I only think I want a new sewing maching

Every so often for the last couple years, mostly when I see ads for sewing machines, I think I oh it would be so nice to have an automatic button hole, or look at all those fancy stitches just think of the decorative top stitching I could do, or like the one I looked at last year that pretty much did everything for you but cut the fabric.  And then I think about my sewing machine, we have a history together.

My sewing machine was built in the mid-70's.  There's no bells and whistles on it.  It does a straight stitch, a few zig-zag stitches, and a back stitch.   It's the sewing machine my mom bought when I was 3 or 4.  It's sewed lots of clothes for my sister and me, quite a few patches to my dad work pants, a few Halloween costumes, a couple stuffed toys, at least 2 baby blankets, other decor items and clothes for my own children.  Never in all these years have I or my mom ever needed 22 decorative stitches.

It's a real workhorse machine.  Solid metal body and parts, there's no plastic in there anywhere.  It's heavy, so it doesn't get moved around much and it powers though everything I put under the needle.

So yes while it would be nice to have a newer machine with lots of features, I'm not sure if I'd use them.  I think I want a new sewing machine, but I'm kind of attached to the one I have.  It would be like trying to replace an old friend.

They just don't make them like they used to

I know it's kind of silly, but I'm feeling a little sad today because I took my old 1985, rabbit ear, 13" analog TV to be recycled this morning, and not because it didn't work.  It worked perfectly as long as it was hooked up the cable.  Sure the UHF dial was missing, and it wasn't capable of being hooked  up to modern devices like our now obsolete dvd recorder/vcr, but it still had a decent picture and worked for watching tv in the sewing room.

It was the first big purchase that I bought with my own money, that I earned from my paper route when I was 12.  It was a big deal for me then, I felt so grown up walking into Best Buy knowing that I had finally saved up enough money to buy it.  It cost me $110 + tax, which seemed like a lot of money back then.

I had this tv for 28 years and never had a problem with it, in that same amount of time I'd also owned 4 vehicles and was always happy to upgrade.  The only reason I decided to part with my good old trusty tv was because we just hadn't used it in the last 2 years.  We upgraded our main tv to a digital flat screen, moved the one from the living room to our bedroom and the one from our bedroom downstairs to the sewing room.  My little tv just sat on the living room floor unused.  My son wanted to put it in his room, but there's no cable hook up in his room so it wouldn't him any good.

I took it today to the recycling drop off and handed it to the guy.  He said, "I used to have one just like this in my room when I was a kid.  Brings back memories."

It sure does.

On the needles

It's been a busy summer, but now I'm finding more time to create.  Usually I only work on one project at a time, but I broke that rule because I had to many ideas floating around in my head.

The first one is finished, so I did actually accomplish something.  Actually I've knit 3 of these hats in the last month.  It started as idea, and the first one came out a little to small so I put it in the shop as a child's hat.  Seeing how cute the first one was my daughter requested one for herself, with steampunk buttons, and after I saw how cute her's was I decided I needed one too but with a cool chunky button I bought from a seller at Zibbet.

Next is a sweater I'm knitting for myself, unfortunately I'm not making much progress.  I'm finding it very boring.  If I ever finish it, it will just be a plain hooded cardigan to wear around the house.

Next is a scarf/cowl that I'm making for the shop.

And last, although I don't have a photo because I haven't actually started it, I'm in the process of designing pants for myself again.  I have a pattern that I need to make a few tweaks to and then I can start cutting the fabric, but I have a good idea where I'm going with it.  I'd show you the sketch, but I'm a really poor artist.

How did I go so long without these?

In exchange for some yarn, I received a couple knitting books that I don't know how I went so long without them. 

Cast on, Bind off is just what it says, a book full of different cast ons and bind offs and when to use them.  Until recently I no idea there was more than 2 ways to cast on and this book came at the perfect time when I was finishing up a project and needed a bind off that would stretch just a little.

I haven't had time to really look at the finishing book yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy when I get closer to finishing the sweater I'm working on.

Jean Mulsin: Take 2.1

 I spend most of yesterday working on these.  I scooped out the back about a 1/2" and added to the back inseams which seem to help with the winkles some.  But now there's bagginess right under the butt and wrinkles in the front.  I'm going to rip them apart today and try adding to inseam again but this time extending it down to the knee.  I added mostly to the crotch point.  Also I'm thinking some of the winkles are coming from the sides being pulled up to far.  From the side view you can see the balance lines pulling up just a little, which is weird because it looks straight in the mirror.

I'm also thinking I might widen the pant leg a little, maybe give it more of boot cut.  I haven't made any changes to the leg width.  This is how how the pattern was designed.  Although I do like a tapered leg, I think this is a little much.

Jean Muslin: Take 2

The last pair I made were to tight, so I went up a size.  These fit better in the hips, but now they're to big in the waist.  Since it's usually easier to take in a larger size, I'm going to work with this muslin.  I'm running out of time so I may not get them to fit perfectly but if I can get them at least wearable without crotch lines and fix the waist, I'll be happy.

The front looks ok.  I will need to drop the waist band a little and move the pockets, but other than that I don't think there's to much to fix there.  The back, well that's going to take a little work.  First things that come to mind is scooping out the back crotch.  I don't have a wedgie now,  but if I pull up the back to make the balance line straight I will.  I'm also thinking I might need to add to the back inseams to get rid of the wrinkles coming from my inner thighs. So that's what I'm going to work on the next couple days.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don't cause more problems.

Jean Muslin: Take 1

I started working on jean pattern yesterday.  I'm working on Connie Crawford's Woman's Jean pattern Butterick B5403.  I was a little leery of starting this because I had read some bad reviews, and still being fairly new at fitting pants I was worried I might be in over my head. 

I chose my size based on my measurements and traced it.  I got a little concerned when I noticed the size I was tracing didn't allow for any ease in the hips.  I know jeans are suppose to be close-fitting, but the pattern was listed for 2 sizes, with no ease at the smaller size which meant -2" of ease at the bigger size.  I thought this had to be a mistake because the folks at Pattern Review kept saying when 2 sizes are listed like that, the pattern should have enough ease for the larger size.  And since my measurement was just an inch smaller than the smaller pattern recommendation I thought it would be ok.  I was wrong.

I didn't make any changes to the pattern yet.  I wanted to see how it was going to fit right out of the package.  The first thing I noticed is it's to tight in the hips.  The other thing that really jumps out at me is the back crotch.  I need to scoop it out a little to get rid of that wedgie, and I might need to add a little to the inner thigh.  The bottom of the back yoke feels really low.    First I'm going to try going up a size and see how that looks.

Back to the cutting table.