I found an ad for my Morse!

Work-in-Progress Wednesdays... they just weren't working out for me.  Only 2 weeks into it, and I decided to move to "What I did this Month!".   I think this will be much more practical for me, less annoying for you, and a more achievable schedule!

Amidst shoveling the driveway, freezing in the Alberta cold, dressing Jace in hockey gear for games and practices 2 or three times per week, an out of town tournament, and missing my husband to the point of gaining another 5 pounds, I managed to do some sewing!

I published a bag Tutorial here on my blog:

The Great Granny Bag Tutorial

I worked on two Block of the Month Quilts.
"Lucky Stars" from Don't Call Me Betsy:


and "Sister's Ten" from Gen X Quilters:



I did some mending (coveralls) and... I worked for hours and hours and hours on my new bowling bag pattern.   Part of that was designing and constructing some really awesome handbag straps that I'm pretty proud of.  My new pattern will show how to make these in vinyl/faux leather, as well as decor cloth, canvas, wool or any other fabric.  I got some fantastic vinyl from the Online Fabric Store, and thrifted a men's leather jacket, which made some awesome leather straps.  I'm really happy with how they turned out - no raw edges, no bulky seams and nice and firm in your hand.

"Pinky" my Morse Superdial R-5L, born April 1 1956

I fired up my 1956 Morse Superdial for the leather and vinyl stitching.   I should have called her "Hop-a-long" instead of Pinky, she sure does jump at the start!  I think The Brain (pictured behind) could manage the leather and vinyl sewing, but I have Pinky and I'd rather not stress The Brain with hard physical labour.   After I learned how to thread the needle from left to right instead of right to left, I didn't have too many issues.  I'll save my adventures with Pinky and The Brain for another post...   I actually LOLed when I found this ad for my machine.  Have a look at how she is holding this "lightweight" machine in her fingertips!  It is about 35 pounds!  Seriously, it takes two hands and a groan to lift it.  Very interesting advertising.   Love it!

There is something else interesting about this advertising.   Morse sewing machines, as well as many others, are actually re-badged Toyota machines and at the time, buying anything imported, especially from Japan was frowned upon.  I have read somewhere in my internet surfing, that there was actually a complaints and legal proceedings against certain sewing machine companies (not sure which ones) because they weren't telling buyers that machines, or parts of machines, were actually imported and not American made.  I find it interesting that here Morse is making sure their customer knows that the machine is imported, and you should buy it because it's advertised in many leading magazines!  "The ONE and ONLY imported straight-stitch which is nationally advertised and promoted in all these leading magazines!"  It's better, because it's advertised so much!  Well they sure did stand the test of time though didn't they, mine is 57 years old.  Impressive metal parts.


Here's a look at the leather straps Pinky made:   (They are pictured on some amazing, amazing Premier Print decor fabric I ordered from the Online Fabric Store.)

Handmade Leather and Vinyl Straps - in the Bowling bag pattern.

Fabric!  I received my Tula Pink Saltwater order for the Anchors Aweigh quilt a-longs, but... I haven't started cutting yet.  Maybe this weekend.   I am really trying to focus on this bowling bag pattern.  I'm not sure why it's taking so long, it's pretty easy.  I just want it to be perfect!   No, that's not it, I'm easily distracted by other projects, to be honest.

As many of you know, I reached 1000 fans on Facebook last weekend, which prompted this post, advising of a flash sale and bag giveaway contest (which ends midnight tonight, Feb 28th).  So if you haven't entered or taken advantage of the sale - do it now!  Needless to say, I've also been busy filling hardware orders.  Thank you so much for your support.  I love it that I am enabling your handbag addictions!

I would love to hear what you all have been working on.  Leave a comment and let me know.
Thank you for reading,
 

 I am very happy to have just reached 1000 Facebook fans this weekend.  Thank you for joining and sharing in my daily life and sewing mishaps.  I have met so many great people on my Facebook page and I am very thankful to have you there, commenting and following on.  Thank you so much for sharing with your friends too!   And so.... a SALE and a BAG GIVEAWAY to celebrate!!


