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?

Isn't that Pinteresting? - 4 - A Holy WOW

This pin is more than Pinteresting - it's a holy WOW!

Like most women, I have a love/hate relationship with my body.  I've been thin and not thin.  Right now I'm not thin.  Right now I am working on this.  I'm going to Pilates, I'm decreasing portions, I'm contemplating the diet that would be right for me.

Why am I going on about this?  Because despite knowing the above, I'm also not really in touch with what I look like. I mean, I know, but I don't know.  Maybe it's denial, maybe it's some other defense mechanism, but I "forget" what body it is that I'm really dressing.  I'm often disappointed in my sewing results, not because my garment did not turn out well, but because it does not look great ON ME.  The fantasy of what it will look like is WAY better than the reality.

This pin connects to MyStyleRules.com.  You are led through a body type assessment, complete with measurements, and voila! A 3-D body model of you is constructed!  "Fashion rules" for your body type can be downloaded, and examples of fashions which might work well for you body type appear in your virtual dressing room.  It really is quite awesome...

...and depressing.  I was shocked when I saw "me" in the same way I am shocked by photographs of me.  I hardly liked a thing that was suggested for me and my (current) shape.  I wanted to cry.  At the same time, it was a very potent reminder that if I want to wear the clothes I like, I need to get busy and lose some weight.  While I can't change the basic shape as much, I can take off some of the padding on it - it's just that simple.

I'm really glad I pinned this.  Perhaps it will help me avoid quite so many disappointing outcomes from my sewing... and help maintain my motivation to make change.  I recommend this totally free tool.  Let me know about your experiences with it!

Snake Oil

Snake oil!  The term "Patent Medicine" has been used frequently to describe drug compounds marketed (mostly) prior to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.  Perhaps "proprietary" is a little better term, because it denotes the the more common trademarking of  "secret (often old family) recipes".  I'm fascinated with this phenomenon, and I collect ephemera and memorabilia associated with the Lydia E Pinkham Medicine Company of Lynn, Massachusetts.  Lydia's medicines were marketed to women to cure all manner of "women's complaints".  Enterprising Lydia started out cooking each batch on her kitchen stove and sending her sons door to door with her brew.  Eventually her company became a booming concern in Lynn, selling throughout the country.

You had to love the elaborate and artistic marketing materials!  Trade cards with cherubic children, kittens, and smiling healthy people.  Not only are most of these concoctions laced with plenty of alcohol, but they often contained opium, heroin, morphine or cocaine.  They were marketed for people of all ages, including babies.

While browsing my favorite estate shop, I came across some sewing machine oil, which was being stored in a bottle which originally contained one of these magical elixirs.  The owner had taken care to scratch out the label, but the original label is still very readable.  Active ingredients?  Opium and alcohol...

So, of course, I brought it home!

Have you found anything fun lately?

Project Progress: House Quilt

I am already having a great time piecing together the house blocks I bought at my favorite estate goods dealer.  The colors are bright and fresh and springlike.  Sewing this quilt will both relieve, and create, cabin fever!

The colors in the batik jelly roll I bought complement the houses very nicely.  I'm impressed with the workmanship on the blocks.  I believe them to be hand pieced, not machine pieced.  The evidence is in the irregularity of the stitches, and the hand knots.  There is a minor problem though.  It seems that the blocked are not precisely the same size - something I think I can disguise well enough.

Reverse of blocks!

I'm thinking of making two wall hangings, rather than one larger quilt.  One to keep and one to give away to a dear friend who could use some cheer.  Here are a few shots of the process so far!

Just looking at the colors together makes me feel happy!  Let me know what you think so far!

Isn't that Pinteresting? - 3

The third installment in our Pinterest series relates to one of the main topics on this blog, restyling old clothes into something more useful and wearable, when the useful life of the original garment is past: in short, restyling!  You all know how much I love the search for raw materials, as well as the end results, of fashion upcycling.

This pin actually comes from a retail store called LaGarconne, based in NYC, carrying oodles of really on- trend clothing.  So the garment pictured was designed this way... but I was thinking... what about an old tank or T, joined to a discarded men's shirt?  Ooh-la-la et voila!

Do you get some of your inspiration from retail catalogs or websites?  Everyone hacks Anthropologie, right? What are your favorites?

Making Over Victoria: Dining

When I began blogging again earlier this year I mentioned the new home my husband and I had purchased, and I showed you a little bit of our laundry room makeover.  Now, I'd like to show you the changes we made to our dining room.  Here is a picture of the dining room as we saw it when touring the house.

It was bright and airy, with a clean, modern aesthetic, but we didn't think it was entirely in keeping with the Victorian era.  The house was built in 1884, so one of our goals with the house was to go back in time to restore the house to more of a Victorian look and feel.  So here's what we did instead.

The color scheme is much different with the red walls instead of the yellow.  The drapes are yellow with coordinating roses, with lace panels in the windows for privacy.  Note that we replaced the chandelier with a new but more vintage looking dim-able fixture. Though I did not capture a picture of it, it is surrounded on the ceiling with a medallion reminiscent of the plaster work of the time.  Here are a few of the details.

"Gone with the Wind" oil lamp.

Wall sconces holding candles on either side of the mirror over the buffet.

Lace tablecloth and bowl of flowers.

Floral art in a Victorian style frame with convex glass.

Tea set by the window.

And I love this last find, an antique garden stool.

We've entertained in this room a couple of times, and it's a very cozy, comfortable and warm setting for friends and fun.  Hope you like it!

Isn't that Pinteresting? - 2

Here's another of my pins on Sew Inspired: something I thought was just a super idea, especially for the vintage sewist!  This idea came from Destri, writing a guest post on Miranda Walker's blog.  There's a full tutorial on how to make one of these nifty pin plates at the link.

It uses magnets glued under the plate to make the pins stick!  How cool is that?  If you've ever stepped on a stray pin in the sewing room, you think it's pretty cool... What inspiring sewing room gadgets and notions have you pinned?  And don't forget to share your pinboard url so we can all check in and follow you, too!