rostitchery

nifty thrifty

I AM SO EXCITED!

i bought this desk at the thrift store yesterday and just picked it up this afternoon, i have been wanting something like this for 20 years!

the machine is a singer touch & sew 756, it doesn't have any presser feet but it did have a little thing on it that i had never seen, it was lowered when i got it and it wasn't until i fixed the side door that i discovered what it really is:  a needle threader!

this desk is so well designed--it has a knee bar that is situated in such a way that when you sit at the machine, the needle is directly in front of you (unlike most sewing machine cabinets that have a knee bar situated in such a way that the center of the machine is directly in front of you--putting the needle to your left, in line with your shoulder).  and THIS knee bar is like the one in my other cabinet--it will accept foot pedals that are full foot or button only.

the top drawer has a little thread spool holder.  the middle drawer had the manual for the machine and a receipt for a tune up ($23.00!).  the back of the manual had a notation "Purchased Sept 1973".  there was also a threading diagram sheet and a little seam ripper that says "Singer" on the side.  the bottom drawer has a sliding tray (the little kittie is bea, a dear little troublemaker who serves as the primary machine inspector).

when i pulled out the bottom drawer to check the drawer slider, i found a christmas card, a piece of rigilene boning, a levi's jeans card with two tags stapled to it, and THE ORIGINAL SALES RECEIPT FOR THE MACHINE!!!  $86.00, sold to grace rockwell by the c.r. anthony co., in albuquerque, NM. 

the christmas card is addressed to "grace", and signed by margaret gonzales.  my maiden name is GONZALEZ--as rudi said, it's kismet!

 

there is a leaf that covers the machine when it is stored.  my plan is to move my 401A into this desk--thus taking advantage of the knee bar--and putting my serger in the cabinet that the 401A is in.  (right now, the serger is on a folding conference table that takes up WAY TOO MUCH SPACE in the guest room).  i'll clean up the T&S and use it at the shop.

and how much did all this bounty set me back?  i mere $21.00, not including tax.  that's right, i got it all for less than the cost of a tank of gas.  it would have cost more, but i got it a 30% discount. 

now i just have to figure out what to do with the conference table.  :D

dolly

two christmases ago, i made ella a little dolly to match a dress i had made for her.  but since i didn't know diddly about making dolls (and still don't) the hair wasn't very pretty.  ella was concerned because she could see the dolly's scalp between the strands and she was sure the dolly was going bald.  :) 

last week, it dawned on me what to do.  i took off the dolly's hair, wetted it, and wound it on barbeque skewers.  i put the skewers in the oven to heat set--dolly hot curlers.  :D

meanwhile, i knitted a cap of hair for her on the green knifty knitter loom.  i did it by wrapping pegs 1-3-5-7-9-11, knitting them, then wrapping 2-4-6-8-10-12 and knitting them--repeated over and over--making a much looser piece of knitting than wrapping every peg.  i decreased in the back to make it fit the head better, then i loosely stitched the cap to the dolly's head:

this morning, i took the old hair off the skewers, cut each strand in half, then crocheted the strands one by one onto the wig.  a couple of hairbows later and voila!

ella loves the new hair!  "she got hairbows too!  she wooks gorgeous, just wike me, mama!"  which i believe is the nicest thing you could ever say about a dolly.

SRC: cinderella

ella has discovered cinderella, which means she has discovered outfits--after all, that's more or less what cinderella is about.  she didn't really want a ballgown--i think because all the most important stuff in the story happens when cinderella is wearing her rag dress--so i made her a "rag" dress.  (although even in the movie, it can hardly be described as ragged--one very neat, picturesque apron tear does not a rag dress make). 

anyway....

inspiration:

and interpretation:

the bodice is cut from the leftovers of the big, brown baggy dress i used to make the skirt for charlotte's riding suit--the sleeves are from the scraps left from the one seam convertible dress--the skirt is the bottom of a dress i found in stock (have no idea why we have it or what it was for)--the apron was cut down from an apron i made for "amelia goes to the ball" (an opera which we did before i had a blog--i'll have to get some pictures up for you--it was beautiful).  please note that ella INSISTED on a pocket--that's where she keeps her glass slipper.

and believe it or not, k-mart, of all places, has some really cute "glass slippers", which the smallest size is still way too big for her but that just makes it easier for her to try them on when the prince comes to find her:

and of course, every girl reserves the right to re-invent herself, or in this case to re-invent whomever she is pretending to be:

for the SRC: 

• 1 point for the bodice
• 1 point for the sleeves
• 3 points for the skirt since i actually made up for the train so the dress hangs level
• 2 points for the apron (why 2?  i don't know--sounds right)
• 100 points for making my baby happy.

i'm not taking off points for buying slippers--shoes are a fashion necessity.

coverstitching

i've been meaning to post this for some time now.  this is a FANTASTIC website that explains coverstitching so well, you'll feel as if you are getting a personal lesson.  the highlight of this site, for me, was learning how debbie ties off her coverstitch seams--simple and effective. 

