Sewing Machine Fun Facts

I happened across this YouTube video on the history of the sewing machine that I thought was pretty funny.  Also informative, as in I had no idea!  

You'd think it would have been pretty straightforward:  Some bright star invents the beloved machine, which is met all around with, "Hey, what a great idea!"; the gizmos sell like hotcakes and the rest is, well, history.  Right?  

Not exactly!

The real story is full of twists and turns, litigants and lawyers, murky maneuvers and mass marketing. 

Abby Cox does a brilliant job in the video.  It's always a plus when you can laugh while you learn!

* * * * *

Several months ago, I was sorting through and organizing some papers for genealogical purposes when I came across this insurance policy from 1892.

Do I really need to keep this? I wondered, as my eye scanned down the page.  My great-great-grandfather had insured his farmstead, itemizing its contents on the front page.

Do you see what I see?  Listed among the buildings and livestock was another valuable piece of equipment:  A sewing machine valued at $25.00 (about $800.00 in today's dollars).

Worth half as much as the barn and less than the onions*, but still an important item to enumerate and insure.  I thought that was pretty cool!  And yes, I do need to keep this!

*He was a fruit and vegetable farmer who marketed his produce, so I assume the onions on hand in January were his stock to be planted for the upcoming season.

~Paulette

Luck at the Thrifts

I've had some good luck at the thrift stores over the past few months.  I don't think I've done a post about these finds, but forgive me if I do repeat anything.

Actually, this first item came from a flea market several months ago.  One group of tables was piled with clothing and that's where I spied this beautiful red plaid shirt.  The tables seemed to be a family affair, so when I asked how much the shirt was, the man deferred to his tween-age son to answer with a price.  The kid said, "Fifty cents."  The father nodded.  Sold!

This is a big shirt!  There's a lot of usable fabric in this XL size.  And it looked like it had never been worn, with a lightly starched feeling and creasing like it was right out of the package.  A quality brand as well, Brooks Brothers.  Deal of the day!  It's so pretty, I haven't even washed and deboned it yet, but eventually I'll do that and add it to the shirt stash, along with another one I found at a thrift store, below.

I like the bright blue and turquoise check of this shirt.  I have no immediate plans for it, but it adds a nice variety to the stash.  I did use up quite a few shirts for the last couple of quilts, so I'm on the lookout for good ones, especially lights and brights.  

As far as actual fabric finds, you can see a couple pieces that I got the same day I bought the checked shirt.  At another store, I found quite a few good-sized pieces, including some John Deere fabric, the three pieces on the right side below.

I hadn't thought of making a John Deere themed quilt, but when I saw these, I decided maybe it was time to do that.  Dear Dad, who worked for Deere for 35 years, would have approved.

Now, I'm not a big jewelry wearer anymore; my pierced ears have closed up (might get them re-pierced), but once in a while I wear a necklace.  This one caught my eye at the thrift store.  Even if I don't wear the pendant (but why not?), the chain is nice and I could put a number of other pendants on it or wear it alone.  At under two bucks, it was a no-brainer.  Found another green and yellow fabric there, too.  It could become part of the JD quilt?

This gorgeous apron caught my eye.  Just look at that bright yellow gingham and the pretty embroidery.  It's been washed and pressed, and Dolly (my mannequin) is now modeling springtime itself!

I found a couple of boxes of handy sewing machine gadgets that will fit my old Singer and the one I gave my sister, too.  I already have most of the cams or discs (those dark circular do-dads) and many of the feet, but I don't think my sister has them, so I'll probably pass these on to her.

That blue and yellow floral piece of fabric was a cotton shower curtain, new in the package.  It has already been used as the back of a quilt.

I think that's about it for now.  I'm sure there were other things I picked up but they never made it into pictures, like the brand new camo pants hubby found for mowing lawn...whenever spring gets here.

Have you found any treasures at the thrift store lately?

~Paulette

Many Things Monday

Brother Everett and I have been kicking the can further on up the road, metaphorically speaking, moving incrementally forward on a few different things.  Namely, a couple of backings for two quilt flimsies which have been on the design wall for a long enough time.

Here is a peek at the backing for the Tea Towel Challenge 2014 quilt.

The next step on the Tea Towel Challenge quilt is to machine applique around the fused feather/leaf shapes.  Now that I've gotten a little more comfortable with the new machine, I'm ready to get started on that job.

The backing for the improv quilt (above) is from a vintage fabric found at the thrift store sometime in the last six months.  Since it was only 30-some inches wide, I needed to sew two lengths of it together to make it wide enough.  

