Take a peak at some gorgeous dresses and suits designed by Irene Lentz-Gibbons on her great-niece Karlyn’s website. Irene – a master!!! yes,yes,yes.

Karlyn and Greg Lavoi – THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

and one of the babies just after nursing…

Nothing like a happy baby!

I am so excited to meet Emma’s owner, Sandra! She and my family are members of the Sweetwater Camera Club. Slobo scheduled a photo field trip for the club to her and her husband’s farm and I got to tag along and see what her sheep and the farm look like.

Sandra and her husband raise babydoll sheep on their Sweetwater Creek Ranch farm. Babydoll’s are an old-world breed, miniature Southdown sheep, and they are absolutely adorable. Her goal is to increase the population of this rare breed. I am excited at the chance to shadow her so that I can learn more about caring for these sheep and get to know my future wool providers.

With all of the flooding in our counties the past month, unfortunately, her pasture is still a wetland. You can see some of the water in the picture of Emma above. She relayed the panic they felt the night of the heaviest flooding a few weeks ago. Her husband woke her up at midnight to let her know the creek had flooded it’s banks and was quickly engulfing the pasture. She said the water eventually rose to the roof of their barn (They have about a 10 ft tall barn). They were able to rescue most of the sheep, but sadly one was lost in the rising water. The sheep had to be kept in her basement until the water receded from the barn. She is now having to give them round the clock feed until the water can drain from the once lush pasture.

While, I was there, Sandra and I talked about fleeces. She has tried to wash the raw fleeces herself but ran into so many problems from allergies to felting, that she decided to use a fiber mill. With the $300 price tag for processing, it was not worth messing with it (as she says, I don’t knit, spin, or weave – so why do it?). However, being a knitter, spinner, and weaver – I’m jumping at the chance to give it a try! In the spring, when the sheep shearer makes her rounds to the farms, I will be able to purchase the fleeces from her seven sheep at a very good price. From what I have read, the fleeces work into a yarn with the equivalent softness of cashmere and with a gorgeus variety of color. It will be a wonderful opportunity to process, spin, and weave wool that is from sheep which I get to befriend! Yes, I am in sheep nirvana…………………

P.S. I’ve finally woven off the warp from the loom I built, making 4 dishtowels and 2 dishcloths. While the towels were gifted the moment they came off the loom – I do have one cloth that I’ll post a picture about along with plans for building a loom of your own. Coming soon….

In the previous post I mentioned problems encountered with the first weave on the tabletop loom. Now for the pictures and explanation of the latest changes. I share this not only to track my own projects, but for other newbies…

Just as the business end of a spinning wheel is not the wheel but one of it’s smallest parts, the flyer on the mother of all (don’t ya love these names?).. the most important part of the loom is the reed that sits in the beater. How straight and parallel each of these dents (spaces between the reed) are, is a huge factor in how even the weave is.

While the oatley plastic reeds did not work out so good… they ARE fun for kids to build structures using twist ties or pipe cleaners with… so all is not lost.

Here’s a picture of what I mean about the importance of the reeds. Notice the ‘opening’ of the weave? That is where the reeds bowed a little creating a little more open dent in those spaces.

Here is a picture showing the sleyed reeds which reveals where the dent spacing was off on these lines:

So, if you are going to build a loom – plan to either make a reed using the stiffest, thinnest, straightest reeds you can find or better yet – save money on the loom frame by building it out of scrap wood and put your money into the best reed you can afford – carbon or stainless steel.

Purchased reeds I find range from 3 1/2″ – 4 1/2″ in height and the widths are measured at the inside dent spacing – so add an inch or two to the overall length for what will fit inside of your beater. The grooves for the beater frame on my barn loom are 5/8″ wide. I wasn’t able to find that information anywhere else – so just FYI.

The photograph of the cloth on the table is after it had been machine washed and dried and carried around in Slobo’s camera bag as a lens cover for a week. Where the weave is more open (at the arrows) is a 1/4″ weft stripe of aunt lydia’s #10 crochet cotton. The remaining warp is the remains of a putty colored bamboo / nylon blend knitting yarn I had lying around (about 3 times the diameter of the crochet cotton).

A couple of his clients said they would like to buy some dishtowels made like that – so if they liked that… who knows what the future holds… maybe lots of warp in a new reed?

I leave you with glimpses of the last changes (hopefully) that are needed to the table top loom. I have been making those today and will have pictures soon:

The shed created is too small….

so, I need to move the beater closer to the heddles:

I’ve lengthened the sides to 31 1/2 long x 6″ tall using some old pine dresser drawer fronts I already had, to give more room to create the shed.

I’ve also taken off the top and bottom of the beater frame and am using 2″ wide pieces in order to get the beater a little closer to the castle. The old 6″ wide piece at the top prevented it from getting closer.

Once I have a good loom, whose only hurdle is my skill level, I’ll post the drawn plan so others can build one too.

The warp design comes from a set of dishtowels we bought last year from Foxfire’s shop, woven by The Village Weaver, Sharon Grist. They are a simple plain weave. The dent works out to 20 EPI. I love these towels and everything else that the Village Weaver has! Since there were no more available at the store, I decided this pattern was going to be my first weaving lesson.

I ended up making a few changes to the loom after the first warping revealed some functional issues:

1. The two-ended screw and glue for the knobs (table legs) did not work out. If you’ve ever had a curtain rod finial that stripped and spun, you can visualize the problem.

