Two new (old!) machines!!

So you guys know that I seem to be a sewing machine magnet (my Necchi Bu Mira story here and Pfaff 230 story here). I acquired two more machines and I think they will fit into my flock of machines quite well.

The first is this 1970s Kenmore. It’s a straight stitch and zigzag machine with a few other stitches built-in. It’s not nearly as old as my Pfaff 230 and Nechhi Bu Mira but it’s still hefty. I set her up and she sews really well. I’m not sure if this is a nice machine or not. I need to do a bit of research. Do any of your guys know about this model?

 

It’s the 158.13250 model. Made in Taiwan makes me a bit worried, I won’t lie.

 

I love the other stitches too. I have been keeping my newer Viking Madison only because it does the blind hem stitch. I swear to you, that is all I’ve been doing with it for the past three years. This Kenmore does the same stitch plus the stretch stitch. Don’t get me wrong, my Viking Madison also does these stitches but I’ve grown to love these older machines and I have had some problems with my Madison not being strong enough to go through things and the tension on it always seems to need tweaking. This machine will also do buttonholes but I have two buttonholers for that.

 

It comes with the booklet and I actually read it because I’m a nerd like that. I like reading manuals. See these short lines that a perpendicular to the seam guides? They are 5/8” corner marks. Bam. Really?? Duh, what a great idea! This way, you always know where to stop to turn a corner and get the perfect 5/8” corner seams. Okay, I can hear you right now laughing. Really Dawn, you’ve sewn for how many years and you’ve never seen this before? Uh, yea. This is a great idea and apparently, they had the idea in the 70s. Hmmmm. My newer Viking Madison doesn’t have it and my two older machines don’t even have seam guide markings.

 

See? Here are the directions.

And see the blind hemming? Super excited about that!

 

 

The other machine is the Viking Model 60 20. I believe it is also a 1970s machine? This one has not been tested because my gift-er forgot to give me the foot pedal that goes with it. I can spin the wheel and the dials seem to do the right things when I turn them.

 

Anyone have one? Want to share information?

 

 

 

I do know this model uses cams that makes all these stitches available.

 

Sadly, my cam-hole is empty. Say that quickly a few times. Go ahead. I know you are doing it in your head.

 

I assume this is for bobbins? There is no way to disengage the engine like on all my other machines. Like I said, there is no foot pedal so I can’t try it out.

 

I also got two bags of assorted stuff. Most of it is new in packages.

 

I also have a huge bin of bobbins. I’ve have to figure out which bobbin is for which machine.

 

 

Again, I’m super happy people know I love to sew!!!! Soon, I’ll have to start storing the machines instead of using them. I do have some sewing to show you, a dress! It’s also my June Burda Challenge.

 

I’ve been out of town which is why you haven’t “seen” me in a while. Some pictures from our trips below (gotta use those new cameras!). Feel free to skip this part!

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Every summer, I try to get a picture of the kids jumping in front of the Denali Park sign. I have yet to get all three in the air at the same time. My best is still only two out of three.

Another Swap Meet!

Eek! Can I just say that my ratio of yards sewn to yards bought is getting precariously low. One of my favorite places to go when we are in San Diego is the National City Swap Meet. Hello fabric! Hello trimmings!

I ended up with almost 40 yards of fabric and 30 yards of trim. All that for under $100. Um, yea. I’ll probably have to go on a fabric diet soon. Or, I just need to sew my tookus off. Everything I bought was knit. I bought several cotton blends and lots of stripes because I’m a stripe addict.

Hi, my name is Dawn and I’m addicted to sewing striped fabric. Hi is where y’all say, “Hi Dawn.”

 

I also bought an oodle of fun ITY knits. I just can’t say no! I feel several wrap dresses in my future. I love those and they are so versatile (and classic)! Look at these fun border prints. I seemed to buy quite a bit of coral and turquoise too. I tried to stay away from purple and gray on purpose. Maybe I’m finally out of that phase for a while? 

