Current-Day Shirting Prints

I love reproduction shirting prints, the ones with white/light/cream backgrounds with small motifs repeated across the fabric.  I buy a fat quarter or more when I see them and can't resist taking them home.  My love of shirting prints also includes the ones used to made men's shirts these days.  (Sitting in church a little over a year ago I noticed a young father wearing a shirt with a wonderful print on it.  It took a lot of self control not to ask him for it when he was finished it with.)  I sometimes find shirts with those tiny prints at the thrift stores and bring them home.  I've learn to take a needle with me to test a shirt's worthiness to be hand quilted. 

These are current-day shirting prints from a few of the men's shirts I've found.  I think they are fun and useful for some kinds of quilts.

These fabrics below, with flowery prints instead of tiny repeats, come from women's shirts and blouses.  I believe a few of them are lawn, perhaps Liberty of London fabric, but they weren't marked so I can't know for sure. 

And these next four are not from clothing but from sheets or pillowcases.  Some sheeting fabric is too densely woven to hand quilt but the needle went through these easily.

It's probably a little unorthodox to buy thrift store clothing for quilting fabric (though I know some other quilters who do, too) but it seems like I'm following a long tradition of women repurposing clothing for other uses.  It feels thrifty to me.  I can get the equivalent of several fat quarters in one shirt for less than the cost of one fat quarter at the quilting shop.  Fabric for clothing is not like fabric made specifically for quilting; the texture may be different and the quality is not the same -- sometimes even better and the colors even faster, other times not.  So I admit I have to be careful in my choices or I can bring home some duds. 

What about you?  Do you use fabric from thrift store finds?  Do you look for particular kinds or styles or colors of fabric?  Do you have a good success rate using them?

--Nancy.

How She Wound Her Bobbin

When I see sewing notions (at the thrift store or if we happen to stop at a yard sale) -- a box with a package of unopened Singer needles, some pins, a few bobbins, spools of thread, and buttons -- all for a dollar, they're mine.  This bobbin and a few others were in a box I bought last year.

I know this isn't the clearest photo but I think you can see enough detail.  The owner of this bobbin tied the end of the thread around one of the holes in the bobbin, then wound some thread onto the bobbin.  And then she used a different color of thread, tied it around one of the holes, and wound more thread.  And repeated the process several more times.  There were five different colors of thread on this bobbin.

Did she wind all the thread on the same day?  Did she use the first color and then later, when she needed a different color, wind the second color onto the same bobbin, perhaps because she didn't have but one or two bobbins?  I'm puzzled about why she tied the thread around the holes.  (They were so tightly tied I had a hard time getting the point of my seam ripper under the thread.)  Do you tie the ends of thread around the hole in the bobbin?

I am always fascinated by others' sewing notions.  Are you, too?

--Nancy.
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Singer (almost) All the Way

I love shopping at thrift stores, though maybe just slightly less with bedbugs threatening to take over.

The other day I found a clear plastic bag with some sewing notions.  I saw the bobbins first, then the needles and decided it was worth $1.50. 

Many of the items will be useful but I don't recognize some of them.  Maybe some of you know....

Those flat bobbins just left of center toward the top... what kind of machine uses those?  I thought I could put them on the thread holder of my 201 but the hole is too small.

That needle plate cover.... what kind of machine is that for and what does it do?

Those little cream-colored plastic things toward the bottom....  What are those for?

And I'd ask you about the presser feet but the photograph probably isn't good enough for you to tell what they're for, other than the one at left which I know is a zipper foot.

Anyone want some ballpoint needles?  I think they're only good for knit fabric.

I thought it was interesting to see 4 different kinds of packages for Singer needles.  The little plastic cases look very handy.

That cloth pouch toward the top is folded over and closed with a safety pin.  It has about a dozen sewing machine needles in it.  I hope they're Singer brand.

The needle threaders all look the same but they are 3 different sizes.  Maybe I will try the Dritz magnetic seam guide.

Are you a thrift store shopper?

--Nancy.
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Crocheted Hotpads, Thrift Style

Sometimes I can hardly resist vintage kitchen linens when I find them, especially if they are a thrifty price.  This delightful pair was there last week just waiting to come home with me.  They are about 5 1/2" square and about 3/8" thick.  I know they are crocheted, but I can't figure out how they are made....

The front looks like this:

I think it is a double or triple crochet but my knowledge of crochet is somewhat limited.  The crochet stitches on the front are about 1/4" deep.

The back looks like this:

What kind of foundation would be under all these lovely stitches?  The hotpads are soft, bendable, and thick.  I think they would be a fine protection for hands holding hot pans, but I can't bring myself to use them.  At least not yet.