Here is the newest solution:

We ended up cutting the legs down to a 1 1/2″ thickness (to get around the pins) and used 3″ wood screws in predrilled holes directly into the beams. On each beam knob end now is a hasp with metal dowel running through it with a cotter pin to hold it on. This works out good. The pin placements ended up giving really good tension too, so I was happy about that.

2. I first warped from back to front, using the ‘ruler with nails’ raddle and rubber bands to keep the threads down. The problem is the threads overlap eachother when I took the warp off the warping board. I can’t imagine there’s a way to prevent it from happening. I did tie choke ties at each yard center and placed ties on each side of the cross and end peg, made the braid as it came off the warping board, and draped it directly to the beam – trying to be careful not to ‘overly touch’ it. In the future I will weave a folded string between the epi spacings and see if that helps to keep things flattened and in place.

The overlapping and tangling became a nightmare tho as I tried to warp from back to front with lease sticks tied to the back beam. The tension was so tight from the snarls and tangles behind the lease sticks, that I had to have Slobo gradually wind the warp threads all the way back onto the front beam while I used a hair comb and untagled the threads from the back beam as they closed in on the lease sticks. THAT was really tedious and aggravating – so there must be a better way to do that or I did something wrong. By time the warp was all picked up by the front beam, my original end peg loop had slack in alot of spaces on the back apron, which tells me the yarn must have stretched an awful lot in the tangling/detangling. I hope to find a weaver who will share some information about that.

Reed replacement:

The heddle threading and sleying of the reed went well tho after I replaced the reed….

3. The initial reeds that I made the beater reed from had the growth rings from the bamboo on them. Since then, having seen reed beaters up close at a museum, I see they are always straight. Chalk up lesson #1.

The solution was to build another reed. Yes, I could have bought one, but would need to wait at least 3-4 weeks and I’d really like to know what other options would work. Let’s face it, our ancestors didn’t have an internet store to turn to and I don’t have a local reed source.

With blissful thoughts that there must be something else around that would work and allow drilling of holes to be threaded onto rods, Slobo discovers Plastic Hanger Strapping in the plumbing dept.

While I think it would have been more accurate to use craft sticks (the non-rounded end ones from Walmart) and just tie them to two sticks at each end with some glue when done, for some strange reason I was determined to find a replacement that would work with the washers. lol

The strapping brand is Oatley and it’s gray plastic. One roll of 3/4″ x 100 feet was 9.00. It comes in plastic, steel, copper, and galvanized. The metals have sharper edges, so I opted for the plastic which has a small beveled edge. The plastic allows the threads to slide very nicely in the dent spaces (mined are doubled up in the dent).

Here you can see the difference between the reed made from actual reeds and the reed made from the plastic strapping. The reeds would have worked if they were all as even as the ones to the right. The plastic made a better solution.

It comes with predrilled holes, but they are too small to thread onto a rod and are not lined up exactly, so you must drill new holes. Because it is on a roll, it has to be flattened.

This is how to flatten them:

1. Cut 6″ strips (this will end up as a 5 1/2″ tall beater reed after threading. Kitchen scissors will do this easily.
2. Lay the strips out on a foil covered cookie sheet (abt 24-30 will fit per cookie sheet). Put another cookie sheet on top of the strips and place the heaviest pots you have (Slobo used three cast iron pots).
3. Bake at 250′ F oven for 12-14 minutes.
4. The key to flattening out perfectly straight is to quickly cool the strips in a freezer. Remove them from the cookie sheets and place in freezer for about 15-20 minutes until cooled completely thru.

The oven is not hot enough to melt the strips, but will be hot enough to soften the plastic so that it will lie flat. If you don’t cool them quickly, they will still bow tho as they contract. So freezing is key.

Once they have cooled, you can take them out and drill the hole for the threaded rod to pass through at the top and bottom of each one. I made a little jig to hold stacks of 12 that had been taped together tightly using masking tape. See, when you drill plastic, little burrs will from around the holes and ‘lift’ each strip up pushing the next one. The best way to deal with this is to tape them together tightly at each end and in the middle, then the burrs will only be on the first and last one (sometimes in the middle, but not many).

Finally, a razor blade will slice any burrs off easily when held level with the strip to cut.

The placement on the threaded rods went:

1. #10 bolt.
2. A 6″ joist tie plate (galvanize plate where joist hangars are sold) drilled at each end for the rod. Drilling this plate is really easy as the metal is fairly soft but doesn’t easily bend.
3. Washer then strip. The #10 washers gave a 10-12 dent spacing.
4. Finish with another 6″ joist tie plate.
5. Bolt on the end of the top and bottom rods.

Finally, after having little tools all over to keep track of, a tool tray was needed. I built it from 1/4″ thick poplar and used joist hangers again to attach it high enough on the castle to clear the handle.

Once I get the tensions evened out on the warp strings it should be ready to go. While I’ll keep you posted on how it goes, Slobo bought me a new ‘old’ primitive floor loom from a lady in Del Rio, TN that I cannot wait to post about! There was a similar loom at Red Clay State Park in TN that a lady was kind enough to let us photograph and see up close. I’m working on gathering pics and info for it now and will post soon…

Until then…. May your life be filled with many firsts.

It only took 45 minutes to convert the balls to tangle-free easy-store bobbins. Just remove the cardboard tube from the center of crochet thread balls by squishing it down and locate the center-pull string (on the squared balls).

Using parts from my very first sewing machine and some scrap wood, I made an electric bobbin winder. It was really – really easy to make. Give it a try! You’ll be delighted with it! Here’s a video of it being used for the first time – Thanks to my slobo!

