Mary Go 'Round Dress

I whipped one of these up today in about an hour out of some stash fabric.

It's one of Figgy's Mary Go 'Round dress, and had I put the snap on correctly it would be reversible.   I always have to view the first of something as a practice run anyway.  That way if it turns out really well, I'm pleasantly surprised.

It's cute anyway - it wraps around if you can't see it in the photos. 

I've had this black Mary Engelbreit fabric for about 20 years now!  At one point, it was the background to one of my bulletin boards when I taught fourth grade.  Finally, it gets a proper life!

The Black Apple Has Fancy Wearables!

These are precious and lovely in every way.  Emily of The Black Apple is one of my favorite Etsy artists. It's a bonus that she's from Portland, OR - not too far away from me.  She's created fabulous dolls and prints, and now she has a line of lockets with her art.

Photo Source:  inside a black apple

I couldn't wait to get one.  When my daughter delightfully squealed (in the high-pitched wail that only six-year-old girls do) over the picture of the bear with Snow White and Rose Red, I knew I had a great excuse to empty out my PayPal account.  No, she doesn't get it yet - I'm not so indulgent.  I'll wear it for a few years and pass it on to her.

She loves this story. I read it to her often out of a Grimm's Fairy Tale that I've had since I was a little girl. Personally, I used to think it was a little creepy that a bear could unzip his fur and the prince just jumped out. I mean, didn't he get hot in there?

Regardless, it makes me happy to share this with her.

And She Found Me....

Remember when I missed out on buying the BEST SEWING MACHINE EVER?  Well, it turns out that she wasn't really meant to be mine. Instead, this little dear has found her way into my home.

She's an 830 Record, purchased new in 1974.  She's had one owner, is in perfect order, and has all of her accessories.  Best of all, she cost exactly what I had saved up.  She even came in a nice cabinet.

The story is that ever since I passed up the 930. I've scoured eBay and Craig's list adds.  Everything was too expensive or not in good condition. On a whim, I posted a want ad on Craigslist, requesting an 830 or 930 in good condition.

A very nice man e-mailed a few days later and said that his mother-in-law had been moved into assisted living and asked that her machine be sold. He sent me detailed pictures and an asking price of $400 (machines in similar condition are selling on eBay for over $600).  When I told him I wanted to make the 2 1/2 hour drive to his home, he sent me detailed directions and two maps. My skeptical husband was a little worried that I'd be heading off to someone's house with cash in my bag.

I said, "If he were going to rob me, I would think that he'd ask more than $400 dollars!"

Well, he didn't rob me.  In fact, he gave a basket of sewing notions and lots of extra goodies.  His mother-in-law was Japanese, so there's a lot of neat Japanese notions and bamboo rulers.  Fortunate me - I feel like I won the lottery.

What should I name her?

My Cousin's Skirt

Okay, enough about bras, back to sewing!

I made a custom skirt for my cousin. She picked out the fabric from my stash and sketched a design of what she wanted.  I got a really cool pair of shoes from her out of the deal.

It's a simple a-line skirt with an invisible zipper, lining and front and back darts.  The patch is stitched on with the raw edges exposed.  It should be really cute after it's washed and the edges fray a bit.

This is the first time I drafted my own pattern, and it was a really satisfying process. I used Cal Patch's book, which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! I think I'm going to work my way from cover to cover. All of the clothes in the book are simple and stylish, with lots of possibilities for customizing.

My First Bra

Today on my way to work, I was listening to radio story about middle school poetry, and I got totally lost in the memory of buying my first bra. It's funny how that even at 44, I don't really feel that much older than I was at the time.

In my case, I was ambushed by my grandma and her big sister, Naomi. They took me shopping, which wasn't super-unusual, but they didn't tell me what we were shopping for. When we got to store, she said, "Honey it's time for you to get a bra."  Great.

I love my grandma dearly, but I was mortified. Despite my panic, there was no way out. They were two strong-willed ladies and I was a gawky 12-year-old.

They chose a Dawn Bra.  I still chuckle at that name.  It was in a pink box with a pretty blond teenager smiling into the camera.  Of course I had to try it on at the store.  They wouldn't let me smuggle the box home and try it on in the privacy of my bedroom.  They sweetly barged into the dressing room to check the fit, poking and prodding and stretching things.  They declared it all good and bought me two bras.

Afterward they took me to get my ears pierced, and we had went out for sandwiches.  I thanked them and begged them not to tell my brothers.

Embarrassing as it was, I was proud too.  So proud, in fact, that I wore the Dawn Bra under my nightgown that night.  I was spending the night at Great Aunt Naomi's house, and I can now imagine her chuckling to herself because she would have noticed that kind of a thing.