JUST ADDED:
The Steph-In-The-City Bag Hardware Kit in Antique Brass!  This sells for $5.85 CAD!!  (Also available in shiny nickel)  Find it HERE.


COMING SOON:
I'm still working on my Bowling Bag pattern.  It's really coming along and I'm in the editing stages of pattern writing.  Soon I'll be calling for pattern testers, so please watch for that post if you are interested.  Here is a sneak peek:


BAG GIVEAWAY:
I really wanted to give away a bag, but I've sold just about everything.  I have prototype/photo model that turned out pretty nice and has been getting a lot of pinning on Pinterest - perhaps one of you would like to win it?  It's lined in black linen, has a magnetic snap, a zipper pocket and a double slip pocket.  This bag has a really nice thick/soft feel to it as it's interlined with a nice this felt interlining.

Mending?  Why?  Do I have to?

I was thrilled to have my husband home from 6 weeks away, but so not thrilled that he brought home 3 pairs of work coveralls to mend.  YUCK!  I love to make handbags, purses, design sewing patterns, quilt, and even sew new clothes... but I HATE mending.  Why?  It's just not creative or fun.  It really isn't crafty.  So when my husband sheepishly asked me to mend his coveralls, I asked: "Can't you just buy new ones?"  "Don't you have some kind of service for that?"  "Surely, we have people for this...."  He just replied, "Yes... YOU, Dear, please?"   Grand.  Just Grand.

Huge open, frayed, tears - they are always trouble.  Luckily they were easily accessible by machine, and luckily I had cut enough off of the hems to create patches.  (If you don't have this, try finding some matching material, or using the backside of a pocket.)

After cutting away all of the frayed threads, I often put a piece of fabric on the wrong side, and from the right side I zig zag like crazy over the hole, filling it all in with thread.  This is quite messy and not the right way to do it.  I wanted to do it much neater this time, and make some patches that would have the other coverall clad men on the work site swooning with envy, so I placed my matching fabric (cut from the bottom during hemming) on top, and luckily while reaching for my pins, I saw my double-sided, wash-away tape (I used Dritz Wonder Tape found in any fabric or quilting store).  This worked FANTASTIC!  I placed the tape on either side of the hole, placed my fabric patch on top and went to town, zig-zag stitching around the border of the patch.



I did get a little carried away with the stitching, as usual, but no harm done.  These are just for the work site, and not anything that will be seen by the general public.  Maybe the other workers won't be swooning, maybe better next time?


The tape worked great on a corner pocket as well.  No sliding, no puckering, and no pins to deal with.  Maybe this is not that exciting to you... but if you hated everything about mending, this method takes a little bit of the pain away.  HINT: I always use a jeans needle, so when I hit thick seams, like pockets corners, I have no troubles.



I don't know all the rules about mending, I am not - exemplary- at it...  so I found you some helpful links, that are a bit more thorough:
Patch a Hole in a Piece of Clothing
Mending Holes and Rips in Your Clothes

So double-sided tape - it's perfect for sewing in zippers and mending - what else?

I hope this helped, thank you for reading!

 

St. Edmunds Church, Big Valley, Alberta

Last weekend my son and I went on a weekend trip away for a hockey tournament in the small Village of Big Valley, Alberta (population 364).  We stayed with the rest of the families in Stettler, Alberta, which is about 25 minutes away, because Big Valley didn't have any hotels.

"The Blue Church" overlooking Big Valley

I've never been to Big Valley, but I've often heard about the Big Valley Jamboree, a huge annual outdoor country music festival.  Many huge acts come there every summer and people come from all over to stay and camp and listen to music all weekend.  This year they are going to have Alan Jackson, Neal McCoy, Tim McGraw, Terri Clark, Big & Rich, Roseanne Cash to name only a few!

Why no Canadian Flag?

I didn't know what could be going on in Big Valley in the middle of winter, so curious as I am, I went straight on to Google to learn what I could learn.  I am usually looking for lighthouses before I travel anywhere (I like to put big dots on my map so I can direct hubby straight to them) - but of course there are no lighthouses in the middle of the Alberta prairie.  I found some very beautiful pictures of a bright blue church though, and taking pictures of this blue church went straight to the top of my "What to do in Big Valley List", right below watching hockey - of course.