After getting much faster on the second bobbin, a leather glove was necessary to prevent finger burn from the thread. I borrowed our 8 yr. old’s leather workman glove.

For the end of the prong, I just used the pulley from the motor. It has a tiny set screw that you can use to position it along the shaft. Something similar for the other end would work too. Another rubber stopper would work just as well.

If you want one that you can use any size/type bobbin in, I imagine the ends of plumb bobs with a sliding bookend dealie-thing-a-ma-bob would work well too, The bore shaft will fit a McDonald’s drinking straw too, if you want to make your own bobbins with cardboard disks.

I did need to put a layer of masking tape on the shaft end of the motor, to fit the bore’s female end on more snugly center. I’m talking one or two wraps with the masking tape tho.

For the curious, I just have it clamped to my drawing board. Rubber banded to the drawing board behind it is the string heddle jig so I could prop up in bed watching old movies while I tied 300 heddle strings. The shaft is a bit off-center because I did not take the time to find exact center on my rubber stopper. Finding center is a good thing.

Addendum: Added pictures of the parts 07/01/2010 – Oops!
You can click on the picture below for a larger view.

I parted out an old singer sewing machine I had and used the motor (left the motor bracket mount, light, and male adapter wiring on it). I used a piece of 3/4″ thick pine scrap for the base (about 8 x 12 inches or so?), added a couple of blocks (a 2×4 and 3/4″ thick scrap) at the end where I wanted to mount the motor. Put a piece of scrap natural rubber (just had it on hand) under the motor for vibration control, then mounted the motor bracket – just screwing into the block assemblage I had previously screwed the base piece of 3/4″ thick pine. Screwing on the bracket that held the light as well to the other side of the motor on the same block.

The key was finding the Irwin bore extension. I purchased mine at Home Depot. I don’t remember now what it cost, but it was really cheap, I’m thinking abt. 10-15$? Okay – watched my own video and it was 9$ for the bore and 2$ for the rubber stopper. lol It is for installing on your drill, only it is put on backwards here.

The sewing machine has a small pulley on the end of the extension shaft on the original sewing motor assembly. It is attached via a flat head set screw. I took that pulley off, wrapped two wraps of masking tape to increase the diameter of the original pulley shaft a hair, and put the female end of the bore extension on the motor shaft. The bore attaches with two set screws, however only the first set screw is able to be set on the original motor shaft. The other is just shy of meeting the end of the shaft, however, that one set screw has held up with no problems.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the bore, I used the original motor pulley to hold my cardboard tubes on when it gets spinning. The tubes are just 1/2 of a pants hangar (you know, the post-it sticky type that hold your dress slacks. I like the tacky as it gets the thread started, turning nicely.).

The cardboard tubes I use don’t fill the entire bore shaft from end-to-end, so I put a rubber stopper at the far end to keep it snug horizontally. The rubber stopper has a drilled hole in the center (well almost center), but you may be able to find a stopper with the hole already in it (sci-lab equipment suppliers would have these). Heck, even silly putty would work – anything to keep things on an even keel without flying off the end.

The rubber stopper doesn’t slide easily on the shaft, hence the reason I use the pulley at the other end. This setup just requires keeping a screwdriver handy to undo the set screw when I change tubes. I just use a small rubber band on the base to keep it handy when I need it.

—-

With visions of a mini-lathe and electric spinning fly wheels – I leave you with confidence that if I can pull this off – so can you!

Want to see more Slobo videos?
Here is one of my favorite Slobo videos of a day we spent in the mountains with the kids – puddle jumping.

I made the loom using different ideas from patterns found here and here and here. The last link being the one I used the most before finding the other two. Since my woodworking skills nor weaving knowledge are sufficient to try a 4+ harness loom, I made a two harness counterbalance for a first go.

I started out thinking I had all the scrap wood to make it, but alas, it cost another 150.00 for things like metal heddle rods, knobs, pins, cotter pins, bolts and wing nuts, screws, and all the other doo-dads necessary to finish the project. I must say, I was shocked to find out what a couple of bolts cost these days. Still if you have any of the parts hanging around, maybe there’s something here that will inspire you. All – in – all tho, if she works – I would have saved 400.00 and can chalk it up to tuition costs. If nothing else, I’ve learned the names of most of the parts doing this.

The warping board is made with lap joints, bolts, wing nuts, 1/4″ x 1″ x 3″ pine, 1″ poplar dowels (plus 1″ dowels cut from an old maple curtain rod). The specs for it came from Howard Ruttan’s plans for a warping board he made for his wife. I don’t have anywhere near his skill set – but mine’s stable and doesn’t torque, lol. Major accomplishment I tell ya’.

Loom and warping board:

Heddles and Raddle: The Raddle is just a home depot yardstick cut down with finishing nails which I gorilla glued in the holes and the Heddles are (two colors, one for each harness) made from no. 3 Aunt Lydia’s crochet thread in a jig I built from bobscrafts:

Side View (you can see the aprons, apron strings, and other schtuff):

The side view shows the extra holes drilled on the side frame so the castle can move up and down. A feature I read others desired. Most of what you see here, with the exception of the ratcheting system, is made from scraps of wood I had around including maple doweling for the counterbalance portion – came from the kid’s old fabric playhouse.

