After getting my mother in law's 60 yr old classic Singer up and running, lubed and polished. I had begun practicing stitching lines and making hems on some old pillowcases. My wife decided that she had several work uniform smocks that needed work. A couple of pockets needed repair where she stuffed pens in them all the time. I got that done OK. But then she had this special stretchy knit uniform shirt that was too long. All I was supposed to do was roll the bottom up about an inch and a half and sew...ahh...I mean make a hem to shorten the shirt. Simple, just one line of stitches and she would be happy. I was being super careful so I pinned everything in place and started making the hem. I got half way around and realized that the fabric had rolled somehow and now the bottom was all torqued around and looked weird. For some reason I decided that I would give it a good pull...Whoa...I had stitches popping everywhere. Well, then I thought it would be a good time to try out my new seam ripper and just start over. I could still have it done by the time she got home and show her my good work. So I pulled it out of its sheath and went to work. I thought how wonderfully it was working...then I started seeing daylight through the shirt. Half of my ripping was shirt. I had to keep at it, I was committed now, but even being really careful by the time I got through it looked like mouse had chewed a line of holes across the shirt. That was the end of the shirt. No good work here. I am not sure what all went wrong in the whole process but I have learned that you don't use seam ripper like you are gutting a deer.
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