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Addition to My Sewing Room

I have wanted a treadle sewing machine for, since forever.  When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a pioneer woman, born in the prior century.  Since then, I know how hard life was then, and wouldn't really like to have been born then.  Leftover, from that line of thinking though, I have always wanted a singer treadle sewing machine.  Up until now, I either couldn't afford one, or didn't have a space to have one.  I now have space for one in my sewing room, and my husband shelled out the bucks for this one.  And, you are not going to believe where I found it either!  At the gun show we were doing this weekend!  Yep, at the gun show!  There is another seller there that always has older guns and usually a Singer Featherweight for sale.  I guess he finds old broken ones, cleans and fixes them up and brings one with him with his guns.  So I asked him if he had any Singer Treadle machines, and no he didn't, but a gentleman had just stopped and talked to him about his recently deceased wife's treadle machine.  So, this Featherweight guy hooked me up with the Treadle Machine guy, and ta da!

So enough talk, here are the pics.....

This is the drawer full of attachments and feet!

Spring Fever

It is starting to become spring here in the Northwest.  This is the time I begin to plant my cold crop garden in my boxes.  The first picture is a picture of my boxes when we built them three years ago.  So today, I planted peas, carrots, radishes, beets, lettuce, spinach, and snow peas.  All of these were planted in just one box, but provides more than we can eat when it comes time to harvest.  I added a picture of the flowers I grow every year, as I planted new bulbs in the long garden box in the back along the fence line.  I planted more calla lilys, dahlias, and glads.  I successive plant glads, and can have them for my cut flowers all summer long.  Today I planted 50 glad bulbs, and will plant about 50 every 3 to 4 weeks until about late July.  I love spring and all it brings!

Winter Blues

I thought I was going to make it through a winter, missing the flu, cold, and pneumonia crud this year, as it has always hit me in January.  Sailed through January, when all around me were sick, sick and more sick.  So, I was feeling quite superior about it all, and well, one should never feel superior, because it always backfires, especially on me, because POW,  I got knocked right off my feet, flat on my back, with toes curled up with coughing coming down with a bad bout of pneumonia.  I kid you not, I have been one sick puppy, and I am still not over it, as I either gotten a cold, or a rebound of the pneumonia.

Of course, as luck would have it, I was sick when my son came home (couldn't you tell in the video?),  and my parents have been here from Albuquerque.  I haven't been the best hostess or the of company.  Nobody is when they are sick.  I wanted to spend some quality time with them, but I have still had to work and or be in bed early.  They probably don't even feel slighted like I do, as they are the sweetest couple of people anyone could have for parents.  But still, it is just not fair.

Then, I have had to do two trade shows with my husband every weekend since being sick, and will be doing them again the next two weekends.  Geez, when will there be a break?????

Taxes need to be done for both the business and personal.  I think it might be time to let the pros do this, as I have always procrastinated doing them every year.  Hmmm, note to self, need to discuss with hubby on this issue.

The garden needs to be started, at least the cold crop veggies need to be planted. They will be in late this year. Bummer.

But, you would think I would be writing about not being able to sew, quilt or craft?  No, I know this time of year always brings on this hectic schedule, and I know that I won't be able to get to this area of my life until life gets organized every year.  When I can get back to this area, I am excited and more creative as taking a break re-energizes me and I really appreciate my hobby all the more.

Thanks for letting me whine.  I feel better, just not physically. Yet. 

Coming Home Captured on TV News

Thank all of you for the warm comments and support of my son coming home from Afghanistan.  It was all captured on the news.  I am the mother being interviewed and seen blubbering crying and hugging my son.  Click on the link to view if you want to see how it was captured.

 David's Coming Home Video

Coming Home!

Happy dance! I'm doing the happy dance!

I think everyone knows by now, I have a son in the Army and he has been deployed to Afghanistan for the last nine months. Well, he is coming home sometime this week! (The military doesn't allow the exact to be put out on social medias for the troops security reasons, so you'll have to just wait for the next few days for more details.)

My parents flew in today from New Mexico so we can all go together to see him come in at his base, as the military has ceremonies of the troops for the families when the come home. It will be emotional and very moving, and exciting! I will pics share more details after he is home on USA soil safe and sound.

Tutorial - Narrowing Pant Leg Width

As I have mentioned before, my Grandma taught me most of what I know about sewing.  She was very thorough in her teaching, and not only taught me how to make clothes from patterns, but also how to alter clothes.  So, I wanted to alter some chino pants that I had bought awhile back.  The leg width was 12" wide, and wore them once.  I got my foot caught in one leg and about tripped flat onto my face.  I also did not like the way I looked in them and just didm't like hated them, and consequently did not ever wear them.  I knew I could make the pant leg narrower, but I knew it would take longer than I wanted to spend the time doing it, so I put it off, and put it off, and kept putting it off.  Then when I started working full time I found it necessary to increase my wardrobe a bit, and I didn't want to spend any money.  Thus, the alteration of my pant leg width, and along with doing the alteration, I decided to write this tutorial.

