A Girly Pipe Bag?

Wow. It's December already. Every year it sneaks up on me. I've got a LOT of sewing to do this month but I won't be able to show most of it off until after December 25th. I don't want the kids peeking. My sewing skills are a bit rusty since I haven't been sewing in over a month. I'm going to get them limbered up by working on a quick project for me. I've been thinking about making a feminine pipe bag for a while now. I have a couple of really fancy leather bags but it would be nice to have something both pretty and washable. When I saw the Craftsy.com Bucket Bag I thought, ah ha! This will be perfect for toting to pipe club. I can put a few pipes and my accessories around the outside and tins of tobacco in the middle. The Bucket Bag and Drawstring Bag are FREE Craftsy classes. Did I mention I love Craftsy? Here are the fabrics I pulled from my stash for this project. The only thing I had to buy was the solid green cotton. That will be the outer body of the bag and the handle. The purple oriental print will be the outer pocket and the 2-tone print will be the bag lining. There is also some dark green fleece for coordinating pipe bags. The plan is to make the bucket bag, 3 drawstring pipe bags, a rub-out mat and a zippered accessory bag. All before next pipe club.

The husbeast worked a double shift last night which meant he slept most of the day. While he snored, I sewed. Or attempted to. Maybe I am destracted or something, but I have been making stupid sewing mistakes all day. It didn't help that I had never used my Deluxe Monogrammer before. I really, really wanted to monogram this bag. I love the monograms that have the large letter in the center, for the last name, with smaller letters to each side for the first and middle names. Luckily I have 2 Singer monogramers and each makes different sized letters.

First things first, figure out how to use the deluxe monogrammer so I can make the "W". Turns out it was very simple to operate.

The sample was made with off white cotton thread but I wasn't happy with the color. It was too light. I did have the perfect color but it was rather ancient silk thread. I don't know exactly how old it is but I think I found it in the drawer of one of my treadle sewing machines. You'll notice it is on a wooden spool.

Old thread can be weak but I decided to chance it. The color and sheen were so pretty. I think it turned out well.

The small "R" and "L" were made with the non-deluxe monogrammer. I applied the fusible fleece to the back of that piece and set about installing the pocket. I took great pains to measure where the pocket channels would be. I opted for the 3 pipe pockets to be on the back of the bag, opposite the monograms. The front pockets will hold the mat and bag. I carefully sewed the pocket to the bag front. As I was clipping the threads and admiring my handiwork it suddenly dawned on me. I had neglected to fuse the interfacing inside the pocket. Oh well, I'm not ripping it apart. It will just have to do. I doubt the Pellon police will come after me.

I think I am going to exit the sewing room for tonight and try again tomorrow. This just isn't a good day for me to sew. Oh, but I did get to use one of my Black Friday weekend bargains. I pressed the bag seam on that little sleeve sized ironing board.

Bargains and Craftsy Love

I headed back to JoAnn Fabrics on Saturday. I had another 50% off and 25% off coupon. This is what I came home with.

I had been looking for a good way to store my sewing threads. I used to have a couple of those thread holders that hang on your wall but thread that is out and uncovered is a dust magnet. I needed a way to keep the thread clean while still being able to see the colors. I found these nifty double-sided, clear cases, above. They each hold twice the amount of thread shown. Two of them were almost enough to hold my entire collection. I did go back on Sunday and pick up a third since they were still priced at 50% off. Saturday I used my 50% off coupon to buy that little sleeve sized ironing board. It will come in handy for pressing smaller items, like bags.

Sunday the husbeast and I began to clean up my Kenmore model 51. I want to eventually (hopefully soon) place this machine into a treadle base and make it people powered.

We spent about an hour freeing up the feed dog mechanism. First I un-stuck the knob that should lower the dogs. I got the knob to move but nothing else happened. The feed dogs refused to budge. The oil had turned to varnish and they were glued in one position. The husbeast finally got them back into working order. Now they drop as intended. Today we got the tension assembly fixed. Someone before us had dismantled it and put it back together out of order and also managed to get the tension knob on crooked. I feared the shaft was bent but we lucked out. I located the proper schematic and we got it back together correctly.

