gloriastitches

  I have sewed!  Shocking I know.  Hubby needed a replacement caftan for the one I had previously sewn.  This is my third from this pattern which is based on the first one I had bought for him in the 80s.  The first three were brown and the original had gold and brown tones in it in a striped manner.  Since I hadn't been to a fabric store since pre-Covid I had to pick out fabrics from my stash.  It had to be something with enough fabric, not girlish, and not printed. There were three choices:  a cream corduroy which I ruled out because I'd probably be washing it every week; a cranberry corduroy which I really wanted for myself; and a black denim.  I let him select and he chose the black.  That leaves enough for me to make either a jacket or slacks for myself. Then I had to find fabric for the bands.  I really didn't want to use something which would mean cutting up a piece which wouldn't leave enough for me to make something fo...

  When I see these cups I am reminded of my wonderful aunt. When I was a little girl and we'd visit my grandparents she would stop by to see us, grab a cup of coffee using one of these cups. There are numbers on the bottom which are for the design.  I have two each of three. On the bottom is printed "Made in Germany".  Thus, these cups would have to be from pre-war (that's WWII) or just a few years after the war. Auntie would have been too young to purchase them before the war, so after; or my grandparents had owned them which I highly doubt as these were not the usual type of item they would have bought. The cups couldn't have been brought back by my uncles because neither was anywhere near Germany during the war. I am amazed that these seventy-plus-year-old cups are still in great condition, with no chips.  The gold on the rim and on the cups is still there. They are not used often because they can't go in the dishwasher nor in the microwave.  Since my dishw...

Several years ago an auction house had a lot of Tiffany items available.  I took pictures of a good portion of them and thought others might be interested in seeing them.  I didn't take any notes so don't have information to offer.  I checked back later and if I remember correctly some of the lamps went for $2x,000.  No, we didn't bid on any of these.  Enjoy.  Click on pic to make larger.  Major correction:  hubby said the lamp in the first photo went for $16x,000.  I thought 20 something seemed quite low.

Bernina's sewing machine feet are unusual and work only with Bernina machines, plus quite expensive but built to last. There is a way to expand usage of the machine without paying a small fortune for their feet---and it may already be in your household. Here are pics of my Bernina 910 (mid 80s), my Riccar (late 70s), and my White 4042 (early 2000s)  Click to see larger pictures. Though the feet for the Riccar and the White look very much alike they are not exchangeable for the most part because the needle opening in the feet are either too far forward or too far back.  However,  they can be used on the Bernina! Here's how: You will need a low-shank adapter.  They come in a choice of for snap-on or for screw-on feet and are available for old stye (OS) (through the 1630--am almost positive on this model) and for new style (NS).  If your feet have red, then they are new style.  (approximtely after '98).  The adapters are in the range of ...

Alternate title:  How I Spent My Friday Morning In the process of trying on my newly sewn pants with its generic trial waistband, I went into the closet to get the portable full-length mirror.  Something grabbed the waistband on the way out.  It was the groove/hole for the latch on the doorframe.  Oh, no, I thought, and checked the pants and nope, no hole and no pulled threads nor snags.  Whew!  However.... ....one of the straight pins holding the band on had gone AWOL.  I made a quick check of the area and no pin in sight.  I checked on hands and knees next, using my super light, running my hand through the carpet fibers---and still no pin.  Since it's a low pile it would  be easy to spot. Then I spotted the white pin head about three feet away, but that's all it was---the pin was not attached!  I continued to check carpet in all areas I thought the pin could possibly go;  I checked my person;  I checked my newly se...

In case you haven't heard the ol' Big 4 are now what could be called the Big 1.  The business which had bought out McCall's has purchased Simplicity. Thus, the pattern companies will be in competition with each other within the same company.  This is nothing new in business as General Mills, Procter and Gamble and others do the same thing. So, how will things change?  We don't know, but my guess is that it will be "business as usual" with each pattern brand name keeping its own policies and fit as usual.  Perhaps if one of them falters in sales, it could be eliminated. It's sad to see this happen as people may like a certain brand over the others, so let's hope that not too far down the road they don't merge into one brand. As of last year it was KwikMcVogueRick, now it's going to be SimpKwikMcVogueRick.  Sigh. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171103005428/en/CSS-Industries-Acquires-Simplicity-Creative-Group

There, their, and they're  are three different words, pronounced the same but spelled different.  They are homonyms.  So, where to use which? Since I'm good with helping others with word associations I have been asked to please share. There :  notice that the word here  is in t here.   So, it's not here, but there. Their :  notice that the word heir  is in t heir.   So, they (each being an heir)  inherited the house and it is now their  house. They're:   notice the apostrophe.  This means that a letter---or letters--has been omitted.  In this case the letter a .  In full it would be they are. Other words with apostrophes are jack-o'-lantern, o'clock, O'Leary, ma'am, etc. which indicate that a letter--or letters--has been omitted. Thus, there :  not here, but there.           their : each an heir so their house.           they're :  omit...

