Zippity-Doo-Dah

This week is all about zippers. Some of it is work and some of it is just play.

First the work of shortening a metal zipper.  These things look cool but are a potential disaster for your sewing machine needles.  I buy my zippers before I even know what I am going to use them for so I have quite a messy lot of them.  One time I bought a bag of 50 random zippers for $7.00.

I tend to buy longer ones so they can be used in more applications so many of them get amputated.  The nylon coils are no big whoop. Just don't use your best fabric scissors.

BUT, the metal are a  b@$%& !

I searched online for the best way to do this and came away even more frustrated. I found THIS.

It seemed reasonable, but when I tried to "twist" the tiny little teeth loose with my needle nose pliers absolutely NOTHING resulted.  Now I'm not saying this isn't possible. Its just not possible for ME.

So here is my lame solution which I do not consider a tutorial, Im just saying'.

Using non-fabric scissors,  carefully cut between the teeth to shorten up the zipper and then trim off the teeth

Then I stitched across the fabric tabs to keep them in line

Next I made a tab over the end as I usually do.

And repeated at the other end

 AND THEN, I discovered the problem with this method.  Because the tab didn't completely cover the end of the teeth, the tab could come off the teeth!!!  So, I hand stitched my own version of a stop by sewing this :  Yes, it looks messy. But is basically hidden later.  JUST SEW VERY SLOWLY when you get to the teeth and you can maneuver through them.

However, I did manage to get both tabs on the end and got the zipper to work in the little bag I was making.

         Now for play time

My 3 1/2 year old grand daughter in the sewing/computer/play room

 I told you I have lots of zippers and more are on the way from my favorite supplier ZIPIT on Etsy.
 That open drawer contains a tangle of zippers and Mom's old button box. I gave up on keeping them in some sort of order.

Just throw them out on the floor and hunt for the color.

 She measured them.

 She tested them.

And then we played THIMBLEFINGERS!


I have a bag of not-collection-worthy thimbles in a zip-lock bag which she was allowed to unzip and sort, stack and wear. (I have over 400 in my collection - see previous post HERE. )

Seven-year-old grandson is occupying that black
desk chair in the background damaging his eyesight playing computer games.

I'm thinking she should be my LOGO. 

Do the kids you know find your sewing supplies fun?  What are their favorites?  Hopefully not your rotary cutter!

Love to hear from you but I do moderate my comments before they appear.

Florida Fabric Finds

I'm back from a wonderful winter break. We took a month long drive to Florida and back so blogging and my Etsy shop have been idle. If you are at at interested you can see the whole trip on my travel blog HERE.

If only fabrics and sewing are your cup of tea stay right here to see the stuff I found during the month away from snowbound Ohio.

                                                                    The first find was in an antique/home decor shop in Beaufort, South Carolina.

I bought two tablecloths in Beaufort. One is a linen-like fabric and the other is a typical tablecloth pattern in an untypical color. I often use sheets and tablecloths for fabric. The linen will make really nice pillows and perhaps a bag of some sort. I hope my TAP paper transfers work on it.

 The polka dot and print were found in a shop in Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island, FL. 

Great stuff at $3 a yard.

The shop had a bird but he's hard to see in the photo.

The next find is not fabric but a huge amount of grosgrain ribbon. We were at a fancy shopping mall in Orlando and the Saks Fifth Ave. was closing. Never shop in such stores ordinarily but this looked like something I could handle. They were down to the fixtures and this ribbon and red elastic ropey stuff.
I got it all for $15 and the wide black ribbon is pretty much a complete roll. I was told they used it in the alterations department.

On the trip home we stopped in Asheville, North Carolina to tour the famous Biltmore Estate. Asheville has lots of antique stores and an 82 year old "fine fabric" store that is GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!
Had to get to that, but found most had been picked over for about 3 weeks. I won't name it since not much here and the women working there were VERY reluctant to wait on me. I guess they were too busy going out of business. I did pick these up at 33% off which wasn't that good a deal.

I love the optical illusion on this. 

 Not so sure about this one.

Bought interesting big buttons to use as bag closures

 and the ribbon and jumbo rick-rack below.

One of the many antique places we walked through specialized in mid century modern and had bolt end for $15 each. I picked up two

.

 I like both sides of this one

I think this would make great pillows.

A few new thimbles were also picked up along the way for the collection. I really have to get a count on those things.

Do you ever find fabrics in unexpected places?

Getting Older - Thimbles and People

The view I miss so much. Taken at Memorial Park at the nothern end of State Rt. 83. If you have ever lived here you know exactly where it is.

 I was back again in Avon Lake, Ohio this weekend (see previous  post about the artsy/crafty thing) but for an entirely different purpose. It was the 50th year since graduating from high school and again our friends all gathered to rekindle old friendships and reminisce. I know many people say they hate reunions or would NEVER go to one, but I must say that the class of 1963 has been great every time it has met and we have done it every five years. Well, the credit goes to the classmates who still live in town and work very hard to put it on and the rest of us just enjoy ourselves and thank them profusely so they will do it again! Word going around was that they wouldn't do it again until the 75th!! See my Facebook page if you want more about the reunion. Friend me if you were a graduate of ALHS.

And now to some more old stuff. I recently acquired more additions to my thimble collection and I think these are very special.

 

 It is  more about the containers than the thimbles. They are shown here with a
larger size wooden spool (I have a lot of those) for scale.A  metal thimble nestles on mossy green velvet on the left and the opposite side is lined with a red textured fabric rimmed with itsy-bitsy rick-rack. More about the green bullet shape in a moment.

Above is a closeup of the texture.


I love the little chain. So handy for lugging it around!

