Sunday, August 28, 2011

Vintage Sewing Machine

My blog has been totally neglected. I know. If I'm honest I'll admit that I have no remorse about it. Real life has been savored... The kids are growing so fast, summer was fun, school has started!

That said, I'm very inspired once again. My early anniversary present from my husband has me beaming, nearly giggling with joy! Here she is!


Yes, she. I may name her. My guitar has no name. I've yet to name a car. But this, is a thing of beauty. Still trying to decide if I think naming inanimate objects is weird for me. Anyway...

After my old machine that I got at Walmart 8 years ago stampeded through my last sewing project I started doing research about getting another one. Every time I see a vintage one I drool over it but never dreamed of owning one. It was only this morning that I held my breath and browsed the interwebs in hopes of finding out that vintage machines were wonderful sewers without too much maintenance. I was sold very quickly and got this old lovely lady just a few hours later for $50 from craigslist. It's likely from the '50s and is a knockoff of a Singer 15-91 or something like that. I'm not so much into name brand especially since that made it much less expensive. But it is a Montgomery Ward. If you sew and I've got you curious about vintage machines now check out this blog.

I poured over the manual online before going to check it out and when I got home and turned her on it was a lovely moment. It basically purrs and stitches like a dream. Compared to this my old one stabs at the fabric and sounds like a train. So now I'm on a mission to acquire sewing machine oil, inspect the wiring, clean her up and get sewing!!! Did I mention it came with a lot of sewing feet? I've only identified about half of them and I'm very eager to use them! One more thing... It's HEAVY! All made of metal which is why this thing works so awesomely after 50-60 years and will probably keep on going for another 50 years! Here's some more pictures... just in case you can't stop looking at it either. :)













Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Monkeys!



There are so many summer birthdays! At least it seems that way this year. But I've been having fun staying out of the heat of summer some to create for them. I've wanted to make a cute monkey pattern for a while. When I had two one-year-old birthdays, my little monkey of a nephew and his cousin that hangs onto her mama like a monkey, I knew I was going to try. Monkeys are tricky I've learned. It's very hard to make the faces cute! But I was pretty happy with the end result. Hope you enjoy!












The free crochet pattern is below if you'd like to try your hand at a monkey! Please use this pattern for personal purposes, gifts, or charity only and don’t sell the finished product or the pattern. Please don’t copy the pattern either. You can feel free to link to my blog or store. Thanks!

Monkey

I used a size G crochet hook and Lionbrand Fisherman's Wool Nature Brown yarn, and for the face some wool/acryllic yarn from a sweater I unraveled into yarn. I think any yarn about the same gauge as the Fisherman's Wool would work fine.

Head
Row 1: 6 sc in a loop, tighten loop
Row 2: 2sc in each around (12 total)
Row 3: sc, 2sc, repeat around (18 total)
Row 4: sc, sc, 2sc, repeat around (24 total)
Row 5: sc, sc, sc, 2sc, repeat around (30 total)
Row 6-12: sc even
Row 13: sc, sc, sc, sc2tog, repeat around (24 total)
Row 14: sc, sc, sc2tog, repeat around (18 total)
Row 15: sc, sc2tog, repeat around (12 total)
Sl st to round off. Stuff with stuffing, finish off

Face
Row 1: 6sc in a loop, tighten loop
Row 2: sc, 3sc, 3sc, sc, 3sc, 3sc (14 total)
Row 3: sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc, sc, sc, sc, sc, 2sc, 2sc, sc, sc (18 total)
Row 4: *sc2tog, sc* repeat around (12 total)
sl st to round off
(The background for the eyes is stitched on.)

Ear (2)
Row 1: 5 sc in a loop, tighten loop
Row 2: 2sc in each around (10 total)
Row 3: sc even
Row 4: sc, sc, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc (8 total)
Sl st to round off

Body
Row 1: 6sc in a loop, tighten loop
Row 2: 2sc in each around (12 total)
Row 3: sc, 2sc, repeat around (18 total)
Row 4: sc, sc, 2sc, repeat around (24 total)
Row 5-9: sc even
Row 10: sc, sc, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc the rest of the row even (22 total)
Row 11: sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc, sc, sc, sc2tog, sc, sc, sc, sc, sc, sc (18 total)
Row 12-13: sc even
Row 14: *sc, sc, sc2tog* repeat 4 times, sc, sc (14 total)
Row 15: *sc, sc2tog* repeat 4 times, sc, sc (10 total)
Row 16: sc2tog (do not repeat..), sl to round off
Finish off, stuff with beans in the bottom and stuff the rest with stuffing

Arms (2)
Row 1: 6 sc in a loop, tighten
Row 2-11: sc even, Sl st to round off
Finish off


Legs (2)
Row 1: 8 sc in a loop, tighten loop
Rows 2-3 : sc even
Row 4 (partial row): sc, sc, sc, sc, ch 1, turn
Row 5 (partial row): sc, sc, sc, sc, ch 1, turn
Row 6: skip 1, sc, sc, skip 1, sc in side of row 5, (rest of row is worked on the unworked portion of row 3) sc, sc, sc, sc, sc side of row 5
Row 7-13: sc even (8 total) sl st to round off
Finish off

Tail
Row 1: 5 sc in a loop, tighten loop
Rows 2-16: sc even, sl st to round off
Finish off and sew all parts together
Embroider background for eyes, and face details.

Please use this pattern for personal purposes, gifts, or charity only and don’t sell the finished product or the pattern. Please don’t copy the pattern either. You can feel free to link to my blog or store. If you want to translate the pattern into a different language, feel free to, just link back to me please. Thanks!