New Sewing Toys

After one year of thinking about it, I finally did it: I bought a serger! I am not sure if it is called overlocker or serger, my dictionary says that one expression is American and the other one British English...

In the shop where I bought it they told me that it is really called a "cover locker", because it can not only make those overlock seams but also do cover stitches (those which are often used to hem t-shirts) and chain stitches. Anyway, I don't care so much what it is called like, I am happy to have it!
So, my dear sewing machine, and my dear new cover locker, please be nice to each other and work well together!

Now I have two sewing machines on my table, and I am glad that I still have enough space to do the rest of the work like pinning, hand sewing,...  For tracing patterns and cutting out fabrics I put both machines from the table onto the floor, though.
My first project I did with the new machine was two pair of pants, which I finished yesterday, I hope to show the to you later!

The second investment I made is a small book:

It is mainly a bunch of cards with Pantone color combinations, and a more or less pathetic name and description for each combination.

But why is it useful in sewing? Just imagine the following situation: I'm making a garment, like most of the time from a plain colored fabric, and I think it can use a little extra to spice it up, something like some piping, or buttons, or topstitching in a contrasting color. But which color should I choose? I'm not a creative person (I'm just copying what I like from others, more or less), and I don't have such a thing like a "natural feeling for colors". So, as I am unsure about my color choices, I tend to combine everything with rather neutral colors like black or white or taupe, which works well but is still a bit boring. But from now on, I can open my Pantone booklet, look for the color I'm using for my garment, and see what other colors will go with it harmonically! How good is that? I have to admit that this is only theory so far, I didn't get into described situation yet since I own this book. Apart from that, it is also nice to just leafing through the book and looking at all those nice color sheets!