My First Real Sewing Machine!

Joining Cindy for Show and Tell Friday.

Visit her for more!

Grandmothers treadle.

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I love her still!


Added 12:15 PST

You will find my VERY first sewing machine here.

I currently sew with a Pfaff Hobbymatic 955.

Bountiful Harvest

Finished!

Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Just went into my shoppe if you are interested. ;~}

Little Punkins

Everybody is making them, so I just had to try my hand at

some rustic little fabric 'punkins'.

First, I chose some 'punkin' looking fabric.

(Paula~you may recognize a couple of these as

my Peter Rabbit Carrots from this spring!)

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Then I cut out six football shaped pieces for each of the

three different sized punkins.

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Next, I stitched the six pieces together,

leaving a small opening at the top for turning...

and stuffing.

I also cut some leaves for the tops out of green flannel.

I made the stems from some more of the flannel, rolled and

stitched closed. I wanted the stems to have a little bend, so I

cut some small gauge wire to size, curled the edges so there would be no

pokey's and inserted the wire into the stem center.

I stuck the little stem into the opening of the punkin,

ran a gathering stitch around the opening and

cinched it up to the stem, securing them together

with a couple more stitches.

Then I added the leaf.

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Here is a finished punkin!

Here is the little vignette I made using my little punkins!

Have you made any fabric pumpkins?

There are some beautiful ones in the November issue of

Martha Stewart Living.

That Martha is such a copy cat! ;~}

Bread Keepers!

Perhaps you may remember this post over at my 'Parables' blog?

Well, I finally decided what I wanted to make with these

wonderful flour sacks I got from Sharon!

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I made 'Bread Keepers'

for storing homemade loaves of bread!

(If you are interested, you can find them

in my Etsy Store!)

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After washing the sacks (I forgot to try to 'set' the color! :~O

But I like the slightly faded, vintage look.)

I removed the original stitching, which took a long time

as the chain stitching did not pull off like the top of feed sacks!

I "french seamed" the sides so no fraying threads

would stick to the bread, and the more finished seams

help prevent bread crumbs from hiding!
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I 'boxed' the corners...
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...so the bread keeper would fit around

the bread a little more easily.
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I used some of the flour sack fabric to make drawstrings.
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Baked some bread to try them out.
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Experimented to see how fresh the bread stayed.

Works perfect alone for crusty bread.

I did a little research to find out how bread used to be stored

'in the olden days' before plastic.

I am trying to do without plastic in my home.

I found that IF there was any bread left, the cut edge of a loaf was placed

down onto a cutting board and this prevented the cut surface from

drying out.

(I think I prefer to have my food covered so any critter that may happen to be flying about my kitchen doesn't have use of my homemade bread as a landing strip for feet that have been who knows where! Did you know that flies taste with their feet? Ugh!
Somebody please remind me why God created flies? Oh yeah ~ food for the spiders! Yikes!

Why spiders? I know, I know ~ to eat the flies! :~D)


I used a sheet of waxed paper wrapped around my loaf

and stored in the bread keeper.It did keep the cut loaf soft for several days

until it was used up!

And if there were more than two of us, the bread wouldn't

last that long!

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I hope you will try making one of these handy storage bags!

If you don't have access to new flour sacks, you might try

vintage ones (well washed), linen or some other

tightly woven cotton fabric for your

Eco conscious 'Bread Keeper'!

Mending Kits

Some of you may remember my post for Show & Tell

about my sewing room.

Well, can you see that little black thing hiding behind the bench pincushion?

That is an old mending kit I got from Gentleman Farmer's Grandmother

when she passed away.

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I have been making some of these to go into my Etsy store.

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Gentleman Farmer thinks every lady should carry one of these in her purse!

"You never know when the need may arise to repair a torn hem,

or replace a lost button!"

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I have made them with two little pockets; one for a folding pair of scissors,

and one for thread.

There are two leaves made from natural cotton; one with several sizes of buttons

and the other with small brass safety pins, two pre-threaded needles and some

straight pins!

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They hold alot but are small enough to fit nicely into most any bag without taking up

too much space. They are approximately 3"X5" and are tied up with

bias tape ties and love!

And, they are Gentleman Farmer approved!

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Ticking Clothes Pin Bag

We have had a couple of gloriously sunny days here and I have been hanging my clothes out to dry on the line.

I decided to make a couple of Vintage Style Clothes Pin Bags

and thought you might like to make one, too!

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Here is what I did:

Front and Back pieces:

Cut two (2) pieces of fabric 13x16 inches each. (I used ticking stripes.)

Back lining piece:

Cut one (1) piece of fabric 13x16 ( I used a broadcloth print.)

Tabs:

Cut two (2) pieces of fabric 3 1/2x 6 1/2 inches Main fabric.)

Ruffle :

Cut one (1) piece of fabric (same as lining) 30 inches x 3 inches. (Cut across grain ~ from selvage to selvage.) I made pleats. You may wish to just gather a ruffle which won't take as much fabric.

