Round Yoke in Midwest Modern

I recently stopped at a local sewing shop to check out the classes they offer but when I saw that they have room after room of great fabric I couldn’t leave without buying a couple yards.  I’m still a sucker for Midwest Modern so I came home with these…

 

 

 

That was last week, and after a super fun long weekend with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend here, I’ve rested enough to get around to making this…

 

 

 

I know, I know, it’s another round yoke dress.  I haven’t found a new favorite pattern yet, and I wasn’t up for a challenge this morning so there you have it.  At least I’m honest :-)

One More Quick Remake

I keep a hanging organizer in my sewing room closet for clothes that are marked for repurposing.  It’s where I look when I am antsy to make something but have no inspiration, because when I put something there (instead of in the Goodwill bin) I usually already have plans for it.  I dug around in it this morning so it isn’t picture worthy but here are the results:

 

 

It’s a plain dress like the white one and also made from a shirt I’ve had forever.  This one has a tie for some shape.

 

 

This week is a busy one, we have an overnight guest on Wednesday and family visiting this weekend.  They probably want clean sheets so I probably need to unpack the last of the boxes and hope there are some bed linens in them.  Fingers crossed.

No Assembly Required

Wonderful Friends and Neighbors = Great Weekend

 

 

I am loving this weekend so far.  Last night we went to the mall and out to eat, always a good start :-)  When we got home our neighbors were cooking out and we joined them, along with a few other neighbors and some friends who stopped by.  These spontaneous get-togethers are definitely one of my favorite weekend activities and they make me glad we live in a friendly neighborhood.  The kids get to run wild and play together and then crash in their own beds, leaving us free to enjoy adult conversation and a few glasses of wine.  When I got up this morning I started, and almost finished, my skirt for Presser Foot’s June project (not too sure about the fabric I chose, once I hem it I’ll post pictures).  Then I made breakfast, we ate, and Zack and Gunnar cleaned up the downstairs while I did the kitchen.  Now they’re at the movies seeing Transformers, Lily is napping, and I’m catching up on blogs in a clean and quiet house.  Later this afternoon we’re heading over to swim and eat with some Louisiana friends who also just moved here. 

We have a lot of great weekends but they usually involve planning, effort and lots of clean-up, and after all that the week starts again and we realize that we forgot to rest at all.  This one is a welcome break, I hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend too!

A Place to Sew, and Last Week’s Recap

After sewing at the dining table for the past year it feels so good to have my own space to spread out in! Over the past two days I painted and moved the furniture around so I’ll post a couple of pictures as it is now, with more to come as I get more settled in.

 

Walking into the room

 

The other side of the room

 

 

I haven’t posted in a little while so here’s a recap of my past week:

We spent Father’s Day here at home, I made patriotic pancakes:

 

 

 We found out my brother in law’s fiance’ is pregnant, and they’re visiting for 4th of July.

Breezy (that is her real name, my best friend who now lives 1.5 hours from us instead of 10) still did not visit me as promised (but she did have a kidney stone. Whatever).

For a few days I thought I may be pregnant, then was a little disappointed when I found out that I’m not.

Had dinner with friends who are pregnant, and remembered how glad I am that I’m not.

And that brings us to this morning, when I made this:

 

Long sleeved fleece baby kimono

It’s for a financially unprepared friend of Breezy’s, who is due in November and just found out she’s having a boy. Since almost everything I have for Lily is very girly I don’t have much to pass on to a boy, so I’m making a few basics to help take some stress off the parents.

 

Note: If you’ve got baby boy clothing/gear that you’d care to part with I’ll be happy to give you my address!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 So that’s my week, babies, painting, rearranging furniture and very little sewing. Next on my list is curtains, how hard can they be to make? Hopefully I’m successful and back here with pictures to show for it, fingers crossed.

Six Word Saturday

Home Depot is Calling My Name!

 

 

The bookshelf is now in my sewing room, so I have even more storage space (once I bring everything down from where it got unpacked!).  But it’s white, and the walls are white, and the whole room is just blah, so I’m off to buy paint.  More paint.  Hope everyone is having a great Father’s Day weekend!

 

Blah, just blah.

Internet At Last!

Finally, we have (our own) internet right here in our house! I was having withdrawals, as addicted as I’ve become to my blackberry in such a short time, I still can’t go long without my computer and internet.  I was getting antsy to say the least. 

The entire house is unpacked, except for some toys, but the dining room is the only room that is officially done. Paint choices are tough to make! I am overwhelmed by a house full of white walls, and at the same time afraid of ending up with a rainbow of rooms. While those two sides are fighting it out in my imagination, I’ve kept myself sane with more thrift store shopping and a few small projects. Here’s the last one:

 

 

 

 

It’s an old window frame that was super cheap (the ones with original glass cost much more!).  I used an old pillowcase and made fabric inserts for each space and glued/stapled them into the frame.  It has no place on the wall quite yet, but it’s sitting on my newly refinished and painted vanity that is serving as a sewing table indefinitely.  Today I hope to get that room set up for some actual sewing, with wall hangings on the wall and my machine in its place.  I wanted to paint that room first but if I wait until I’ve decided on a color I may never sew again.  More pictures to come.