Debbie's Coverstitch FAQ

after you go thru the coverstitch section, check out her other tutorials as well as her blog, stitches and seams--you'll be blown away.

SRC 2006: girly stuff

this skirt was made from some fabric that i eyed for days and days at an ASG show and then on the last day it was on sale and i bought all they had--then i put it in my stash and coveted my own fabric.  finally i HAD to use it, i wanted to actually SEE it on my person, so i made a skirt.  i cut a panel of tulle long enough to fit around my hips plus ease and seam allowances--put a few darts in it to shape it to my waist--i cut a couple of pieces of the polka dot fabric that were the width of the fabric and the length i wanted the skirt  (i had to seam them together to get a long piece)--then beginning at one end of the tulle i started pleating the pretty fabric.  i did NOT measure, mark, or plan anything--i just pleated until i got to the other end of the tulle then i cut off the excess.  i stitched the pleats down with random, wavy lines of stitching--from waist to hip--just sewing until i decided it was enough.  i cut off the bottom of an old slip to use for lining, put in an invisible zipper, and rolled the hem with a narrow hemming foot on the sewing machine.  an hour of time, and a new twirly skirt for me.

for the SRC i'll take 5 points for the polka dot fabric, 1 point for the zipper, 1 for the slip, and 3 because i want a round number.  oh good, look, that's 10 points!

this other skirt was made from fabric that i ordinarily wouldn't like, but ella has decided that anything brown was chocolate flavored, so this fabric grew on me.  it is just an ordinary circle skirt, i put in a lapped zipper, a bound waistband, and i faced the hem because i wanted to give it some weight.  the wrap top was a t-shirt that i bought for a show 5 years ago but didn't end up using.  i cut off the sleeves, cut it shorter, and cut the front so it had a V neck and an upside down V on the bottom.  i also took it in and gave it more shape at the waist.  i used what i cut from the bottom to make the ties.  i had the pink camisole, i just cut the underarms lower for nursing friendliness.

for the skirt i'll take 5 points for fabric, 1 point for zipper, 3 points for going to the trouble of cutting all the scraps to make the 2" wide bias strips to make the faced hem--3 points for the wrap top--1 point for the camisole--and because i used BROWN, i'm giving myself extra credit--let's say 20 points for the whole outfit.

it's only 30 points all together, but it's still progress!

yes, i did it

for those who don't know, i am an avid user of the wild ginger software suite of pattern making programs.  such an avid user that last year i became a certified educator.  for years i've been saying that i believe that these programs can be used by ANYBODY, to draft for ANY BODY.  and i have done just that--i've used the programs to draft for all shapes and sizes and to draft all kinds of styles--each program comes with a pattern editor built right in, so if the library of available patterns doesn't have quite what you are looking for, all you have to do is open the pattern pieces in the editor and make your changes.  you get a custom pattern made just for you, and you can have any design you can imagine (or any design you can copy).

and now, i have proof that my claim is no exaggeration.  butterick has reissued one of their most popular patterns, #4790, a dress that was originally published in 1952 and has been reissued in various incarnations many times since.  this particular design was first reissued in the early 90's--this is the second reissue. 

i made several dresses for myself when the first reissue came out.  i spent one whole day adjusting the pattern to fit.  but now, i have wild ginger.  now i can make these patterns from MY measurements, which means i don't have to spend a whole precious day of my life adjusting a pattern that was drafted for a perfect size 10 mannequin.  however, i don't have the fabric to make a dress for myself right now--so i made a version that used what fabric i had, modeled here by my new small-scale mannequin named dawn (click any image to see an enlargement):

FRONT:

BACK:

PEEK ! :

that's right--it's a dish soap bottle.  i measured the bottle, multiplied the numbers times four (to make them adult size), and drafted a sloper for her.  and it fit.  so i did the only logical thing i could do, i made a knock-off of the lovely butterick pattern and as you can see, it fits beautifully.

why did i do this?  because A), i wanted to see what would happen;  and B)  i was pretty sure what would happen and i wanted to brag about it.  :)

SRC 2006: catching up, and shoving it out the door

how is it that it's already july and i have yet to posted an entry for this year's stash reduction contest???

oh yes, now i remember--i have ADD--Always Distracted Disorder.

so to catch up:  for the one seam convertible dress i used 3 yards of fabric, but i'm taking 30 points because it is a good design.  :)  for the coasters i made on the 4th of july, i'll take 1 point for each coaster, 1 point for the yarn to stitch them, and 1 point for finally letting go of the sweater in the first place.  that makes 6 points. 

i'm not taking any points for the t-shirts, because i bought those just for this project, but i will take 1 point for the dye since i used up all of three teaspoons.  and i'll take 2 points for using a scrap of muslin instead of pouring the excess dye on the ground.  :)

for the new set of diapers i made this spring, i'll take 5 points for each diaper because i used the rest of my PUL stash, the rest of my alova suedecloth stash, the rest of my microfleece stash, and the rest of my poly resin snaps (ok, i still have a few left, but not enough to make a full diaper).  one dozen diapers means 60 points.