You will also need a little less than 1 yard of Bias Seam Tape for bag opening.

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Press all fabric pieces.

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(You may wish to baste one (1) piece of main fabric with the lining fabric, wrong sides together. This will become your back piece. I just put them together without basting and consider this one piece.)

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Tabs:

Fold under edges on two long sides and one short. ( 3/8 -1/2 inch)

Press.

Top stitch.

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Front:

Cut apart one (1) of the main fabric pieces four (4) inches down from the top (short) side.

On the center top of the longer piece(we will call this A), draw a half circle (mine is 5 inches diameter).

Cut out half circle.

Shorter piece of top front will be called "B".

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Front opening:

Stitch Bias Tape to top of piece "A".

(I sewed the curved piece first. Then sew straight pieces next, being sure to fold one end under for nice finish at corner where straight meets curve.)

I use a zig-zag stitch, but a straight stitch is fine, too.

Hint: Pressing Bias Tape on the curved piece first helps to hold its shape for easier stitching.

Sew Bias Tape to bottom matching straight edge of "B".

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(You may now like to embellish your bag with embroidery, applique, trims, buttons, or leave plain.)

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Ruffle:

Fold ruffle piece in half the long way and press.

(Be sure to turn under short ends.)

Gather into a ruffle with two rows of basting stitches.

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Attach ruffle to right side of front "A" along bottom edge with a basting stitch.

(Pleats shown.)

Be sure to start and end ruffle inside your seam line.


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Place front "A" over back piece (lining is the wrong side), right sides together.


Stitch across bottom.

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Tabs:


(Make button hole, attach snap, or sew velcro dot one short end of each tab.)

On top edge of back (right side), position tabs 2 1/2 inches (center of tab) from edge seam.

Place top front piece "B" over tabs and back piece right sides together.


Bring up piece "A" to match "B" over back piece, butting seam tape together.

Stitch all pieces together, stitching through seam tape making sure you don't catch ruffle in side seam.

Stitch seams again with a zig-zag stitch (or another row of straight stitches if you don't have zig-zag.) just outside first row of stitching for a clean finish.

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Trim corners to remove bulk.

Turn and press.

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Attach buttons, if using.

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Fill with clothes pins.

Go do some wash and hang your clothes!
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This bag may be buttoned over the clothes line
or
buttoned onto a clothes hanger .
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I would love to see if you make one.
Please let me know so I can come take a peek.

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These two are going to market!
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Have a glorious, sunshiny day!

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Added after several comments about not having a clothes line:

Ladies! You do not need a clothes line to make one of these. They can be used for so many things

such as a bag for grocery sacks, baby items, socks or undergarments, a gift for someone special.

Just don't embroider "clothes pins". :~}

Vintage Sewing items

While doing some "Spring Cleaning" I discovered

I had many vintage sewing items.

'Sew' I decided to put them all together on a shelf above my sewing machine.

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From left to right we have;

Glass top canning jars filled with wooden spools and old buttons

Black cloth mending kit

Aunt Maimie's pincusion

Old packet of "Mending Silk" thread

Two wooden needle cases

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My childhood sewing machine

Vintage sewing needle packets in back

Sewing machine oil can and tin

Vintage patterns behind

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Travel sewing machine

Grandma's thimbles

Accessories tin

Needle threader

Needle books behind

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Thanks for looking at my Vintage sewing items.

For more fun, and to see what others have to show,

go to Kelli's House.

Carrots!

I was amazed that it took me all afternoon to make six carrots,

and God made everything in six days!

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Paula shows how to make the carrots over at her blog.

Check out http://LadyFarmerParables.blogspot.com to see how I decorated with them.

Thanks Paula!

Britches!

While re-organizing my linens drawers today, I came across this cute little item that my Grandma made up and gave to me way back in the '70's. This would make a fun little addition to a bridal shower, kitchen shower or even a birthday gift. Let me know if you make any, I would like to see.

Take two woven waffle weave dish cloths (fold in half lengthwise)

Threaded length of ribbon or yarn.

Make long basting stitches along "leg" bottoms and at the "waistline", gathering slightly and tying in a bow at the edges.

"Lace" up the front and make a bow at the top. ( See photo)

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This little 'poem' was written out and pinned to them.

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Don't get excited

Don't get misled

These are not for you

But your dishes instead.

Pull out the ribbon

There are no stitches,

You will have two dish cloths

But you've lost your britches!

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I think these are sweet!

A New Ironing Board Cover...

...from a length of brushed cotton duck, 100% natural cotton quilt lining,

and a roll of sturdy cotton string.

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I used the (very!) old cover for the pattern.

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Sewed the string into the self-binding to gather around the edges.

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All ready for many new projects on the way!

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(I chose not to use a colored fabric because this ecru color reminded me

of the cover on Grandma's mangle!

And I didn't want to take any chances with colors bleeding when using my hot steam iron on lovely white linens!)