Sharp 'n Pointies
Sometimes, wonderful things happen.
Over the holidays, several actually have, and I thought I’d mention them all here before getting to the buttons post.
Back before Christmas, I won Steph’s Sharp and Pointy Giveaway (my first giveaway win and probably the one I’ve *most* wanted to win ever) Yay, sharp and pointies! And they arrived today. Now I have a pin-cushion (a cute little mouse), pins that aren’t from the dollar store, and some other neat little sharp things like
Cute little sharp and pointies!
a buttonhole chisel and an awl. All of which are things I’ve though “gee, that would be nice to have,” but been too lazy/broke/disorganized to acquire myself. Yay! And it came with this adorable little case, too.
Around the same time, Claire a.k.a. Seemane, who’s been one of my favourite commenters since back in June when I got like 30 views a day and usually no comments at all, emailed me out of the blue after reading my lament about my lack of a manual for my serger. Not only had she happened to notice that my Janome JA-603A was identical to the Pfaff Hobbylock HL-603A, but she had tracked down a pdf manual to the Pfaff… and then bought it for me!!!!!! So I now have a manual for my machine (cue
The curious case of the 603A
choirs of angels), which details a number of nifty things it can do beyond basic serging. Some of them require more intensive adjustments than I’m likely to bother with, or different face-plates which I just don’t have, but at least I have a place to start. Thank you Claire!
To make this even better, Claire’s finally posting to her blog, Sew, Incidentally! So head on over and check our her progress on Sunni’s Trouser Sewalong. And whatever else she may get up to—I know I’m excited.
Speaking of Sewalongs, Peter’s going to be hosting a men’s shirt sewalong! And I have just the pattern in mind, of course. My only worry is fitting—as far as I can tell Peter fits his patterns straight out of the envelope, which my hubby decidedly does not. Fitting someone else is always a bit nerve-wracking, isn’t it?
On the up (or down?) side, several friends and relations got to try on my “Kimono Lady Grey” over our quick little holiday, and not only did they all love it, it was remarkably flexible in its fit, considering the sash isn’t adjustable. Although those blasted pear-shapes look good in darn near everything as far as I can tell. 😉 My SIL suggested a full-length version for a house-coat. Which would be fabulous, wouldn’t it? (can you imagine how much fabric that would take, though?!?)
Clockwise from top: diagonal-striped jersey; blue and cream stretch lace; blue and pink leopard fleece
I also took my sisters-in-law out to Fabricland for the New Years sale, and scored some fabric for some upcoming projects. The leopard fleeces are for lining little coats for my nieces (aged 2 1/2 and almost 4); I have some black textured wool flecked with sparkles for the outside of the coats already). At some point I’ll have to make something for my 13-year-old niece, too, but, well, between the hazards of trying to fit someone who lives 600km away and trying to hit the right style with a teenager, well, I’m hesitant. I was thinking of using the jersey for my 70s dress, but while it’s relatively stable, it still stretches nearly 20% across the width. Jersey is a listed fabric, but… well, I’m not sure. I’m sure it can be something else if necessary; I loved the muted purple colour and the nifty diagonal ribbing/stripe (and at $2.50/m, I’m not going to complain.) The blue and cream stretch lace has no particular plan in mind yet, but it was too gorgeous to pass up for $2/m. Maybe I’ll go scout out Carolyn’s blog since she always has such gorgeous lace pieces :). I probably will need some kind of thin knit underlay for it, though, which could easily cost considerably more than the lace did…
So those are my wonderful things. How about you? Has life given you any wonderful little gifts lately? Or are you just gritting your teeth to get through? (believe me, I do my share of gritting…)
Tanit-Isis Sews 
I have realized that the sewing blogging world is a great one. People actually care (most of them). And when they comment, it is because they want to and are interested. During a few weeks in October, I was feeling a bit down, and one of the girls that comments regularly on my posts (blog or burdastyle) e-mailed me to see how I was doing. I was completely amazed! And it made me feel all warm inside…
As for the sew-along, my Mister ordered the Negroni as a Christmas present for me 😉 I think that Peter’s sew along happens at the perfect time. I just have to finish the Crepe for Gertie and the lining of a coat before getting started!
That should keep you busy for a bit, lol! I have been pleasantly impressed with the level of most commenting. I get the odd spam filtered out, but I haven’t really encountered any sewing-blog trolls yet, which is lovely (hooray for being a niche, I guess 😉 )
I had a nice thing happen to me the other day out for a drive in the country. We came across an old building with treasures out the front, and we stopped. (Actually DH stopping is lucky too!) I found some old fabric and trims that I went to buy, but I had no cash, and she had no eftpos. She suggested I take the things anyway, and deposit the money when I got home! It is nice to see such trust still exists in the world.
Wow, that is amazing!
I’m so glad you received them, you never can tell with trans-Pacific postage.
Why not a cool little bag or something for your 13 year old niece? Amy Butler has some nice ones and the Frenchy Bag is easy enough to make in a few evenings.
Jersey is fine to use I reckon, just be sure to stabilize seams you don’t want to stretch.
I’m glad they arrived, too—I had just started to worry (although, like you say, who knows…)
A bag is a nice idea… although her mother is a bit of a purseaholic (she’s given me my last two purses out of her stash) so she’s probably pretty well covered. Not that she’s short on clothes, either, mind you… Good idea, not the usual think I would think of, either.
Thanks for the vote of confidence on the jersey! 🙂
We’ll definitely address a few fitting issues and they’ll be a forum to ask questions; we’ll figure it out!
Yay! Hmm, I guess I should be thinking about fabric for that, too, hey…
My husband was reading some of my comments the other day and he thought it was hilarious how nice they all were 🙂 He’s used to reading things on the internet where people just bash each other, I guess. I just replied that people who sew are awesome.
I’m interested to see what becomes of your stretch lace. I have some in my stash that I just can’t figure out what to use for.
I saw your title and instantly thought of Bob Ross(?) the painter dude that was on PBS here in the US. He was all about happy little trees, rocks, squirrels, whatever. 😉 Congrats on your win–you’ll love the buttonhole punch, they work so nice and beat the heck out of the pin, pray, & rip method that I used to use! And a serger manual, that will be super nice to have for when you have time to play around with the different settings. 🙂
Way to go on the contest win! I don’t know if I could stick pins in the mouse though. 😉
I am amazed everyday by the online sewing community. I swear I would have quit by now if I didn’t have the help and support. And knowing others have the same struggles and successes. Awesome!
BTW I love your addition of nostalgic things. Helps us get to know you better.
Tasia at Sewaholic.net recently did a series of in-depth
posts on making and fitting a men’s shirt that might be useful for
you. The first post is here:
http://sewaholic.net/mr-sewaholics-christmas-shirt-pattern-picked/
There are around 8 posts on the subject, I think. Good luck!
🙂
Hi! I’m glad you like the serger manual – and wha great luck to get all those lovely notions in Steph’s giveaway (yay!) I might do Peter’s shirt sewalong too – my Collete Negroni Men’s Shirt pattern arrived in the post yesterday – so Jan/Feb are goining to be busy sewing-along times for me 🙂