Sewing on and Serging forward

A couple of weeks ago I came across a Kimono Tutorial video on YouTube from YouTuber, Peppermint Milk. It looked pretty straightforward, gave all the pattern dimensions need, and only needed a couple of yards of material. I had some knit fabric that I obtained from my local "scrap store". It was easily long enough but it had a large flaw running across the width which I needed to avoid if I were to have a successful make. I drew up the pattern on brown wrapping paper, just three pieces, laid it out on the fabric and was able to miss the flawed section of fabric with a little juggling of pieces. Pheeeeeew ......... Once I had the pieces cut out I followed much of the construction in Peppermint Milk's YouTube video, using my Toyota 3304 overlocker to do the sleeves, shoulder and side seams, using a 4 thread overlock. I pressed as I went to keep everything neat. Once all the pieces were attached together I decided that the kimono needed a different finish to the neck...

A few weeks ago I made my first foray into the world of making a lined Tote bag. I had some good quality medium weight cotton and some heavyweight poly/cotton material, both in shades of blue so I dived in. I wanted something a little more complicated to make than the Morsbag , so I turned to my copy of Merchant and Mills: Sewing Book  (which I highly recommend) for inspiration/a pattern. I went for their Tote Bag, which is a little more complex to make than your average "YouTube Tote Bag", having a 2" gusset, is fully lined and has a pocket. I stuck pretty rigidly to the pattern for the bag and lining, but omitted the inside pocket and made my own cloth straps from the outer fabric rather than add leather straps. The bag took a couple  of hours to make. I am very pleased with the results, so much so that I made a second on a few days ago, this one has webbing strap handles. This is a great large shopper and I am sure I will be making more in the future. Me...

Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, we all make errors of judgement. With hindsight, I now realise that I made an error when I fitted a new motor to my Singer 99K. The motor should have gone onto my Singer 201K. Here is my reasoning, with the benefit of hindsight. Although my 99K was motor driven when I received it, the motor wiring was very dodgy so I removed it from the machine and replaced it with a hand crank. By the time the crank arrived the machine was working quietly following a thorough cleaning and oiling regime. With the crank installed their was a real improvement in the machine. But we can all do daft things. This was what I did. I fitted a new 0.45 watt YDK motor and pedal. What? That was just a replacement for the original motor that had seen better days. Whats wrong   with that, you may ask. Well, nothing really but it was not MY best option. Here's why. I had a hand cranked 99K, a hand cranked 201K and a new YDK motor and foot-pedal. My thoughts were to keep t...

This is my newley acquired 1940, Singer 201K with hand crank which I collected on Saturday. It came complete with a bentwood case and two boxes of accessories (most of which are duplicated). The machine had been idle for almost 10 years, except for one sewing session in late 2016. It was surface clean other than old oil residue on the needle bar and presser foot bar, and in very good physical condition for a machine that is 77 years old! Inside was a little different. In parts, it was pretty mucky from old dried out and discoloured oil, a sure sign the machine had been idle for a long time. Everything was moving fairly freely but the stitches left a lot to be desired. Some investigation was needed, mainly as part of my normal clean down regime. Removing the faceplate revealed needle bar and presser foot mechanisms that were sorely in need of some TLC. Everything was working fine behind the faceplate, it was just covered in a fairly thick brown residue from old oil. An hour...