work, work, work…….

I may change my practice of not working in the evening for a bit until it cools off.  The problem with that is that by the time it begins to cool down, I’m exhausted from dealing with the heat. That A/C unit can’t get here soon enough.  I started on the t-shirts yesterday, and ran into a jam on them. My newer serger is not doing the ‘cover hem’ properly, and pulls out with the smallest effort  (a coverhem is the double row of stitching around the hems of most t-shirts with the interlocking thread that hooks them together on the wrong side). There is a trick to getting the serger to do this correctly, and I’ve done it a lot, with a bit of practice and without a hitch. But not now. When I need it like never before.  It is also kind of difficult to set it up, but, a lot better than not having that capability. So after trying everything – re-threading a dozen or more times, changing a few settings, and pulling the threads to the wrong side and carefully knotting them, I made the decision to buy a dedicated machine for just that task.  I did some reasearch, and found what seems to be a happy medium between a really cheap one ( to be shipped from Florida ) and an industrial with a $$$ price tag.  Sooooo, after I left the stage today I went and test drove a Janome CoverPro 1000, and bought it ( I got a good deal on it as it was the floor model, and got the price from the Del Mar Fair – which ended last week. )
I need to back up here a little.  While at the stage doing the fittings for the first of the five fashion shows this week, I picked up the bags of stuff for V.Mars. There was a lot.  This was my deciding factor. ( I just finished sorting and counting the t-shirts that Kristen will wear and so far ( I’m sure this is only the beginning setup of her ‘closet’ ) there are 217 to be shortened. Mind you, this includes the doubles and triples of what Sal has shopped so far ( typical in tv is to have doubles of most everything; though not in the Novellas that I’m working on. On those, the equivilant of one episode is shot each day so doubles are rare,  whereas on V. mars, and most other episodics, there is anywhere from six to nine shooting days per episode. So there is stuff at the cleaners always, and the clothes can still work ).  At the end of the season, the clothes are supposed to go into general stock, to be used to dress extras and such in the future, but the actors usually end up ‘buying’ the clothes that they like.  Others are sold off to some outfit that sells ‘TV’ worn clothes to ‘fans’ – it is all quite the racket.  Anyway the point of all of this trivia is that it seems like this will pay for itself  in the time it saves me to do the work.  
My other big news is that today – thanks to Sherrie pushing for me – I got a permanent pass to park on the lot. In the last week or so there has been a major crackdown, what with seven units running for the telenovellas and V. Mars about to start, the amount of crew coming and going is huge.  So only a chosen few get to go onto the lot now. New guards check everyone in, and visitor passes for just a day only if someone higher up okays it. But Sherrie let them know that when I come, I often have my ‘kit’ in tow – one sewing maching and a train case full of supplies – along with sometimes thousands of dollars in clothes. Plus, I rarely stay all day, and am the only seamstress, working on everything.  This makes me happy. 
Tomorrow I’ll be back there for the beginning of the day for the fitting of the models for the fashion shows again, then I will be home breaking in the new baby.  All of those t-shirts.  By the end of the day, I should know that new machine very well.

Read Full Post »