My Little 301

I had mentioned to my friend Coral that I was considering a Singer Featherweight because I was tired of lugging my heavy Bernina to getaways. She asked if I'd ever tried one and I replied, no. She made me sit down right there and try hers out. I quickly realized why it has such a cult following. A beautiful stitch, steady feed, and despite being such a tiny thing it just feels solid and doesn't vibrate or move as you sew.

At our guild's quilt show one of our vendors was Bob Harrison, who sells and services vintage Singers. Coral and I flocked to him. He has a great selection and is very knowledgeable. On day one of the show I chose one of his Featherweights to take home. Coral decided to try a Singer 301, which is like the big-sister of a Featherweight, and she ended up going home with it.

On day two of the show Bob brought in another Singer 301 and table. I tried it out. It's only a few pounds heavier than a Featherweight. However different from a Featherweight, it has retractable feed-dogs so you can do free motion quilting on it. It also has a slightly longer arm, slant needle, and is gear driven. After playing with it for a few minutes I was hooked. So I bought that and the table too. I really like the table because the machine sits down flush in it, but it has the insert piece to cover the hole so that you can use it as a card table too. Even though the legs fold up, it's still a very sturdy table.

Once home I checked them out fully and started playing with them. I quickly realized that though the Featherweight is the darling of the vintage sewing machine market, my heart went to the 301. This thing sews so fast - it whips down a seam in no time with no puckering or shifting. I find myself going up to my sewing room every day just to look at it, yeah it's love.

References:
A Fine Line Quilt Studio
Bob Harrison - Bob's Featherweights
Learn more about the Singer 301
Sew-Classic Blog - Vintage Singer Parts & Info

Dog Proofing the New Car

 Olive likes to stand on the center arm rest of the car to look out the window. She already ruined two arm rests on my old car so I decided I better make a cover for the new car before she struck again.

Fortunately I had a few yards of black vinyl in my stash. (Doesn't everybody?) Using a high tech pattern making method, I held two paper towels up to the side of the arm rest and traced the side edge, measured across, and I was ready to sew. It goes well with the interior, even did some top stitching on the side for the finishing touch.

References:
Olive the Dog
Spradling Vinyl
Why I replaced my car

I'll Have A Blue Christmas

Elizabeth the fabric fairy surprised me with some lovely fabric she picked up at Marden's. Her husband, Josh, tried to dissuade her from something so "seedy", but fortunately she paid no heed. This fabric is awesome! Elvis Christmas - is there anything better? I say no.

And little did she know that I had already started amassing Elvis Christmas fabric. I still don't know what I'm going to make, but it's going to rock!

References:
LizaP Design
Josh Zyber
Cranston Village (Fabric Manufacturer)
Marden's Surplus and Salvage

Calaveras Tunic

Last year I picked up a vintage Vogue pattern at Brimfield with Elizabeth. I don't normally do much apparel sewing, but this looked pretty easy and reminded me of something Mrs. Roper on Three's Company would wear, so how could I resist.

Fast forward a year and Elizabeth and I were wandering around Franklin Mills and I found this great Alexander Henry "Indigo Skull" fabric on the sale rack. Again, how could I resist? Even though I didn't know what I was going to do with it, I needed to have it. And then I recalled the tunic pattern and got to sewing the very next weekend.

It came together in a few hours with relatively few issues. I had to get out the sewing machine manual to remind myself how to do a blind hem and I modified the sleeves a bit so they weren't quite so gigantic. I made the sash with a yellow fat quarter I had from a collection of Amish solids (you never know where you're going to find that piece of fabric you need in your stash). Overall, very pleased with the result!