It doesn't take much to do alterations.  Something to take apart the seams.  Most seamstress use a seam ripper, but my Grandma always used a razor blade, so that is how I learned and still use one today.  I found this handy razor holder in the hardware store along with a big box of single edged razors.  You will also need a marking pen of some kind, I use the SewLine brand, a pair of good scissors, and either a tape measure or a ruler.  And of course a sewing machine and matching thread of the garment you are altering.

Here is my first picture measuring the width of the the pant legs.  It shows that they measure 12", and I like my pant legs to measure between 8" to 10".  I actually measured the pant leg width of my favorite pair of pants to give me a a width I want to obtain on this pair.

First begin by removing the hem in each leg.  I always start at one of the side leg seams, because the cutting of the first couple of stitches are a little difficult.  Cutting into the side seam allows for any errors if you cut into the material.  You will only cut into the seam, and not part of the pants that would show a hole cut into the fabric.  

 Take the time to remove all the thread from the original hem.  This was something my Grandma emphasized, because leaving any bits and pieces can get sewn back into the seam and make it look very messy and after they get sewn in the seam, they can be very hard to remove.

I like to do each step to both legs.  Some do all the steps on one leg and then do the other leg.

 Then the next step is to begin taking apart the side leg seams.  You need to take out the seam out to about 2" above the knee.  You take this much out, to give you enough starting space, to taper in the leg at the bottom.  Doing this will give it a nice smooth blend into the original seam.

 Note here that most pants have a flat fell seam running down the outside seam from the waist to the hem.  Take care when taking out this seam, as it has three parts.  First is the main seam sewing the the front to the back, then the edges of the seam is served and then the seam is sewn flat on the right side of the pant leg.  You can find out more information about the different type of seams here.

                                                                                                                       Once this is done, you will notice that the back portion is wider than the front portion.  Keep this in mind when you cut away some of the side seams that you keep the portion ratio the same.  Once this is done, you will notice that the back portion is wider than the front portion.  Keep this in mind when you cut away some of the side seams that you keep the portion ratio the samFor example, in this pair of pants the back section is 13" and the front section is 11".  After my trimming down the side seams, my back section measured 10" and my front section measured 8", giving my width 9", which is right where I want my width to be.  

 Again, I do each step on both legs before proceeding to the next step.  So here I have take out both seams on each leg.

 Next, lay on a flat surface, the back leg on the table.  fold back the front piece of the pants.  Now we begin the process of trimming down the pant leg.

Start at the top most portion, where you tore apart the seam.  Right up against the sewn part of the seam.













Place a hard straight ruler along the edge of the seam, beginning at the top most part of the opened seam.  Then pivot it out at a small angle to gradually take in the edge.

Taking it down to the hem line, you have now angled it, taking in about 1 1/2 inches.  Repeat on the other back side seam.

Now, take your scissors at an angle and start cutting about 1/4" away from the line you drew down to the bottom of the pant leg.

This is a close up picture of how the pant leg will look after the cut has been made.














The pant legs should have the same same ratio to each other as they did before cutting the marked sides.  The front should be smaller than the back by the same amount on each side.

Pin the front to the back on the outside seam first. This is an important step if the seam is a flat fell seam.  Begin sewing together, starting about where my thumb is in the picture, taking it at an angle, until the stitch is making a 1/4" seam.

Once the outside seam is completed press the seam in the same direction as it is above the seam that was just sewn.  Then turn the pant leg over and on the right side, topstitch down the the leg.  Start the topstitching about two stitches over the existing topstitching.  Make the topstitching seam the same distance from the sewn seam as it is above the new seam.







This picture shows the finished seam with the topstitching done.

Do the inside seam next, starting above where the seam above is at, and sew down to the bottom of the pant.












Make sure the original hem lines match.  This is important when it comes time to re-hem the pant legs again.

At this point, I usually run a zig-zag seam down the inside seam that was just sewn.  This keeps the seam from fraying down to the seam, and coming apart at a later date.

The zig-zag doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to be done to keep the fraying away.

Repeat all of the steps for the other pant leg.





Now it is time to hem each leg of the newly narrowed pant legs.  Hopefully, you have matched the hem lines on both seams of each leg.

Pin the hem back in place, along the existing fold lines from when the hem was taken out.

Turn the pant leg inside out, and following the original hem stitching, re-stitch the hem in place, starting at the inside seam of the pant leg.

And, there it is, a professional tailor job of narrowing the pant leg.  This pair of pants went from a 12" width to a 9" width.  This process takes about an hour and a half to do, but the benefits of having a "new pair" of pants has been worth the time and effort.