Grandma and her sister took over caring for me in ways that my own mother wasn't able to, because of her own struggles with alcoholism and depression. They're both gone now, having passed away from old age just days from each other.  I miss them terribly, but I'm glad I had them.

How about you?  Want to share a first bra memory?

Sewing Machine Shopping

I've dabbled in some sewing machine shopping this weekend, which I've learned is more complicated than shopping for a car.

I have my heart set on buying a Bernina after sewing on one at Modern Domestic.  My local Save store dealer let me try out a few from the Aurora series .  Very, very nice but they seem like they do too much for me.  I mean, I really just want a full-sized, high-quality machine that can handle lots of layers for making purses.

Christy had some great advice on looking for one of the older, mechanical models.  I looked at a 930 at an estate sale on Saturday and balked at the $525 dollar price.  I thought that I shouldn't have to pay so much for a 30 year old machine.

Silly, silly me....I came home and did an eBay search and realized that I'd passed up a great deal.  I'm so so kicking myself!   The 930 model, in similar condition, is currently selling for over $1000!  In fact few of the 830s, 930s, 1130s or 1230s are selling for less than $500.  More research tells me that I passed up one of the most sot after machines ever!  I called a few Bernina dealers to ask them if they ever got any of the older mechanical models in and they all said, "Almost Never!"

The challenge is on!  Do you guys have any advice?  I feel like paying more than $500 is foolish because that money could go a long way toward a new machine (with a 25 year parts AND labor warranty).

Or good leads?

Does your grandma have a Bernina that she'd like to sell to a really nice girl like me?

Have a great week!

Kindergarten Art

There is just something about art created by kids this age that thrills me.

She really thought through the details.  Like the girls are wearing high heals, but not the boys.  Funny, I almost never wear high heals!

She was a little fuzzy on how many legs stegosaurus has, so she just added a lot.

I know that the mermaid looks like a character from a Tim Burton movie, but there's a lot going on here.  "KT" stands for King Triton.  There is also a crab, eel, seahorse, fish and sea star.  I didn't ask what the mermaid had in her cup.

Enjoy your day.

T Shirt Class at Modern Domestic

Today, I took at wonderful class at Northeast Portland's newest sewing studio, Modern Domestic.  Wow!  Is it a beautiful space.  It's full of light, clean, functional AND pretty.

Sally Hess teaches a lot around town, and I learned a TON about working with knit fabrics in her class.  I've been a little scared of knits, so I'm glad I took the class.  They're not hard, just a little different to work with.  I learned how to make really nice stretch seams, and I got really excited when we learned how to make a hem with double needles.  Double needles! I feel like I've crossed from my sewing girlhood to sewing womanhood.

We used this Jalie pattern, which had ended up fitting everyone nicely.  I used a very drapey rayon/cotton in solid black - I couldn't find any patterned or striped knits that I liked.  Does anyone know of a good source for patterned knits?

This was my favorite thing.

I knew that my crap-o Singer (recommended by Martha Stewart no less), was a clunky piece of machinery, but now I know what I've been missing. This machine was fabulous to work on!  I'm vowing right now to save up for one!  It's going to take a lot of dryer change, but I'll do it.

Here's how my shirt came out.  I followed the pattern exactly, except I added three inches to the hem.  I think that it will be great to wear to work with a skirt (if it ever gets above 50 degrees around here).

If you live in the area, Modern Domestic has great classes for beginning and intermediate seamstresses.  They also have open studio times throughout the week.  I'll be there on that Bernina again as soon as I can sneak away again!

Hope that you have a great week!

Turtle Love

THIS makes me happy:

I found this fabric at the Goodwill today - $4.99 for two yards.  It's a beautiful, vibrant screen print made of decor weight cotton.  The turtles are humongous - about 12" across!

I don't know if I can bear to cut into this, but what do you think I should make?

Spring Hipster Bags

I've been working on bringing my Etsy store up to snuff, because my inventory is in a sad state of neglect.  I don't usually like to work in assembly line fashion, but I sucked it up and made six new bags.

Actually these were fun to make, and I got to use some of my new Echino fabric.  I'm keeping one of these for myself.

 Now, I just have to photograph and post them to my store site.  With tax time coming up and a sewing class next weekend, I might have to put off posting them for a week or two.

It's cold and rainy here in the Portland area.  I would have liked to have sat in front of a fire all weekend, but as it was I got some wonderfully peaceful time with my family on Saturday.

Here's to a great week!  Happy Sunday.