Robot!

I saw a great idea on this blog and it's been kicking around in my head for quite some time.  You could turn your child's drawing into a stuffed animal!  Since my son loves to fill up pages and pages of paper with robot drawings, I asked him to draw me a robot to sew for him.

He drew a pretty complicated robot, but I gave it my best shot.

He adores it.  I still have to sew blue stripes on the legs, but then it'll be all done.  The proportions are off, but not bad for my first shot.

My son was glued to my side through the entire process.  I think it really sparked his interest to see his idea turn into something real.  He was full of questions about sewing and my sewing machine, my trusty Singer 27.  I love to model a maker mentality for him...I hope to encourage him to be creative.  I sew and my husband builds electronics and plays music.  I hope my kids pick something up that gives them a creative outlet. 

In the meantime he has a cool new robot to cuddle up with.

Buttonholer!

Today we got together with my parents for Easter, and my mom had more things from my grandparents' estate.  Mostly she just picked out stuff that was nice for me, my brother, and my sister to divide up.  But this was especially for me.

My grandma's Singer buttonholer.

The machine she was using most recently was a Kenmore, but the machine before that was a Singer.  Apparently this was the buttonholer for that machine.  I found a video on YouTube that featured, I think, this buttonholer hooked up to a Singer 27, but I can't find it now.  I'm sure the good people on the Treadle On mailing list will be able to help me figure out how to use it. 

I'm pretty excited.  After the kids go to bed I'll try to figure it out. 

Next weekend my grandparents' house will be opened up one last time to let their kids and grandkids take what's left.  I'm going to go and take any of Grandma's sewing stuff that's still there.  I'm sad to do it, but I'd rather go and have it end up with me instead of just ending up on the curb.

Estate sale

I mentioned once before that my grandparents both passed away in 2012.  Today was their estate sale.  I went - I don't know why.  My mom called me later after the sale was over and asked if I wanted anything, so I totally could have saved myself an hour of driving and six dollars.  But I'm happy with what I got.

This was a little tin filled with random sewing stuff.  My mom kept her sewing stuff in a cookie tin, so it made me smile to think it might be hereditary. 

Inside was mostly bobbins and random stuff.  A lot of tape measures and screwdrivers.  There were also some seam rippers, which is good, because I can always use those!

A thimble.  Do I even have that on the right finger?

I also found a bunch of teeny-tiny crochet hooks.  My mom told me they were used for tatting, which is neat because I was thinking I wanted to learn tatting.

She had a lot of them.  She sewed a lot of clothes for her kids (they had eight, so you had to do something to save money!) so maybe she made lace for the girls' dresses.

Honestly Grandma, you could have popped for a new pencil.  You deserved it.

I liked this.  It's a little tape measure.  It says Standard Die Press on it.  My grandpa was a tool and dye maker, and I imagine he got this from a business associate or something, and it wound up in Grandma's sewing supplies.

My parents are also bringing me Grandma's Singer button-holer.  I had originally driven down there to consider buying Grandma's sewing machine.  It's a cool old Kenmore, but I didn't buy it because I wanted it to go intact to somebody who would use it a lot.  I'd use it, but really not that much.  However, I told my mom that if nobody takes it, I would, because I'd rather it stay with me than end up on the curb.  So she said that after everyone in the family went through one more time, if it was still left she'd get it for me.  That sounds like a good deal to me.  I just want it to go somewhere where it'll be used.

Grandma's clock

My maternal Grandma passed away last July.  My Grandpa passed away in October...I think he just couldn't bear to be without her and his body just gave out.  Now my mom and her siblings are going through their house, cleaning it out and preparing it and its contents for sale.

My grandparents were amazing people.  My aunt (on the other side of my family - my dad's sister) summarized them best.  She said they were just good people...when they saw a need, they filled it.  And they did it quietly, without seeking recognition.  They were devout Catholics and served their parish and the people around them every chance they had.  They were amazing.

As my mom's siblings talk about what they want from the estate, I asked my mom to get me something from the house.  I wanted something that Grandma or Grandpa used regularly - a roasting pan, a desk set, something like that.  Or, more preferably, I wanted something they made.  Grandpa was an enthusiastic amateur photographer and Grandma was very crafty. She sewed clothes - even her own winter coat once.  She upholstered their living room furniture.  She did needlepoint and embroidery.  I wish I had asked her about these things more when she was alive...I guess all I can do is learn my lesson and try to learn as much as I can from my equally crafty mom.

As she was cleaning out the house my mom  found two clocks that Grandma had made.  The faces of the clocks were needlepoint, and they had been mounted into wooden boxes and clock mechanisms were installed.  They clocks had identical faces...the boxes were a little different, but for the most part, they are twin clocks.  We have no idea why Grandma made two of the same clock...was one meant to be a gift for someone else?  Did she just really love the pattern and made two for different rooms in her house?  Who can tell.

Here's the clock.

It's obviously nothing I would choose to make, but even if it's not your choice of project, it's easy to admire the workmanship that went into it.

I hate cross-stitch...it's so slow and time-consuming.  Grandma made a lot of cross-stitches to complete this huge project.  She didn't even use cross-stitch fabric...it's just linen.  Still, her little x's are remarkably consistent in size.

The blue part of the clock face is a big blue piece of fabric.  She turned it under and sewed it down with the tiniest stitches.

I can't even imagine how long it took to outline and fill these numerals. 

The work that went into this clock is amazing.  And she made TWO of them! 

I'm so happy to have this because it's the type of thing that would never sell at an estate sale, at least not for more than a few bucks.  The idea of all of this work sitting on a table labeled "$5" or, even worse, getting sent to a landfill, makes me so sad.  I'm so glad I can keep it.

Why I've been sick...

I've mentioned a couple of times that I've been sick and haven't wanted to sew.  Well, there's a reason.

As of today I'm 13 weeks pregnant.

I've been so hesitant to share the news since I had a miscarriage, but I recently had an OB appointment and they found a good heartbeat via Doppler.  They also found a heartbeat at 8 weeks via ultrasound, so it's good to have a second confirmation that there's a healthy little person in there!

I'm very excited and trying to have faith that it'll work out this time.  Prayers and well wishes are appreciated.

I have to go find some sort of a wheeled cart to carry my hand crank sewing machine to sewing days.  Pretty soon 35 lbs of cast iron will be too much to carry!

Domestic bliss

My daughter colors while I sew.

Happy birthday!

Today there's no work in progress...just wishing happy birthday to my little girl

(This was taken at my parents' house.  That yellow stuff is supposed to be grass.  It's DRY.)

Happy birthday, my little two-year-old.  It's hard to believe you're this big already!