I have a lovely new addition to my sewing studio. It's a wonderful Singer treadle machine and cabinet that used to belong to my grandmother. The machine hasn't been used in many years, certainly since my grandmother died and I'm not sure when she last used it, but she always kept everything in great condition. I've sewing a little bit with the hand-wheel and it worked well. Someday soon I'd like to get a new belt for it so I can treadle.
We brought the machine and cabinet home from my sister's house last week. It was a lot of fun taking the cabinet apart and wrapping the parts in bubble wrap and fleece pullovers to protect them for the 9-hour trip home. The workmanship on the cabinet is incredible. No, nothing fancy, but look - it's still in one piece after all these years and several moves.
And this is how it looks in the studio - the machine is inside, the cabinet looks very decorative. It's definitely a fine piece of family history. Whenever I look at it, I remember grandma.
On the weather front, things have been cool. As in, freezing. We now have a very good idea of how the Siberian tundra must look. We have permafrost out there, I swear. No snow, but everything is white or whitish. There's no moisture in the air because it's all sitting on the ground (and trees and cars...) in the form of ice crystals. And they're not melting, those little suckers. We've had sun, so I'm not complaining too much, because I'd rather have sun and cold than cloudy and warm. That said, sunny and warm beats anything else.
I'm having some trouble with my SWAP - the trouble is that this year, the SWAP contest has a twist: you must use a wardrobe pattern and make at least three different garments from it. Well, I'll be making mine from a combination of MyLabel and PMB and possibly drafting by hand, but I can base it on a pattern. Or so I thought... I can't find a wardrobe pattern that includes all the details I want. If it has a tunic top, the skirt or pants have an elastic waist. If the pants look right, the skirt is A-line. If the pants and skirt look decent, the top is sleeveless. You get the picture.
The closest I can come is my old favorite Butterick 5941 as seen on the left. I have made the pants multiple times and love them. The shape of the leg is just right. The shorter skirt will work well for this SWAP and is simple. The jacket is OK, but I prefer an armhole princess line. The top is not part of this SWAP (although I have some pretty silks stashed away for it), mostly because I want tops with sleeves now.
Maybe I won't join the contest. I could just sew along, without the constraint of having to use a wardrobe pattern. When you think about it, the MyLabel software really is a wardrobe pattern, just an extended one.
Speaking of MyLabel, I made my test tunic, in muslin, to see if my measurements were correct. I have to make a few small changes, such as decreasing the Across Shoulder and Cross Back Width measurements slightly, to get it just right, but it wasn't too far off. It looked surprisingly good from the front - not what I expected because it only has a side dart, no waist dart to bring it closer to the body. I'll make a second one tomorrow to confirm the changes and that should be it for the upper body. Then the pants, and then I think I'll make some tunics and pants to wear as PJs because it's getting entirely too cold here. Cold as in below 32F. As in freezing. We've had plenty of sunshine lately, I have to admit. It looks really pretty out there from the window but when you walk outside, beware the ears - they'll feel like they're falling off.
The SWAP (Sewing With A Plan) concept has been around for a few years now. I believe Julie of Timmel Fabrics started the commotion back in the day of Sewing World Commons by posting about an article in the Australian Stitches magazine about a wardrobing concept centered on 11 pieces in coordinating solids and a print that gave the wearer a whopping 48 outfits. The discussion there evolved into a contest and you can read all about it here. On those occasions that I joined, or contemplated joining, the SWAP contest, I always came up with a dream wardrobe of lovely pieces for someone else's life. I dreamt of lovely silk blouses, wool crepe suits and dresses, worn with high heels... Enter life: I am a PCU nurse - that means scrubs at work. For home, I need casual but pretty clothes. Not my typical beloved suits and office-worthy outfits - where am I going to wear them? At the same time, said casual wardrobe should also satisfy the occasional need for more business-like attire. Soooo..... I've been thinking.... how about black cotton bottoms:1) long pants, 2) cropped pants, 3) city shorts, and4) a knee-length skirt? Heavier weight cotton should wear as well as any denim and look nicer. Then for the tops, I could make 5) a white tailored shirt (here I go with the office stuff again), 6) a short black cotton jacket (yes, to make a suit look so sue me),7) a light gray duppioni tunic (getting a bit more casual here),8) a light blue duppioni tunic,9) a light blue/gray/black/white striped cotton knit T-shirt, and 10) a lavender/gray/black/white striped cotton knit T-shirt.The SWAP jacket could be a short trenchcoat in black water-repellent fabric.Still thinking but I do believe these 11 pieces bridge the gap between casual and business quite well. I'll make a storyboard when we get home (we're visiting my parents now).
