looking forward to grandbabies.  When I was raising my kids, I had my machines out in the open all the time.  I had one or two incidents where one of the kids landed on the foot pedal and the machine whirred away.  Those were scary moments.  With this machine, I hope to not have to worry about those scary moments.

This machine was released in September.  It’s so new that the Sue Green-Baker team had updated the class materials, but hadn’t released them yet.  (We’ll be getting the updates in an email).  Patsy did know the differences between the machines and showed how to operate them.  We spent 3 days learning how to serge and how to use these machines.  Of course, I needed to talk to my husband about this.  Well, we had a passing in the night type of interaction this weekend due to the many activities we had.  So, I texted him Saturday and said I’m getting it.  He said okay (sorta).  So, I left the event with a new serger and the thread kit.  The other add-ons will come shortly.

Do I like the machine?  I do.  I better.  I did this past weekend.  

What do you think of this machine?  Would you get it?  Why or why not?