Unnecessary, but fun

Last post was sort of about not spending or spending wisely. This post is about spending. I stopped at a little thrift store. Oops.

I defend my spending money there because all the money (donated building and help!) goes to support a local "private" school. It is private in that no government money is used to support the school. Although, it is basically a Catholic school, any child is welcome - except that there is a huge long waiting list. It is that good of a school.

I purchased a few saucers (bowls) and a few pieces of "silverware" (one fork was real silver - 10 cents!). Always seem to need more.

Also purchased were a lightweight denim shirt with puffy sleeves and two out of style rayon dresses. These were a dollar each. The denim shirt will someday lose the "puffs". This is for me. The puffed sleeves make me look like I'm wearing football shoulder pads or whatever they are called. The navy dress will hopefully get a zipper and be shortened. It fits my daughter beautifully, but is very difficult to get on and off. The maroon floral dress? Who knows. It fits my daughter, too, but the color is wrong for her. I will try to remember to get before and after pictures.

What I spent the most on was a whole grocery sack of sewing patterns - some newer, some older. Below are three of my favorites.

This is possibly the oldest dated 1962:



This pattern, with minor adjusting, should fit my daughter. Too bad it isn't in style at all.

Then there were these:






These are from the Associated British Paper Patterns Ltd., Denbigh Rd. Bletchley, Bucks. There is no copyright or date printed anywhere on them.

If anyone wants to get rid of old (1960's and 1970's and maybe early 1980's) patterns, I am in the market for women's half sizes 10-1/2 to 12-1/2, young junior/teen sizes 9/10, 11/12, and 13/14, and junior petites sizes 7, 9, and 11. I really don't want to pay a fortune for each pattern, but would pay for the patterns and for shipping. My email address is available from my profile page. Thanks. Oh, these would be to use. I would not be reselling them.

Random, but I have misplaced my list of passwords for all my internet sites. OH BROTHER!!
UPDATE: The passwords have been found. phew! Now the checkbook register is missing. It is probably in the huge stack of bills waiting to be paid. Groan.
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Fashion Doll Pattern - 1964

I found this the other day. Simplicity 5673; copyright 1964. The envelope is worn on the corners, but the pattern is uncut.

The back says it is "Suitable for such Dolls as Annette, Mitzie, Babs, Kay, Polly Jr., Tina, Barbie, Midge and Gina." I don't remember Kay, Polly Jr., Tina, or Gina dolls. It doesn't mention Tressie. (I had a Tressie, and I remember that some of Barbie's clothes were too tight for her. Maybe that is why she isn't listed.)


<----TRESSIE

If you find a vintage fashion doll clothing pattern and want to use it for making clothes for the newer fashion dolls, you'll probably have to do some altering. The newer dolls just aren't built the same as the older ones.

Please let me know if you are or aren't interested in vintage patterns. If you aren't, I won't waste your or my time. :)

Well Used Pattern

(Updated 3:30 4/29/2009 - I cancelled my photobucket account, because photobucket kept locking up the computer.)
I recently had to empty my "sewing room" to make way for other things. In the process, I found this pattern - Simplicity 8409 - copyrighted 1969. It cost 85 cents, and was purchased (probably in 1969) at Hudson's Department Store either in downtown* Detroit or at Eastland** (Shopping) Center in Eastpointe?, MI.

*If I remember correctly, Hudson's Downtown was the second largest department store in the US. Macy's in New York City was the largest. ** Eastland was fairly new and again, if I remember correctly, at that time the largest shopping mall in the US and one of the largest in the world. These places were absolutely fantastic. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about the sizes.)

I cannot tell you how many skirts and culottes were made from this pattern. Most of my high school wardrobe revolved around these pieces. (I didn't make the pants or jacket because they weren't "cool" enough.)

