Vintage Apron and Chicken Scratch

I've been baking lately and wore my vintage apron. This was in my great aunt's stuff, so I don't know who made it (she didn't sew). I always thought of this type embellishment as "gingham designs" until a few years ago when I heard it had a name--chicken scratch. I think it's perfect for kids learning to sew. Just follow the gingham grid. It's super simple and fun--and looks pretty darn neat.

Red

Does any other thread or fabric leave such a mess on the sewing machine as red? Or maybe it's just so bright it's more noticeable. You can see on top of the walking foot above, and it was all underneath the plate below. This was just from making the Christmas placemats.

I sewed something of red velvet once on the Elna that actually left a pink stain on the white part of the machine. Red!

Pajamas and A Blue Moon

For lounging this week sew up some quick pajamas. Look at C--who looks like that in pajamas?!  Check out her slippers too. I don't have a pattern for 1920's or 30's lounging outfits, but I wish I did. I'd make them and sit around the house looking outrageously over dressed but having so much fun.

If you're one of those people who puts things off for a blue moon or once in a blue moon, you're time is about up. There's a blue moon Thursday.

Photo Button

I don't have one of those beautiful button collections like so many people. Aside from all my pearl ones my buttons are rather ordinary. Except for this one. It's a hair away from being half an inch across yet it has a tiny photograph in it. Originally there were three others, each with a different photo, but my aunts have those. I've never seen anything like it. If you happen to know about these things tell me--I want to know.

Quirky Flowers Quilt

Here is the Quirky Flowers quilt I was showing close-up shots of last week finished. Son #2 is holding it up for me.

Because of the busyness of the colors and designs I decided to counter with very simple quilting. The flowers and polka dots have meandering and the stripes and solids have simple geometrics. Again I'm pleased with the results.

Why do I make so many bar quilts? Several reasons. One is that I want these bright, neat fabrics to show, not necessarily a patchwork design or the quilting. Secondly, they are ridiculously easy and fun to make. Because I give away a lot of my quilts to people I hardly know and in some cases I've never met, I have the fun of making the quilt without investing a lot of time or money into it, but with good end results. I've already given this one away, and was told the recipient loved it. So all's well.

The Evening Dress

For the holidays I'm showing the crowning glory of my vintage patterns. A 1930's evening dress by Butterick.

This is the only evening dress pattern I have, but it's a nice one. I particularly like the image C with the open back and flounces on the lower back (I think if you click on the picture it will enlarge so you can see it better). I don't think this pattern was ever used, but congratulations to the home seamstresses who made these dresses--wow!

(Happy Winter Solstice to you too!)

Sailor Boy Thread Ad

A trading card for Clark's Spool Cotton. Doesn't every little boy have a sailor suit? Mine did. Their grandmom made a little light blue romper with white sailor collar for their one year old photo.

More Dratted Mending

Two of my new skirts have had their hems fall out! And you know how I feel about mending. I can't put them off since I wear them so much, but the hem I put in isn't going to fall out so easily I can promise. Maybe this is why they were on such a super sale--mending will be required.

Close Up of Free Motion Quilting

I decided to show some very close-up shots of a quilt I'm finishing up. I find the flowers neat but weird so I've been calling it the Quirky Flowers Quilt. The first shows my stippling except it's not really stippling--it's more meandering.

This next one is a closer shot of the bottom lower right of the photo above. The stitches are for the most part even.

So are the ones on the polka dot part.

But I won't kid you--I picked out a couple of sections I thought looked pretty good for those shots. I did the polka dot section and sat back viewing it, ran my hand over the quilting, and was pleased. Then I did this next flower section. I don't know what happened. I lost my quilting mojo. I couldn't stitch even at all. And see the little sharp corner with the two big stitches in the middle? When I was moving the quilt and trying to position the right side under the sewing machine my sleeve or glove caught the spool pin for bobbin winding. As I felt it pull I jerked free but also ended up jerking the quilt top and making that little point. Do I remove it? No way! Once that thing's washed no one will notice it from a galloping horse. It even took me a couple of minutes to locate it for the photo.

Christmas Placemats

I rarely do holiday sewing; I leave that for others. The only reason I even made these placemats is because my husband spotted the nutcracker fabric and asked me to make them. So I made reversible mats with a red binding to match our red holiday napkins.

I prefer using flannel as a batting in placemats because it gives them a little substance and can be washed repeatedly without worry. Flannel also doesn't need quilting as close together as batting does, but I didn't have any and didn't want to go out so I used batting. They turned out alright--I like the candy cane side.

Another Party Dress

This is a late 50's McCall's pattern designed by Hannah Troy. I've always wondered what that sort of neckline (with the fold) would look like on a person not just a drawn model. I finally saw one sometime ago on Sew Retro , and it was rather nice.

George Washington Trading Card

Although this trade card is for thread there is no sign of the advertised item on the front of the card. Some companies showed bits of history on their cards. This one shows young George Washington meeting Martha.

A little extra: see the small round table in the background? My dad made several replicas of this type table, and I have a cherry one. We're always busy making things in my family.

An Organized Drawer

This is the drawer in my sewing table where my most used tools are readily at hand. If you look carefully you can count not one, not two, not three...but four seam rippers. This doesn't include the one in my old sewing cabinet and the one in my basket. I won't kid you--I make mistakes--a lot. I have come to accept this.

