I live!

Eeps, it's been, what, two months since the last post? That's just sad.



Also sad - despite it being two months, I really don't have a lot to share. I got my sewing area set up in the new house but it's so dark and cold that I don't spend the time in it that I'd like to. Really need to remember to pick up some lights and another extension cord to fix that. It's just for another 6 months so I haven't stressed over it like I would if this were anything more permanent.

Anyway, next post will be SWAP related but wanted to waylay any rumors of my demise or whatnot. And hopefully pictures soon - I like pictures. :)

Can you identify this needlework method?

So these are a pair of little baby booties made for my mother-in-law's mother by her mother and they're just gorgeous. However I can't figure out just how it was made. It doesn't look quite like either crochet or knitting and it's not macrame. I know that DH's great-grandmother was skilled in embroidery and tatting and DMIL has stories of her knitting things she'd seen without a pattern in the space of a few evenings so that doesn't narrow the options too much. Still, it's gorgeous workmanship and it was a priviledge getting to pour over some of the items she made.

More of her work -

Baby bonnet also made for DH's grandmother - look at how tiny the work is!



The edge of a lingere piece. She made a set of three lingere items all from the same pattern and not a single machine stitch on them. I'll show off the full set in a future post but for now a taste of how she creatively used embroidery as a utility stitch to hold on the lace. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.

New Toy!

I'm in love with our local Goodwill. I'm both a closet tree-hugger and a poor student so the idea of getting used but still good stuff for great prices with the proceeds going to good use? Score! So we've been doing a lot of our shopping there this past week. Got a desk, chairs, storage stuff, all for a good price. But yesterday was the definate gold mine. Looking around for a chair for my sewing are I noticed a long, slightly beat-up, rather dated box. Looked closer.

A Bond Knitting machine. From the early 90s. With all it's pieces. For $7.99. Gorgeous! Mine!

I brought it home and last night we got it set up on the one table it fits on (the kitchen table - guess we're eating at the coffee table for a while) and tested it out and I'm utterly amazed and overjoyed. It took some annoying-to-knit boucle yarn I had and turned it into a foot of gorgeousness in just half an hour with no problem. All I had to do was get it set up (admittedly rather time consuming and fiddly) and then slide the cartrige back and forth. And that's it! Love!

I need to spend time over at the bond site for project ideas - unfortunately the ones the machine came with are ... dated. To say the least. Lots of amusement value, though! And a fun, fun new toy to enjoy while I'm up here in sweater land. :)

Very vintage doll pattern: or, A Taste of Things To Come

We've moved in, most boxes are unpacked, and hopefully next weekend I'll finally get a table for my sewing area and be up and running! I even managed to find the only Joann's within an hour's drive without deliberately looking for it - just turned off the highway for a mid-day treat and there it was. And so impressive - all the fabrics I loved from my Dallas Joann's plus many more! And the clearance section! And the yarns! All swathed in wide, clean aisles and nice bright (albit florescent) lights. Happiness!

Anyway, more of all that later. For now, a taste of the long-promised photos of my mother-in-law's grandmother's sewing treasures.

The treasures included a couple embroidery patterns, a small trouseau of entirely hand-sewn lingere, all from the same basic pattern, and, my favorite, a doll dress pattern dating from the early days of patterns.

Unfortunately the best of the pics are still trapped on my home computer which lacks internet access and will have to wait for the weekend to get any. But until then, this is a taste of what I got to see:



This shows the back (sorry, no pic of front at present - coming!!) of the pattern envelope which was, if memory serves, from the early 1920s. It's far smaller than standard pattern envelopes today - maybe 5" in hight and 3" wide? One thing I didn't do was measure it, though I know I have a picture with a penny for comparison. Somewhere. If you look you'll notice how excited McCall's is to offer printed directions. :) And look at all those pattern pieces! The pattern is for what seems to be a very basic little dress and bloomers for an 18" doll - apparently the definition of "basic" has changed over the years. :)


The directions and, I believe, the pattern pieces themselves were printed on one long piece of tissue paper in blue ink. I took a panoramic series of photos to capture every last line but, naturally, in the short bit of time I had to upload to my photo album only a few made it. The rest are waiting patiently and I promise you will get to see them! Click on this photo to get a far larger view and enjoy all the wonderful little details!

Here's part 4 of the directions with the most gorgeous illustrations. And look at the techniques apparently used on a basic doll dress! So amazing.

Like I said, this is just a taste of the treasures I got to see and preserve digitally over the week with the in-laws. And MIL was probably very happy to have someone as excited about all the items as she was. :) I've also been commissioned to make a beautiful day dress for her grandmother's doll, something I'm very much looking forwards to as it's a great chance to really have fun with some vintage styles and nice fabric. I think a trip to Gayfeathers is in order!