It's a great idea. Really. I have been using Wild Ginger's PatternMaster Boutique for years. I love it because it provides virtually unlimited options for combining style lines, necklines, collars, sleeve shapes and lengths, cuffs, pockets, hems, etc. However, it has a rather steep learning curve because the user must master both the software navigation and at least the basics of pattern-drafting. It is a true patternmaking software - you start with your own measurements, click radio buttons for various style options, enter your preferred amounts of ease at key points, and print your pattern. If you like to fiddle with your patterns and create new styles not available in the vast database of features, you can (before printing) take your pattern to the Pattern Editor, the other side of the drafting software, and transfer darts, create asymmetric designs, anything you want. Then you print.
Some people dislike taping sheets of printer paper together but I have not found it to be particularly time-consuming. Now, the one thing that I'd like to see is a mannequin with my measurements who can wear my proposed garments so that I can evaluate the fit. Maybe one day.
Meanwhile, Bernina came out with MyLabel. This fancy piece of software has that mannequin described above to help the user visualize the final result. You can even scan your fabrics in, or use the default choices, to see how you will look in the garment made from your fabric. There are sliders and buttons to help you adjust the color, transparency, sheen, scale, and other characteristics of your fabric so that what you see on the screen matches the piece in your stash. You can also drag various decorative stitches, embroidery designs, and buttons onto the pattern pieces and see them on the mannequin. Position and reposition; change colors, widths, and sizes; play to your heart's content. When you think you're done but would like someone else's opinion, you can save the mannequin in her outfit as a .jpeg file and share it in an email. Pretty cool, huh? I actually think this particular feature would be great for planning a SWAP (Sewing With A Plan) storyboard. And when you've made your decisions, you can print your pattern either on your home printer, or at the nearest Kinko's (or equivalent).
Now, the catch with this software is that there are only 20 patterns included in it, with very limited options for making changes. That makes MyLabel a pattern-fitting software. Not that it's a bad deal by any stretch of imagination - just take a look at how much professionals charge for fitting and altering a pattern, multiply by 20 and you'll get a figure far beyond the cost of the software. These 20 patterns, or your favorite choices among them, become your basic tried-and-true patterns. You can then superimpose details from other patterns on your basics, and sew up a wardrobe full of beautiful garments that fit perfectly and look just the way you intended.
I would like these two pieces of software to be integrated but coming from two different companies, this is not likely. So, I'll do the next best thing. Get my basics from MyLabel, plan all embellishments and color combinations for a coordinated capsule in MyLabel, then grab some of the myriad of lovely details available in PatternMaster Boutique, and morph them onto the basic patterns. The best of both worlds.
The complete lack of sunshine last week turned me into a babbling idiot. To illustrate: I went to the indie store to get an invisible zipper. It's been a couple months since I've been there and I couldn't remember the name of it so I couldn't look up driving directions online. And my husband wasn't answering his work phone. OK, I figured I could do this on my own and find the place, after all, I'd been there and should be able to recognize it, right? Hmm, first I took the wrong exit from the traffic circle (they love those traffic circles here) but didn't go back because (a) I couldn't find a good place for a U-turn, and (b) I was in the right town anyway so maybe I could just wing it. I followed a car in front of me, not that I had a reason to think its driver was going where I needed to go, and finally made it to a street I recognized. I parked our "huge" Monte Carlo in one of those little parking spots that are probably made for the Smart car and went up the street to the store. Two blocks later, I realized I was walking in the wrong direction. Sheesh! Why did I even bother getting out of bed? Soooo, I reversed my steps and went back past the trusty Monte and two blocks down the street, into the store. The name, by the way, is Wagner. Like I'm really going to remember that - I mean, really, call it Lilly's Stitches or Uma's Fabrics and Yarns, or something more creative than your last name, but I digress.
