Another Zippered Pouch

I made this lined zippered pouch for my niece.  She wanted one for her combs, particularly those long tail combs, so I made it  9" L x 3.5" W x 2.5" tall.

 It took me awhile to figure out how to determine the size of fabrics and zipper I would need for the pouch size I wanted.  I'm not really a numbers person so I had to draw and re-draw, measure and re-measure until I was sure.  And then I made one first out of scrap fabric just to be doubly sure my calculations were correct.

It's happened to me before that I've figured sizes and then measured fabric over and over again to be on the safe side and for some reason after it's been cut and sewn, it's off and I sit there not having a clue where I went wrong.  So, whenever I'm measuring and calculating, I'm always a little nervous.  However, in other areas of design I can just "eyeball" things and they are right on.  One example was when my husband and I were wallpapering the laundry room - correction, I was wallpapering the laundry room and he, being a general contractor, saw my methods and decided he needed to step in to make sure things turned out right.  Well, I started putting up a piece of wall paper on the wall and he said, "Wait! Did you measure and mark the wall to make sure the strip goes up straight?"  I said, "No, I know it's straight by looking at it."  Well, we debated for a couple minutes and he decided to pull out his tape measure and level and sure enough, it was right on.  I decided not to rub it in and he decided that I had just gotten lucky.  I knew better.  ;)

So, being more visual than anything, the most challenging part of sewing for me is when I'm not working with a pre-made pattern and I have to start adding measurements and seam allowances and 8ths and 4ths and halves together.  It's slightly embarrassing but here's my worksheet.

As you can see, I had to draw it over and over again, mainly so I could visualize it, and keep redoing the numbers.  Sheesh, my 12 yr. old son could have done this in his head.  He and his brother take after their dad that way.  C'est la vie  At least it's finished.  :)

I've contracted some sewing for a woman who sells children's clothing and accessories online, so I have megabillions of hours ahead of me to finish the products for her latest orders.  After that marathon, I want to make this triple zippered pouch I saw at the Sanrio website.

 

I'm thinking of brighter more colorful fabrics, but I love the 3-Zip.  I'm also thinking that I would probably add a little wrist strap to it.  I know a few girls who would love one of these, myself included.  Work first, then I can "play".  :)

Sewing Son

My 12 yr. old son came into my finally put together sewing room and asked if he could sew something.  He and his brother have sewn before, but it's been a little while.  I guess my new tidy, organized room is sew inviting that it drew him in - which is what I've been hoping it would do, mostly for me, but also for anyone else interested.  :)

After hemming and hawing, I gently told him I thought it was a bit late to start a sewing project after 10:30pm (even though I've been known to sew into the wee hours of the morning but I didn't want to go there) He had some ideas for what he wanted to make and we were looking online for some further inspiration and came across a plushie tutorial that sparked his interest.  So, tomorrow morning he'll (we'll) be starting on this one we found on Instructables.

How To Make A Grumpy Cat Plush by elewis03

Sewing Room

I actually got something accomplished today, so that's a positive.  I've been in the process of setting up my sewing room for a couple weeks, at least - it could be more...time eludes me.  But, today, most of what I had dragged out of boxes and the closet and which was scattered about and covering most of the surfaces, I organized and put away.  It feels good.  I now have a clean, tidy, space in which to work.  It's just the basics.  I still have quite a few things in the garage which I haven't pulled out which include craft and wrapping supplies. I also haven't taken out all of my fabric.  I'm still trying to decide how I want to set that up.  But, this way, I can walk into the room and have the basics at my fingertips which makes it a lot easier for me to start a project.  During a project, things will get strewn about and thread, pins, and scraps will fly randomly as I dig in...but with everything having a place now, it can all be cleaned up and put away in a jiffy.

I can't work in a mess.  I even have a problem with doing the dishes if there's too much random mess.  I have to rinse and sort everything, clean the sink, wipe down the counter and faucet before I can begin.  And everything goes into the dish water in a certain order.  That's just how it's always been with me.  I cringe when I see people slipping cups, dishes, and silverware into that clean soapy water with particles of food on them or little gulps of liquid left.  Aaaack!  I can't watch that, can't be in the same room with that, can't think about that!  It's the same with the dishwasher.  Everything has to be scraped and rinsed before it goes in there.  The idea of little pieces of food flying around in "dishwasher space", jumping and landing, dish to dish, glass to glass, like a summery hopscotch game in the yard with the sprinkler on - yikes!  That's what nightmares are made of and enough to cause in me a gag reflex.  But, I digress.

Sewing room...yes.  One of the things that has encouraged me to get working on the room is the fact that I have just had two of my sewing machines serviced.  The first one I took in had stopped working while I was sewing up a cosmetic bag for my daughter.  After checking the tension and threading, I noticed the feed dogs were no longer moving.  I'm happy to say, I found a local young man who works on machines out of his home and he fixed it for me in one afternoon!  While there, I noticed another machine he had on the floor that looked exactly like one my sister-in-law gave me as a gift before I moved.  It's a vintage Singer and was in need of a really good cleaning, so I brought that one in when I picked up the other machine.  The gentleman did a beautiful job on the clean up and service and that sparked an eagerness in me to get my sewing stuff in order.  That modicum of peace I've gotten from something so simple, is proving so precious to me.

Here is my vintage Singer 301A - it came out sometime in the early 50's.

