Hello, Everyone!

I am so pleased to have the opportunity to talk to you about the excitement the 8 Series launch has created here at our BERNINA consumer event. It was such a proud moment when after six years of development, we were finally able to reveal this incredible machine and share its features with the world.  The engineers and developers in the BERNINA factory in Steckborn Switzerland have worked countess hours to create a big, beautiful BERNINA - spacious and comfortable, speedy and full of benefits that will make the creative sewers world more enjoyable and more efficient… that nothing compares to the feeling of its debut.

And now, you too can experience all the precision and exclusive features the 830 has to offer here on bernina8series.com. This enlightening and interactive website provides everything you will want to know about the 8 Series, including videos that illustrate its outstanding space, unsurpassed speed and ergonomic genius.

So go ahead and check out the machine that has changed the history of sewing. We hope it inspires you as much as it has everyone here at BERNINA.

Talk to you soon! And remember to keep checking back for more entries and details on the magnificent 8 Series.

I love my serger :) I couldn't have stitched these two items so quickly using just a regular sewing machine, and the gauze top would have been a nightmare! The top is "Poetry in Motion" by hotpatterns.com; the skirt is the Gored Skirt from Bernina's My Label 3D Fashion Pattern Software. (Tip: If you make the top, use two rows of 1/4" elastic around the neck & sleeves instead of the 3/4" elastic called for in the directions.)

Gauze can be tricky to stitch, as it tends to stretch out of shape. This top is basically a "bishop" style, with sleeves, front, and back stitched together on the diagonal. By setting the differential feed at about 1.5, the fabric was fed under the presser foot faster than it was pulled out the back, which prevented the gauze from stretching. Bonus: all those ravelly edges were overcast, too!

It's hard to see in the photo, but there are two tiers of ruffles along the lower edge...so not only is the hem stretchy, hard-to-handle gauze, but cut partly on the bias and partly on grain. A serged rolled edge was simple; I don't even want to think how tedious a regular hem would have been!

The skirt was quick and simple. After printing the Gored Skirt pattern I drew points at the lower edge of each segment to create a shaped hem. I roll hemmed the points, then flatlocked all the sections together with the "squiggles" side showing on the outside. Then I stitched the waistband to the top with a 4-thread overlock stitch, inserted the elastic, and it was done!

Why the neatly labeled swatches? One of the classes I'm teaching at Bernina University is on sergers. Erika & I are both traveling to Kansas City tomorrow; we start teaching on Wednesday. I'm not sure we'll have time to blog while we're gone, but we'll have lots of things to share when we get back!

It's done! I finally finished my Big Dot Pillow - my mom liked it so much she's going to stitch one, too, but not in such bright colors ;) I made an addition to the instructions in Amy Butler's In Stitches - I added a zipper (using Zipper Foot with Guide #14) to one of the side seams, to easily remove the pillow form for laundering (and for travel - see below). Everyone in Bernina-land has been extra busy this month, prepping for Bernina University, our annual dealer meeting in July. Erika & I are teaching a class together - my Big Dot Pillow is part of a display, and I'm shipping it _minus_ the insert. After Erika & I get back home and catch up on our sleep we'll have lots of photos to share - things we saw, people we met, and, of course, the new Bernina 8 Series!

Did you know that heart disease is the #1 cause of death in women? And now Bernina of America has a new corporate giving program - Sew Red - to spread the word and raise $$$ for the American Heart Association. They've made arrangements for 15 designers and teachers - including several celebrity stitchers! - to "bling" BERNINA sewing machines . The tricked-out machines will be auctioned during the BERNINA 8 event in Kansas City this summer. Speaking of which - the ultimate new BERNINA sewing machine will be unveiled then, too! Erika & I won't have any news about the new machine until we see it at Bernina University in July, but we'll share photos and links to some of the "Bling Your Bernina" machines over the next few weeks. I can't wait to see them! Stay tuned...

I realize that not only do a lot of us happy fabric shoppers have a ton of fat quarters, but we're likely to have a stash of scraps as well. Sometimes there may be just a little bit of some fabulous fabric after cutting out a project, and you don't DARE throw it away! Here's one of my favorite things to do with scraps! This project is straight out of Diana Rupp's Sew Everything Workshop book - the "Den of Pin Pincushion." The BESTEST thing about pincushions is that you can have fun with different fabrics and adding trims - AND they make great little gifts for friends and family who are just starting to sew (or starting to get back into sewing)!

These are some small scraps of Benartex Woodstock fabric, and I followed Diana's instructions in the book to put these together.

These pincusions I made by making the pattern from Diana's book a little bigger, and then boxing out the corners. This is a bit of vintage barkcloth with a vintage button.

Here's another one made from a scrap of faux-fur, a scrap of ribbon, and a vintage button.

And, here is a pincushion made from a scrap of luscious silk & brocade fabric imported from India.

Now I hope you are inspired to take a look at some pincushion patterns or make up some of your own to make a dent in your scrap-stash!