Mail Order and The Story of Hofur

I have never ordered fabric through the mail. Until now. I was at Fabric.com and spotted this collection of The Beatles Yellow Submarine fabric and was quick to order. The first two photos are large panels of fabric. The last is the tie in fabrics.
So why haven't I mail ordered fabric before now? I like to feel my fabrics first. With quilter's cotton I don't feel as bad about ordering, but I'm not comfortable ordering other fabrics. What if I get Hofur? What is hofur you ask?

One day in the early 80's while shopping with my mother and aunt we felt a terrible sweater. It looked nice but felt awful. My aunt read the label and said it was virgin wool. My mother retorted it seemed more like hofur. A new word was born. It's the opposite of virgin wool. Not virgin (ho-fur, get it?) Yes, I thought you would. While virgin wool is soft and nice, hofur is scratchy, terrible yarn or fabric. We have used the word ever since. My husband looked appalled at me once when shopping and I said something was hofur. He now knows what it is too.

I suppose I could send any fabric I ordered back with an explanation if it turned out to be hofur.

And remember: All You Need Is Love!

Simplicity Full Skirt

No time to make a dress? Try something like this 1950's Simplicity full skirt pattern that is "Simple to Make". It has a detailed or plain waistband and also includes the petticoat pattern. Wear it with a very fitted top and some great jewelry. In fact, if you have any vintage jewelry get it out! Such as this Christmas tree:

Or one of those outrageous rhinstone brooches like this one:

Don't just store it--have some fun and wear it!

Willimantic Thread Ad

Some of the old thread trading cards are funny. They often have children sitting with giant spools of thread. I've never heard of Willimantic Thread except in the half dozen trade cards I have of theirs. Rather a nice little dress this girl is wearing with her little white button boots.

Not The Same!

The button fell off my corduroy shirt. People who don't sew don't seem to know there is a great difference between sewing and mending. They are not the same at all! Sewing something new has an excitement to it, even anxiety sometimes. Mending is drudgery.

I now of someone who brought my mom a garbage bag full of things to be mended once. Certain someone even wanted a t-shirt slightly altered. It's a t-shirt! I have more things I want to sew than my lifetime will allow--I'm not wasting it on someone's t-shirt. Neither did mom.

I have trouble respecting people that don't even try to do their own mending. Even my husband sewed a button back onto his pants when I was too sick to once and he wanted them to wear. It looked like a bird's nest, but it certainly held.

Picking up a needle and thread is not doing us sewers an honor if you want us to use it to mend your grubby old clothes. Now I must go and sew my button on--and maybe hem that skirt that's been waiting on my sewing table for three weeks that gets simply thrown aside every time I sit to use the sewing machine. Mending, blah!

Organizing

This little thing is the reason I ended up reorganizing my sewing stuff for three days and still haven't finished:
I was in the mood to embroider and couldn't find my medium sized hoops. I don't have a sewing room like so many lucky people. I have sewing things stashed everywhere. I used to know where everything was but after I inherited mom's sewing room things got out of hand. I have somethings in this old chifferobe (the picture is crooked, not the chifferobe--also it still has its original mirrors is why they look kind of wonky). It's the most accessible right now. Am I spelling chifferobe right? You know what I mean anyway.

I've been putting a few things in it and probably will add more this week. The bottom is crammed with odd things I'm working on right now. I have this chifferobe, two under-the-bed boxes, a hall closet, a large cedar wardrobe in the yucky basement room, and a bookshelf for the sewing library. Also the bottom of another hall closet. And a few odds and ends stuck about.

Unlike many people who have sewing rooms with their fabrics and stuff sitting right out where they can admire it, I have to store everything carefully. I have an amazing amount of dust in my house that I vacuum and dust up every week, but it's still there and if it gets in my sewing things it sets off my asthma. Therefore, everything is packed up in bins. Also I don't like fabric sitting in the bright light--I hate finding a faded crease running down my fabric.

If you only do one type of sewing it's probably easier to organize. If you're like me and do several types you have to find loads of room for all the little necessary things. I'm trying to put it into groups. Quilting, knitting, heirloom sewing, regular sewing, crochet, etc. Now it will only take me twice as long as it used to to start a project as I try and remember where I put everything for awhile. Oh, and I did find the embroidery hoop in the chifferobe hat section where I simply forgot I put it about a month ago.

Candy Quilt

I finished another baby quilt. I call this one the candy quilt because the starburst fabric was called candy something on the bolt end--it works.

I made it for someone expecting a girl in February but then found out she likes lighter shades of blue, green and yellow. I'm not sure how she'd feel about fuchsia stripes. I have some medium shades of fabric I can make another quilt with.

The striped fabric has straight quilting and the circles and starburst fabric have free motion stippling. The fuchsia stripes were a challenge because I wanted fuchsia quilting thread and don't have any (didn't want to order any either). White stood out too much until I struck upon mimicking the starburst with little quilted stars. Each star was done separately which meant I had to sink all the thread ends into the batting. I never just cut the tails; I do the same as with hand quilting and put them through the batting layer then trim. I'm pleased with it. Now it gets rolled up and put in an under-the-bed box until someone has a girl.