Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Quote of the Day

This was too good not to pass along.

"If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes."

From The Houghton Line, November 1965

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Vintage Patterns


One of the men I work with goes to a lot of auctions with his wife. They sell a lot of things on Ebay.
Today he came back from a trip to St Louis and brought me a big box of patterns from the 70s and 80s that his wife had gotten for me at an auction.

There are 27 Stretch and Sew patterns, some of them unopened. Others are Woman's World patterns. I was not familiar with that brand. They are very 80s with the awful linebacker shoulders. I can't believe that I actually wore those back in the day but I did.

What do you think of this pattern? Sorry the picture is blurry. I just hope those shoulders never come back in fashion.

Some of the Stretch and Sew patterns can definitely still be sewn today. They are really
classics and with minor tweaking will be very 2009.

I also like this Women's World dress. I think it would be a great work dress in a bold print worn with a cute jacket and fun fashion jewelry.


I will post more of the patterns soon.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I found a great magazine!

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted. I think I've been spending too much time reading sewing blogs and not enough time sewing or posting on my blog. I am going to try and do better!

I have been sewing since I was 8 years old and, believe me, that is a long time! My sister has always been the cook in the family and I was the sewist. She has recently found the joy of sewing. Most of the things she has made so far are for her grandchildren and I have to say, she is doing a great job. She has made some adorable baby and toddler items.

She got a serger last week and we got together and played with it. My goal was to show her that threading can seem complicated but it's not impossible. She bought a Brother 1034D and for the $200 she paid for it, it is a great little machine. If I needed a new serger, I would definitely buy one.

I am on my third serger in 25 years. My first one, that I bought in the mid 80s, was a basic 3 thread White that after about 5 years I killed when I hit some pins and not only ruined the knife but bent the loopers. It would have cost more to fix than I had paid for it. So then I bought a Pfaff that used awful industrial needles and you could spend hours trying to get it threaded. You almost needed to stand on your head to thread the loopers. It made a beautiful stitch if you were patient enough to thread it. I used it alot but a couple of years ago I just couldn't get the tension right. I still have it in a box in my sewing room but it is SICK (probably more like DEAD) and the local Pfaff dealer won't even look at it. He just wants to sell me a $2000 Baby Lock. Oh, no! About 18 months ago I bought a Janome 644D when they were discontinuing that model. I really like it. It's a good basic 3, 4 thread machine. I also have a Janome Coverpro 900CP that I just don't use as much as I thought I would. (I'm thinking I would if I did more sewing knits.)

Back to the title subject. On a recent trip to the local Joanns, I bought the Spring 2009 issue of Sew Stylish. It is a magazine aimed at 20 somethings from the publishers of Threads magazine. It has some really good, simple tutorials. It has articles on inserting zippers, how to read a pattern, how to sew in a sleeve, how to put in a hem by hand, how to fit a sundress top and more. It has so many good instructions that I have ordered 2 more copies of this issue...one for my sister and one for her daughter who got her first sewing machine for her birthday in May and is excited about learning how to sew. If you happen to see this magazine I would highly recommend getting it.






Monday, May 11, 2009

Not Much Sewing Going On

There hasn't been much sewing going on in the house out back lately. Spring is my least favorite season because here in Louisiana it brings out the worst in my allergies.

After my rant about the April Burda I wasn't sure about renewing my subscription but I liked a number of things in the May issue so I will be renewing for another year.

I am currently going to Weight Watchers with my sister. She and I have the exact same amount of weight to lose...that would be about 35 pounds. So I can't get too excited about sewing for my current figure in hopes of some significant changes in the upcoming months. We are both off to good starts.

Last night I did cut out a couple of summer gowns for my friend Sandy who lives about a hundred miles from me. She is having back surgery in June and I will be taking some vacation time to be with her when she first comes home from the hospital. I thought that Simplicity 9505 (view E) would be something she could wear after the surgery because it would be easy to get in and out of. I will post pictures when I get them done. Here is the picture of the pattern. View E is the gown with the drawstring at the shoulders in the upper right corner of the picture.


Hopefully, I can get the two that I have cut out finished this week.

Monday, March 23, 2009

April Burda World of Fashion

The April issue was in my mailbox today when I got home from work. I was delighted to get it so early. I don't usually look at the previews on line so I tore off the plastic and opened it with great expectation. BIG let down!

What is going on with BWOF? The cover doesn't say World of Fashion anymore. And, this issue...OMG...it's a crafts magazine. Maybe they dropped World of Fashion because it's becoming something other than fashion. And there is not one cute new fashion design in this issue. Excuse me...what's with the jumpsuits? Ugly!!!

Sorry, but I do not plan to sew a reindeer or elephant or bottle holder!

And if I want to make a quilt I will buy a quilt magazine.

Oh, and on the page with the measurements, they have changed the drawings to the ones they use in the European versions. They are different.

There are 3 issues left on my subscription and if this keeps up I will not be renewing it!

End of rant!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

I Have a New Toy!


My primary sewing machine is a Pfaff 1471 that I bought in May 1985. Yeph, it is about to turn 24 years old. When I had it in for service in September, the technician said it is in good condition and unless the circuit board goes out should give me much more sewing enjoyment. Here is a picture of my favorite sewing machine!



I know the two shades of brown aren't exactly today's style. But she was gorgeous in her younger days! And she sews anything!

I have been looking for a vintage mechanical machine to compliment the Pfaff and I found it on Ebay. I got a 3/4 size Kenmore 1040 that was in great condition. What a cutie it is! It came earlier this week but I was in corporate training all week so didn't get to check it out and clean and oil it until today. It was surprisingly clean for a machine made in the early 1970s so now I feel comfortable sewing with it. The inside is in great shape and looks like it has a relatively new belt. It has all the feet...everything that came with it originally except that the instruction book is a photocopy. There is some yellowing on the plastic on the front but that is to be expected on a machine that is over 35 years old. Here is a picture.


Once again, we have a two tone color scheme but this time it is 2 shades of green! It weighs about 15 pounds so it will be great to take with me when I want to sew away from home.

I am very happy with this addition to me sewing room and plan to put her to work tomorrow! I do like my new toy.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

No Photos

Well, as you can see, I haven't posted any pictures. I got no pictures on the school program and my camera died just before Christmas so I didn't get any pictures of the gifts I made. I now have a new inexpensive camera so I hope to post some pictures soon. I haven't been doing any sewing lately so I have nothing to take pictures of at this point. I hope to change that.