Closeup of beam ratcheting system:

(octagonal pine table legs, metal pins, and a cotter pin for the hole)

For the first attempt, I tried cutting plywood – that was next to near impossible for me without the right tools, second were wooden wheels from my kids’ wood stash with holes drilled – pin placed – from bobscrafts’ suggestions. This method doesn’t work – unless you are an expert at drilling the holes around a circle as equal distances – something I couldn’t do. Lastly, Michael came up with the idea for the legs and pins after I showed him the old style ratcheting system on colonial looms. It works really good but I need to add vinyl tips because I continue to lean my wrist into the ends of the pins.

Aprons:

Made from 10oz. canvas. One yard, cut into two 18″ x 22″ pieces. These have a double fold hem, 1/2″ then 3″ then topstitched with a double row of stitching. I nailed them to the beams with upholstery tacks every couple of inches. I made 2″ long buttonholes every inch. There are dowels in the 3″ hem, notched every inch, with extra heddle strings slip-knotted onto the notched ends, with a dab of craft glue in the notch to assure they don’t move. The heddles created a nice even length string to attach the ‘outer?’ apron rod to. I used steel rods for these and just slipped them into the heddle eyes..

The beams come from a 1 1/2″ thick walnut curtain rod cut to length, to which I nailed strips of screen door lathing with copper weatherstripping nails. It seemed the addition of the lathe would aid in tensioning, ie… going for that octaganol look.

Beater and Reeds:

For the reeds, I first tried to use the craft stick idea from bobscrafts, but I couldn’t drill the holes necessary for the threaded rod to pass through without the sticks shattering. I had made a jig to stack them, used the dremel in a drill press, but alas, it wouldn’t work. So, having an old reed window shade, I took it apart to see what it was like to weave with a reed beater before spending money on steel reeds. They are tied between square dowels with no. 3 cotton string. I tried using some old waterproof powedered resin from paper mould making days, but alas, the 32 yr. old bucket of resin died on the shelf. So, after brushing away gobs of unset resin, I ran a bead of gorilla glue in it’s place on both sides of the reed, top and bottom. That seems to have worked out well. The reed spacing ended up at 10. That will work for the dish towels I want to make. In the future, still having the craft sticks, washers, and threaded rods, I’ll just use the same method rather than trying to drill.

Of course, the loom needs tools -

10 spool thread stand and old shuttle and pirn from the local antique store: (The stand is made from 6″ dowels, a cabinet door handle, scrap 1×2 for the top, more maple dowels for the sides from the old playhouse, and a 15 1/2″ old bookshelf shelf).

Weft sticks and a reed hook from a craft stick. I’ve since read that plastic lids make good reed hooks, so if this one doesn’t work out good, I’ll make one from a coffee tub lid.

The entire kit and kaboodle has been stained (where blue) and waxed. As soon as the glue dries on the thread stand, I’m looking forward to having a warped weekend!

Wish me luck!

One of the books I downloaded is called “Excercises in Knitting” by Cornelia Mee on the AudioOwl website. From there I followed a link to Knit Wiki (who knew?) and found a treasure trove of fun things to try.

The first project is going to be Bon Voyage gloves. I love the cabled cuff and having tried Knitting magazines vintage glove pattern with unsatisfactory results, I thought I’d give this one a try. I’m sewing a new car coat for myself, and we all know, every car coat must have chic gloves.

This pattern uses UK sizes, so go here to see the US Metric needle sizes if needed.

Happy New Year!

I got a great deal on these fabrics at the end of summer when JoAnne’s was having a half off + half off again sale.

Below is the ‘tuscan sun’ cotton velvet from Cristopher Lowell’s collection that I’m using to reupholster our old Olive drab twill sectional:

Here is the fabric I’ll be using for some lined curtains and various cushions:

I’ve reupholstered one half of the pit group and the ottoman. For the ottoman, I dyed some 10 oz. cotton canvas an aqua color and then quilted it for the top piece. That should hold up to three boys and two dogs! You can see a portion of it in the picture below.

The bear is a prototype in the works for a client. She lost two of her children and wanted to have bears made from their articles of clothing. Before cutting into the clothing items, I’ve made a sample from the pattern she provided to proof it. There will be many more embellishments later, but for a bare – bear, he’s kind of cute, don’t you think?

They both are!!!

I almost forgot, I made a pattern off of my Uggs and decided to use the scraps from the boy’s vests to make them some ugglets. I’ll be posting the pattern soon, but for now, here’s a peek at some winged feets:

I am working my way through all of the fabric that I’ve purchased over the months in preparation for our winter growth spurts. One of the things I had bought was a sueded /faux sherpa combo from Hobby Lobby. I bought two yards of each in pink, tan, and chocolate brown. One yard went for vests while the other yard is on my sewing table now, cut into 4 pairs of Ugg style slippers (patterned off of my favorite sheepskin boots).

For the vests, I just draped paper on the boys and cut. The patch pockets are extra deep (for holding gloves, or their cameras, etc.) and they are edged in leather (from an old jacket) as is the loop in back.

To give it some interest, I cut the yoke from the bodice portions and resewed. Turned the fabric up on the center front and hemline to give it some structure. The fake fabric is just too flimsy to hold on it’s own without stiffening some of the lines. The kids love them … and that makes me happy – even as I clean fluff from all the sewing machines, cutting tables, and floors.

At least, the vests are done! Next up are a vest for me and Daddy, and a nice wool coat for me…… oops… must sew slippers first…..

FINALLY! An update to the Paisley Pincushion Nightgowns: 10/01/09 It only took me 9 months to get around to sewing these (all great things take 9 months, right?) and another month to take pictures of them (sheesh – sounds more and more like newborns), but here they are.

