Breaking news: I am actually using my serger!!!

Today I thought I'd "fix" the problem with zipper bump on the black skirt I made from New Look 6843 but I, um, kind of ruined the skirt in the process.  Maybe "ruined" is too strong of a word.  Let's just say, that iteration is over, so over.
(ETA 7/21/13:  I actually went back last weekend and put in a new zipper and wore it to work, and all is well.  :)  )

I started over with black denim, and put the zipper on the side.  MUCH better.


The side view is MUCH better now.


My darts are a little pointedly crazy.  Need a tailor's ham.  Will order one of the custom ones that y'all recommended.   (I stitch on the fold for half an inch at the end of the dart and don't backstitch, then press to center, but a ham would definitely help...).

The more exciting thing is I Am Actually Using My Serger.  Yes!

I took the "break your serger out of the box" class on patternreview.com with Jennifer Stern and accomplished my main goals:

• Determine if my serger actually works (it's secondhand).  Yes, it works!
• Get it to stitch properly on wovens so I can finish the inside of garments to prevent raveling.  Yes, I can do that now!
• Learn how to thread it from scratch without doing that "knotting the new threads to the old ones and pulling them through" trick.  Ok, I've only done this once since taking the class but I did it!
• Know which thread is which on the finished product. Yup, I got it!  Left needle, right needle, upper looper, lower looper.

I'm still getting used to guiding the fabric at an even width through my serger, hence the uneven craziness above.   I'm still new at this...but I am super excited!

As a bonus, I also learned how to gather on my serger!! 

If I had a Barbie doll I would have used that as my model instead.
(By the way, there's lots more covered in the class but those are the main things I wanted to learn for now.)  The class took away from my sewing time but it was time well spent.

Other stuff:
Male pumpkin flowers:


Today I discovered two females budding up!!!  I have been looking every day for female blossoms. 
Here's one.  The baby pumpkin is attached to the vine and the bud is attached to the pumpkin.  If the female flower is properly fertilized when it opens (which is only for a few hours), then the pumpkin should start to grow.  Otherwise the baby pumpkin will fall off or decay or whatever.

Here's the other female:

Here's a bumblebee on the hunt for pollen:

And here's the bumblebee in the male flower:

I'm a bit worried for the safety of the pumpkin vines. One reason is these vines are illegal in my townhome community; the other is they are powerwashing the houses this week and I'm afraid the vines will be trampled or otherwise destroyed during the washing. I've done the best I can to protect them short of bringing them inside (they are growing in pots).

Princeton Farmer's Market flowers this week:

Really gorgeous lisianthus.

And finally, my hair.  This was taken first thing in the morning one day this week...

It was so humid it started curling on the ends.
It was fun while it lasted but it's also good to get back to my regular curls.
Be well!