Fine. I will just move on to overlocking the edges of the brocade with my serger. You just look at brocade and it starts to unravel, so I wanted to get this done quickly. I was serging happily, and suddenly my serger stopped. Nothing was jammed, and the light was still on so I knew it was still getting power, but the motor wouldn't go. It took some fiddling to realize that the cord was starting to come out of the pedal.
All the while, several hours had gone by and I felt like I hadn't accomplished much. Once the brocade pieces were all serged, I went down to a local craft store that sells presser feet and bought a new walking foot (in fact, one that seems to be much nicer than the one I previously used) and also a roller foot. I have never used a roller foot, but I read that they are good for bulky fabrics (like velour) and slippery fabrics (like brocade). I tried out my new walking foot briefly, and it seems to be good. But of course, my husband came home two hours early, so the sewing had to stop and quickly get thrown under a blanket.
Yesterday I had time to start sewing for real! I wasn't feeling confident about sewing the velour, so I started with the brocade pieces. I certainly won't win any prizes for my sewing, but I am pleased with it so far.