Butterick Fall/Winter patterns....

You know I love seeing the new patterns come out with each season.  The Butterick release has some lovely retro designs which I can admire. My true love is an unusual design.   Here are my picks from this release:

This is B6296 and it is a Lisette design.  Yes, it is a pajama pattern but note that the pants/shorts is not your typical pull-on pant.  I love that they have pockets.  I may get this just for the pants.  Who doesn't like a nice lounging pant?

This is B6280.  I love the lines of this dress.  It will not be hopping into my cart though because I'm not sure how it would look on a larger bust.  Maybe a solid color would be okay but why purchase something I don't think will work.

This is B6287.  Love, love, love this top.  It might end up in my cart.  I need to see how I can fit this into my wardrobe.  I really like the long-sleeved cowl in View B but I think that the top would be more versatile if the two were separated so that you could wear different scarves with it.  What do you think?

This is B6292.  View D as shown is very nice.  I have already purchased a coat pattern or this would be in my cart.

This is B6301.  This caught my eye because I like to wear vests as an extra layer in the winter.  Yes, it is in the maternity section but the model is showing the non-maternity version.  If you like hoods, you could always add that to the coat.  Overall, this is a nice little looking little pattern.  It may end up in my cart.  Since it is a princess seam, it would help a bit with the alterations.

What do you think of these picks?

Happy  Sewing!

Cooking...Green Beans and Tomatoes

I am always on the looking for great recipes that work with the items I grow in the garden and this one is a very good one. Not only that, it reminds me of Saturday lunches with my Grandmother who made a similar dish.

Green Beans and Tomatoes...this dish can be cooked right out of the garden and it is worth the effort.  Of course, you can cook it with canned or frozen items.

This is a great way to introduce more tasty veggies into your diet.  

Happy Cooking or Sewing!

Have You Ever Treadled?....

After cleaning my little Featherweight and getting it running again, I decided that maybe I should try again to get my Grandmother's treadle working.  I have had it in my possession for at least 25 years and it has been mostly used as a decorator piece.  I know a little bit about it's history.  My Grandfather purchased it for my Grandmother in 1939 and they drove all the way to Ft Smith, AR to get it.  In today's world, this would probably be a 2 or 3 hour drive.  However I would imagine that in 1939 this was a minimum of an all day trip and maybe even a two day trip.  So here's the little machine in it's 5 drawn cabinet:

From the serial number on the machine, it was built in 1937.  In this picture, you can see that the belt in missing.  I have ordered a new leather belt for it.  I have run the belt through all the grooves and checked the fit but I haven't made the finally snip yet so I can get it attached.  I will probably wait on that so that I can clean and oil the machine.  Even with all the neglect that I have bestowed on this machine everything is still operational.  The only thing I haven't attempted yet is the winding a bobbin.  Here's a close up of the machine:

The decals on the bed are pretty worn which makes me think this machine has gotten a lot of use.  The finish is more a matte black and not a shiny black.  I do not know if it should be shiny or not.  In this picture you can see that I have already added a new red felt pad for the spool holder.  Maybe I should look for a black felt pad.  I think it would look a little nicer.  Here's a close up of the bobbin area:

This picture really shows the shuttle area.  This machine is very different than machines with a motor.  You can see in the picture the shuttle which is bullet shaped.  This is called an oscillating or vibrating shuttle and the whole unit swings both and forth while you are sewing. I suppose you could say that this is an early top loading bobbin except the whole shuttle and bobbin dropped in.

Unfortunately, I only have one bobbin for the shuttle.  I've been looking for more but they are really hard to locate.  There are new bobbins available but they are a little bit shorter than the bobbins that came with the machine and sometimes the bobbin winder will not work with them.  It really depends on the machine.

My goal is to get this machine cleaned up and oil, get the belt on, replace the missing piece of felt on the bobbin area  (if you look closely, you can see the black hole just at the bottom of the shuttle), and see if I can figure out the art of treadling.  In the past when I tried to treadle, I could get the machine to make four stitches forward and then, it would go four stitches backwards.  Not exactly what I was wanting to do.  The manual actually gives a little bit of information on how to get the treadling process going.  So, I'm going to give it a try.