References:
Brimfield Antique Show
Elizabeth's Blog
Franklin Mill Store
Alexander Henry Fabric

Day of the Dead (wiki)

Maneki Neko iPhone Case

How could I resist a little Maneki Neko print with a fish bib and good luck coins? I had bought this fabric a while ago and I pulled it out of the stash today and made this case for my iPhone. Very easy to do, here are instructions that I wrote up:

Bali Bag

This is another fabric covered clothesline project inspired by my bali bowl. I decided I needed a summery bag and my friend Elizabeth had given me this fabric, so away I went. I modified the technique from the pattern so instead of doing a pre-sew on the strip, I overlapped as I went. The only issues I had with the construction were that the bag was somewhat small so it was a bit difficult to manipulate on the machine at some points, and attaching the handles got very bulky to cram under the presser foot - but I managed. Love how it turned out and that it can stand up on its own. Couldn't resist adding the starfish pin.

Puddin's Catnap Bowl

This is a fabric covered clothesline basket that I made from the Bali Bowls pattern by Aunties Two. It was easy to make and followed a similar construction style to Susan Breier's book. However instead of the raw-edge wrapping, it used a binding style which gives a neater appearance, but makes things a bit more bulky. Love the look of the batik fabrics. I put some catnip in it and put it in a sunny window and within moments Puddin had found it and settled in.

The Penguin Bag

I made this bag in a class given by Kathleen Murphy. She did a great job teaching it, we had a great time and got plenty of great bagmaking tips. Love the inside with all those great pockets. I also went to the hardware store and had them cut me a piece of plexiglass for the bottom so that it will sit up nicely.

I got that cute penguin fabric on my trip out to California at an awesome store in San Francisco called Britex Fabrics. This is a Japanese imported fabric made by Kokko (same fabric maker as the pig hat). Such a great combo - orange, polka dots, stripes, and penguins - how can you beat that? That big wooden button (carved in Africa I think) is from The Button Box in Wellesley, MA.

Green Linen Cuteness

Made this hat with with more great fabric from the Franklin Mill Store. Same pattern from McHats as the Pig Hat. I love it!

Amy Butler Bag

I made this bag for an online contest given by Amy Butler. The rules were to make a bag that was inspired by Amy Butler Designs. I was so proud of this bag. I designed the pattern myself. The concept of the quilting and binding construction I saw in the book 21 Sensational Patchwork Bagsby Susan Briscoe. This definitely made putting it together easier (note I did not say easy). I took a sheet of paper and made myself a model of how the clutch would fold. Then drew my marking lines on it. Started playing with the fabrics - so much fun to play with all those luscious patterns! There were a few mishaps and miscalculations, but overall I had a blast making this bag.

I woke up one morning thinking about how I was going to make a handle for this bag and came up with the idea to make it convertible from a wristlet to a strap. My friend Elizabeth and I were completely obsessed checking the site daily for new entries. To our disappointment, neither of us won. My fatal flaw was not taking into account that Amy loves oversized bags. Oh well, I love my little bag and it was great fun to see so many fantastic bags, ideas, and inspirations in the hundreds of entries.

Go Sox!

This is a pair of Boxers I made for the 'Fighting for a Cure' display for the Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild show. Donations at the display went to Prostate cancer research. The title was, "Only in Baseball can a man with four balls walk." I dedicated them to my father who is a Prostate cancer survivor (and unfortunately a Yankees fan).

Last fall I found the pattern, 1st Choice Boxers by Timber Lane Press and made a test pair for Peter. They came out great and the pattern is really nice. I don't have a serger and this pattern uses flat felled seams so the boxers are beautifully finished with no raw edges (which is not the case with your standard Butterick pattern).

I was so elated with the results that I decided that all the men in our families were going to get a pair from Christmas. (Why do I do these things to myself?) I briefly (ahem) considered whether this type of gift was appropriate, then said, sure, what the heck. Had so much fun finding silly fabrics for all the recipients - like baseballs, candy canes, hot peppers, skulls, military - good stuff.

The Pig Hat

Peter's mother collects pigs. Or rather, people (including myself) won't stop giving them to her. I found this adorable fabric at the Franklin Mill Store and couldn't resist it. I got the pattern from McHats. It came out so cute! And so easy to make! Definitely going to be making more hats.