Wardrobe Makeover

Well, it is a kind of stashbusting. In that we no longer have to edge into the garage and complain about not being able to find anything “because there’s a wardrobe there”. :-)
My online presence has been little bit sketchy over the last couple of months. I nearly blogged on my April makes, but with two lots of school holidays, plus some other things to be doing, I feel like I got sucked into limbo and have just been spat out again.
My big (non-sewing) project was a long-awaited paint job on the wardrobe I promised Matthew last summer. It arrived then as a plain, beaten up, scribbled on pine wardrobe (£12, ebay). Summer 2013, before the sun went away, I let the children help me prime it (why???) and then it got mothballed in the garage while it rained. End of April/beginning of May I made some space in the living room, and spent the next few weeks giving it a top coat and then decorating in the previously approved fashion, while fending off offers of help from the children. It is now residing in Matthew’s tiny bedroom (it fits under his loft bed!)


I did do some sewing, but nothing that needs much explanation…

Leaving present for my son’s fab Maths teacher	non-food items for the Easter Egg Hunt.
money pouch, using vintage linings from my grandmother’s stash…	Leather brooch made at a workshop at the fab Love From Hetty & Dave.

I also made two items of clothing – a frilled, polka dot crimplene skirt for Robin, and a green and orange linen shirt for my 1 year old nephew, only “Failure to Fotograph” struck again so no photos. (Sorry, alliteration was too good to resist).
And I moved my sewing machines from the dining room to the recently vacated garden office (or “shed”). This has had an impact on my sewing too, as I have to go outside to get things done, but it is also helping my to think about how I approach my sewing tasks, and what state I leave everything in at the end of the day!

Here’s to a more productive June/July, before 6 weeks of no sewing hits me.

Goodbye Mr Smith

And hello Brothers…

I have a bit of a problem with sewing machines. I have great difficulty resisting a really lovely piece of machinery, which is how I ended up with 4 sewing machines, 3 cabinets and an overlocker.
However, with the best will in the world I have neither the space nor the need for all of them, so I assured Robert that at least one of them would be moving on in due course. Which it has now done.

The sewing machine affectionately known as “A wooden leg named Smith” (due to an accident with a flight of stairs many years ago) was a lovely 1960’s machine with a zigzag stitch, but was superseded by a very similar machine but with a few more features (and a cabinet to house it). So it has now gone to another home, where it is already being used much more frequently.

I still have a 3/4 sized, 1958 Singer in the loft, with its cabinet being housed in the garage, that I have yet to rehome/find room for, but my current line up looks like this:
Mmmm. :-)

They are, in order, my trusty old Singer 201K, a Brother 929D overlocker (sharing a cabinet/table) and my “new” Brother 350, which has a note in the manual saying “Purchased – 8th Sept 1966”, which came with its own Horn cabinet for the bargain price of £25!! (most Horn cabinets go on Ebay for £200+). I know this little Brother looks much like Smith, but it comes with a set of cams to control the stitch formation, which is a step further than the simple zigzag function of the other machine. Not that I’ve used it yet, but I have the perfect project coming up!

(You may have noticed the lack of actual sewing in this post, but I have been doing a hand sewing course this month, so results are slower than usual! More on that next month).

Button It!

Or be careful what you wish for…
This whole doing sewing for other people and getting paid for it notion seems to be coming together, which is brilliant, but frankly terrifying.
I made Sue's tea towels a couple of months ago, which was a good and non-complicated start. But now somebody to whom I am not related (and is also my husbands boss) wants work done!
Mostly it is all straightforward, and essentially things I have done before… straight lines to adjust a tablecloth (Done!), and some cushions (which I made LOTS of for Christmas). Except that these ones need buttons. Which means buttonholes. And that is all new to me.
So I spent a lot of time reading about buttonholes. And being told how an automated machine does this really easily. And then looking at again for completely manual instructions. After reading lots – some of which made sense and some of which was a bit of a reach – I found this photo tutorial which really brought it all together!
So then I started practising:

	Not bad for a first go, but a bit rough and far too wide
	Quite a good fit, but not enough stitching and my spatial awareness with the direction of the zigs and zags was completely off.
	Again, not too bad, but too close to the centre line so I managed to cut the stitches while opening the hole.
	The tension was utterly wrong for this one – which is why the white bobbin thread is visible all down one side. I am blaming the small money who insisted on sitting on my lap for this stage.
	Better… apart from the really wonky bit. Time to try with the “real” thread (i.e. NOT PINK). The key improvement here was that mum suggested making the bar tacks (the long stitches at the top and bottom) first, and then the side stitches. It all balanced much better after that
	Better again! Spacing is right; just needs a little more practice and refinement. Also not sure it is the right colour thread. Hmmm.
	Nailed it! Now I just need to stop procrastinating and make the real ones. (Oh, and learn how to take photos that all look the same colour when finished.)

Oops!

Somehow another month has passed without me reporting in on anything, not even domestic activities. It was sunny, then it rained a lot so we haven’t really done anything. Apart from housework, which I don’t routinely photograph.
However, the last week has been a little busier with two birthdays to present make for. The first of these was my Mum’s, and as  part of my goal to make her all the things she likes I made her the Reversible Shoulder Bag, Mark II.

The same weekend a friend celebrated his 40th birthday and his wife organised a Christmas themed party for him. We weren’t able to attend (celebrating with Mum!) but I did send them a pair of Christmas Stockings (it seemed appropriate).

They were made completely out of things I already had in my cupboard (thereby justifying my hoarding) and came together relatively easily – especially after I realised I could hide a multitude of sins with ribbon!
Now I need to have a go at personalising the ones my mum made for my children last Christmas (when I ran out of time on Christmas Eve).

They are breeding!

Sort of accidentally acquired another vintage sewing machine.
It won’t be staying… I kind of wanted the cabinet it came in, but since then have found an even better one so the plan is to tidy it all up (treat the woodworm!!) and then sell it on again. It is a lovely little machine though – a 3/4 size machine, very similar to my Singer 201K, as you can see – and now that I have cleaned everything it runs beautifully.
Ah, well.

Bereft…

I have just sent my lovely Vintage Singer 201K off to be serviced and now I feel a little forlorn.

I know the rational among you will say “but you still have AWLNS”, but that’s kind of not the point. It’s a bit like saying,”well, Matthew’s gone away but you still have Piper and Robin”. (not that I am likening my children to machinery, or my machines to my children really). It’s just that having one thing doesn’t stop you missing the other.

However it greatly deserves its full service vacation, and will hopefully come back happier and healthier than ever.

A wooden leg named Smith

There is a new addition to the household. Well, not so much new as allowed out of the loft.

I had half forgotten that I had another sewing machine in the loft – my sister acquired it from friends years ago when they found it in the cellar of their new house. The first time it moved house with us the case gave up and fell down a flight of outside stairs. Since then it has lived in a big old leather bag in my loft (moving house at least 3 more times).
Just before Christmas we unearthed it and Robert gave it all a good clean and replaced the motor (three cheers for ebay) and now it works beautifully. I just need to rearrange everything so that it no longer has to live in its bag but on the table top ready for use – it is nearly as heavy to move as my vintage Singer. On top of that it lost a leg in that earlier tragic accident, so now it has a temporary wooden leg (named Smith).

The advantage of this machine is that it does zig-zag stitch so I can now do more feature details, and I am also planning to have a go at making leggings for my girls. I have already tested it out – details in the next post!

Also, a brief aside for those who care. We now have actual new drapes. My Mum took pity on us living with '80s relics with brick red/orange circles in squares and has let me have a lovely pair of heavy weight cream curtains she isn't currently using. Completely changes the lounge! (not least because now we are not shielding our eyes from the curtains we can see the battleship grey walls. Hmm...)