It has been raining here. We don’t handle rain well on the prairies—I don’t own rubber boots, nor a waterproof coat. More to the point, stuff like this happens:
My spanky new Cake patterns got soaked in the mailbox.
Although this was nothing compared to the two inches of water covering the floor of my sewing space Friday evening. Needless to say, no sewing. /cry. I am supposed to be starting a Hummingbird here.
So in lieu of actual sewing, have some more views of Sew Knit N Stretch #000.
Once upon a time there was a cute little (gigantic oversized) matchbook.
Open it up….
And strike a pose!
Ok, well, it amused me. 😛
Think good thoughts for my serger, nothing else of great import was on the floor to get wet. But it wasn’t plugged in and it’s not computerized, so I’m hopeful. *fingerscrossed* I should probably have filled it up with rice…
Tanit-Isis Sews 
Sadness about the wet pattern! And sending dry & happy thoughts your serger’s way! Yay that it isn’t computerized!
That pattern with the giant matchbook cover is fascinating! I love the quirky things they did for marketing back then! =)
Thank! Yeah, the more I look at it the more impressed I am. It was a strong start, I think! 🙂
oooh I feel your pain, I ordered quite a few Sewaholic patterns and they were water logged, and the patterns almost unusable! I opened them up while still damp and let them dry, but am afraid they will be distorted when I use them, haven’t tried yet 😦 Good luck with the serger!
Oh, no! That sucks. I had a couple of vintage patterns arrive with a very water-damaged envelope once but fortunately they’d been wrapped in plastic so no damage to the patterns themselves. 😦 /sigh.
Oh dear Oh dear !!! But I bet the farmers are smiling.
I hope so. There’s been some crazy flooding upstream of us, we’ll see where that goes…
Oh no! Aw, I hope everything dries out quickly, and most importantly, survives! 😦
(*STRIKE A POSE* heh)
Also, “Striking pattern inside” written along the black “striking” strip. Hehehehehehe
Aww no! 😦 When I first moved back to NZ I had ordered some patterns and I was expecting them to take a long time to arrive (2 or 3 weeks based on my Perth experience) but they arrived in about 1.5 weeks and they were outside getting rained on the 3 days!
Good luck with your serger (hehe, that’s such a funny work, I call it an overlocker) – I have read before for electrical things that as long as it’s completely dry when you plug it in it should be ok, it’s when you try to use it while still damp that they spark or whatever and then die. So my advice is to put it some where warm for a few days before trying it. Fingers crossed for you xx
Oh, no! And you didn’t even know!
I actually like overlocker better—just serger sounds weird—but that’s what everyone here says, so I tend to say it too.
I hope your patterns survive!
Last week we had ordinary rain. I recieved a pattern from a giveaway in the mail, and for some reason the mailman had left the large envelope stick out on top. Why, one might ask. Luckily, the envelope was plastic on the inside so no patterns were harmed.
The patterns are ok, thankfully! I don’t trust that basement an inch, really, I don’t know what I was thinking with the serger.
I am loving waterproof envelopes more and more…
I’m so sorry darlin’! That truly sucks. Also, a blow dryer might help speed up the drying process and help get the cracks dry.
I spent some serious blow-dryer time with the books… you’re right, it’s a good idea with the serger, too. That I just brought upstairs and shoved in a corner until I feel better about it. 😉
Man, those are some seriously hot hot pants! Thanks for making me laugh this morning.
Hehe! Glad to share my amusement. The older ladies at work were telling me that 60s hot pants are maybe not quite as short as what I tend to think of as hot pants…. these might actually be wearable then! 🙂
Fingers crossed for your serger! 😦
Gotta love 70’s styling!
Thanks! If I’m right this should be 1967… Groovy baby! 😉
Bummer about your stuff getting wet–especially the serger–but you know…if it doesn’t work, that would be an excellent excuse to get a nicer one… 😈 Just a thought. 😉
I did consider that option too…
If only the budget were there… /sigh. Although even if I did, I’m pretty sure one of my sisters-in-law would snaffle this one up. 🙂
Oh no! Rain evilness! … I do love the pattern matchbook, though!
Still not quite as awful as your moths, I think! Yeah, it is pretty neat, isn’t it? 🙂
You might try baking the wet papers in a low oven. Also, laying them out flat and sprinkling with corn starch will dry them — if they aren’t too wet to spread out, urgh. I suppose you could stick the serger in there, too, but I’d be worried about melting any plastic parts. Just open it up and put it in the sunshine for some days; give it a good oiling and cross your fingers.
Thanks for the ideas. The patterns are dried out already, fortunately. I think I will skip the oven for the serger… 😉
Oh no!! So sad about the pretty Cake patterns 😦 You could also try throwing some of those silica gel packets from shoeboxes and packaged snacks to help absorb moisture inside your serger.
Great idea! I actually had a bagful of those silica gel packets, they are now tucked inside the serger! 🙂
Oh, that’s wretched! I’m giving your serger very good thoughts. Was your mechanical machine well-lubricated before it got wet? You def want to make sure it is before you try to re-work it.
Yeah, I will. It was probably due for some oiling anyway, unfortunately.
I also wanted to suggest silica gel, it works great for rescuing cell phones that take a swim in the toilet. Open it up as much as you can and pack it with silica gel packages, then stuff it in a plastic bag. It should dessicate the heck out of it.
oh, I’ll have to remember that one, too. Thanks! 🙂
Ugh, sorry about the water damage. It would have to be on the day your patterns arrive!
That sucks SO MUCH!!! I hate when my things get damaged! This used to happen to me all the time when we lived in a brownstone.
As someone who had 5 feet of water in her sewing shop I can tell you that your machine will be FINE, just dry it out good. I did take all my machines in to get serviced afterwards, they oiled them and made sure no grit was stuck inside and everyone hummed along quite nicely. Good luck!
If you can find silica gel, (especially if you can find silica gel cat litter; that way you get LOTS.) then put it in a cloth bag or even just spread it on the bottom of a box, and set your serger down on it, and close the box…the gel will suck up all the water. Leave it in there for about a week at least You will want to remove any panels or open any little doors that there might be to ensure all the water can escape from inside the machine. If you have a warm spot to set it in, so much the better. Don’t let the gel get in your machine, though
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Oh shit about the flood in the sewing room and the mailbox. Our box is rubbish and we get plenty of rain so really we should, well, fix it. The box not the rain lol.
The early kwik sew patterns are fab. I love the packaging. Kinda wish they still had this though pity the trees if they did. And the per pattern price 🙂
Oh that sucks about the rain getting into your things! I hope you’ve had great luck rescuing everything. We get rain in our letterbox all the time but haven’t found a replacement letterbox that’ll work. One day.
Love that matchbook packaging! I wonder if that was for all of their patterns or just their flame encrusted “hot” pants!
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