If anyone has any information on maintenance on the treadle base, I would love to directed to the source.  I'm sure with all the metal parts that something is suppose to be oiled or greased but none of the manuals that I have acknowledge maintenance on this part of the machine.

Happy Stitching!

Wardrobe Updates For Fall and Winter...

The weather is cooling down and the need to warmer clothes is here.  I have pulled out part of the clothing that I set aside at the end of the season last year.  The posts about these purchases/items made can be found here, here, and here.  There was only a couple of  duds and that was the knit top in the first entry with the perfect colors and bad fit, and a black/gray top that I made.  So far, I have added four items to the list:

Grey Cabled Sweater from Kohl's.  I sized up a little bit on the sweater so I could wear it with layers.  I have a rose colored tank that looks nice under it and there is also a pink/gray striped shirt.

A black pair of knit pants by Lee.  These are really very comfortable.  This will give me a second pair of casual black pants.  I hope it isn't too much black.  Is that possible?

 
A Teal Knotted Sweater from Christopher and Banks.  The teal color is leaning more toward the blue side this year and I really love it.  It is hard to resist purchasing everything in this color.

A teal plaid shirt from Christopher and Banks.  This is the perfect shade of teal.  

I purchased one pair of new shoes so far and they are very comfortable.  Meet Janey Mae by Clarks. They are a little on the expensive side but I usually get a couple of years out of the shoes.

I don't know if I'll be purchasing much else besides accessories.  I know I need some rose/pink stuff but that will only be tops of some kind or maybe a scarf.  I would like a couple more skirts.   Hopefully, I can make those.  The only two things I know that I would like to get is a new coat and a new pair of snow boots.  Both of those items will be hard to locate.  I guess I should start looking now.  The last couple of times that I have purchased a coat, I have had to just settle for this is probably good enough.  The last coat was an expensive dud.  It lasted about two seasons before falling apart.

I feel like my winter wardrobe is in pretty good shape.  I will say that following the concept that I started with last year has been fairly liberating.  I have resisted http://sewingdaily.blogspot.com/2014/08/wardrobe-considerationscolors.htmlmany items because they were not in my color scheme.

Happy Stitching!

Time Flies When Your Sewing....

Yes, folks, I've been sewing.  Not necessarily as much as I would like to because the project pile continues to grow faster than the output.  Fortunately, it is only patterns that are being purchased and not much in the way of fabric.

Patterns.  Why are they so tempting?  I did pretty good in the spring stitching up some of the patterns that I purchased but that hasn't happened with the new stuff for fall and winter.  I purchased all of the new Silhouettes, and three of the new Vogues (V9156, V9155, V9150).  Thankfully, nothing in the McCall's Winter Catalog was interesting enough to me to purchase.

Sewing.  Oh, I have been sewing.  I have finished the quilt top that I talked about in early August.  I ordered the backing, waited a week for it to show up, and have it washed.  Now, I just need to find an afternoon where I can straighten the fabric, cut it, and stitch it back together to create the correct length/width needed for the quilt.  Here's a glimpse at my next quilting type project:

What do you think of the fabric selections?  I'm hoping to get this little piece of home dec done before Thanksgiving.  I may be running out of time.  I'll share the remaining projects when you as they are completed.  So much to do, so little time.

Knitting.  Oh, yes, the knitting group has started up again for fall. I have completed the knitting of the earwarmer/headband that I started last spring.  Now, I'm starting on matching fingerless gloves. I'm hoping to have those finished before Thanksgiving.

Garden.  I'm sorry.  I have failed to keep up with my garden totals.  I lost part of the information from August when I had to purchase a new laptop and failed to transfer the gardening file across.  Just know that I had many, many pounds of squash, tomatoes, and peppers.  We are still harvesting lettuce, tomatillos, peppers,  and all sorts of greens.  I have planted garlic for next years garden.  Even though it was very hot this past which caused our lettuce crop to fail in a big way, we have the largest squash crop that we have ever had.

Monthly sewing get together.  My sewing buddy has a new quilting frame and we are planning on trying it at the end of the month.  I have a table runner that I made to try the free motion quilting with.  It won't be a disaster if the quilting isn't perfect.

Happy Stitching!