Here is the bullet. I don't think it is Bakelite. I did that rub test and smelled nothing. The gold trim is just pressed in and painted. No metal there.

 The innards are composed of a nice shiny metal thimble which appears silver but not REAL silver.

My favorite part is the spooly thing which the thimble sits over when inside. Would it have been used to wrap some thread around? These shaped items are usually needle cases. I guess you could toss in one or two.


If you know anything about these items such as age or what that bullet case is made from please leave a comment.

When Thimbles Ruled

After having acquired an old Singer sewing machine (see previous post) I decided to continue in this historical vein and tell you about a book I acquired from my bookseller friend (Garrison House Books or her blog).

The cover is a bit bland but it has real charm inside.

 

The book was published in 1913 by the Butterick Publishing Co. which was housed in the Butterick Building in New York. Wonder if the building still exists.

The book is written for the teacher and not a step-by-step for the student. 

 Thimbles are my thing and they are used but not pictured. There is NO machine sewing anywhere in all the projects right up to a middy blouse at the end. I am throwing a picture in here just for interest. Beneath it is the detailed 11 step and repeat thimble exercise!

In the supplies for your sewing outfit it suggests an aluminum thimble because they are light and inexpensive. "Colored thimbles are pretty, and children like them. Silver thimbles are nice, of course, but children outgrow them, so that there is very little point in getting them." So these little ladies were expected to start quite early.

 Click HERE if you missed out on my earlier post about my first thimble.

She's not in the book but isn't this ad image from THE GRAPHICS FAIRY sweet? I don't think they started THIS young!

Methods (for the teacher)

"Always remember the never-ending patience which it is necessary to use with the dull-witted, awkward child. Some time this patience may be rewarded with a result showing some degree of success."  Is this PC?

 

Miniature clothes

"These small garments are an excellent preparation for the making of full size clothes in the upper grades. "

 



There are instuction for making a baby cap from paper and then using the folded paper as a pattern for a one made of "fine lawn".  Great for the unwed mother! We go right from dolls to real babies.

The book continues with gussets, bias edges, tucks and mending.

 

The best feature of this book are the beautiful line drawings of the sweetest young ladies of the early 20th century. I used one of them to create THIS.

 

I shared these with Karen at THE GRAPHICS FAIRY and she has posted two of them for you to use. Click HERE and HERE.

The book ends with the middy blouse that you see when you click on the first HERE in the previous sentence.

Helpfully the text suggests:

"For the Summer for play dresses or for gymnasium suits the middy blouse is frequently made with a short sleeve. For colder weather and for school, the long sleeve blouse is more practical and comfortable than the one with the short sleeve.”

Duh!

 

                              

So who has ever sewn any more than a hem by hand? Could you complete a whole garment that wouldn't fall apart the first time it was washed?

Thimble Fever

I slacked off again this week and didn't create a whole lot but decided to write about thimbles this week. I just love these tiny objects and for the most part they are useful.  Germany, Austria and Switzerland were my greatest thimble hunting grounds. The German word for thimble is FINGERHUT. I was told to pronounce it "finger hoot".
In Ireland they called it a TIMBLE, no TH blend sound.

 

 

I did get out my Lesley Riley TAP paper, though and using the Graphics Fairy image which has become my logo I put it

onto a nice deep aqua fabric. I "framed it with a simple 12"  embroidery hoop, trimmed it with pinking shears and added a big black grosgrain bow. The edge got a banding of thin balck grosgrain as well.

 

If I had a store I could hang it as a sign.  I guess it will just hang out in my computer/art/sewing room that I have started to refer to as THE SHOP.

Blue is my favorite color so these little charmers are among my favorites. The one on the upper left is especially nice as it is a Meissen that I bought in a Meissen shop in Germany. It has a much more matte surface than the picture shows and has the Meissen crossed swords mark inside.

The windmill on the upper right was purchased in...you guessed it,  Holland. On the lower right is a Royal Copenhagen from Denmark and is marked Lindnet Mulfs Bavaria.

I haven't made a big study of thimbles as I like them just for what they are, but I do own this book which hasn't been cracked open in awhile.

 

I would love to hear from anyone else out there who has hoarded these and why. My "why" is spelled out in my first blog entry HERE. Also, do you know the word for thimble in other than German?

If you like your thimbles big, go to Toronto, Canada  The wikipedia article on thimbles shows this huge one atop some mammoth buttons.

Key West Break

We took off for Key West, Florida last week but thimbles and sewing were never completely off my mind EXCEPT when we did this! About 10 to 15 years ago we had a day in Key West and I remembered a cool  place with hand-printed fabrics. I googled it and came up with a directory address but no website. Here is why.

It has been closed for about four years I was told and had not done hand-printing for a time before that.

 

I was really disappointed but I was directed to another place by a woman in a cute little interior design/art shop to a place she thought I might like. Hubby was, of course, thrilled to wend our way off the tourist track to 1103 Truman Ave. He actually visited a ratty pawn shop nearby rather than look at the gorgeous printed fabrics.

The Seam Shoppe

 

 

My purchases

I got a great piece of linen in one of my favorite colors and a selection of prints plus some cool buttons and two RUBBER thimbles. One to wear and one to display.

The turquoise one is rubber. I got one with Harry on it at the Harry Truman Little White house and at the upper left is a gold one from a very tiny little antique shop. The upper right is one I have had for awhile.

I also picked up a very nice wooden button to finish off the back of a pillow I just completed. This is the back and here is the front.

 

I wanted a silhouette of an elephant and I scoured the images from The Graphics Fairy and printed out the elephant and traced around it. It looks entirely different but The Graphics Fairy always comes through for me.

 

These pillows are available at my Etsy shop CherylThimbleFingers.