Here is the wonky knob before:

And here it is all fixed.

We make a pretty good sewing machine repair team. Today I will start cleaning and lubing the upper workings. I am anxious to see if the cams I bought will work in here.

I also want to put in another positive plug for Craftsy.com. I have signed up for many of their courses but there was one that I just couldn't watch. Something about the instructor's speech mannerisms drove me up the wall. Like nails on a chalkboard. The nice folks at Craftsy allowed me to trade that course for another. I chose the wax resist dyeing class. I hope to create some lovely batik fabrics using my bees wax. Darn it, I gave away all of my cellulose dyes. I didn't think I'd have a need for dyeing cottons. Oh well, I know where to get more.

My Lame Black Friday Shopping

I admit it. I'm not much of a Black Friday shopper. I wasn't even going to participate but there were a few things I had on my "wants list" and it is hard to resist 50-75% off. First on the wants list: Doll Shoes. You heard me right. American Girl doll shoes, to be specific. Long story short: I was given a bunch (like 30) patterns to sew 18" doll clothes, I wish to sew some doll dresses, I bought a used AG doll to use as a model, she came with tennis shoes, you cannot wear tennis shoes with nice dresses. Thus I need some fancy doll shoes. Someone told me Artco had the type of shoes I was seeking and I happened to have 2 coupons in my possession. Both were for today. The 50% off coupon was for before 9am and the 40% coupon was for after. Wanting to use both coupons on the same visit I had to time my arrival at a few minutes before 9. I barely made it. I ran in with just 2 minutes to spare, asked the lady at the counter to point me in the direction of said shoes, and made it to the checkout counter in the nick of time. Once she rang me up it was after 9 and I could use the second coupon. All that to get 50 and 40% off of $4.99 doll shoes. I'm just that cheap. The white espadrilles are awful damn cute.

Next stop, JoAnn Fabrics. A place sane sewists avoid like the plague on Black Friday. However, I wanted some heat resistant fabric to make pot holders and I also heard their flannel was going to be 75% off. What a zoo. I pulled a number for the cutting counter as soon as I walked in. They were on number F80. My number was G61. It was going to be a while. The good news was the desired heat proof fabric was not on sale which meant I could use my 50% off coupon. Good thing, since the regular price is $14.99 per yard. I bought 2 yards.

Over the next couple of hours I had plenty of time to browse through the stacks of flannel fabrics. The selection kept changing as people would get their choices cut and those bolts made their way back onto the sales floor. I settled on 3 yards of the sewing themed flannel (how could I resist the hand crank machines???) and 1 yard each of the red chocolates and the brown/teal heart print. The latter two are intended for some girly pipe bags.

I still had lots of browsing time so I looked through the Butterick patterns which were 99 cents each. I decided I needed more bag patterns.

After being trapped in JoAnn's for 2 hours I was finally free to return home with my bounty. That was the extent of my Black Friday shopping. I know. Lame. I didn't even spend $40.

Bye, Bye Fluffiness.

   You may have noticed the weight loss tracker added to the top of my blog page. Yes, I weigh that much. No, I'm not embarrassed to admit it. Anyone who glances my direction knows I am not a tiny wisp of a thing. However I am heavier than I am comfortable being. My goal is to reach 140 lbs. That sounds like a reasonable and attainable goal. Once there I can re-access the situation. I chose the snail as my "ticker slider" knowing that I will probably lose weight at a snail's pace. My metabolism is not what it once was.

Truth Really IS Stranger Than Fiction

   Guess who is the new Seattle Pipe Club Slow Smoke Champion? No, really. I'm as shocked as you are.

   The trophy above is the one I get to keep. I will also get my name engraved on the club's trophy (shown here on the SPC web site) and will get to display it in my home for a year. This is the second trophy I have won in my entire life. Oddly enough that first trophy was also won in a male dominated challenge (NCO Academy). I was one of 4 females in a class of 27. Thank goodness pipe boys take losing to a girl much better than Army boys do. I don't have to sleep with one eye open.