I disliked the placket instructions but beared with them for the pink gown. When I got to the kitty gown however, I just went my own way. For the necklines, I used a braided and pink velvet ribbon trim with a jewel neckline on the pink gown and a cotton lace trim on the kitties with a scalloped peter-pan collar. It’s worked out well and looks pretty despite constant washings.

On this one, you can really see where the shortage of a few inches affected the scallops on the side. Next time, I’ll just cut them off like I did for the pink gown. Even tho I was not short on the pink flannel, I had lost time and patience with sewing, turning, and pressing scallops. Enter – Big Sheers and a more peaceful day of sewing.

They are super comfy and I have already purchased enough cottons to make 3 more for next summer, after all in August it will be 9 more months….. Here’s hoping!

Since Slobo has a handy recorder setup to capture images from the TV, I decided this was the year to figure out what exactly it is that draws me to Irene’s designs. With just capturing the first images, it dawned on me that I like (and sorely miss) the dressmaker details. For giggles, I decided to practice my patternmaking skills and replicate items for either myself or my doll figure. #1 is the smock that Claudette Colbert wears, in her photo-developing lab, in the movie ‘No Time For Love’ (1943) :

Here is a raglan draft from http://www.vintagesewing.info:

Here is a strap shoulder and it’s draft:

The trim appears to be sewn in between the seam, continued on the back yoke portion, and abt. 1/4″ inside from the seam allowance on the collar.

The entire pattern body of the garment seams to be cut & spread by about 4″s beginning up into the front yoke. This spread is readily seen here:

The armhole is also cut deeper as you can see under the arm here:

and here:

I’m not sure about that bunching at the back of the armpit.

I love the large buttons (7 of them) and the pockets flaps that gradually angle down.

These appear to be lined patch pockets with a fold-down facing.

It seems there is a facing on the inside. Granted, Claudette Colbert is wearing this over a fitted suit with pretty hefty shoulder pads. But here I can barely see the outline of what might be a facing in the back yoke portion (see arrow):

Here’s my take on what the pattern must be like. It’s details like this that make we want to own a smock like this!

(one of these days I’ll learn to do these posts inside of five edits!)

Before I share that here’s some fun:

Did you know you too could own a Zoom-O bobbin winder? You can play AND wind a bobbin for the cost of only 10.00 at Wally World!

Of course, the kids might fight you for it!

Speaking of kids. Here are pics of my ‘unsuccessful’ attempt at sneaking downstairs today. The three J’s followed me down. It was too cold for them to play outside for long and Daddy needed to concentrate. His “if you want to keep your job” project is due in the morning, so he was feeling just a ‘little’ pressure today.

I keep boxes (color-coded) under my cutting tables of scraps from previous projects. The kids and I pull from them when we wanna play. Today – they decided to tailor some clothing for the family while I cutting.

After making small stapled pockets and purses – they turned their attention to their favorite fit model, Stitches!

I’m not sure he appreciated his new clothes – but his outfits were stunning!

Now for the Pattern Notes:
Let me say right off that I DO like this pattern. It seems these ladies have some notion of pattern making – more so than a big three pattern.
What I like:
I like the white paper, the overall pattern making skills shown, and the handwritten labeling (nice touch).
What I don’t like:
There were some things I’d like different, for instance nesting the sizes.
If not nesting – then at least color coded lines for cutting. It was hard to follow sizing lines.

See what I mean from the above picture? It’s confusing to figure out which one is for your size. Do-able obviously, but still, confusing. If you want to make multiple sizes and keep your pattern readable – you MUST trace it – not cut it.

Since I make clothes for family (different sizes) it’s a pain to trace – that’s why I don’t just haul out my drafting blocks and make my own patterns all the time. Sometimes, I just wanna pay 12 to 20 bucks and be able to cut it with a few minor changes. I don’t think I should have to pay for all the extra paper or to interface the pattern to keep separate sizes.

With that said, I am willing to pay more for a pattern I liked, like this one, if the pattern-maker could make it in different colors or it took more pages. At least when patterns are nested, I can save the cut pieces and just tape on the next size in two minutes and be ready to go. Not to mention that it seems every two years, I am making the next size up for all of us!

— okay —- enough of that

In the following photos, I show my own personal block I made a few months ago, compared to the pattern. My block is not drafted with easements or seam allowances. Mine is shown in the following photos underneath the pattern tissue. It aids in addressing changes I need to make.

In general, this pattern is drafted more accurately than most of the patterns I’ve run into. The shoulder extensions tho do seem a bit longer, tho for both front and back. I’m not sure that my underarm won’t end up parallel to my bust point.

The usual changes I need to make for the front are:
My shoulder ridge slopes more than the average – an extra 1 1/4″. In order to be more comfortable, I also like a deeper armsyce. Not too many pattern-makers get the armsyce correct for the average figure. This one came the closest. At least there is a definite difference between front and back!

Here are the differences on the back piece:

—- Okay – one more complaint here (even tho minor) —-
See – they spoiled me because they made a full pattern piece for the front. The back tho, is a half-back. I don’t know why that was done – other than for clarification on the front placket piece, but I’d like to have the full back too. lol. See here:

I liked the sleeve draft. The biggest issue again, was lack of cutting line clarification. I almost cut the wrong sleeve size at the top, but caught myself an 1/8″ into the wrong cut and was able to fix it back easily enough.

The Sleeve length was spot on! Way to Go!

Now, it is difficult – really difficult, to hand draft those scallops and have them neatly line up. I’ve done it for a bedjacket I sell. So – for the scallops I give great big kudos!!!