How's summer going?

Busy here!  Hopefully in another couple weeks I'll be back in the land of regular internet access and I've been storing up things to share - fabrics acquired, a few gorgeous 1920s patterns MIL has passed down from her grandmother, hand-sewn chemises from the same grandmother, and my attempt at getting by on just 20 or so patterns for a year.  And, I'm sure, more but that's what I'm most excited about at the moment.  Unfortunately that'll have to wait a tad until said regular internet, computer, and I are all together at the same time.  Until then hope that everyone else is having a great, productive, and fun summer!

Break for Vogues

So packing is ... hectic. And I'm tired of boxes and loads of laundry (thanks to water damage and mold we have to wash EVERYTHING - fortunately the apartment's paying for it but I'm still the one doing it) so I'm taking a dinner break to focus on something rather unexpectedly happy - the Fall Vogues!

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I love the belt on this - the way it's sewn in on the back avoids the bubble butt that volume + belt can give.  And while it's still more volume than I can wear without feeling silly or overly fussy it's at least a good take on the volume of the past few years.

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What a gorgeous and smart dress for fall.  I love all the seams and the square neckline.  So beautiful.

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This is such a fabulous day-to-night outfit.  You can't see it in the picture because they picked black (why, when it photographs so badly) but there's a gorgeous bit of seaming details going on between the waist and hips.  A great way to use some nice wool.  

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More fabulous details - the skirt has a neat gather in the front (here obscured by the jacket) and a nice diagonal asymetrical seam in the back.  Very nice, great way to make an extra-special little black skirt.  Like the jacket as well but it's really the skirt that wins it for me.  I would, however, put in a kick pleat rather than that slit... that always looks like something cheap brands do to save money and time.  Not so fab.

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Pleats at the neck, gorgeous.  Not sure if I can pull off a fitted knit dress (though it does call for fairly firm knit) as those react badly with my "athletic" thighs.  But still, very gorgeous dress.

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Another fabulous little dress.  That waist panel looks so flattering and there's lots of seams to let you get the fit just perfect.  

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Ok, impractical and totally not me, but I love the high waisted skirt and little capelet jacket.  It's such an Adelle Dewit outfit (from Dollhouse - I have a rather pitifully desperate crush on her wardrobe) and I so want to be the sort of person who can pull off such a style.

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Ok, not feeling the jacket but the rest of the wardrobe is lovely.  I especially like the dress/faux top and skirt.  Very slick and chic.  And in a solid color the jacket isn't too bad.  Ok, it's kinda nice, with the slim pieces underneath.  I could grow to like it.  But the skirt and dress are really my favorites.  And the skirt and pants both have darts under the waistband which are a big plus for me - so many patterns with waistbands forget that some of us have curvy bums and need all the shaping we can get.  I'll probably still have to add to the dart but at least it's there to start with and doesn't have to be drafted in entirely.  

Ok, that was a nice break.  :)  Back to the laundry and boxes and off to pick up box tape!

Fourth of July Skirt

(btw, those are sitting, not fitting, wrinkles. Just to make myself feel better about showing this picture)

New skirt just in time for the 4th! And yes, you'll notice I do go in for themed dressing. :)

The skirt is from the sadly out of print Simplicity 3754 which is my current favorite skirt pattern. It's also my most-used skirt pattern with three different incarnations hanging in my closet. Love!

The fabric is a medium weight cotton that was originally in Joann's home dec section before getting thrown in the remnant bin. Our Joann's seems to have a new policy on what constitutes remnants because out of nowhere the bins showed up and more often then not you can find up to two yards of very nice fabric for 50% off. And when the remnants themselves go on sale it's just happy times for me. This red cotton came home with four other pieces and I think the bill was less than $5. Serious score there. Two of those pieces are "in process" as I finish little details and such so hopefully they'll make their debut soon.

But back to the skirt, it's my sole "mini" skirt (in quotes because I've found what I consider mini is simply short to most people) and a fun skirt to wear. So bright and happy! My only dislike are those criss-cross belt holders - I put them in correctly so it's not an operator error. I'm thinking that they're just drafted too long, especially since this skirt is the recommended fabric weight so they SHOULD be perfect. Oh well.

Beyond that, we had a lazy Sunday that SHOULD have been spent getting the place ready for our evacuation. Oh, well. We'll work on it tonight and I've got tomorrow morning free so it'll get done. And it was a very enjoyable lazy so the time wasn't wasted. :)