Specifically, I remember making a skirt in winter white wide wale (how was that for an alliteration!) corduroy that I wore with a dark brown fringed sash (like a belt). (Unfortunately, I don't remember what type of top I wore with it.) I made the culottes in coppery brown wide wale corduroy that was worn with a knit top made with (the same) brown, turquoise, and beige striped fabric. Two other pairs of culottes were made in dark green Kettle cloth and a summery yellow fabric. I know I made other skirts and culottes from this pattern, but am coming up blank about details right now.

The skirt took only a yard of 45" wide fabric, and the culottes took 1-1/4 yard of 45" wide fabric. Because I was (am) so short I really didn't need to buy that much. These were very simple, quick, and inexpensive to make - the fabric, a zipper, and some thread was all that was needed.

Sadly, the culotte and skirt pattern pieces are now missing. As I sort through things, I hope they magically reappear.

Clothing Dilemma - Help Needed Please

I'm looking for classic style clothing suitable for a woman in her seventies - in petite sizes 0 to 4. Does anyone know of a source? (I just went through the new Coldwater Creek catalog. The smallest they carry is a 6 which is too large.)

I have looked. My mom has looked. All the clothing that we have found in those sizes are made for young people. I can't even find suitable new sewing patterns that come that small. (I know how to alter up, but making smaller ???)

At this point the only option I've come up with is making (or having made) clothes using vintage children's clothing patterns.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Intro

You may or may not know (and probably don't care - lol) that I have been sewing on and off for over 45 years. I may have been 5 or 6 (or even younger) the first time one of my grandmothers handed me a piece of fabric and a threaded needle.

Both grandmas tried to teach me hand stitchery - garment stitches, embroidery, crewel, knitting, and crocheting. I wasn't much interested (make that bored to tears). Then, when I was about 8 years old, Mom made me start 4-H. I loved 4-H. With it came sewing lessons and a whole new world opened up - using the sewing machine!

I made night gowns, pj's, bathrobes, dresses, blouses, pants, skirts, jackets (not "officially" tailored ones) not just for myself but also for my mom. Later, I also made shirts for the men and almost all of my maternal grandmother's clothes.

I wound up being a home economics major because of a 4-H scholarship. I was able to take classes to learn about textiles; flattering fabrics, styles, and colors; clothing construction (yes, I did learn new techniques!); fitting; and pattern and clothing alteration. (Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish college so never got to take pattern making.)

Then, as with a lot of things, I started to let sewing go by the wayside. Could this possibly have been because I had a husband and toddler and was working outside the home? Was it because my husband didn't like the mess sewing caused? Was it because I was constantly having to set up, take down, and move everything? Had I just gotten tired of sewing? Then, I had another baby who turned into a very demanding toddler/young child. And, I sometimes still worked full-time outside the home. Somehow, I'd still manage to occasionally make something or even sew in spurts and make several things.

A few years went by. I had hardly made anything, and when I did, I wasn't satified with the results. Frustration gave me a new reason not to sew. Then, oops, suddenly my daughter is a young singer. She needs concert black clothing. Where do you find concert black clothing? In Idaho, where do you find concert black clothing? Where do you find petite-sized concert black clothing? Out came the sewing machine.

Guess what? For the most part, it is incredibly less expensive to buy fabric and sew formal gowns than it is buy them ready made. Depending on your area, you can even hire someone to make a gown cheaper than purchasing a ready-made one.

When I'm in "town", I check to see if fabric, thread, zippers, and patterns are on sale. I always try to keep 3 or 4 lengths of various black and other dressy fabrics on hand. It saves a rush trip to the city for supplies. Once we had a limited time to come up with a black dress and our only fabric store was out of all "dressy" black fabric! I remember panicking, but I can't remember what we wound up doing.

Hopefully, my daughter is now full grown and won't change in size for a while. With her black pant's outfit, a black gown or two, and maybe a couple of long black skirts, she'll be set.

Answers for Penelope

I have been trying to upload two more pictures and am just not able to get them to work. I'll do those later when I have some help.

