Meet Elna

This is Elna. She arrived at Nitchfield yesterday, and she's going to be living with us, hopefully for a very long time. So far, we're getting along splendidly. She's really easy going, and nice to work with, and she's already helped out a lot! It's going to be nice to have Elna around.

Can you tell I'm excited about my new serger? It took me a while to pick one out (It's supposed to be a Christmas & Birthday gift. And Valentines Day and St. Patricks Day and the 4th of July . . . ). I'm really pleased with it so far, it's simple to work with and I can do so many things! I guess you could sum it up in three words.

• More
• Better
• Faster

More: Now with a serger I'll be able to tackle knits and other tricky fabrics. I'm thinking a maternity/nursing dress that is actually long enough to cover my knees would be a real treat. It even has a stitch that will stretch for making swimwear!

Better: Everything I make not only looks much neater on the inside, it's also better quality. Those serged seams hold up under all kinds of abuse! The rolled hem is lovely too - I have some scraps that are destined to become napkins.

Faster: Of course, it cuts down on sewing time to serge the seams instead of zig-zaging. Yesterday I also did a narrow hem in about 1/5 the time it would normally take me. Yea!

I just couldn't resist posting the good news.
Happy, happy, happy!