20 April 2018

11 April 2018

My 1941 Singer!

It was my grandmother's.  This machine does everything the modern machines do... if you like to sew in a straight line.  It's a bit harder to thread than the new machines and the needle is placed in sidewise.  Not sure how I'll replace this one when it breaks.

It came with a carrying case, some extra bobbins, bunches of special attachments, and an instruction booklet.  The instructions tell you to call your Electric Light Company to enquire about the specific voltage and cycles of your local electricity.  Yeah, I skipped that step.  

Rose is not sure she wants to try to thread this machine.  It really isn't that hard, kiddo.

Woodjie wanted his photo taken, too!  Isn't he cute?  

08 April 2018

$4 Thrift Store Dress Makeover!


I got a cute velour dress for Rose at the local thrift shop, but the "bling" parts were missing.  I think someone pulled them off before making their donation.  So I'm gluing little craft gems for a bit of sparkle!

I rolled a bit of dental wax onto the end of this thumbtack.  See how it sticks to the little gem?  That saves my fingers from getting glue-y.  "Dental wax" is the stuff people put on the brackets of their braces when they first get them or when they've gotten a sharp edge and are waiting for an appointment.  If you don't have occasion to get it for "free" with your $5000 purchase as we did, it's available at your local drugstore.
For this project, I used Gem-Tac glue, but I think next time I'll use the trusty E6000.  It is far more messy, hard to accurately dispense and has smelly/ bad for you fumes, but it holds better.


A close-up of the pattern on Rose's "new" dress.

So pretty!  Rose chose pink and clear gems for this project.  

03 April 2018

Need Help With Meal Planning?

Let Hy-Vee grocery's licensed nutritionist help you select just the right candy for dinner today!

Sewing Dance Costumes!

I had the outfit itself done in this photo, but I was playing around a bit with the accessories to see what would look best.  I decided to go with just one pink stripe as you see below.

I made everything you see in this photo except the pants and Rose's stockings.  I actually have made a pair of matching blue pants, but they're longer than these and Woodjie should wear the shorter ones out first, yes?

Plushy stretch velour flowers

Rose embellishes her summer shorts.  She doesn't want to spend more than a few minutes sewing at this age.

Bringing Garbage Home

Some people up the street were throwing this table away. It was in pretty bad shape and one of the legs was off. I've glued the leg back...