The next step on that quilt will be to machine quilt in the ditch, and then I may add some hand quilting in perle (pearl?) cotton.  I've never done that before, so it'll be a new experience for me.

Sarah is having a 16-patch quilt-along (see link on sidebar).  I've been unsure what kind of quilt I wanted to make with 16 patches, so I've dragged my feet a bit on getting started.  I did find some 2-1/2 inch olive and brown squares in the scrap bin, however, and just for kicks and giggles, I sewed what was left of those onto a variety of brown scraps, ending up with two 16-patches like so.

I love bright colors, but I'm also very compelled by earthy tones like this.  These are orphan blocks for now, but you never know when inspiration will come along and carry them away into another project. 

As I got to looking around the sewing room, I spied the lovely stack of hand-dyed fabric I'd won recently in the Crossing the Drunkard's Path quilt-along from Vicki Welsh.  Aren't they gorgeous?

I started grouping some of the pieces into light/dark (-ish) pairs and, in the process, hit upon an idea for the 16-patch blocks, to be arranged in a 16-patch and X's quilt (a/k/a Good Night Irene).  I just need to decide on the background fabric, but I'm leaning toward a light gray low-volume print in the stash, assuming I've got enough of it or can find more, if necessary.

I decided it was time to change up the office space Pyrex display.  So it went from this fall-like aggregation:

To this:

This seemed especially appropriate as Valentine's Day approaches, but really it's true all year round.  I *heart* Pyrex!

Here is something else I *heart* lately.  This will definitely make your taste buds tingle.

And your lips burn.  That's a good thing, right?

It Takes an Outage

Last night the cable went out for about four hours in the evening, which meant the phone, internet, and TV were all unavailable.  When it first went out, we were like, "You know, we should probably do something like this regularly, maybe pick one day a week where we don't turn on the computer or TV or anything electronic, except maybe the radio or stereo."  (All of a sudden I feel old for using the word stereo...do people even have stereos anymore?)

See, normally at that time of night, Norm is watching something enlightening on television (*cough* TMZ ) and I am pretending to work at the computer while actually perusing blogs and pinning the internet.  Surely, we agreed, these are habits we can take a break from, from time to time.  

Stuff like that always sounds good, in theory.  Like giving up junk food.  Or fasting, voluntarily.  Something I have never done except in advance of a medical procedure.  Heck, I can't even starve a fever.

So, in our time of "darkness," we put some music on the stereo (there it is again) as I did the dishes.  We discussed an article in a local magazine about Native Americans in our area two centuries ago.  That was interesting.  Thirty minutes down.

Then I went to walk on the treadmill, but with no TV or Netflix to distract me, I became bored with the endeavor after a half hour, so I wandered into the laundry room and decided to wash a stack of fabric that's been on the shelf over the washer for, oh, three months or so.

A couple hours passed—still no cable—and though neither of us would admit it, we were both beginning to get a little twitchy.  Finally, I went to the sewing room, turned on public radio, and looked at Everett.  

Poor, neglected Everett, the Brother sewing machine I bought on a lightning deal on Amazon after Thanksgiving but hadn't so much as plugged in yet.  So I did.  

I turned him on. 

(Did you ever think you'd read that sentence on a sewing blog?)

A few minutes later, his bobbin was wound and he was threaded and ready (oh, brother...).

Soon I was experimenting with stitches and settings and such, manual close at hand for frequent reference.  Things seemed to go okay.  I made a little four-patch block from scraps to see how true the 1/4-inch seam guide was, and it came out right on.  I tried the blanket stitches and made a few adjustments to what I thought was the tension, although it could have been the presser foot pressure I fiddled with.  I didn't read the manual on that one, just turned a dial.

First impressions:  The machine is lightweight, and I can see carrying it to a class or on vacation very easily.  Another facet of that is it definitely feels more "plasticky," kind of like a toy versus the boat anchors that are my other heavy metal machines.  

More pros:  It's quiet.  It threads easily.  The bobbin drops in from the top with easy access. There are a crap-ton of decorative stitches.

I do notice I seem to be hunching over it while threading it or squinting to see the fabric being sewn.  Seems like I want to set it up higher on something to give me a better line of sight.  But that could be because it's new and I'm really focusing, intent on learning its bells, whistles, and idiosyncrasies.  

