Isn't that Pinteresting?

I admit it.  Pinterest is one of my guilty pleasures.  And I'm far from alone.  The internet is abuzz with with, well, buzz about one of the most successful and addicting social media sites to be invented.  And it's not just nameless, faceless hoardes of web trolls who frequent the site, its almost everyone I know.

When I'm looking for inspiration, whether it's planning my various home makeover projects or planning my next sewing project, I turn to Pinterest.  I follow many boards, not because I hold the pinner in high regard, but because I love the pinner's taste, or they are pinning about something I am passionate about as well. 

In this recurring feature, I'd like to share a pin from one of my boards (concentrating on sewing, of course, but I may stray a little now and then!), and tell you a little about why I pinned it.  I'd love for you to chime in, too, and let me know your opinions about the information, and point me in other directions if you've seen something similar, or maybe, in your opinion, better!

For installment 1, I'll start with something simple.  On my board, Sew Inspired, I pin anything that could inspire my sewing.  Patterns, sewing rooms, notions, tutorials (possibly some of yours!)... you name it, if it's related to sewing, you could find it here.  Here is one of my recent pattern pins, McCall's 4408, from 1957.

 

 

This pattern appeals to me on a number of levels.  You all know I love vintage, particularly the 50's, the thirties and the Victorian/Edwardian eras.  Come to think of it, I won't put my nose up at Medieval or Rennaisance stuff either!  So, the fifties MadMen vibe was of instant appeal.  I love that there is a wiggle dress option and a full skirt option... I can also see the wiggle with a sheer full over dress!  But the thing I loved the most was the cute bow embellishment on the hem.  This could be added to other patterns, or used to restyle a thrift shop find.  I even liked the nice earthtones the artist used to render the fashion illustration!  I can see this made up in a nice silk (or two).  This was originally pinned from the Etsy Shop of sydcam123, and, at least at the time of this post, was still available.

 

What do you think about this pattern?  Is this something you would pin, or are your pattern tastes different?  Let me know, and feel free to share the links to your sewing boards.  I'd love to take a peek!

Making Over Victoria: Laundry Rules

 One of the more minor decorating projects around the new home has been completing our laundry room. This is also temporary home to my sewing area – in the spring we hope to begin renovations to our 140 year old basement to put in a finished room down there which is planned to be my new sewing room.  The planned room will be large enough to accommodate an actual cutting table, as well as multiple sewing machines and ample fabric stash storage!

I believe this pretty much un-insulated laundry area was once an upper-level back porch, with its five bright windows, and near access to the back stairs.  I’m not sure when it was converted to a laundry, but that was the purpose the previous owners assigned to the room as well.  I think the it is coming out pretty cute, so I’d like to share a few pictures from the room… while not haute couture, I am sewing the curtains for this room, using one of the latest Pinterest trends, burlap and lace.  These are the completed valences.  The burlap was purchased from www.burlapfabric.com, and the lace was a yard sale find.  I scored a whole spool of it for pennies.  As you can see, there’s plenty left to complete the curtains, and then some.

This legless dresser was left behind by the previous owners of the home.  It makes a great place to store sewing supplies, and an equally nice window seat.  I’m planning on covering a cushion to make it even cozier.

While I lack a “before” picture, the walls in this room were formerly stark white. We definitely wanted to jazz things up a little, and we wanted to pay homage to the Victorian era without sacrificing modern convenience.  Corrugated galvanized steel roofing is the paneling we chose for the walls, with a periwinkle blue upper wall.  We first saw this used as a wall treatment in a regional fish fry restaurant. Galvanized buckets are used as light shades, and antique washboards, wringers, and clothes drying racks help to tie the theme together. 

We chose to stack our front loading washer and dryer because this saves floor space, and allows free access to the attic via the pulldown ladder in the ceiling of the laundry.  Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think about this room renovation.

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

What to Sew Now?

We established some time ago that most of my sewing is impractical.  Meaning that I love to sew party dresses, gowns, suits and historical reproductions that I have very little call to wear.  My off-duty day-to-day wardrobe consists mostly of jeans and t shirts and fleeces.  Even at work, I don't need business casual - I'm a nurse - I wear scrubs.

So, I will probably next make some scrub tops to satisfy my utilitarian needs, but for sewing satisfaction, I'll go to my box of Adorna's patterns and to Gertie's book for a couple of projects as well.  Even if there's not much call to wear what I make, at least I can share it with you, my sewing sisters!

Upload Issue Resolved - PICTURES!

Well, this certainly drove me batty for a few days!  I wanted to show you some pictures from my new camera, and I just could not get them to upload... problem resolved.  I'm really impressed with the difference between this new camera and your average pointy and shoot, which is what I had been using.  General shots around the sewing room seem clearer.

But the closeups blow me away!  Some random beads in a container,

and you can see the grain of the fabric of the curtains in my sewing room,

and suddenly the detail of the netting used on my wedding dress is easy to discern!

I do love my new camera, and I can't wait to take pictures of my next project to share with you!  As always, thanks for stopping by!

Best Laid Plans

 

So, I had a blog post all planned for yesterday.  Instead I spent the day doing the technology shuffle.  A while back my printer died... 3 days after the warranty expired.  I lived without one for a while, but the printer was also the SD card reader for transferring pictures for this blog (among other things).  So, I finally decided I needed a new printer and so I purchased an HP 6520.  It's a nice little home printer...HOWEVER, the card reader reads photos only to the printer for printing!  So now I need to buy a card reader... especially in order to actually do the post intended which is about my new camera.  I love technology, but it can also be very frustrating.

 

I received my dream camera from my husband as a holiday gift!  I’ve been coveting a DSLR for years, but of course never had the money to splurge on such a thing for myself.  The Nikon D 3200 is an awesome camera! I’m still learning about the camera and all of its features, but this should improve the photography on this site by 1000%!

First, I am now able to put the camera on a tripod and take timed pictures, so I can actually model my creations more easily without the need for a photographer.  I feel as though this has been a problem on the blog for a while.  I’ve wanted to post actual pictures of me wearing the clothes I create, but the stars just never seemed to align with a willing photographer when I needed one.

The camera offers fully manual modes, partially manual, and completely automatic modes.  I haven’t used an SLR in years, so I’ll need some practice time before those manual modes make sense again!  Another nice feature is that images can be shot at 24 megapixels, so there’s plenty of data for editing shots.

All in all, I’m very excited about this gift.  I’m already having fun playing with it, and I hope the blog reaps the benefits as well.

All that being said, there's something wrong with the Blogger interface today... I can't upload any of the pictures I wanted to show you!  The gremlins are after me bigtime!  So, hopefully Blogger will be back to normal soon and I can show you some photos from the new camera!

It's Been a While

Okay, it’s been a long while. I’ve been adjusting to being a member of the workforce once more. Let’s just say the work/life balance has been more than a little off. I haven’t sewn anything in at least as long as I’ve been away. In 2013, I hope to do the following:

1. Sew or restyle at least one item per month.
2. Blog at least weekly.
3. Remember to use these favorite activities as a form of self-care and self-love to replenish myself for work.

I hope you’re all still out there and have not given up on me altogether! The prospects for 2013 are sew exciting!