Meet Miss Honey - 1950 Singer 99K restoration project

 Just over a week ago this little beauty was gifted to me by my friend & sewing buddy Linda, who found her in hard rubbish. 

Made in 1950, the 99K is a nice compact machine, and although she is still made of cast metal she is waaay less heavy than my 201K and 66K. A very basic machine, she is a smaller version of my 1935 66K, but has the Centennial badge to celebrate 100 years of Singer Sewing machines ( 1851-1951) 

Hours and hours …and hours …of cleaning, oiling, soaking parts in isopropyl alcohol, & sanding have removed decades of rust and grime. 

Tips from YouTube and the wonderful brains trust at Vintage Sewing Machines Australia and New Zealand fb group have been invaluable.

I removed the electric motor and knee control, and added a couple of replacement parts from S & P Sewing Supplies- a new spool pin and a spoked balance wheel, ready for a hand crank.

After hours of working to remove the bobbin case - including having to loosen the “ Screw of Death” she was finally working, but I had to hold the tension discs in place. 

I had last minute idea this morning to fix the tension spring, and TA- DAH she works!

 I present to you - Miss Honey! ( named after Linda’s lovely greyhound) 

Put a bird on it!

Sometimes you just need a quick & easy project to get back into the sewing groove.

Some scraps of fabric - some from a bag of pieces from an op shop, some from the stash & the rest from the Darebin Hard Rubbish Rescue shop. 

 The bird print was so gorgeous, but quite narrow. I picked out some matching colours & played around with the arrangement for the front & back panels. All sewed up on the Singer 66K hand crank machine. 

The colours work well with the Orla Kiely cushion cover that was a lucky op shop find.

 

Random Round Up 1

 I have been doing some crafting/ sewing lately…really!

I painted a couple of “ protests tee shirts for work, when the Department tried to wipe out the Visiting Teacher Service  - thankfully people power - protests & submissions to parliament by parents, carers and community groups saved the day!

Freezer paper stencil,  shapes traced around paper cutouts, craft acrylic mixed with fabric medium.

Mixing pearl white with solid colours made them “pop” on the navy background. 

Tailor made

 I am an a waistcoat making roll this year! Must take some photos of the rest, but I am currently tackling a Burda pattern I found at an op shop recently. I would guess it was an inclusion with a sewing magazine, as it is only in a paper front in a plastic bag, with minimal illustrations. Or maybe that’s just Burda.

 I don’t think I have used a Burda pattern before ( other than tracing some from the Burda magazines at the library years ago). I did remember that seam allowances are NOT included. I find that a very odd “point  of difference” to leave something so important out! 

Some issues so far - the interfacing I used was too thick, I will have to do the top stitching on the 201k because of all the layers with the facing, front and collar to sew through.

I tacked it together with the 66k - love the look of the pink basting stitches against the brown pinstripe! I tried it on but found I had to alter the shape a lot for a good fit. I then tried to recut the pattern to match, but I think I forgot to factor in taking in the back panel to match the front. 

A work in progress! 

Hello poor neglected blog…

 Oh my gosh it has been a while,  I seem to have fallen off the blog wagon big time!

I have been sewing, just not taking many photos of  my creations! 

 I found some lovely pre cut strips at a Salvos store a few weeks ago, I knew it would come in handy for a project. I sewed some up this week -into  a couple of pouches for a heat pack. One of my dearest friends his recovering from surgery, and asked if I could make her a pouch for a heat pack. I was happy to oblige and knew I had the perfect fabric - her favourite colour is orange!

 Another project - last week - was finally making a tailor’s pressing ham. I don’t know where I put the blue moleskin fabric I had set aside for this, so instead used this wool blend piece - another op shop find. Filled with sawdust, it could have been stuffed even firmer but I just could not be bothered sitting there spooning in any more sawdust, spoonful by spoonful!

 I did have The Dog for company - he came & sat right next to me on the floor while I was stuffing the sawdust in. It took me a while to figure out it was not just because of my company, but because he loves  the smell of sawdust - from spending lots of weekend time in the shed with my H! 

I had to make the tailor’s ham because I need to use it to press a waistcoat I am part way through making. It has curved seams - I have to re draft the pattern because it is not a good fit yet, currently it is just basted together, so easy to baste using a long stitch on my hand cranked Singer! One I fix the pattern & re sew the seams I will be able to press the curves properly on my new tailor’s ham.

Clara in colour

 I have not done much drawing for ages, but on the weekend I decided to try a sketch of my 66K singer, Clara. 

First attempt, sketched with my Copic sketch fineliner. 

Second attempt - coloured with watercolour markers, blended with water. Still struggling with watercolours!

Third version - copic fineliner, coloured with my art markers, highlighted with fineliner & white posca pen. Pretty happy with this one, getting the proportions more accurate now. 

Rone - Time exhibition

 Luckily I booked tickets ages ago to go to the RoneTime exhibition at Flinders Street station; the exhibition is sold out and closes next Sunday. 

It was absolutely magical! Thanks to Vireya for the tip about the newspapers - I had fun looking at some of  the old advertising, & loved spotting the clothes ads, sewing tips, and a classic Singer advertisement!

“ The workroom” was full of sewing machines, and although there were lots of Singer  accessory boxes, none of the industrial machines were actually Singers!

 I do like this “homemade” bobbin holder, I should go out to the shed & knock one together!

 

In the typist’s room we had fun reading the crazy little stories on some of the typewriters - one said something like “ you are a lifeless rabbit, and I do not need another lifeless rabbit in my life”.