that makes 99 points.

then, for the twist top, i'll take 5 points for the fabric, and 10 points for figuring out the design.  for the skirt i made to go with it, i'll take 5 points.

ooooooooooh i just remembered two skirts and tops i haven't even posted yet!  ok, i won't take points for those yet, since i haven't shown you that they actually exist (i showed craftster, i just haven't posted them here).

i'm now up to 119 point--dang, that is a far cry from my goal of 500.

ok, here's another step on my way to stash-free living:  i have a bucket of scraps that i haven't even opened for over a year--who wants some??? 

this is mostly cotton scraps, but there are a few pieces of mixed fiber stuff too.  all sizes, all shapes, all clean and needing a loving home.  and this stuff is yours for the low low price of flat rate postage.  :)  i'm not sorting this stuff, i'm just going to shove as much of it as i can in a box, so if you want some of it, speak now because whatever is still here in a week is going down the street to the neighborhood daycare center.  you don't want to force preschoolers to sort this stuff, do you? 

convertibleness

i made a top using the same principle as the one seam convertible dress, but using a non-stretch, woven cotton, just to see what would happen.  i don't love this top--the stretch factor is really important for this design--and since this fabric has a definite right and wrong side, tying it is a little more complicated (that is, it's more complicated if you want to have only the right side showing).

this top is actually two seams--i ripped one panel across the width of the fabric to make the skirt, and then i ripped two panels along the length to make the straps and a piece for the waistband.  i finished the edges of the straps and the bottom of the skirt--closed the back seam--then layed everything together as for the dress and joined it all in one pass.

if you have not yet done so, i highly encourage you to make friends with your narrow hem attachment (and if you don't have one, run out and get one RIGHT NOW.  i'll wait).  whenever possible i make sure the edge i put into the hemmer is torn rather than cut, because it gives me a softer hem.

i know i'm never going to be satisfied with this top as is, so i'm going to cut the straps down and turn this into a regular halter top, but with nursing access.  how will i put in nursing access???  that's for me to know, and you to find out as soon as i finish it and post detailed instructions.  :)

CHANGE LOG

MOST RECENT CHANGE:  thursday, 28 september, 2006

the site is in the process of re-organization, hopefully it will make things easier to find and make the site more useful to more people.  this is the updated list of changes made to date. 

summer holiday craftiness

first, let me thank you all for your overwhelmingly positive response to the one seam convertible dress!  i will be putting together another--better--tutorial that will include photos of each step (which i didn't do last time, because i didn't think it warranted it).

and now, to the crafts parade:

the best way to take advantage of a hot summer day in nashville is to put two packages of hanes mens t-shirts in a dye bath and set them out to batch in the sun.  since july temperatures here average one degree cooler than hell, batching in the sun is actually pretty efficient. 

here are the supplies:  a bucket to make soda ash solution for soaking the shirts;  one bucket for stuffing the shirts in for dyeing;  gloves and soda ash (duh), and yes, the wading pool IS a supply, because A) the water is as warm as bath water;  and B) dyeing fabric when it is only one degree cooler than hell is no time to be without a wading pool.

i used procion MX fiber reactive dyes, which i measured by the very scientific method of scooping out a tiny pile with a popsicle stick and repeating until i thought it was enough.  i put each color of dye in a soda bottle, poured in some water from the wading pool, and shook to mix.  i only use four colors--red, yellow, blue, black--and mix them if i want something else.

i soaked the shirts in a bucket of soda ash solution while i mixed my dyes, then i wrung them out and stuffed them, one layer at a time, into the bucket.  on the first layer, i poured some dye, stuffed more shirts, poured more dye, kept doing this until all the shirts were in the bucket.  but then i had some dye left over, so i ran in the house and got a big scrap of muslin, stuffed it into a baggy, and poured the rest of the dye on it.

a few hours later, ella helped me rinse them out with her favorite tool, the garden hose.  yes ALL these shirts were in that one little bucket:

the next step will be to sunprint them which i will do using setacolor fabric paint and whatever things ella wants to put on them.  i'm hoping after that to do some applique and some cutting--the end goal is clothing for ella (and maybe for me) that is NOT t-shirts.

not that there is anything wrong with t-shirts.  but somehow there just seems to be something less wronger about t-shirts turned into other things. 

speaking of t-shirts--you're probably wondering about the green one.  that one was green when i bought it--at my neighborhood walgreen's for $2.00, because who can pass up a brand-new t-shirt at thrift store prices?--but i don't wear it as a t-shirt because it is HUGE:

instead, i pull it down to my waist and wear it as a skirt.  i turned the sleeves to the inside and sewed them closed to form pockets, they form a sort of cowl-like shape at the hips (as if i need more hip cowlage):

and lastly, or rather firstly, i indulged in a bout of early-morning coasterizing of a wool thrift store sweater that i felted to turn into a diaper cover before ella was born but which i found out after she was born that i don't like wool diaper covers i hope this sentence is long enough for those who care about the length of a post.

tutorial:  cut circles, sew two together with some yarn, admire.