This cute Bernina was produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I found it at the Goodwill, hiding inside a nondescript sewing machine cabinet. The power cord was missing, so I couldn’t try out the motor, but it was only $20 and I could always return it if it didn’t work. When I got…
I am madly working on Christmas presents, and have nothing to show at the moment, so I thought I would share another vintage Lockport pattern book. Lockport Batting Company was probably similar to Mountain Mist, who also published their own quilt patterns. Lockport had a relationship with Anne Orr, but although my other Lockport book…
In honor of Mary Blair’s Birthday, I thought I would show you this Disney record I purchased for its fabulous Mary Blair cover. I’m a big fan of Mary Blair, and I love the design of the Small World ride (both the outside and the inside), but that song drives me crazy. We got stuck…
Gordon just finished making the doll bed to go with Marjorie’s quilt — a Christmas gift. The bed was designed by Ana White and is available as a free download on her site. The directions are great — I only changed the length of the legs to make the bed a little higher off the…
Emily and Aaron decided to serve Molly Moon’s ice cream for dessert instead of a cake or cupcakes. The ice cream turned out to be a good choice, since it was a very warm day. Fortunately, the Georgetown Ballroom is conveniently set up for food vendor trucks since they can just drive right into the…
Emily Gray and Aaron Robertson September 4, 2011 Georgetown Ballroom, Seattle
This morning I got an email from Emily, and she mentioned that Aaron’s mother made a cute curtain with some of the embroidered wedding napkins. I started thinking that I have 50+ napkins that guests left on their tables, plus yards of fabric pennants, and a big pile of vintage doilies and dresser scarves. Why…
Okay. . . Seattle is probably the most unlikely place I can think of to use a clothesline, but I love these old fashioned clothespin bags. My very favorites are the ones that look like tiny dresses. It took most of the day to make this bag, because I am not that great at drafting…
A little apron for fall, although I must confess that autumn in Seattle is pretty soggy. This adorable vintage Waverly fabric is from the Etsy shop of my friend, Barbara, at Oodles and Oodles, and the selvage is marked “A Waverly Bonded Fabric – Glosheen.” I just love these vintage Waverly 36″ wide decorator…
This is an apron for my friend, Krysta, a fabulous teacher who used to work at my (former) school. Krysta is getting married soon and she is also incorporating vintage elements into her wedding. When she told me how much she loved the aprons I made for our shower guests, I wanted to make one…
This little purse (which I mentioned in an earlier post about beading) was a Christmas gift to my mother from her Aunt Emma in 1930. I still have the note that her aunt placed inside the bag, which reads: Dear Marjorie, I wonder if you would like an old keepsake for Christmas. I have had…
There are lots of projects I need to complete between now and Christmas, but I knew these little quilts would be first on the list. Jenny S., one of the wonderful teachers at my (former) school, is pregnant with twin boys, and I wanted to make the babies some bright and cheery quilts. This is…
One of the nice things that came out of our nostalgia trip to Bartlesville was a visit to our old elementary school and our church. The former church community center across the street now has a sign that reads “Martha’s Task — Sew Original.” The front of the building is a store where lots of…
On our way back to tiny Bluff, Utah after hiking down to the Natural Bridges, we stopped at a second-hand shop in Blanding. We have visited a couple of antique shops on this trip, but none of them had sewing items. This store is called Transitions, and it provides vocational rehab to all of the…
In the 70s, my sister and I tried making drawstring leather purses out of shammies on which we had sewn glass beads in Native American patterns — a project from McCall’s Needlework, I think. It was tricky to keep the lines of bead work straight, and the design became more and more wonky as we…