Wrap Shirt on the New Home 656A

The New Home 656A came to me in a suitcase.  I'm sure it was not the original packaging but the machine, foot controller, and the instruction manual really do nestle in there well. There is no jostling when you're carrying things around.  I had cleaned and lubricated this machine a few weeks ago, now it was time to see how well it sewed.

It has a handle on the top that folds up for easy carrying outside the suitcase.

To pick a sewing project for this machine I wandered around Joann's on Friday after work. I had a gift card to use so I was inspired to buy both a pattern and some fabric. I found the fabric first.  It was a soft knit that had a great geometric print. I picked up the bolt and carried it around as I looked for suitable shirt pattern.

A McCall's envelope caught my eye in the sale drawer. Wait a minute, that looked like the fabric I was holding in my arms. It was. That sealed the deal, now I could be sure that I would exactly like the model on the pattern envelope.

She's basically my twin, right?

 After cutting out the pattern pieces, I set up the New Home at the dining room table. There was some fussing with the bobbin winder. When I first tried it, the thread would only wind on the bottom half of the bobbin. I adjusted the height of the thread guide and then the winder loaded evenly.  This machine had consistent straight and zig-zag stitches and it switched between stitch types and lengths smoothly. The only drawback to this machine, for me, was the the noise level.  On Saturday morning I was up early to finish the project and I was hesitant to start sewing before T got up.  It's not obnoxiously loud, but it could wake someone sleeping down the hall.

The light switch is hidden behind the swing out face plate.  

 The shirt went together quickly.  The New Home handled the knit fabric easily.  When adding the collar and sleeves I took off the plastic extension table and did some free-arm sewing. The only time I had to rip a seam and resew was when I realized I had sewed the shoulder seam closed without putting in the front wrap piece.

Neckline has been stay-stitched

 Before I finished the sleeves, I tried on the shirt to see how it fit.  As it turned out, the front pieces did not overlap on me quite as much as they did on the model.  Probably should have gone with a larger size and lengthened the torso.  While you cannot see the waistband of the model's jeans on the pattern, my belly button was nicely framed by the shirt and my jeans waistband.  Not really the look I was going for.  Clearly, I'd have to wear a tank top under this shirt.  That's ok, the fabric was so very soft and I liked how the shoulders fit so I decided to finish the project. The sleeves went on quickly and their finished length was pretty good.
Beautiful fall day here so I decided to do finished project photos at the lake.  My skills with the timer, camera angle, and shadows are still a work in progress, but the background in these shots is beautiful.

Not quite the same as the model on the pattern envelope.  

Is that person in the background modeling too?

Still could be a little longer, but it does hug nicely

A larger size would make it a little less tight across the chest

That collar looks pretty good

 With a few adjustments to this pattern, I'd be happy to sew it up again.  The New Home 656A sewing machine is ready to go though, no changes needed.

Ms. Universal

This machine came from a garage sale last weekend.  In between rain showers I made it to three sales. At one house, I approached a man sitting in his lawn chair patiently waiting for customers determined enough to come out in the rain. I asked if there were any ‘sewing things’ available.  He pointed to a case under the table and said ‘there’s a sewing machine in there.’  I opened it up and found a delightful teal colored Universal machine.  He said that both of his daughters sewed, but they were grown and out of the house and there was no one left to use the machine now.  A hand-written note on the carrying case said ‘new belt needed’.  There was no user manual included, but it did have the original carrying case. We talked for a bit longer and then I walked back to the car with my new Universal friend.  

A woman never reveals her age, but maybe I can find some clues online

As soon as I got the machine home, we had a quick photo shoot on the kitchen floor.  Ms. Universal (yeah, this lady is going to be pageant-worthy soon) had a noticeable layer of grime on her and plenty of lint under the needle plate, but she also had a fair amount of chrome that will polish up nicely. The hand wheel turned freely, but I didn't plug in the machine to see if it worked. I’ll see to cleaning her up and replacing the crumbling belt first.  

She looks good coming and going

Additions to My Sewing Library

Last night, on the way home from work, I picked up a serger that I had found on Craigslist.  More on that in a later post.  Along with the serger though, the seller was cleaning out her library of sewing books.  She asked if I like to go through her 'donation' boxes to see if there was anything I found interesting.  Well, of course I'd like to take a look.  Thank you for offering!

Given that I didn't want to take up too much of her time while she waited for me to peruse the selection,  I quickly scooped up several books with either titles or covers that appealed to me.  (Yes, I judged books by their covers.)  A few even earned a cursory glance at the illustrations.  Eight books came home with me.  Some may prove to be more helpful than others, but I was pretty happy with the whole bundle.

Here are the books that followed me home.  Maybe you recognize a title or two?  Any recommendations for ones that are particularly good, or not?

This one will help me consider moving outside my comfort zone when looking at clothes.

Something to aspire to in my sewing.

The more pictures, the more likely I am to use it as a reference.