 

Here’s what a typical vendor looks like at the swap meet. The remnants are on tarps on the ground in piles. My favorite vendors organize the piles by fabric content. Of course, as the day goes by, the piles get mixed up. This guy is my favorite vendor. His remnants are $1 or $2 per yard and his rolls of fabric (you can see them at the other end of the market) are $2 to $4 per yard. He gives you generous yards too.

 

All of this ITY fabric is from this vendor.

 

Smaller vendors are like this. This person only sold fabric as remnants in two or three yard chunks.

 

I bought lots of elastic too. Some of this is FOE (blue and black/silver), some is decorative elastic, some is just plain old black elastic and clear elastic. I think I bought 10 yards of clear elastic for $2. 

 

Of course, be sure to feel the fabric and look it over for holes, stains, off-grain printing, etc. I have passed up lots of fabric in the years I have been going to this swap meet. Knowing how to speak a little Spanish would help out too. I know very little and I am able to fumble through.

Hopefully you guys will actually get to see a little sewing before I leave again next week!

San Diego Rock and Roll Half Marathon

I've been having fun!! Just keeping you guys updated so you don't think I've died. :) I did well in the race though I wish I had run it faster (Of course!). 

I'm posting via my iPhone so we'll see about the formatting. 

Burda 04-2013 #121 Halter Top Dress

This halter-top dress has been calling to me for a while. It’s kind of a standard halter top with a midriff panel and then a fuller skirt on the bottom. Their version included a ruffle on the bottom and lace decorations around the midriff panel. I left those elements off of mine. On theirs, the back panel is half zipper and half buttons. I changed mine so it was zipper from top to bottom.

 

I’ve had this Fabric.com batiste hanging around for a bit and wanted to do something fun with it. It’s obviously a striped fabric and what I like about it is the stripes are all kind of random sizes. There is no repeating pattern running through it.
 

 

I was very careful when I cut it* so the panels would be mirror images of each other. I didn’t have enough fabric to make the stripes on the skirt go straight horizontally. My original thought was to cut a long rectangle and take darts out of the top until I changed the shape to be like the actual pattern piece. I didn’t have enough fabric but I’m glad I didn’t because I really like how the back turned out.

 

How fun are the chevrons in the back? I wish the front had a bit more pizazz like the back but more on that in a minute.

 

The one thing I had to be careful of is the placement of fabric on the bodice. What I didn’t want was the teal and red parentheses on my girl-goodnesses. When you look at the back, you’ll see the large bulls-eye circles I didn’t want on the bodice. I wish I could have had more color on the halter part but it seems like every way I moved it, I would have big bulls-eyes. Sigggghhhhhh, like look at the ties! I love all that color! It just wouldn’t work with my limited fabric.

 

Do you see the giant red parentheses? Those are the ones I worried about. Yikes! I love the back though, love it!

 

Look at how they match up! Go me! Plus there is an invisible zipper back there too.

 

I lined the bodice with this blue shirting. I knew I would need two layers as this batiste is thin and delicate. This is the left-overs from this dress.

 

I used a butter yellow invisible zipper I’ve had in my stash for years. Here’s the inside finish with the lining and everything.

 

I really like this dress. I’m headed for warmer climates to run some races and I’m sure I’ll wear it then.

I leave tomorrow so I’m probably not going to post for a few weeks. Have fun yawls!

 

 

*This is a tangent but I always cut out fabric in the morning. Is anyone else like that? I’m an early-bird, awake at 5am and that’s My Time to conquer the world. I have made too many mistakes over the years cutting at night. Now, it’s like a superstition thing for me. If I have time to sew at night, and the task is cutting, I won’t do it. How lame-sauce is that? Often, I’ll just flip through magazines to “spend time with the fabric” but I won’t cut it. I’ll tidy up, I’ll pet the fabric, but I won’t cut it. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Burda 04/2011 #118 - Slouchy Knit Top

Man, this is bad Burda graphic. Here’s a link to the actual page. It looks better online.

