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!

Sewing Withdrawal

My main sewing machine is in the shop.  I was working on a little restyle (which I was planning to post) and it just refused to continue.  I opened everything I was comfortable opening and could not see any problems - no thread visibly looped where it should not have been, no obvious issues of any kind - so off to the repair shop it went.

My Euro-Pro has been my main machine for many years.  I really love almost everything about this machine, although it can be fussy in the tension department, and will bleep at me in an annoying manner if things get bollixed up.  I have sewn an amazing number of projects on this machine, with stunning results.

Now to be honest, I also own two Singers of relatively recent vintage, two antique Singers and a Brother introductory type serger.  Love the serger, too, though I'm still challenged every time I go to thread it. Without my go-to machine, I feel a little lost, and my projects are at a stand-still.

What's your favorite machine, and what do you doo when it's in the shop?

Favorite Store in the News!

I speak often about my favorite store for great estate finds in my area.  I was so pleased to see an article in out local paper about the store. Not only is this store an excellent Sunday afternoon browse, but the people behind it are some of the nicest people you will ever find in this type of business.

When my husband and I bought our new (to us) Victorian home, we were faced with a few problems in furnishing it.  First, it is much larger than our previous home, and second, we wanted to restore it to some of its previous Victorian era glory.  We turned to Chris at Tops.

This chair was found in the basement of the store!

These lovely and comfortable chairs had just come into the store the day before we made one of our nearly weekly visits!

My husband fell in love with the Victorian era armoire and the heavy four poster bed.

We found this Victorian birdcage soon after buying the house, as well as the side-by-side secretary below.

 Almost every stick of furniture in the house was obtained from Chris, all at fair and reasonable prices.  Had we gone to snootier antiques dealers, we would not have been able to afford all of the wonderful furniture we now enjoy (not to mention my two wonderful vintage Singer sewing machines!!!), not to mention the many other non-furniture decor items we purchased there.

Please visit Chris at Tops! See the link to the article for store location and hours.  What's your favorite source for new old stuff?

Puzzle Me This

Since acquiring my two wonderful vintage Singer sewing machines, I've been on a quest for accessories.  While trolling eBay, I came across a listing for two Singer puzzle boxes.

A Singer puzzle box is a neatly crafted box of feet and other accessories produced by the Singer Manufacturing Company during the 19th and 20th centuries. The box was invented in 1888 by John M. Griest, a Singer employee who was awarded US patent 397980 on February 19, 1889 for the design. 

The accessories stash into a fold out rectangular wooden box which is lined in velvet or felt (if the lining is still intact).  An alternate name for these is a "style box".  The boxes include attachments for hemming, braiding, underbraiding, tucking, shirring, binding, quilting and ruffling, along with screwdrivers and spare needles.  Mine are not in the most pristine condition, but I will continue to look for more of these fascinating treasures!

Now I just have to clean them up and learn how to use them!  Any tips?

The New Old Machines

So, it’s been a very long while since I blogged.  I really have missed it, and my plan is to begin again this year.  So much has happened since I was last here.  I think I let life overwhelm me a little.  I pretty much stopped sewing last year for a while because my husband and I bought a new home.  I’ve been spending tons of time on decorating our 140 year old Victorian.  We live in an older section of our little city, and Victorians abound.

We've been doing a lot of work on the house, and I'll post a few of our makeovers and DIYs.

But before I get to that, I wanted to tell you about my very special Yule gifts!  I got, not one, but two wonderful antique singer sewing machines.  These machines are in terrific condition and date from the very early 1900s.  Both are housed in Cabinet Table No. 6,  though they have their differences, which I will elaborate on.  The first is in a lovely oak cabinet.  In researching the serial number, it was manufactured in Elizabeth, NJ in 1910. 

And of course the drawers were not empty!

The second machine dates to August of 1915.  It, too is a model 66 machine, but it is electric - a Singer motor was added later.  Both machines sport the "Red Eye" decal set very popular at that time. What really makes this machine special is that the cabinet is pristine birdseye maple!

 

 This one came with some swag as well, including the original manuals!

I hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons, no matter what you celebrate!  I hope it was merry and bright!