It's even older than me.  It's so nice to have something older than me around.

This is my Singer Stylist 513 

My beautiful, sweet, daughter bought this at a shop last summer and only used it a few times.  It's in a very nice wood sewing table and it became mine after she passed away.  So, it's very, very special to me.  Now that the feed dog gears have been replaced, it runs beautifully.  

   

And this is my Singer Touch Tronic 2001 - which I love!

Singer introduced this machine in 1978 and it was billed as "the world's first computer-controlled machine".  Such a big deal back then.  It amazes me that 37 years later not only is the machine running but the motherboard is still functioning.  

I seem to have been gravitating toward the vintage machines, not intentionally, it's just that there are so many available at reasonable prices at estate sales and online.  With a good cleaning, oiling, and a minor repair if needed, these machines with all, or mostly all, metal parts are hard to beat.  Maybe someday, if I have the money, I would consider buying new only a Bernina, Husqvarna, or Pfaff.  I've had a Husqvarna.  It was the first new sewing machine that was officially mine - my husband bought it for me the first Christmas we had in our first home.  (a lot of firsts there)  It lasted about 25 yrs. and then the pedal burned out.  The machine itself was still in good condition and I don't remember ever having any problems with it.  I used that machine to sew all my first 3 daughters' clothes, costumes, toys, gowns, stuff for our home, etc.  It got a lot of use and never let me down.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I really miss that machine.  :)  sigh..."Sew" many memories.

Friday Finds at GoodWill

I was happy to find two things I've been "needing" for awhile but just did not want to put the money out to get.  And today, I found both at GoodWill!  Yippie Skippy!  I love when that happens.  :)

They are both vintage, which made them even more special since I love vintage things.  They give off that comforting feeling to me.  Maybe because I'm  vintage, having lived on this earth for a little over half a century now, and also because all things vintage remind me of my childhood, which realistically was full of a lot of pain, but it also had some good moments.  Those are the moments on which I like to focus these days.

My first find was a Weaver's Pres-Kloth tailor's ham made who-knows-when-exactly, but apparently, it was ages ago.  It's hard as a rock!  A lot harder than I had expected, having never owned one.  I bought it for 99¢.

 Here we have a World's Best sleeve board.  

This cost me $2.99.

They both look a lot cleaner in these photos than they actually are.  I can take the covers off the sleeve board and wash those, but I'm not sure yet how I'm going to wash the big fat ham up there.  And since my old rickety ironing board just recently fell apart like a cheap suit, I can use the wide part of the sleeve board for ironing small projects.  I've been using a folded towel on top of my sewing machine table, which has been slightly inconvenient but doable in a pinch.  My sewing room isn't very big so I prefer something small while I'm sewing anyway.  This little sleeve board will be perfect!

$3.98 plus tax = Fun Friday Finds Finer than Frog's Hair!

My New Iron!

It's pretty sad knowing that a new iron is so exciting to me.  Can ya tell, I don't get out much?

Well, my daughter accidently dropped my old iron recently while helping me move my sewing and craft stuff down to the basement.  I had only had that iron for about 4 months and it was the first "nice" iron I had ever owned.  I was so happy with it.  It was a Black & Decker "Classic" - nice and heavy, big metal bottom - kind of like an old school iron.  I guess that's why they named it the "Classic".  I had gotten it on sale at Kmart and it was definitely the best iron I've used since I've been married.

Well, I was so sad when my sweet daughter unintentionally broke it.  I knew it was going to cost more moolah than I'd have available to replace it.  I didn't want to replace it with a cheap "waste of my time" iron - been there, done that.  I did check around and couldn't find a decent one for under $30.  Which may not seem like much, but definitely more $ than I could afford at present.  So, I just put it off and waited.

Well, this evening, my hubby and I were running an errand and I just asked him to stop by this store which I see all the time but have never entered...I wanted to know what it was all about.  It's called "Deals" but each time I've passed it I've never had the time to stop.  So, anyway, we stopped.  Basically, it's just a big "Family Dollar" store under a different name.  We walked around and picked up a few things.  And on the way to the checkout I saw this iron - well, actually I saw two irons.  One was a small lightweight iron, which I knew wouldn't do me any good and it was $10.  But then next to it, was this big, heavy duty iron and it was only $5 more!  WHAT?!!  I couldn't believe it!  My pulse began to race and my heart skipped a beat.  That iron was calling my name.  (sad, yes, very sad)  There was only 1 left and we scooped it up pronto, bought it, and carefully carried it home.  At home, I showed the kids my new find and announced that they could all look but not touch.  They were cool with that, and strangely not as interested or excited as I was. 

Isn't she a beauty?

And red is my favorite color!

So shiny and bright!

 

 

 

I can literally see myself in that sole plate.

It's a Black & Decker First Impressions Iron

Stainless Steel SolePlate, Steam Surge and Spray Mist, Vertical Steam, 3-Way Auto Shutoff, Auto Clean System, Large Water Tank, and Retractable Cord.  Yay!

I'm going on about it, I know, but it's so hard to sew without a good iron - and a good iron makes quite a difference.  And it was such a great deal!  Only $15!  *sigh*  (yes, I'm smiling as I type this - how pathetic am I?)

I have tried it out and so far, so good. 

I am a simple, simple, woman and apparently quite easy to please.  :)