The pattern / fabric layout reference sheet only shows front / back and sleeves. It doesn’t show the 5 additional pieces, like these (not a big deal for me because I knew there should be something else there, but a novice might be really caught off guard on that one) BTW – These pieces ARE accounted for in the yardage requirements. So you won’t get caught on that.

Speaking of getting caught off guard. I buy most of the family’s clothing fabric needs at bargain bins, so I do expect problems. I hadn’t noticed this one before tho. The kitty fabric (2.00 a yard at Wal-Mart), was sold as 44/45″ yardage, but in actuality it measured 42 and 1/2″ wide, which really messed up the scalloping at the lowest edge for me (YES – the big girl size!)

So, if you make this pattern – it’s probably a good idea to either set yourself up to have to deal with by adding some, changing the pattern, or heck – just go out and buy yourself some of that really nice fabric! After all, when you buy a top of the line pattern for yourself – why not treat it to some gorgeous – evenly woven – fabric!

I cut a rosey pink solid flannel (44″ btw) with changes to the armsyce and shoulder ridge – and this kitty cat flannel using the unmodified original pattern. I couldn’t get to sewing it up today and have to be at Mom’s the next couple of days, but when I get them sewn, I’ll report back on the fit. Besides being a record for me, I hope this helps another soul out there.

UPDATE: 10/01/09 It only took me 9 months to get around to sewing these (all great things take 9 months, right?) and another month to take pictures of them (sheesh – sounds more and more like newborns), but here they are.

I disliked the placket instructions but beared with them for the pink gown. When I got to the kitty gown however, I just went my own way. I used a velvet ribbon trim from Walmart for the neckline. It’s worked out well and looks beautiful despite constant washings.

On this one, you can really see where the shortage of a few inches really affected the scallops. Next time, I’ll just cut them off like I did for the pink gown. Even tho I was not short on the pink flannel, I had lost time and patience with sewing, turning, and pressing scallops. Enter – Big Sheers and a more peaceful day of sewing.

They are super comfy and I have already purchased enough cottons to make 3 more for next summer, after all in August it will be 9 more months….. Here’s hoping!

This pattern is from the paisleypincushion.com Slobo bought it for me out of the newark_dress_supply catalog as a birthday present. It came in the mail today which couldn’t have been timed better! After digging up the garden today – sick with a head cold, hiding out in the sewing room tommorrow will be a welcome relief. Cuddling up in my new nightgown tommorrow night – priceless!

I can’t wait to get started.

The pattern is basketweave from Creative Kniiting’s fall edition. I’ll be making the hat soon. After which, doc is waiting for his scarf and hat in blues. The hat will be like J1 apple cheek’s hat only in the same yarn as the scarves. Complete with Pom-pom!

It seems everytime I knit something, two more projects get added to the list. After purchasing the yarn for doc’s, Slobo found yarn he wanted socks made from. It’s an incredibly soft bamboo. A second trip rewarded me with black silk for a special lace shawl project and 3 more balls of yarn for another pair of socks for Slobo. Funny, everytime we buy yarn, Slobo gets sock yarn and I’ve yet to knit him his first pair of socks…. wonder if he’s bribing? Wonder how long I can keep getting shawl yarn? Hmm…. those socks just may take a bit longer than I thought!

I was in the middle of knitting the scarf when my December issue of Creative Knitting came in the mail. The scarf is just straight knitting with Wool Ease and some leftover blue wool. The hat is the basket weave pattern with a 2/2 rib knit edge and pom-pom on top. The pattern is from the magazine. Since doing the hat, I fell in love with the basket weave pattern and am now making the other two hats and scarves from it.

J3 grew like a weed this summer. After cleaning out his dresser, I realized he was down to 3 pairs of PJ’s that actually fit him. So I made him some more (with room to grow through the winter). The flannel and fleece fabrics are from Walmart. The tops took 1 1/2 yd, fleece bottoms 1 yd. for size 10. The dk blue cotton knit is Carter’s 12″ tubular knit I bought from Fabric Club a couple of years ago. I still have 20 yards of the stuff and it doesn’t seem I’ll ever find the end of the roll. Sometimes it’s probably not a good idea to go overboard even if the fabric is really a great price! The other knits are cotton knits picked up when I can find them. For some odd reason, it’s really hard to find a cotton knit in Georgia. Remember when cotton was king? sorry . j/k.

Simplicity 9499 I use this one for the raglan t-shirts for the boys. The neck does tend to be a bit large. When I forget to cut it smaller, I use a wider knit neckband with lycra in it for memory retention. (The fabric – not me. lol)

There is another set of these with a lt. blue cotton knit top and cotton woven sleeping pants with a cowboy print. One thing to note is my boys are really rough on knit pj bottoms. When I do the flannels and Woven bottoms, if I add an extra layer of fabric to the inside at the knees. If I don’t, within 6 months the fabric will be worn and ripping there. I think if I add some fusi-knit to the knees of the knits, it might help wearability, but haven’t tried it yet.

McCalls M9206 – basic sleep / play pants and t-shirts pattern.

Puppy dogs and paw prints

Monkeys and cuddle pants

I’ve used this pattern since the boys were toddlers. I just change up pockets depending on what I’m making. Great basic pattern. The pockets on the fleece bottoms are lined with the matching flannel from the tops. I find they like lots of pockets, so I put two on the front of the tops and two on the legs – one on each side.