And you know how it is when you start driving a car with the shifter on the floor versus on the column?  That's how I am with grabbing behind the needle with my left hand to raise the presser foot when the lever is actually located on the right side within the harp space.  I'm sure I'll do the air grab many more times until I finally get it.  Speaking of harp space, there isn't a whole lot of it (for quilting), but that's what the Juki is for.

So we've broken the ice, me and Everett, and are off to a decent start.  I guess I can thank the cable company for that!

Oh Brother

Welp, I did it.  I caved to a "Lightning Deal" on Amazon yesterday and am now awaiting the arrival of Everett.

As in Ulysses Everett McGill, my new Brother sewing machine.

Don't be confused by the photo of Mr. Project Runway there on the front.  

Imagine instead, if you will, Everett.

I truly hope Everett is all he is cracked up to be, but honestly if he can do two things, that's all I'm asking.

(1)  Automatic buttonholes.

(2)  Blanket stitch for applique.

I have neither capability on my vintage machines or the Juki, all of which have names as well, viz:

• Tammy, the Singer 603E Golden Touch 'N Sew.
• Viv, the Singer 301.
• Jane, the Juki TL98Q.

Also currently visiting are two machines of my daughter's, which I bought for her over the past few years:

• Kenny, the Kenmore.
• Silver,  a Singer 600 Touch 'N Sew.

For those unfamiliar with the film,"O Brother, Where Art Thou," Ulysses Everett McGill is the main character, played by George Clooney.  

"O Brother" is one of my favorite Coen Brothers flicks, in part due to the clever dialog between the characters, beginning with the first lines uttered by Everett in the movie, as he attempts to hop a box car full of hobos while still in irons from the chain gang from which he escaped (clip).

Ulysses Everett McGill:  Say, any of you boys smithies? Or, if not smithies per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wanderin'?

It may seem silly to have a name before I even have the machine, but I'm okay with that.  I'm looking forward to getting to know Everett in the months ahead, and putting him to work alongside the rest of the gang, no chains attached—but those buttonholes and basket stitches better be awesome.

"I've spoken my piece and counted to three."

Sunday Sundry 1-22-12

Hi-ho, Silver!
First, the good news.  (There really isn't any bad news, maybe just that the weekend is always shorter than my to-do list).

The "new" vintage machine sews like a champ!  Straight stitch, anyway.  I cleaned and oiled it and took the cover and bottom plates off and lubed the gears.  It really is in great shape overall, and doesn't appear to have been used that much.  In fact, outwardly, it's in better shape than my Singer 603E, its sister.  One is silver (or gray, maybe) and the other gold!

The only glitch—okay, so maybe a bit of not-so-good news—is that one of the levers to change to a zigzag or any of the other built-in stitches seems to be seized up.  I oiled the mechanism really well from the inside, hoping it might free it up, but so far it's still stuck.  It doesn't look like anything is broken or out of place with the mechanism itself.  So it may make a trip over to the fix-it man after all.  Still, it sounds great, looks great, and sews a nice, evenly balanced straight stitch right out of the gate.  I am thrilled, and I hope dear daughter will be as well!

Knock-knock...Who's there?...Orange...
Orange you glad I found some more Pyrex at Goodwill?  Two identical casseroles, one in a lovely turquoise and the other, well, you know.  I paired them with a matching vintage fabric found a while back at the thrift store.

And lest you think I buy up all the Pyrex in the county when I find it, I'll have you know there was an entire refrigerator set that I left there for some other lucky thrill seeker.  It was a brown speckled pattern with navy blue flowers, and if I weren't feeling so lazy, I'd look the pattern up and use the correct name to describe it, but you obviously don't know me.  Wasn't it enough that I left it there?  I thought so.  ;)

I could stare at pretty Pyrex glinting in the sun all day, but you all don't have that kind of time, so let's move on, shall we?

How about a vintage recipe box glinting in the sun?

It looks happy or hungry...I can't decide.

Cut it Up and Cry
Tears of joy, that is.  (Also, that's the title to a really good song by Sonia Dada that you might take a minute or six to listen to later.)  But cut it up is what I did to that courthouse steps block.  Don't worry, there will be a happy ending.

(I am not as maniacal as I appear.)

The idea was that I wanted to try one of my quilting idol's pieced circle technique.  If you follow Dan Rouse of Piece and Press, you'll know what I mean.  Seriously, I love everything he has ever made.
 
So I looked at that courthouse block the other day and thought, now what?  I don't really need another table mat or potholder or wall hanging at the moment.  Hey, why don't I cut it up and try piecing a circle?  
And was I at all nervous about doing this?  Well, sure.  But as Shay would say, it's only fabric.