St. Edmunds perched on it's very crooked hill!

On the way in to town I was really worried because it was so overcast.  I was so worried I wouldn't see that blue church overlooking the town (like a big lighthouse over the sea), but there it was bright blue against the snow, high on the hill overlooking town.  I didn't have time to investigate until after the first hockey game, and I got right over there as soon as it was over.  It is very unique for the area, very gothic.  Very smurfy.  I loved it!  There was a bit of sun, but it didn't last long.  Within about 10 minutes it was overcast again and the snow was starting to blow.  I did get some great pictures right before the clouds came though.  What a treat!  I love reading about our Alberta history too.  You can learn about one of our historic places, the St. Edmunds Anglican Church here.   I did think the Big Valley would have been.... bigger.... though.


I was telling some of the Moms about it at dinner later that night, and showing my pictures.  I can't believe that I was the only one that had to go take pictures of it!  They didn't really care much.  I'm not Anglican, but I can appreciate a bit of history, and it's not every day that you get to see a church painted smurf blue!  I hope you like this smurfy church too.   Click pics to enlarge!

 

Have a look at this gorgeous Teardrop Bag that Veronica at sewVery made, I just love it.  She has used one of my fave fabric lines and it turned out so, so stunning.   See the zipper and strap detail and read about her sewing "ordeal" while making it, on her blog.  Veronica has graciously allowed me to use some of her photos in promotions, so I'm sure you will see more of them.  Please have a read!


Read about it here:  "sewVery: The Teardrop Bag: After days of sewing and multiple roadblocks, I have finally finished my Teardrop Bag! I bought this pattern months ago from my friend..."

A Great Granny Feature:

I was very pleased to see that my Great Granny Bag Free Tutorial was featured on two blogs this month, Gingerly Made and Serenity You.  Thank you so much, so great to know when a pattern has been well received!

Last year I posted a free sewing tutorial to make a Fabric Cradle Purse, and I've been very fortunate that the post was shared on Pinterest quite a lot, and I've had some great feedback on it.   A few days ago Jess emailed and asked if she could sell cradle purses made from the tutorial, and that she's made a few.  I said yes, certainly, and could I share a couple of her pictures.  Here are two that she's made for her little girls, they are pretty adorable!


So I did a little search and found another lady selling hers on Etsy HERE, it comes with a cute baby and a knit blanket and pillow.  Very cute!

Cradle Purse sold on Etsy

I also found someone on Etsy saying that the cradle purse they were  selling was something she just thought up, and I was a bit disappointed.  I don't necessarily need credit, and it's possible that someone else thought of it too and made it in the exact same way with the exact same proportions... but.... it would have been nicer if she had just said nothing at all and just sold it without taking credit for the idea.  I suppose these things happen and are expected when you share ideas with the world.  It's just a matter of time.

I still love my fabric cradle purses quite a lot!!  And... I need to find a little girl to make one for again, my little girls that were dolly age have all grown up!

If any of you are making these cute little doll cradle purses, I'd love for you to share pictures with me too.  You can find the tutorial here.

Take good care,
 

Save 25% Off at Emmaline until 

Valentines Day!!

Treat yourself to supplies to make a professional looking bag that you will

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

 

Yes, I've got a SALE coming up, and this is just a heads up so you are ready for it!  My Valentines Sale will be announced on my newsletter (sign up on the right side bar) on Wednesday.  I'll also post it on Facebook as well as here on the blog.  Not all statuses are shared to all followers on Facebook these days, so make sure you are on the Newsletter list!  There will be discounts on all purse supplies and bag sewing patterns.


Also, last week I added a couple of new hardware items.  I'll be using these in my next handbag pattern, and I want to have all the supplies available in a neat little hardware kit that goes with the pattern.  Purse feet and square rings for handbag straps will be a couple of the optional items.  You can find them in my shop now... but it's okay if you want to wait for my Valentines Sale!!
 

 Thanks for looking, may your bobbins always be FULL