   I first competed in last year's slow smoke. I practiced and practiced beforehand. I didn't embarrass myself. I think I came in right in the middle of the pack but nowhere near the top. This year I didn't practice at all. I was participating to support the club and hang out with friends. Maybe that was the key? I didn't have a hope in heck of winning so I wasn't the least bit nervous. As we were smoking I heard names called which meant that person was out of the competition. Pretty soon it was down to 4 of us. At that point I thought there was I chance I might get the bottle of scotch this year. Then they announced there were just 2 competitors still smoking, Alex and I. Hurray! That meant I'd get the scotch. Then Alex was out and I just kept smoking. Instead of scotch I get $250 towards my trip to Chicago, in May, where I will compete against pipe smokers from all over the states (and the world).

   Look at the lovely Pendelton 49er jacket my friend Lennea gave me. I think I will wear it to the pipe club meeting next month.

   Wednesday was a great day all around. A trophy and a new-to-me vintage jacket. Life is good.

Trip To Bothell For Free Sewing Machine

I am always looking for sewing machines to refurbish. It's almost comical how much I enjoy tinkering with them, especially since I would not describe myself as mechanically inclined. When the Army gave me the aptitude tests they did not place me around tools. But then I also suck at math and Uncle Sam thought it a good idea to place me in stock control & accounting. Go figure? Friday evening I happened upon a lady in Bothell who was offering up a vintage Kenmore, in a cabinet, with a stool...for FREE. She said the hand wheel was stuck. I took that to mean the hand wheel would not turn. That can be something easy (tangled bobbin) or something hard (cracked gear). Even if the machine was beyond hope, the cabinet looked nice and I could sure use the stool. Yesterday I informed the poor husbeast that he was taking me to Bothell on Sunday morning. And that's just where we headed bright and early today. The first thing I did when we arrived was give the hand wheel a turn. It moved easily. That ruled out a cracked gear which meant it was probably something easy to fix. I kept that knowledge to myself. We loaded up the Subaru and headed for home. Later this afternoon I got a chance to play with the machine a bit more. When I plugged it in the belt turned but the needle bar stayed still. Nothing was gummed up so it dawned on my that the clutch was not engaged. The clutch on this particular model is controlled by a button on top of the machine, not by loosening or tightening the hand wheel knob. It seems the levers, under that knob, were stuck. I applied a few drops of oil and we were in business. This is a Kenmore model 158.1603 and it is in mint condition.

See the button on the top front of the machine, just to the left of the bobbin winder. That was the culprit. It's working fine now. This is the beautiful, solid wood cabinet that came with the machine.

And here is the stool which has generous storage under the seat. I'm keeping the stool but will be selling the machine and cabinet.

I almost kept the cabinet but I really don't have enough room. It is lovely, though. Maybe I'll change my mind.

Pot Pie & Patterns

   Earlier this week I purchased a roast chicken from Costco. Those always feed as for a couple of meals then I take whatever meat remains and make a chicken pot pie. The husbeast loves them. Pure comfort food and perfect for a chilly autumn afternoon.

   Of course I am very non-PC in my cooking. Lots of lard and butter. Yum! I disagree with current medical opinion and believe that "real", natural ingredients (lard, butter, eggs, milk) are better for me than margarine, hydrogenated shortening, canola oil, etc...In an attempt to make the pie healthier I did not use a bottom crust. I did make "pie snacks" from the leftover dough, sprinkling them with sugar and cinnamon and baking them. Probably not the healthiest meal, but I hate waste.

  Still not sewing since my return from Vegas, but I'm thinking about it. I bought two OOP sewing patterns from a lady I met on a sewing forum.

Love the tied collar and 3/4 sleeves.

Perfect for the Indian Restaurant.

More 3/4 sleeves.

   I also received the cams for my model 51 that I'd ordered from eBay. These are some funny looking cams. I love the vintage box they cam in.

I think I'll play with my serger this evening. I really need to sew something.