But it totally worked!  Measure a bazillion times and cut once, was my mantra.  Then I pinned the bejeepers out of it all the way around the circle and sewed slowly and carefully.  Oh, and I had stay-stitched about 1/8" from the edge of my cut-from-courthouse circle because of all the seams I had sliced through.  I was worried about those coming apart as I fiddled with fitting the circles together.

And so now what?  Well, Silver, the sewing machine up there, needs a cover.  I pulled a couple other scraps, and I'm sure I'll cobble something together.  I'm sort of making it up as I go along.

A Reminder
The Veggie Market Quilt is in its final hours of auction on Ebay, but there is still time to bid.  You can own this one of a kind quilt and support Japan Quake Relief with your winning bid.  The details can be found in the auction description and also at Mom Wald's Place.

Thanks for visiting!  T-minus four hours until Downton Abbey!  Have a great evening!

Deal or No Deal?

I think it was a deal!  But aside from plugging it in and hitting the foot feed to see if it ran (oh, it purred), the jury is still out.

For less than the price of lunch, this Singer Model 600 came home with me on Wednesday from Goodwill.  We took a roundabout way home though.  

While shopping, I spied a mid-century sewing table, closed up.  The sign said "Sewing Table $9.99."  The table had seen better days, for sure, and I really wasn't interested in the furniture.  I lifted the lid, however, and peeked inside.  There was a machine in there, and I recognized it immediately!  

It was just like the one I'd passed up at a different thrift store a couple weeks ago, the only difference being this model had the button to wind the bobbin in a different place (this is a 600 "Auto Reel", that was a 600E).

I looked the machine over but didn't buy it right away.  Instead, I went home and—what else—Googled a bit.  Then I called a repair guy to find out if he still did repairs (he's been "retired" a while).  Sadly, he said his eyesight was failing and he didn't, but he gave me the name of another man he highly recommended.  I called the second man, and he said he'd be happy to go over it for me.  He just wanted me to make sure it was one of the models with all metal parts (it was).

So I went back to Goodwill and bought it.  The sales associate grabbed a screwdriver and helped me remove it from the table, and I "re-donated" the table (that's what they called it, because I didn't want the table itself, and they were fine with that).

I'll give it a cleaning, oiling and test drive this weekend.  Then, if it needs any other work, I'll take it to the fix-it man.  Daughter, if you're reading this, you may be looking at your "new" machine. 

As far as actual sewing, there hasn't been much happening here (work has had other plans for me), but I did make a scrappy courthouse steps block for the Sew Scraps Along.

I've got an idea for this block, but it involves cutting and piecing it into something else, in a way I've never done before.  I'll need some weekend time to play around with that scheme, though.  If it works, you'll see it again in another form.  If not, it was fun while it lasted!

Organized Chaos

I've been working on string pinwheel units.

Good clean fun...

...that makes (more of) a mess of my sewing area.

Sheesh, how many scissors do I need there, anyway? Apparently, one to cut paper, one to snip thread tails, one to cut fabric. Just out of frame, there's another longer snipping scissors and one or two rotary cutters. Right tool for the right job, I guess.

I'm using the old Singer Touch & Sew for piecing the strings onto phone book pages. I'll use the Juki (aka Jane) when I get to sewing the rest of the blue/red units. The Touch & Sew wants to eat the triangle corners. She gets a little grabby when she's hungry.

The Touch & Sew needs a name, by the way. I was thinking of Tammy. It's from the mid-1960s, and that seems like an era-appropriate name to me. Tammy, the Touch & Sew?

Viv is relegated to watching from afar. Hope she doesn't mind sitting this one out.


Yep, that is a boom box there in the corner. Does it qualify as vintage yet? Norm has it running through the stereo amp and bookshelf speakers above, and I just use it as a CD player. It may be old school and cobbled together, but it sounds much better than my mp3 player does. Besides, I still like the tactile nature of CDs...just not so much the clutter they make on my table.

A few finished units. My goodness, I am a piler. Underneath are, let's see, a couple of finished items (in a shopping bag) that need quilting, a vintage apron pattern I intend to sew (probably in 2013), and a stack of mending...which, since it's spring now, can probably wait another six months!

There's part of the fabric stash--the part that can't fit in the drawers. Hey, there are those cork squares I bought in September. Guess they're not going to stick themselves to the wall, are they?

And to think I started this post feeling like I had been productive. Oh well, how about a fun song?

Too Much Stuff - Delbert McCli...