Zack signed into his new unit (place of work) today and should be home fairly soon, so we’re looking forward to the beginning of our first real weekend :-)

Six Words for Today

 

So Many Ideas, So Little Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to Show My Face for the 6 Words idea, and my 6 words really do sum up the past few days. I’ve been fabric shopping for curtains and keep getting side tracked by antique stores, birthday parties and Hobby Lobby’s store full of stuff. I found some fabric that I’m going to use for Presser Foot’s sew along this month, if I get around to just cutting that today and committing to an actual project, then maybe this ADHD streak will be forced to stop, for now.

My First Meme

I’m sitting outside on my back porch enjoying significantly less humidity than I’ve been used to (and using some generous neighbor’s unsecured internet signal until ours is installed this week).  I’ve been catching up on my my blog feeds and came across the Sewing Machine Meme on Sew Mama Sew, so here goes!

 

My machine, currently sitting neglected in my sewing room

 

What brand and model do you have?

Brother SE-350

How long have you had it?

A few months

How much does that machine cost (approximately)?

Around $400 but they can be found a little cheaper online or on sale

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?

Clothing mostly, and usually for my daughter

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?

I make all of her clothes and blankets as well as random projects for myself.  Any wear and tear the machine gets would be more from travel and heavy fabrics than from the volume of sewing done on it though.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?

I am ambivalent, this machine has definitely not earned a name.  It’s the the third one I’ve bought (the first was the very inexpensive Brother Project Runway model, returned due to very inconsistent results with sewing multiple layers of fabric, the second was a slightly more expensive Singer, which was returned for mechanical problems).  This model meets my needs for now and is great for travel because it’s lightweight, but I can’t see using it as my primary machine forever, or for much longer.  Once my sewing room is put together I’ll be looking for my Forever Machine.

What features does your machine have that work well for you?

The features that originally sold me on this model were computerized embroidery and push-button sewing, and as it turns out I don’t have much use for either one.  The embroidery functions are very easy to use though, and I do like being able to monogram.  The features that are most useful to me are the automatic thread cutter, the low bobbin thread indicator and the variable sewing speed.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?

It doesn’t ‘feel’ good, probably because it’s so lightweight.

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it!

It’s origins are pretty boring (bought it at the only local store that sold sewing machines), but it’s gone with me on all the trips we’ve taken since I got it (househunting in Georgia/Alabama, to visit friends in Atlanta, to a marriage retreat in Houston, among others).

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?

It would be a good fit for anyone looking for an inexpensive and easy machine to use for computerized embroidery.  I do think if you’re planning on buying one machine in your lifetime this would not be the one.  I started out sewing on a 1985 Singer, model unknown at this time, that weighed a ton and seems indestructable, and I’m partial to the heavy duty feel of older models.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?

What it will be used to sew and how often it will be used are the most important to me.  Also, how often, if ever, you plan on buying new machines is an important factor, since some are more reliable and easier (or cheaper) to fix than others.

Do you have a dream machine?

A classic, the kind that looks as good as it sews.  I haven’t done my homework but I’m a big fan of the older Pfaffs and Singers, and hopefully I’ll be giving one a good home very soon.

While I Should Have Been Unpacking…

I went out this morning for a sprinkler and a trash can but while I was driving I came across one thrift shop after another, and I couldn’t just pass them by without looking.  So while boxes sat unpacked in almost every room in our house I was buying this:

 

It’s a little rusty, the cabinet needs to be stripped and sealed and the belt needs to be replaced, but it doesn’t take up much room and it only cost me $15.  It’s a Sewmor model 606 and was made in 1956.  I’ve never heard of the brand before but Google told me that it was one of many Japanese companies to manufacture moderately priced, fairly reliable machines after WWII, and I even found a PDF manual for it.  I’ll probably take care of the cabinet first then take it in to be serviced eventually.  Now that we live closer to my family I’ll be picking up two other machines that haven’t been used in years, my grandmother’s Necchi and my great grandmother’s Singer.  Pretty soon I’ll have a decent collection going!

I know I said that I’d have pictures to chronicle the settling-in-process here, but seriously it’s still a mess.  If I can stay home for a few days and maintain my motivation then I’m sure I’ll have something to show for our first week here, but that is a reeeally big IF.  For now, I’m off to enjoy the evening weather on the back porch and then hopefully get enough sleep for some serious unpacking tomorrow.

 

Home!

So here I sit, on my actual couch, in my new living room, full and happy after eating real beef stew cooked in my own kitchen. After a week of very little furniture and way too much fast food I am thrilled to have something that resembles a home again! I’m posting from my blackberry though because our internet won’t be installed until next Friday, very debilitating to a hardcore dork like me! So, I’m off to sit on the porch and enjoy the nice evening here, and I’ll be posting some more pictures to Flickr to chronical tomorrow’s progress.