This here is BurdaStyle 04/2011 #118. I’ve really gotten into skinny leg jeans or leggings and a looser, longer top. I know, I know, it’s been a trend for a while but I live in Alaska and we are slow up here. Also, all that stuff looks better with cute shoes and our snow just melted. In fact, some of the white stuff is still sticking around.

 

I found this really drapey, white, cotton knit in my stash and saw this pattern and thought they might make a nice pairing. What do you think? I really like it.

 

Here you can see there is quite a bit of “batwing” going on but I rather like it. I added 6” to the hem to make it a little longer so I would have some gathers on the hip area.

 

Here you can really see how fitted it is at the hip and how loose it is at the bust. I typically made a size 34 in Burda without fail. On this project, I graded down from a size 36 to a 32. I had read some reviews on PatternReview.com that had said the sizing was generous. Ya got that right!

 

You can see that the front and back have two separate pieces; a top and bottom piece.

 

Here’s the basic shape.

 

I added cuffs to the sleeves. The original sleeves were long but I had to cut them off because of fabric shortage. I thought it would look weird to have 3/4 length sleeves with something like this so I added tight cuffs so they would form some gathers like the hem at the hip.

 

For the neck and hem edge, I used clear elastic.  First, I serged it on the wrong side of the neck edge. Second, I flipped the neck edge over and topstitched from the front side. I pulled a little bit as I was serging it on so it caused slight gathering in the hem and the neck edge. I really needed something to stabilize the neck edge since this is a fine knit.

 

Here’s the hip edge.

 

 

 

Danger, non-sewing related kid photos! Cute kid alert!! Ignore if you are only here for sewing-related posts!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My beauties playing in the mud.

 

My crazies playing at the campground. This was on Mother’s Day.

 

More later!!!

Jalie 3245 - Raglan Top (Modified)

I made a few blingy dresses over the weekend. I used Jalies new raglan top pattern. Obviously I modified it a bit. Instead of just using it as a t-shirt pattern, I left the top and bottom pattern pieces separate and added some width to the bottom piece. All I did then was just gather the bottom piece to fit the top. The three girls will lurve it. They love anything sparkly; especially my three year old.

 

Here you can see a close-up of the two sections and the fabric. I found this fabric in San Diego and it’s fabulous. I thought about making just a long raglan top but I thought that might look too much like a pair of pajamas. I thought the gathering gave it a little more “dress” attitude.

 

Here you can see how I lined up the sides of the fabric. I was surprised but I had no issues with the sequins at all. The serger sliced right through them and the sewing machine plowed right through too.

 

Here’s an illustration of what I did. These two pattern pieces are supposed to be taped together and should both be on the edge of the fabric. The original pattern piece also has a curved hem. I added a couple inches for the length and then straighten it out.

 

When all three girls get back to us, I’ll take a picture of them!

May Burda Challenge! 05-2011-107 Ruched Top

I told you guys I was sick and tired of the gray winter. Here’s yet another bright and cheerful spring item. Yesterday was a blizzard but today it was in the 40s. We are so close to having no snow! I keep wearing sandals at school and hoping it will be warm when I leave school.

Here’s my Burda Challenge for May. This is from the Burda magazine back in 2011. I always liked the pattern and thought it was cute. I still think it’s cute. This fabric is from San Diego at the Swap Meet. I bought this from a guy who has bolts and bolts and bolts of fabric. Some of my favorite fabrics have come from this guy. I think he sells them for $3/yard. (This cardigan, this dress, and this dress to name a few.) 

 

Here’s the line drawing from Burda. I really like the twisted shoulders. It’s hard to see on my version because the print is so crazy.  In fact, it’s hard to even see any seams. I drew them in for you below.

 

The back is kind of boring. But, with this print, I think it’s fine. If this was a solid color, is might be too boring. (See the cutie to my right? She is having a blast on our cruise!)

I have plans for another knit dress in a day or so. We’ll have to see what comes whizzing out of my sewing machine next! Happy spring, you people!