Later this afternoon, I’m hoping I have time to draft a pattern for a maxi skirt or pair of pants.

I already have the fabric set aside for the outfit. The only things left is to set aside the time to actually get that accomplished. Of course, that means pulling out the drafting paper, getting my rulers used for drafting, pencils and laying everything out on the large table. I already have the top that will compliment the pants or skirt. It’s that ruffled shirt that’s still waiting in the shadows for inspiration.

You know what would be awesome? Having time to actually start sewing the garment today. This new article of clothing will be a mix of machine and hand-sewn stitches.

Many of my sewing accessories are vintage. I use them because of their quality. I often wonder about the history of the items I own. Who used them before? How often did they use them and what was their life like?

Recently, I finally got around to purchasing an “new to me” iron. I like an iron that is heavy. I also favor metal instead of plastic. At times, it seems you have to search long to find an iron with that trait. Take for example the one I have. It’s mainly plastic, and I’ve had it for a few years, but at times it can be unpredictable. Sputtering and spitting steam all over the place when it doesn’t want to cooperate. When it does, it smooths out the wrinkles, but without the added weight that I adore.

Often, I found myself drifting back to the old Proctor Silex steam iron that I used when I was a child. It was my fathers iron before he married mom. He let me have it since I loved it so much and so that iron followed me from elementary school well into my twenties. I only discarded it because one time I forgot to remove the water and when I turned it on, a few weeks later it sprayed out rusty brown water.  I held onto it for quite some time, hoping it would recover, but it never did and so sadly I tossed it aside.

I’ve decided, finally, that it’s high time that I replace my modern iron with an antique heavy iron.

 

I immediately went to Ebay, found a reputable seller and purchased this iron.

 

Almost a week later, I went back to Ebay and placed a bid on the above sadiron. It weighs 20 pounds and was made in the 1800s. Yesterday, I was thrilled when I received the notification that I’d won!  I should be receiving both later this week. With the sadiron, I’ll be using a new technique (to me) on some of my garment construction. Immediately after using a my dry press iron, I’ll follow with the sadiron.

I first heard about sadirons when I read Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Little House on the Prairie. I was seven and had been handsewing for one year.

“Then Ma took the sadiron out of the wagon and heated it up by the fire. She sprinkled a dress for Mary and a dress for Laura and a little dress for Baby Carrie, and her own sprigged calico. She spread a blanket and a sheet on the wagon seat, and she ironed the dresses.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie

 

In the above video, Rory Duffy (bespoke tailor) talks about this technique shortly after the one minute mark. I’ve watched his The Making of a Coat video several times and I always seem to glean additional information. Take for example, using a paintbrush to apply water to the cloth. I’d been using a spray bottle. I’ll definitely try the paint brush on some of the garments I’m making and see how it compares to what I’m already doing.

 

Resource:

Vintage Electric Irons

 

I’ve finally decided to create a site dedicated to my love of threads.

To be perfectly honest, creating such a site is something I’ve been fighting for a few years, but recently my eclectic site has been getting inundated with a slew of handcrafted goodness. I’ve been blogging since 2003, and have had websites since 1998. I’ve been around for a while. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with writing about my love of many things thread related on my eclectic site, but I realized that not everyone that stops by that site wants to see the endless parade of thread related topics and so… here I am!

Threadlover.com wasn’t my first choice. The first domain, justthreads.com was taken. Ditto for threadaholic.com and so I settled on Threadlover. Initially, I wasn’t too thrilled with the name. But in time, I started to like how it sounded. Thread Lover, Threadlover... ok, the name is growing on me. It seems to fit.

Whether it strands of thread, fiber, cloth or yarn… threads are my base and different mediums are used to create my handcrafted items; knitting, embroidery, sewing and weaving are my favorites; however, I also crochet and create loom woven and off the  loom woven beaded jewelry.

 

My favorite portable project is knitting and so you’ll see me  knitting constantly, regardless of the season. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of machine embroidery but I’m itching to get back into sewing clothing again.

My most recent sewing project is the above ruffled shirt. I’ve taken in the shoulders since this photo. Guess what?  It’s  been gathering dust for weeks since I think it’s missing something. This started out as a plain shirt, no ruffles. A simple project that would take me a day to complete, a few days tops. However, shortly after I started sewing I thought it needed something. That “something” turned out to be a ruffle. I added that. But then, I didn’t like the size of the ruffle and so I removed the ruffle, cut it down and reattached it to the neckline. The above photos was taken before I shortened the ruffle. And now, I think it need something more. Perhaps the ‘something more, will be a machine embroidered design or possibly some hand sewn bead work? We’ll see…

This weekend, and for the next week or so, I’m going to work on hand sewing buttonhole techniques. I have several machines; six if you really want to know, but I truly love the fine art of hand sewing.

Check out the above video and be in awe of a hand sewn buttonhole.  Well… perhaps you aren’t as awestruck with it as I am? I love making hand sewing buttonholes, but have not made any in a while. It’s time that I change that, don’t you think? Later today, I’m working on a small buttonhole project. I’ll be sure to post what I create here on Threadlover.