The serger I bought didn't come with a manual, so this seemed like a good idea

BHG put out a good cookbook, let's see what they've got on sewing

I'm still a ways away from applying fine tailoring skills, but it doesn't hurt to start reading about them.

I would like to have a sewing machine with the custom paint job featured on this cover.

There's only a little water damage in the bottom corner.

Now, which one should I start reading first?

70's Fall Dress

Dress for fall

I was looking to make a dress that I could wear with or without leggings as we head into cooler weather.   I had a muslin that I had adapted from the long-sleeve button up shirt pattern that I recently used for my pink shirt. The fabric for this dress came from the Salvation Army.  It has some of the brightest color I have seen in awhile--would it glow in the dark?    

Are they helping or impeding progress?

The fabric is pretty soft, I have no idea what the content is.  It was easy to cut and I didn't worry about matching the pattern.  Did I mention that the colors are insanely bright?  I took out the button-up front and added a seam in the back along with a zipper.  The sleeves got shortened and lost their cuffs. I also changed the neckline from a folded collar to just a round neck.  Finally, I added 2 inches to the overall length.

The finished dress had a very 70's vibe to it.  I paired it with boots for its first outing.  It was still warm in October when I wore this to work, but I will probably need to get some tights before I wear it again.

Look, the plants and I have matching bright fall foliage.

Exposed zipper in the back

The hem and sleeves were finished by hand.  The zipper is from a $5.00 bag of zippers I picked up at the thrift store awhile ago.  I can't imagine how I how I would ever use all the different types of zippers that are in that bag, but here's one project that benefitted from such a stash.  

I used my Pfaff 230 again for this dress.  It was already set up and ready to go from the last project. Next weekend I'll try out a different machine though---everybody wants a turn to sew for a bit. 

A Shirt With My Pfaff 230

This shirt took me two weekends to complete.  I started it in September though, so can I still count it as a National Sewing Month project?  The fabric was a remnant from the Salvation Army. Pinks and brown are not usually colors I gravitate to and T says it looks like pajama fabric, but I liked the floral pattern on this one and there was enough fabric to make more than a scarf.  It may have started out promising, but I soon found the fabric difficult to work with due to the many times it snagged, frayed, and unraveled.  There are several places on the finished shirt that are darned and patched.  It is not a durable shirt and may only make it through 2 or 3 wearings, but I did get to practice a lot of skills putting this garment together and I think it was worthwhile in the end.
The pattern is one that I have sewn before.  Last time it was a heavier fabric and the sleeves were full length.  Here I went with the 3/4 length sleeves so it could be a fall/spring weather shirt.  I wish they were a bit looser so I could roll them up a bit.

Finished shirt 

Sleeves should be longer, maybe it does look like pajamas

 The shirt is sheer and needs a camisole underneath it.  A light pink one would probably look better, but I only have white.

Fall garden in the background

 The hem, sleeves, and side slits are finished by hand.  The pink thread came from one old spool that matched surprisingly well.  I ran out of thread on the spool and had to work with what was left on the bobbin to do these seams and put on the snaps.  My efforts to minimize wasted thread were not helped by the fact that I put 2 pairs of snaps on backwards twice each and had to redo them.  The original pattern had buttons, but I was trying to use items I already had and I didn't have any that were right for this project.  I was also worried about the fabric fraying even more under the stress of buttons.  I went with snaps instead.

Back fits well, should have taken the loose thread off before photos though

Sheer enough to see tank top underneath

Front has snaps instead of buttons

My Pfaff 230 did all the machine sewing on this project.  It did a great straight, zig-zag, and reverse stitch.  This machine came from the Salvation Army and after a good cleaning and oiling has been a delight to sew with any time I use it.  The patina on this machine is worn and the color is a bit drab, but I think it looks heavy-duty and so far it has tackled any project I have thrown at it.  I hope we have many more projects to work on together.

She's a workhorse

Good lighting, I need all the help I can get in the dark dining room

The table folds out in two directions for plenty of workspace

Sewing Month Project #2

We are over half way through National Sewing Month.  Here's one sewing project I have been working on in the last couple weeks and a good reminder that not every refashion goes as planned. You think you're going to make one thing and the sewing gods have other plans. This skirt started out as a very large shirt that I bought at the Goodwill last summer.

I took the sleeve cuffs and collar off and then ripped the sleeve and side seams.  I planned to make a dress using the same pattern as I had used for an earlier blue and white polka-dot dress.  I decided not to line the dress and that left me just enough fabric to cut out all the pieces. 

Here are the pieces I had to work with after disassembling the shirt.

