Thursday, April 24, 2014

1939 Singer Featherweight~An Estate Sale Treasure

I had never given much thought to owning a Singer Featherweight.  I liked seeing them in antique or thrift stores, but that was about it.  I never really wanted one for myself. But then last weekend, at an estate sale in Santa Rosa, I was bitten by the bug when I saw this little baby sitting on the floor in the corner, all shiny, and calling out to me.  



So cute, and with what appeared to be all of its gear.  The only ones I've ever seen up close have been worse for wear, and missing parts etc.  



But this one had the original case, six feet and the seam guide..



..some old grease, the original manual..


..the screwdriver, pedal, etc. Plus an old burnt out light bulb. And then I found the keys to the carrying case in a couple of small blue and white envelopes, which are pretty old and brittle.







Swoon.  Dust seemed to be its only problem.  The paint was in great shape, too. 




It looked like time had stood still. It seemed to have a pretty reasonable price, too, although I don't know much about them so if you have any knowledge, feel free to share.  I'm kind of afraid to sew on her, but she did run like charm when I plugged her in.  I was left wondering if this little machine had been with its original owner all this time.


So when I got home I started googling. I had no idea how old it was! I found this site, where I found out, according to the serial #, it was produced in 1939. When ladies may have been swooning over these hats and hairstyles. :)



I read on one site that the faceplate with the scroll design was created up until just after WWII, which would fit along with it's serial # date, too. I love history, and the WWII era kind of fascinates me, so I love it even MORE after finding out its birthday. :)  Then I looked up more about what might have been happening in 1939.



It's just so pretty.  I get it now. I'm hooked.  I'm smitten. Everything about it is just so cute!


Maybe it rode home with its new owner in a car like this.  ?



I guess if she's lasted this long and looks this good, I should try sewing a seam.  There's something romantic about a little machine made in that era out of all metal parts.  




Especially one that rolled off the assembly line the year that these movies came out..






The Wizard of Oz.. wow a good year for movies!



Also the year that television was introduced to the American public at the World's Fair in New York.



 But at the same time, some not so good things were happening.  The Nazis were invading Poland. :( 







..and women, happy thriving women, maybe even quilters like you and me.. their lives would never be the same. :(



I once had a patient in the hospital that had survived the holocaust..she had a number tattooed on her arm.  So chilling.











That this little machine rolled off the assembly line in such a monumental year blows my mind.





Plus, it's also the year that my mom was born! I don't have a baby pic of her, but here's a pic of her from the 40's. :)




Yep. I love this little machine.



I shall take good care of her.


xoxo

linking up with really random thursday
Saturday, April 12, 2014

My Favorite Kind of Baby Bib..

..is the pullover bib!  Hands down. The best. The velcro doesn't wear out, and little hands don't pull them off! 



So when I got some strips of Happy Flappers (an upcoming line from Riley Blake) in the mail the other day (the happiest mail ever!)..



..I decided to stitch enough of them together to make one! I haven't made them since my son was small, and I forgot how much I love them. I had made some for my son after buying these kind..
 ..and realizing the necks were too loose, and food would still get inside on the neck of his shirt.  Here's one of the first ones I made for him. 



He wore it until it wouldn't fit over his head anymore.  Well into his second year. You can see they absorb a lot of drool, too. :D *sigh* The time flew by so fast! I really do miss those cheeks!

So I decided to use the flannel strips, and part of a knit strip for the neck. And oh my goodness it turned out so cute!  Look at how cute the matching knit is on the neck band!  My son's were very plain compared to this one! This one is fancy! ;)



Can you see where I goofed with one of the strips?



Yep, there is a little upside down owl on the brown strip!  I didn't even notice until it was done. :)




I backed it with some chenille that I already had, so it's super soft and absorbent. 

And embellished it with a little folded flower, made out of some Riley Blake dots, and a button from my Grandma's button jar..



..and took way too many pics of it b/c the fabric is so cute!






And then gave it to this little cutie, after she (barely) agreed to try it on for me. :) She's very serious! And adorable!  (*and her mom gave me permission to share this photo*) She's such a doll isn't she?



