A few days ago, I became the proud owner of this little beauty.

She belonged to my Grandmother. (My Dad’s Mom) It has been in storage since my Nan passed away a few years ago.  She has all of her original attachments, and runs like a dream. I had no idea that these machines came with so many different feet. I honestly thought it came with one foot for everything.

Yes, that is the original manual! As far as I can tell, these machines were made between 1910 and 1920.

The detail is absolutely amazing. A true work of art. She looks a little dull right now, but once I clean and polish her, she’ll look almost like new!

I can remember my Nan,  sewing busily away,  creating lovely clothes for my cousin and I.  She used this machine all her life, never investing in an electric model. She made clothing for all the kids in the family, did household sewing and sewed for others, to help with her family income, all on this machine. Now I can sew on this machine, all the while thinking of my wonderful Grandmother. But, I have to be honest. I don’t think my leg muscles are strong enough to treadle for too long!  I’m grateful for my shiny new Babylock, ready and waiting whenever I need her!

Anne

 

Hi!  This week has been a busy one. I did manage to squeeze in some sewing here and there. Just quick little projects done by hand. I’ve seen dozens of little baby shoes all over blogland, many of them on Etsy. The work that has gone into some of them is mind boggling. They are too pretty or cute to put on the baby! I’d be afraid that as soon as I put them on, the munchkin would throw up on them, or something equally revolting.  Non-the-less, I would love to have a dozen beautiful little pairs for my soon to be granddaughter.  Yes, that’s right, a GIRL!! We are all so excited. I have been dreaming up the dresses and things I can sew for her ever since we found out. The hard part is, Taylor doesn’t want to know the sex of the baby! I must confess that knowing the sex of the baby before my son does feels odd. There has been much shh-ing going on and hiding of little clothing and bedding,  in case Taylor happens to come in. I don’t know how we are going to manage setting up a nursery (including painting) without him getting an inkling that the baby is a sweet little girl.  We will have to banish him from the room entirely.  Now, what was I talking about? Aha! You don’t remember either!  BABY SHOES!  As I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, I have seen so many little pairs of beautiful baby shoes that I had to try my hand at making some. 

I used Simplicity #2867 view B for both pairs.

This is a very simple pattern, with only three pattern pieces.

The pattern suggests wool felt or wool felt blends. Since I didn’t have anything remotely close to that, I used two beading mats. I have no idea what it is, but it washed well by hand, and is very soft. Plus the colours are pretty! If anyone can tell me what it is, I’ll be grateful. When you look closely, it looks like a layer of foam between two pieces of some unknown fibre. 

 

The best part, it is only .33cents a piece at Fabricland! One sheet makes one pair of shoes. You can’t beat that. I sewed them together by hand, using embroidery thread to do a blanket stitch. While sewing the first pair (the pink ones) it was glaringly obvious that I have to brush up on my blanket stitch. It is not as easy to keep neat as you would expect.  But I forged ahead and finished them. Because it was late in the evening by that time, I just embellished them with fabric yoyos. I think they are cute.

 

I made the mauve pair the next night. My stitching is somewhat better, but I’ll keep practicing. I haven’t embellished them yet. I’m waiting for a flash of inspiration to hit me.

 

This afternoon I started an outfit for the baby. I intend to give it to Rachel at her baby shower next weekend. I’ll give you just a glimpse of what I’ve done so far.

Ruffle Bum knickers!

Unfortunately they don’t look as nice as they do in person. The camera sort of washes out the colour. I will be making a dress and bonnet to match, and I’ll post them as soon as I can.

Have a great Monday, and happy sewing!

Anne

Please check my party page to see where I am today!

 

Hello?  Is there anybody out there?  My little corner of the web is pretty quiet these days.  I’ve promised myself that I’m not going to apologize for my lack of posts anymore.  I see so many blogs that start with ‘I’m so sorry…’ (I’ve done it more than a few times too!)  because they haven’t blogged daily, or even weekly. We are all busy, and have a more important life going on away from the computer for any of us to worry about keeping up with the more prolific bloggers. I mean no disrespect to these women, in fact I am in awe of them. I am amazed that they are able to post so often, AND make it interesting!  That can be very intimidating to some of us. Because of my illness I am at home the majority of the time,  making it difficult to find things to write about.  So, one of the reasons I’ve been absent is that posting was starting to feel like a chore.  I was having such a difficult time finding things to write about, that I would just give up. I wanted my posts to be interesting and entertaining, something that would entice my readers to come back again.  I had no idea how hard that was. Because I was trying so hard to please everyone else, my posts seem stilted and forced, (at least I think so!) and BORING!  Blogging is like the ultimate high school experience. But instead of wanting the ‘coolest’ pair of jeans, we strive to have the nicest looking blog.  And don’t get me wrong,  I only ever encountered the friendliest of people here in blogland, but like in high school, there are the ‘cool ‘ bloggers, and the ‘not-so cool’ bloggers.  Without being self deprecating, I would say that I am one of the not-so ‘cool’ bloggers. I rarely do tutorials, my posts are few far between, and as I already mentioned, I don’t have a lot to talk about.   A few weeks ago that would have really bothered me. Like most bloggers, when I started this blog I hoped to be as popular as some of the other ‘cool’ bloggers. (you know who they are!)  But over the past weeks I have realized that being popular on the web doesn’t define who I am as a person. It doesn’t matter how popular my blog is, or how my people comment on my projects.  What matters is family and good friends. I know I am important to them, and that they are interested in me and what I do.  But, I do have to be honest here. Being recognized in blogland is an ego boost, and it really makes my day when I get comments. So, I’ve decided to look at blogging a different way. It is meant to be fun. Not a chore. So I plan to write future posts as if I’m writing a letter to a good friend. And if I’m never as popular or ‘cool’ as those other bloggers, I’m fine with that.  I’ll be having fun while I do it.

Anne

I’ll leave you with a picture of one of the dozen roses my youngest son Colin gave me for Mother’s Day.

Please don’t think I am putting any other bloggers down. The work they put into their family lives and their blogs is astounding. They deserve all the recognition  and admiration they get.