I often recycle knit neckbands and cuffs from old clothes. If you turn them inside out – as long as they have retained their shape, it works well – especially when you need just that perfect color – like pale yellow. It can be difficult to find pastel rib knits especially. I also save zippers, fun fasteners and appliques in freezer ziploc bags. Those items can really run up the price of making a garment and I don’t see any reason to not keep them if they are in good shape. All – in – all, J3′s PJ’s cost about 23.00 to make (5 pairs). He gets new warm PJ’s from fabric he picked and as he puts it – love sewn in the stitches! Anyway, I hope you found this useful in a sharing sort of way.

Now to tackle Doc’s birthday! He’s going to be 9 in 10 days Didn’t we just do this???

I’ve been playing around with pattern drafting again. Unlike the disastrous sleeves two years ago, I’ve now got pants and a bodice – With Sleeves No Less – that fits! WooHoo….. This time, I drafted the pants from Threads magazine – wanting to see how accurate they were – and a foundation top from Moore’s book on pattern making. I had to make several changes for them to fit me, sloping shoulders – sway back – longer stride etc. I also found that my left side is almost a whole 2″‘s bigger than my right side! One would think using my right hand on the mouse and calculators these past few years would have hiked my right side up a bit more than that! I’ll just have to walk around like Igor a bit longer, I suppose.

The muslin was cut from a nice stable cotton with a grid print (looks a lot like graph paper. I used wash-able markers to make changes that were needed, changed my block patterns and then sewed it up into a really comfortable pair of pj’s. I had left 1″ S.A.’s all around, so I could add ease for pj’s, used up some pretty trims I had, added a peplum (the short bodice to my short waistline just wasn’t modest enough!) Shameless to say, I just took them off to wash them after 3 days….. I know, but they were so comfortable, I wanted to live in them!!!

Anyway, I’ve been using Open Office’s drawing program to get some of my ‘garment components’ like pockets, collars and misc. facings drafted. I started using Open Office with a pretty Manila folder color printed when my tag board ran out. I’ll add the following under manuals but ’til then, here’s some new schtuff:

1. Page 1 and Page 2 of Table of Aliquot Parts – the handy chart to figure out what 1/4 of 38″ is?

(The vintagesewing.info site has one, as does my Moore’s pattern making book but I needed higher and sometimes lower numbers, so Slobo helped me get an openoffice formula running to formulate it automatically.)

Here is the .ods or Open Office spreadsheet file and the
.xls or Excel spreadsheet file in case ya’ll wanna change things around.

2. Inch to Decimal Equivalent Chart.

The chart comes from seoconsultants.com website. I made it a jpg just for ease of printing. For some reason, the latest version of Firefox doesn’t seem to understand how to print a web page anymore. Until I can get it fixed, and in case others have the same problem, I offer the jpg.

This conversion table is handy when I’m at the Fashion Incubator. When Kathleen gives the measurements for some of her kewl gizmo jigs, welt and paper jig tutorial., I can punch in the measurements (which she so generously provides) and print out a nifty neat little gizmo jig too. One that is much more accurate than I can hand draft especially when she includes those very important measurements like bend allowances.

That’s really all the playing for now. Hopefully in the next few days, I’ll see ya’ll again with some newer – clean – threads on!

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I still will need to cut holes for the hinge pins, thread stand, and light mount when I receive them, but this is how the main cutouts turned out. The template worked. It was a tight fit on the back edge, so I still needed to route a little more out (maybe 1/8″?) to fit the machine well. ** (addendum: 06/13/08 It ended up being a lip that was 3/8″ deep, corners at 1/4″ deep, 1/2″ deep at hinge pin locations on the lip portion — 3/8″ deep where hinge pins (circular portion) fits into top, and 1/2″ deep x 1/2″ back into that circle for movement where hook and pins meet at the top. Also, the belt opening needs to be a 1/4″ closer toward the back of the machine – wider than I have marked.) That may be because I traced the inside edge of the template line, rather than the outside. If you use this template, you may want to go along mid-to-outside edge. It is a close-enough tracing to allow for adjustment without the machine falling through the top. I used a sharpie marker and should probably have used a pencil to get a cleaner line.

The routing went much better than I feared. After making the initial inside cutout, using a jigsaw, I almost went to Home Depot and bought a sheet of 1/8″ luan to put on top rather than attempt routing the ledges. But alas, I had that thought at 8:49 pm and Home Depot closes at 9 pm. So, I took a deep breath and did it! It worked out really well, I think.

A tip: whenever you use a jigsaw to make a cutout (such as a sink cutout or for a machine, it’s helpful to use a scrap of lumber (in my case a 1×2), put a nail into it’s center and nail it to the center of your cutout. It must be long enough to extend beyone your cut. This will in effect hold the cutout from the top of the table and keep it from slipping down before you are finished your cut – this slipping could – at best – jam your equipment – at worst – break your saw blade.

For the inner ledge cutout, I used a straight cutting bit and made successive passes to get the depth of the profile needed (as my old Black & Decker Router) isn’t too accurate. Once I had the depth of the corner pieces, then I lowered it another 1/8″ to get the ledge. This depth requirement did end up deeper than I originally had thought (about 3/8″). Still, it was a matter of just slipping the machine in and out of the hole until I got a depth I was comfortable with. Here is a closer look at the cutouts.

If you don’t have access to a router, gluing up another sheet of 1/4″ or 1/8″ (whatever the necessary depth of the reveal is), will work. After you make the outer edge cutout, just make sure it’s glued down into a position that will leave the necessary reveals. Without a router, you will need to probably use a wood chisel to dig out any spots lower than the base of the machine, like in my case, the hinge pin base clearances (they rounded down slightly in the back, like a 1/2″ half circle of steel).