Thanks for reading!  Hope you're having a great weekend! I want to go make another now.  Bib.. not baby. haha! ;)

xoxo

linking up with: clever chicks, nifty thrifty sunday, submarine sunday, think pink sunday, not baaad sunday, a round tuit, sunday soiree, anything goes, motivate me monday, craftastic monday, monday funday, masterpiece monday, design wall monday, make it pretty monday, sew cute tuesday, take a look tuesday, create link inspire, too cute tuesday, linky tuesday, fabric tuesday, tuesday to-do, handmade tuesday, show and tell tuesday, wip's on wednesday, from dream to reality, what's it wednesday, wow me wednesday, wake up wednesday, really random thursday, think tank thursday, show and tell, project stash, catch a glimpse, great idea thursday, Anything Goes, TGIFF, Freedom Friday, can i get a whoop whoop, finish it up friday, friday favs, LAFF, showoff friday, linky party palooza, flaunt it friday, anything blue fridaycreativity unleashed, showoff saturday, show&tell saturday, strut your stuff saturday, check me out saturday
Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Fun Sewing & Purple Punch Giveaway Winner


I finished up a quilt top that I've been working on for a few weeks!  Whew! (wiping forehead) I can't show a pic of the whole thing just yet, but I can show you the colors. :)


  
It is from that bowl of blue and green quilt parts that I posted a pic of a couple of posts ago.



This is going to be the backing and the binding: 




It was a challenge b/c these aren't colors that I would normally gravitate to. But they are growing on me a lot!  I LOVE this bundle at Mad About Patchwork now, whereas before I made this current quilt top, I probably wouldn't have been drawn to it as much.



But now I'm in love with it!  

I've also been busy fun-sewing lately.. I finally broke into my 2wenty Thr3e layer cake the other day.  It was gathering a lot of dust. Trying to use up some of what I have.  Stash sewing. I love this fabric.  Hopefully it turns out the way it is in my head.  :) Which isn't always the case, but fingers crossed. :)



OH!  And speaking of Mad About Patchwork.. it's time to pick a winner for the Mad About Patchwork 6th Anniversary Purple Punch Giveaway! 



Thanks to everyone who joined in. Random Number Generator picked Kathy Davis. Congrats Kathy!

Happy Wednesday!!
xoxo  





Wednesday, April 2, 2014

A Little Girl Apron Experiment/Tutorial

Remember this little apron that I started in February?  I finally got it done!  



Not a bad use for a FQ and a $1 dish towel.. plus some ribbon and a couple of buttons from my grandma's button jar.



When I started, I wasn't quite sure how I was going to finish it. I started by turning down the top of the dish towel about three inches and stitching it...




..and sewing some polka dot ribbon across the top edge.  Then I turned the corners down and stitched them into place, and added some buttons. Then I hemmed three edges of my FQ.. 




..gathered the top edge and sewed it onto the dish towel at the midpoint.


So to finish it I just had to figure out how to finish the waist of it.  I decided to use ribbon to cover the waist stitching on both the front and the back.  




And then I used some scrap ribbon that I had saved to make little belt loops on the back side of the waist band..



And added a long length of polka dot ribbon for the tying, and voila!



So the long ribbon goes around the neck, through the top corners of the bib, and then through the belt loops, and then ties at the back.




And I really wanted to see it on, and to know if it worked before I gave it away as a gift, but I couldn't find a model.. so.. I had to bribe a certain someone who lives here and promise not to show his face. ;)























The bib is a little loose, but overall it works. 



*edit: I think the bib being loose will work out fine, if I use a longer length of ribbon, and instead of having it go through the corners of the bib and straight down to the waist loops and tie, have it go through the corners of the bib, then under the arms, crisscross in the back and then through the loops and tie. Does that make sense?

And then he couldn't wait to take it off. haha



Happy Wednesday! :) If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the Mad About Patchwork Anniversary giveaway of a yummy FQ pack here.

xoxo

linking up with: let's bee social

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