The new Pfaff

So I had her serviced and she purrs like a dream. I have it in the original 1954 cabinet. The one disappointing thing is that there were once four drawers. There were four drawers when it left California and in the moving around and shuffling of things, two of the drawers were lost. :( We’ve made some phone calls to the folks they stayed with along the way but, so far, no dice. I’m really hoping they can find the other drawers.

 

It has a decorative stitching function that I can’t seem to get to work. I need to write more on that OldPfaffForum and see if they can help me out. It zigzags and does straight stitches beautifully. I just wish I could figure out how to make it do the decorative stitches.

 

The two drawers that did make it to Alaska, contained a lot of cool, old stuff. I’m not sure what to do with it all. There are a ton of these sail needles. She used to make wedding dresses so it seems like delicate needles would be more of what she would use. These are really hefty triangular needles.

 

Here are three of them. See how big they are?? What did she use them for?

 

What do I do with all this other stuff? And look, only 15 cents!

 

This one’s only 8 cents.

 

And look at these cute little packages.

 

Is there any market for this kind of thing? Should I just toss it? The family took a few things out of the drawers (one of my fiance’s brother’s baby teeth, ewwwwwwwwwwwwww) and they said to throw away the rest. I have a really hard time throwing things like this away. What should I do with it?

Cute Skirts!

Look folks! Sewing! On a sewing blog!!

I made these little twirly skirts for my girls. Are they not cute? This first one is made out of shirting material. The background is a cream and the stripes are hot pink and gray. I used the directions from Dana to make these. She has a ton of awesome tutorials.

 

I added a little fun bling to this skirt.

 

I used my serger so all the inside seams are pretty. I used variegated thread for extra special fun.

 

I added my label to the back so everyone knows where the back is. On these skirts, it won’t really matter since they are the same front and back.

 

I used my serger to make an east rolled hem.

 

This one is made out of slightly thicker pique material. I’ve had this fabric is my stash for a few years now. 

 

I did the same rolled hem but used a spring green thread for contrast.

 

This is actually the first skirt I made. The ruffled layers are an ITY knit from Fabric.com. It turned out pretty fun.

 

Because it was an ITY, I didn’t hem it.

 

The inner sections are a hot pick like the top. This skirt is more droopy when the girls are wearing it but it also has a lot more movement and actually twirls really well. 
 

The shirting material is the perfect weight for this project. I’ll be making a lot of these. The knit is a little too floppy and the pique is just a little too thick. A duppioni silk would be great; lots of body but not too thick. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to spring for silk for six year-olds.

July and August in Pictures

 

We’ve had a lot of fun in the past few weeks. Yikes!

Don’t some people pay good money for mud baths?

 

Picking out pin bones with pliers so we can make smoked salmon. Very helpful little helpers.

 

Yikes!

 

My new man. He wants me, he really does.

Ran some races. I was Team Dirtylicious.

 

Had what could have been a pretty nasty bear encounter but I think I scared them as much as they scared me. Go Dawn. Momma bear is underneath the left-most cub.

 

Family portraits. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

Fall bloom and harvest are in full swing.

 

Caught other types of fish too. Can you say yum?

 

Summer funnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

No wonder I’m so tired!