Sewing Room

Here are another few shots from around my new sewing room.  I'm still in the middle of organizing and setting up, but you can see that it's spaceous.  The walls are painted a light sage green.  There's one window, and sun actually filters through in the afternoons.

I really love spending time down here!  There are so many projects calling me!

There's space enough for both of my antique Singer machines, as well as two modern machines and my serger, which I just cleaned and prepped for the actual 1920s dress I'm working on for a friend.  The muslin on that is finished - once the fitting is done I'll be working on completing that dress!

There's also plenty of space for my bins and bins of fabric and supplies!

Here's a view of the actual sewing table.  In the foreground is the maple dining table I got to serve as a cutting table - no more crawling around on the floor to cut!  Also you can see in this picture one of the two Ott Lights I got for Yule.  These make everything I'm working on as bright as daylight - which is great because, as a basement room, it can be a little difficult to light for close work!

I'm so happy to have this sewing and crafting haven in my home.  Thanks for popping by to look!

1920s Gown ala Downton Abbey Style

It's been a very, very long time since I've had any time to catch up with you!  I hope you have been well. I've been terribly preoccupied with a day job which no longer fit my needs, so I'm back with you, able to blog once more!  I'm very excited about the project that I am working on for a dear friend.

It's number 5941 from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library, a 1920's evening gown.  These patterns are tricky.  As stated in the materials enclosed in the pattern envelope, "the original instructions consist of two diagrams and eight lines of simple instruction".  Sewists contemporary to the era of the pattern would have needed little instruction for constructing and finishing this gown.  Included in the envelope is a tutorial for a muslin, but there are no instructions for a finished gown, so a lot is left to me.

I cut the pattern from the muslin material (a flat King sheet I got for a couple of dollars - great source of fabric for muslins when purchased cheaply at yard sales or flea markets) last week, and began construction yesterday.  This will not be a wearable muslin (alas) as I'll be using the deconstructed pieces as the final pattern - this one's for fitting only.  It's also helpful for identifying all the raw edges that will need some sort of finish. Here's what I've got so far!

The actual fabric I'll be using is gorgeous, with a lot more fluidity and drape than the sheet.  It's some lovely Sari silk, which I'll show you in the next post on this dress.

I also realized that I have not shown you my new sewing room!  For Yule this year, my husband had a room in the basement finished for me for sewing.  Here are two little peeks at a couple of the furnishings.  The first is a cabinet we found in the basement of the home when we moved in.  All cleaned up, it makes a great bookcase for many of my sewing and craft books.

Then, for pattern storage, we picked up this antique catalog from TOPS in Hudson Falls (my favorite second hand store, where estate finds are mixed in with new furniture - here's an earlier post about this wonderful business!).  I'll show you more, when the room is cleaned up a bit and more presentable!

I'm looking forward to sharing more on this gown project, the sewing room, and many other projects in the pipeline!  Thanks for stopping by!