Here is a view of the edge profile. I used a rounding-over bit (Norm would be proud!). Mainly because it seems my kids are always hitting table top edges with their foreheads. This step isn’t necessary, but you do want to make sure you seal and sand those edges. I’ve seen where people have used wood putty on a spatula to fill the edges of plywood, but I really like the toned lines in finished plywood.

I put two coats of water-based poly on the top and bottom and cutout edges (remember, if you seal the top, you need to also seal the bottom and any edges. or it may warp (the unfinished edges will absorb moisture from the air). I’ll sand the works down and continue putting more coats until It’s as smooth as I need. Water based stains and sealers raise the grain, so you must sand in between. This isn’t difficult tho, a fine sanpaper on a dense sponge or a block of wood works really well and quickly. Just take your time and do several coats sanding in between and the results will be really pretty.

In the past, I’ve used the oil based sealers and Johnson’s Paste Wax and Carnuba Car Wax. Most of the furniture in my house, I refinished with the waxes, as this is a hard durable finish that I can recoat as kids muck up without stripping. In this case, tho, I just knew if I waxed it, I’d set a hot iron down on it one day. So for now, I left the poly. Granted it still won’t hold up to an iron, but it will most likely leave a nice milky white spot to remind me never to do it again! I’m not sure how the oil based finishes would have dealt with it. But, hey, I’ve got to stop being lazy and use my ironing board for it’s intended purpose anyway.

All in all – I highly recommend making your own top. It really isn’t difficult and took me, using power tools, about 4 hours total (to the end of the 2nd coat of sealer) If you don’t have access to power tools, you can cut it with a hand saw that you can put through a drilled hole. It will just take awhile. The top cost: 30.00 + tax. The birch ply was 15.00 for a 24×48 sheet. + wood glue and sealer if you don’t have them. Not too shabby!

I’ll wash, sand and repaint the legs today, in between the coats of sealer. I’ll also add a tape measure to the top’s edge. It should be nice and dry by the time my parts come. Yippeee!

A HUGE THANK YOU in appreciation to the folks on the WEFIXIT group on Yahoo! Especially Bob Cavenagh! His encouragement and informative answers gave me the needed confidence to tackle this job. I highly recommend doing it yourself!

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Motor Specs:

I was pleased to discover today that the ole’ rusty motor just purrs along like a kitten. DH took the plunge and plugged her in – moved her arm – and wah-lah!

Motor was from 1985. 1725 hp, 1 phase. Not really sure what that means, except it will probably sew faster than anything I’ve got downstairs. Looks really aren’t everything! I admit to having bought some ‘Tiffany Blue’ testor paints to paint it if it runs well. If it runs really well, I might stick a rhinestone or two on her needle bar clamp!)

Motor and Machine Mounting Questions:

There is an arm, (circled numbered one with arrow) attched to the metal framework below, not hooked to anything else.
Is that for a missing knee-lift setup? that then gets also attached to the machine back? or does that go to the ?? foot peddle?

Left End:

It has wiring to attach for a table-mounted light and a plug for a 60v lamp.
Picture shows the two peddles below. A treadle and a foot?? peddle. Is that an “either/or” peddle for the motor arm?

Upper Back Center:

The picture above shows the back of the machine, with knee-lift bars and spring. These aren’t attached to anything. I’m guessing that since these need to pass below the machine, that it should not be resting on a lowered platform in the table, but rather that the machine should be mounted on hinge pins.

The two hinge pins from an old Necchi are on the table just inside the belt.

The belt is a Smith Kelly utility v-belt I purchased from Auto Zone today. It’s thickness is slightly more narrow than the one described online for the machine. It’s circumference is 50″. It was 2$ more than the sewing sources online, but with shipping costs and having to wait, I decided to go ahead and try it out. I can always purchase one onlne and return this one if it doesn’t work out.

Machine and Table From Above:

Machine – Table – and Lower Shelf? Support:

The white shelf is just a scrap of laminate shelving I set on what looks like a heighth adjustable bracket. (Bolts when turned raise up and down that are in the framework of that bracing). Again, tho, this would prevent the knee lift from coming down. (Or an oil pan?)

Motor and Shelf Support from Below the Table:

Here maybe you can see this framework for what appears to be a lower shelf support (green pearlescent painted structure), with the laminate shelf scrap on top of it. The black bolts in the corners can be turned to raise and or lower the shelf.

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Okay, so where does an oil pan fit into this? The belt also rubs slightly against the back edge of the cutout when the machine is moved as far left and center as it can (This can be relieved easy enough with a routed long oval shape to give it room).

The machine wouldn’t be so stable tho, because it’s not attached to anything and the belt is pulling down on the handwheel pulley to the motor ever so slightly.

I’m perplexed until I can see how an industrial Consew is supposed to look. Maybe it’s time to fill the truck up with some of that gold go-go juice and take a trip to Atlanta, although that would probably pay for a new top – wouldn’t it? lol. Argh!

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I just want to say (and if you read this J C I hope you gush with pride!) J C Sprowls, a sample maker, custom clothier and all-around terrific human being, owner of Declan Steed is consistently my angel unawares! If you ever need anything sewn (except machine repairs – I don’t think J C would appreciate getting that end of the business) please never hesitate to contact him! He is always one of the first to help in the Fashion Incubator forum and it would be really great if ya’ll just flooded his gates with business!

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