A sleeve becomes bodice pieces

I did not follow the grainline when laying out the pieces.  I was just trying to fit them onto the fabric. When I got them all cut out, I spent about 2 hours trying to put the bodice together.  When I finally tried it on, the armholes were too small, there was not enough fabric to put a zipper in the back, and there was puckering in the yoke.  I didn't have any extra fabric to make changes or start over,  so I scrapped the top and just sewed the bottom into a skirt.  I had worked the original shirt front buttons into the front of the skirt, but I needed to add bias tape for the waist and then a fastener for the waist. It's not what I set out to make, but it was a good learning project.  How are your sewing projects coming along?

Finished skirt

Vintage Machine, Garage Sale Notions, New Dress

In honor of National Sewing Month, I completed a vintage and thrift themed sewing project.  I pulled together a $.99 pattern from Goodwill, $1 polka-dot fabric from a garage sale, and a free zipper found in an old sewing cabinet to create a new dress. I did all the machine sewing on my Pfaff 131 that I inherited from a neighbor.  I've had this machine for 8 years now, and it has worked on projects ranging from quilts to chair cushions and baby bibs to adult size clothes.  The Pfaff came in its own cabinet and sits near the patio doors in my dining room.  I have plenty of space to work and an inspiring view when I look up from my project.

This machine had only one owner prior to moving in with me.

I changed the covering on the seat and now it invites me to sew every time I walk past.

The pattern I chose was Burda 7951 style B with no sleeves.  I laid out the pattern pieces on my fabric and pinned them down.  It's a good thing I paused to take a pic because it allowed me to see that I had pinned patterns to the wrong side of the fabric.  A few minutes were spent repinning correctly.

Patterns pinned correctly

After cutting the pieces out, the dress went together quickly.  I opted not to put a lining in the dress and I did not put piping on the neckline or yoke.  I basted the zipper in and then machine sewed it. The zipper was large and is very prominent on the back of the finished dress.

Sewing over the hand basting

I'm a huge fan of polka-dots, so the finished dress delights me.  It fits well and and l like how it flows when I walk.  I paired it with wedges and some white jewelry.  Chalk this dress up as another success for my Pfaff 131. Better start looking for the next sewing project we can do together.

What have you been sewing this month?

A little squinting in the sun

Challenging to photograph polka-dots in the shade

Close-up on zipper

Senior picture

Necchi Vs. Necchi

Two machines, both alike in dignity, on a fair table where we lay our scene...

Last week a customer dropped off her Necchi Lelia 513 for a tuneup.  The machine looked great and I was thinking it would just need cleaning and oiling.  It turns out the zig-zag stitch selector was frozen up.  After an overnight soaking in Tri-Flow, the machine loosened up was able to stitch the range of zig-zag widths and stitch lengths.
Since the customer was out of town for the week and had left her machine with me, I took the opportunity to get my own Necchi Lelia 513 out for a side-by-side comparison.  The customer's machine has had a single owner in its lifetime and still has it's original papers and accessories.  My machine came from Goodwill and has some accessories.  I knew that the machines were in different cases (customers was a Necchi case, mine a generic plastic model)  and had different foot controllers, but I was expecting them to be almost identical other than that.  Nope, there were quite a few other differences.  Here is a front view of each machine. How many difference do you notice?

My machine--referred to as #1

Customer's Machine--referred to as #2

From the front I noticed the following:

• Bobbin-winder-- #1 on top of machine, #2 on front next to hand wheel
• Stitch length selector and upper tension knobs
• Automatic buttonholer selector knob-- #1 top front, #2 missing
• Thread guides-- both for upper thread to needle and to bobbin-winder
• On/Off switch and Lo/Hi switch for the speed of the motor: #1 not available, #2 on the bed to the far right

Then I looked at the machines from the top.  One machine is threaded, the other is not.  This shot gives a better view of the bobbin-winder on machine #1 and the differences in the thread guides. n You can also see a difference in width of the hand wheels.

Machine #1

Machine #2

The third view is from the end.  See the on/off and lo/hi switches on machine #2?  And machine #2 has a pink motor and motor support, it blends in nicely with the machine.

Machine #1

Machine #2

From the back the different color motors is eye-catching.  Also noticeable is the light switch at the top right on machine #1 and the plastic vs. metal presser foot lever.

Machine#1

Machine #2

A few close-up pictures revealed details in tension knobs, thread guides, bobbin-winders, and bobbin race covers.

Machine #1

Machine #2

Machine #1, Bobbin-winder

Machine #2, Bobbin-winder 

Machine #1, Plastic bobbin race cover

Machine #2, Metal bobbin race cover

Lastly, a look at the foot controllers.  

Machine #1

Machine #2, Original petal

Both machines are Necchi Lelia 513's made in Italy.  Their pink/cream paint and Necchi decals are in great shape and they sew beautifully.  The customer's machine was originally purchased in March of 1967.  My machine did not come with any original purchase information.  Lelia 513 was produced from 1961-?, so our machines could be a few years apart.
I had a great time playing the 'same or different' game with these two machines.  I definitely won't be able to do that with every machine that comes my way, so this was a treat.  

For never was a story of more fun

Than this of Lelia and the other one