I also peeked in all the shelves under the desks, they all had interesting treasures, including some knitting in one, and a sewing kit in another. An absolute delight! I have always loved dolls houses and dioramas - this was rather like walking into an old, abandoned dolls house - with a touch of Alice in Wonderland and Miss Havisham’s decaying mansion  all rolled in to one! 

2023 Melbourne Quilt and Craft Show

I had a great  day out at the Quilt and Craft show today - sitting on the couch now 

after walking around all day!

So many spectacular and inspiring quilts. Love the fabulous funky bright colours in the top quilt here.

Denim circles - want to try this one!

Reminds me of a Klimt painting. Close up below, I like the rows of different coloured quilting stitches.

 

I always love checking out the gadgets on sale! Bought some bobbin huggers at the show a couple of years ago, so it was on my list to get some more today.

I have clips in 3 sizes but had not seen these super mini ones before! I use them for nearly all my sewing projects - hardly ever use pins.

I have never really used a needle threader, but all of my machines thread differently. The Janome is front-to- back, the 201K threads right to left, and  my 66k is left to right. No guessing which one is the trickiest to thread…will be keeping this new threader handy to the 66K for sure!

Gorgeous Waratah quilt.

Not a quilt - and apologies for the crappy photo snapped in a hurry in the bathroom at the quilt show - had to make the most of the full length mirror! Another  vest- bodice top - I have three now with plans for more ( fabric from the upholstery section in Spotlight); op shop shirt ( the one I unpicked a gazillion tiny beads off); and a new skirt finished last night. My own pattern - trying to clone my favourite op shop skirt. 8 panels, lining/petticoat, and rows of decorative top stitching near the hem. Completely forgot to factor in that there is only 30m of top stitch thread on the same sized reel as a 100m regular reel, and the bobbin used nearly half the reel! And it is a wide skirt - had to do a  dash to my local Statewide store late yesterday afternoon to buy another reel so I could finish it! 

Used all 4 machines - stitched together on the Janome; edges finished with the overlocker; tacked together on the 66k so I could try it on & adjust the size; top stitching done on the 201K.

Fascinating quilt made with a Cyanotype prints - Morgan Donner has a great video of YouTube about cyanotype botanical printing.

Inspired by some wonderful free motion embroidery seen today, I will definitely be trying some more - and using lots of colour. I saw these boxes of Wonderfil at the craft show for $32, but I knew I had spotted them at Lincraft for $10 a box - and everything is 40% this week. So I made a quick detour to Northcote on the way home to buy these -$6 each, bargain of the year. Hmmm I got a $10 voucher, maybe I should use it to buy another box!

 

First hand crank machine sewn project finished!

Finally finished my cover for the 66K - sewn on the 66K! 

I hunted out every piece of sewing- themed fabric I had, patched them together and made this!

 

Vintage sewing update

 Gosh where has the time gone? Between moving house, going back to work, & life in general - there has not been a lot of crafting going on around here of late! 

But I did finally get to visit the new Anne Bonney’s Locker vintage sewing machine store in Hawthorn last week, where I bought a hand crank for Clara, my 66K. ( There may have been a detour via GJ’s Fabrics in Fairfield on the way too…)

Fitting the crank was super easy - I was so fortunate that my machine already had a spoked wheel, so I did not need to change the wheel over. One bolt, tightened with an adjustable wrench, make sure everything is lined up ok and ta-dah! She sews about 4-6 stitches - or about 1 cm - for each turn of the wheel with the crank. Much faster than just turning the wheel with my hand!

Clara does not have a cover - nor a proper timber base yet - so I pulled out all my sewing themed fabrics, and sewed up a cover. Quilting the layers together now old sheets for the backing, and some wadding scraps inside for a bit of structure) before I turn & shape it into the cover. All done with the hand crank. There is no  reverse on a 66k, so when I put the pieces together I turned them to stitch back the other way. Now I am just leaving long tails and knotting them. 

So much quicker to make a bobbin now with the handcrank fitted too! 

When I finish the cover I will post a photo of it in place. A nice cosy blanket to keep her warm, now the weather has turned.

Lost crafty treasures

 Having a clean up I found some pre- blog craft treasures. I don’t even remember when I made the scarecrow - over 20 years ago I think. Unfortunately when I found him in the back of the cupboard his head had come off.

The crocodile/ dragon hat was made for a dress up birthday party many years ago. It was put together over the top of a cap,  with cork nostrils & felt eyes & teeth. He was used for a couple of birthday parties with an “ under the sea” theme - a leafy sea dragon, and as a general dress up outfit as a dragon. Made in a bit of a hurry from memory, all stuck with craft glue! 

Painting and decorating

 I bought a trolley bag for work about 2 years ago ( or was it three? Covid made the last couple of years a  bit wibbly wobbly!). I looked at some lovely coloured bags online, but they were only available overseas, & I really needed to be able to see if  the trolley would work for me to hold my work stuff. 

So I ended up with a nice, solid, very functional BUT totally boring black bag from Officeworks. I have always planned to try painting it, so I finally got around to it!

I started by masking off all the zips, and used some spray paint in grey, purple and green.It looked a bit crap, the green was super bright, & the colour was patchy and uneven. But I was not done! I mixed up some acrylic paint with my fabric medium, and started painting. Took about an hour and a half all up, but it was FUN! Pretty damn happy with the result too, the flowers just work over the patchy green. The purple was too bright so I toned it down with a blue- grey shade. 

 No worries about mixing my bag up with anyone else’s now!