  I wanted to gift a knitted scarf.  Finally, a project!  I'm not certain where I got the stitch pattern, probably from a friend.  It is an easy one. I casted on 26 stitches with size 8 needles with Red Heart Soft.   It is approximately 5 1/2" x 36" and be wrapped one more time around the neck. The pattern is  Row 1:  *k2, knit into back of next stitch, purl 1*, until the last 2 stitches, k2. Repeat this row the entire length you want the scarf.  It took roughly 3 oz. I'm not certain what happened to the color with the first two photos.  The photo below is more what the color looks like which is Grape.  OK, so it's not much as far as making things this year, but I'm going to do my best to get a lot more accomplished in 2017. Happy New Year, everyone!

It is rare for me to post about a recipe but it's rare for me to be sewing these days. :(  This is my husband's grandmother's recipe and has been tried and eaten by at least three generations. 2 cups sifted cake flour 1 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1 t. cinnamon 1/2 t. allspice 1/4 t. cloves 1 cup seedless raisins 1/2 cup shortening 1/2 t. vanilla (adjust as desired) 1 cup sugar 1 egg, beaten slightly 1 cup thick, sweetened applesauce Sift first 6 ingredients together; stir in raisins.  Using large bowl cream shortening, vanilla and sugar together thoroughly.  Add egg; beat until light and fluffy.  Add dry ingredients alternately with applesauce, beating after each addition.  Pour into greased pan, approximately 11" x 7". Bake @ 350 degrees about 45 minutes I haven't made this in awhile; perhaps it's time. :)

Knitting--(large) stash of yarn, patterns, and supplies-- Check Crocheting--(large) stash of yarn, patterns, and supplies-- Check Cross Stitching--(large) stash of yarn, fabrics, patterns and supplies -- Check Sewing--stash of fabrics, patterns, notions and supplies-- Check Misc. crafting--stash of supplies-- Check Since I've been purging the above in the past year, I've asked myself why I have so much of everything.  How did it happen and why? Some of the reasons are --get excited about the craft, find all kinds of projects I want to make, so buy the supplies --find supplies on sale or have coupons for a large percentage off so must purchase while on sale. --much like the person who has "eyes bigger than their stomachs" I have plans greater than that for which my energy or time allows. --realize what's missing from my supplies and buy to fill in the gaps --cannot resist when people give me large bundles of items for free--free is good. Probably the...

Traditionally Ukrainian Easter is celebrated a week later than that of other Christians, so this year it is April 12. My mother decorated eggs. Most of hers are now gone.  They would be several decades old. The ones in the center are larger and are of wood.  I believe that they are painted, which was done in only the last few decades.  Well, they don't break!  Click on the pic for a larger view. The ones from the past are done by the wax method and take hours and hours for just one egg.  The one example of my work when I was 4 years old is long gone.  It was a masterpiece.   By the way the tradition began pre-Christianity. You can do a search for more info and how the eggs were made. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

In an old McCall's magazine, Fall-Winter '55-'56 was an article about the latest features on machines. The newest innovation was the automatic zigzag, which could do all that straight-stitch and manual zigzag machines could, plus do embroidery pattern stitches automatically. They had discs or cams to be inserted or some were built into the machine. Above are the machines they highlighted.  Unfortunately they don't mention the model # and that is not always visible on the machine. If you have an older machine but don't know when it came out, perhaps it is shown here.  These machines would be from 1955 or possibly 1954.    The year could certainly be a place to start to find out more about your machine.

Over the years I've come across those who were not aware of some of these functions of the Pfaff 1475.  They may be available on other models, but the 1475 is the one with which I am acquainted.  There are still a lot of this model in use. When using the single needle foot and/or plate, there is a chance that the operator will forget and tap in a stitch which has width.  This is not good for the machine and could cause the timing to be off.  There is also the possibility that the needle could break and hit the operator in the eye.  Ouch. There is a security measure:  touch the twin-needle button, (#29) which is lit showing it has been engaged.  It will prevent any stitch from sewing which is not a straight stitch. The presser bar lifter has several positions: up (foot lifted), down (foot engaged) and darning.  In the photos, shown are up and darning. When darning position comes in handy is when threading and using the threader. ...

The sliding buttonhole foot is one type of buttonhole foot.  It came with my Pfaff 1475 (on right) I obtained late 1991 and with my Riccar 808E obtained late 1978. (on left) The red arrow indicates where the buttonhole will begin.  As you stitch the slider moves and the calibrated lines will help determine the buttonhole length. How is this buttonhole length determined?  Many times I've read to put a tape measure around the button.  What?  A better idea would be to put a string around the button, then measure the string. I have a different way of doing it which I have been using since the early 80s. An old piece of scrap fabric was used upon which I stitched buttonhole to the lengths of each red mark and the half red ones. It doesn't have to be anything fancy.  This was done on scrap fabric and buttonholes were mainly for length, not beauty.  After all,, no one else was going to see this but me. Ha! Just slip the button through the b...