Here's another view of a close-up of the crochet stitches.

You can imagine that my kitchen has very eclectic linens when you think of me using them together.  I would not use these colors for curtains that I see every day at my windows, but I'd be happy to use them for hotpads -- if they wouldn't wear out!

Happy thrifting to you!
--Nancy.
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I Found...

...this box at the thrift store last Friday. I can always tell a box for a sewing machine but I can never tell what will be inside until I open it. I'm usually disappointed.

This time I was surprised.

A man standing nearby came over and told me that he had many machines at home and had repaired some of them.  He told me to be aware of any frayed wiring and be sure all the parts were there (though I wouldn't have known if they weren't).  He thought the machine was from about 1950.  It looked older to me.

This machine is not a Featherweight!  I picked it up - or tried to pick it up - to tote it to the outlets but it was so heavy I had to ask my husband to carry it.  There was a needle and a bobbin but no spool on the top.  Surprisingly, it stitched, though the dull needle poked holes into my fabric.  (No, I don't always carry scraps of fabric but I was looking for a specific color of fabric for a project.)  The price was $20.20.  My husband said, "Buy it!"  I deliberated a few minutes, then put it in our cart.  This evening I had time to pull it out and take a closer look at it.

As you'll see in the photos below, either the machine was well-loved but not properly cared for or it was mostly unloved.  Notice the speckling (from what?) and all the dust.  Ugh!  Where to begin?

The finishes on Singers seem to be very fragile and they don't all respond the same way to the same products. I don't think I should use water but I'm not sure what to use.

The cover on the bobbin case gave me an idea of the machine's age, though I wasn't able to read it till I took the photo. 

I looked on the Singer website and found that the machine was made in 1915.  I tried to get in touch with the Singer company to get the model number but haven't been able to get through yet.  I need the model number to order a manual.

The machine has been used recently enough to have a plastic bobbin and plastic tape guides near the needle.  Notice how the back of the presser foot comes down at an angle?  It looks odd to me.

I put a new needle in and put a spool of thread on top and threaded it how I thought it should go.  I plugged in both plugs -- one into the presser foot/knee pedal cord, the other into an electrical outlet.  Then I pressed the presser foot to stitch.  Uhhh, I had something wrong because the spool thread came out and got lost.  After threading it several different ways and changing the bobbin to unwind counter-clockwise, I was finally able to sew.  Looks pretty good....

... until you turn it over.

Is the problem the threading, the tension (which I don't know how to adjust), a mechanical problem (that will be expensive to repair), or is the machine unrepairable?  I hope it's one of the first two!

Here are photos of how I threaded it.  Any thoughts, anyone?  Aside from the obvious nail to hold the thread at the top, all the other parts look like they're there (to eyes inexperienced to nearly-100-year-old sewing machines).  It seems like it threads into the needle from the left.

If any of you who read this have experience with old Singers, I would be grateful to correspond with you.

Some other things I've noticed about this Singer sewing machine are that

• it's belt driven
• it has only one stitch length
• it goes forward only, and
• there's no obvious tension knob

 I wish I knew the history of this old machine.  I wonder if the lady who first owned it thought she was on Cloud Nine to be able to stitch so quickly and neatly.

Happy stitching to you!

--Nancy.

This is a Vintage Thingie Thursday post.

Thrift for Quilts

Sometimes I shop for my quilt fabric at the thrift store. Sometimes I find shirts and skirts that look brand new. Sometimes I buy them for 50 cents or a dollar. Usually a shirt or skirt has more than a fat quarter in it.

I've never been a person devoted to the newest, the most modern, or the most stylish, so I don't mind that I'm not buying the most popular designer quilting fabrics.

Before I buy anything at the thrift store I take a whiff of it. If there's the least scent of mildew or age it stays at the store. If I smell fabric softener I know that will wash out, but it's nearly impossible to get rid of the mildew and age odors.

Immediately upon arriving in my home I remove the tags and toss the clothes in the dryer for 20 minutes. Bedbugs are not welcome at my house.

The next order of business is to soak them in the washer to remove "human" odors. I use the lowest water level setting and use the hottest water that's safe for the clothes. I add 1/2 cup salt and 1 cup of vinegar. The clothes rest in the water for at least 30 minutes. Then I add regular laundry soap/detergent, more water, and wash as usual.

About 10 years ago I saw plaid fabrics used for quilts in Roberta Horton's book, Scrap Quilts: The Art of Making Do. The fabric stores didn't have many plaids but the thrift stores had wonderful, nearly new plaid shirts for 50 cents. I was on my way. I still have plenty of plaids which I don't hesitate to mix with prints and plains.

I credit Roberta Horton's book with my foray into thrift store fabric shopping.
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