Treadle sewing machines were used before people had electricity and are still used where people don't have or don't use electricity. The person sewing used his or her feet to "pump" the treadle. This turned the wheel that made the needle go up and down - much faster and often with neater and stronger stitches than sewing by hand. (My sister-in-law still uses an antique treadle machine just because she enjoys using it. She made her daughters' clothes and even some bridesmaid dresses on it.) Treadle machines are "work horses" and need little maintenance.

Sewing machines now (for the past eighty-plus? years) use electricity to run the machine. (There are battery operated ones, but I don't know anything about how much power they have or how good they are.) Most machines use a foot pedal that is attached to an electical cord to the wall and to the sewing machine. A foot pedal takes very little effort to use. Pressure on the foot pedal is what starts the sewing machine and controls the speed. (Some machines that are permantently mounted in sewing cabinets use knee pressure against a lever instead of a foot pedal, but the result is the same.) A basic sewing machine has a motor that turns a wheel that turns gears that makes the needle go up and down.

There are computerized sewing machines with memory. I have an older one that I inherited from an aunt. Frankly, I don't like it. It memorizes what I'm doing and then I have to argue with it when I change what I'm doing. Maybe it is just that particular machine and/or the newer ones are better. But, for the everyday mending and sewing I do (jackets, knit tops, pants, skirts, even evening and concert gowns), I prefer my plain old sewing machine. Personally, until you know you are going to do embroidery and/or add lots of fancy stitching, I'd wouldn't purchase a computerized machine.

Remember: The fancier the machine, the harder it will be to learn to use, the more maintenance it will require; the harder it will be to find someone to fix it; the longer it will be out of commission; and the more it will cost to fix it.

I haven't checked out Consumer Guide or even thought or talked to anyone about buying a machine for the last 15 years, so I don't know what brand is considered best now. I'm old fashioned and think that machines with metal gears are better than ones with plastic. This might not be a true statement anymore.

The machine I use the most is a Pfaff which is about 15 years old. It was the next to the cheapest model, and I have not had any trouble with it (knock on wood). It has a straight stitch (of course), adjustable zigzag, a hemming stitch, makes buttonholes, and has some stretch stitches - some of which I've never used. My favorite machine? A 1972 mid-range model Kenmore from Sears. Unfortunately, it got dropped in one of our moves and never worked right afterwards.

I recommend buying lower-mid-range down to the next-to-the-lowest model. You can upgrade later. I personally would even consider purchasing a used sewing machine as long as I knew that the tension would hold and that the gears weren't stripped.

This is a lot of information, but I hope it helps. Please check Consumer Guide for the top rated sewing machines.

"Sew", why do we have to do titles?

Trying to figure out a title is the biggest stumbling block. I can write for hours, but don't ask me to title the work!

As you can see from the heading, I love fabric. I confess; I buy (or want to buy) fabric just because I like it. There doesn't have to be a need or a use for it. I love the colors and the patterns. I seldom get pieces that go together, because often I don't care for the coordinating pieces or see a need for them (at the time). Or, if I do buy the coordinating piece(s), I can't seem to figure out what to do with them. Or, I'll see a piece that I just have to have, and then I never find anything that does match it.

Suddenly, I'm seeing several crazy quilts in my future...

Do you ever buy fabric, then get it home and wonder why? You can't take it back (at least not at our fabric store).

My biggest problem is buying fabric for a certain project, then getting it home and not liking it. Or, I get the fabric home and decide I'd rather use it for something else. But, wait! There isn't enough. Since the nearest store that carries clothing fabric is 1-1/2 hour away, I can't just jump in the car and get more. And, which bolt did it come off of? Where is the sales slip???

Years ago (like 35 to 40) my mom and I bought fabric in a place in Michigan that gave out a slip that listed the fabric content and care method for each piece purchased. That was so nice. And, that was before computers! It would be so easy to do now with the bar code scanner and printer that prints out the list for the clerk at the register!