I walked into the store, said "guten morgen" and headed straight to the zippers. Not an invisible zipper in sight. And the lady asks, very nicely, in German, if she can be of any help. Sure, she could, except I am not very verbal today, what with having a miserable un-sunny day yet again. She asks what I'm looking for. Not a word comes to my mind... Out of my mouth - "argh!" So I try again - this time, it's "aaaaargh!" By now I have a pretty good idea how post-CVA patients with expressive aphasia feel when they try to communicate with us. Meanwhile, the lady is giving me a very concerned look. Imagine a young woman, dressed to the nines, walking into your store, saying "aaargh!" and you get the picture.
Finally, a word formed in my head and my mouth made a sound: "unversichtbar!" (this with the most horrible accent you can imagine). The lady looks at me and asks "unsichtbar?" Yes, that's it, that's how you say invisible, nevermind that I couldn't come up with the rest of the sentence. I just nodded. She shows me a transparent zipper and explains that because it's transparent, it will not be visible.
It's not an invisible zipper, the kind with teeth on the inside, but I couldn't have explained that even in English right then, let alone in German, so I just paid for it and left the store. (I only made one wrong turn on the way home.)
Here is a picture of it - it's an interesting idea but I think I'll try Karstadt this week, maybe they'll have a real invisible zipper. This one will forever serve as a reminder that on nonverbal days, I should stay at home.
It's been ugly here - either drizzling, about to start drizzling, or just stopped drizzling. One way or another, the streets are almost constantly wet. This is really not cool when I have to walk anywhere because I end up with drops of water (which I can live with) and mud (which I can't stand) on the back of my pant legs, in the ankle and calf area. I'm not a fan of carrying a clothes brush with me everywhere I go - I like my handbags small. So I had this idea: I'll wear a skirt with opaque tights and knee-high boots. Then I can just wipe the dirt off the boots with a damp paper towel :-)
I went through my trusty collection of Burda magazines and found an old favorite in issue 3/98 (model 114). I made that wrap skirt back when 
the magazine was current and loved wearing it. Back then, I also made it as short as the magazine suggested - 15". This time I've lengthened it to a more adult 19" and cut it out of a black wool crepe from my fabric collection. I've fused interfacing to the zipper area and serged the side seam allowances. And then I looked for a 9" black invisible zipper. No luck. I have black zippers but not 9" long. I have 9" zippers but not black. So tomorrow I'll have to make a trip to the local independent fiber craft store. (With the current exchange rate, this may well be the most expensive zipper I'll ever buy.) Until then, the pieces are languishing on my cutting table.
On a different note, the semester is over and I have a month to relax, sew, knit, and generally do whatever strikes my fancy. It feels good. I'll finish the ribbing on the Sunshine-inspired top tonight and get started on the sleeves. On Saturday, I'm going to the local knitters' (military wives) meeting and I'm really looking forward to finally meeting some like-minded people. After that, I'll stop at the local Bernina dealer because they'll be demonstrating the new MyLabel software. That will make for a nice fiberly day.
I have a lovely new addition to my sewing studio. It's a wonderful Singer treadle machine and cabinet that used to belong to my grandmother. The machine hasn't been used in many years, certainly since my grandmother died and I'm not sure when she last used it, but she always kept everything in great condition. I've sewing a little bit with the hand-wheel and it worked well. Someday soon I'd like to get a new belt for it so I can treadle.
And this is how it looks in the studio - the machine is inside, the cabinet looks very decorative. It's definitely a fine piece of family history. Whenever I look at it, I remember grandma.
