Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Greatest Machine on Earth!


Tuesday (in the midst of a marathon sewing week for a reenactment event this weekend) the "accelerator" of my sewing machine quit working.  It is a pneumatic driven foot attachment, and after about 15 or 20 minutes of fiddling with it my husband "miraculously" got it working again.  HUGE sigh of relief, as I still had an entire dress yet to finish!  And so, today's Stamp Simply card is a card celebrating "the greatest machine on earth!"  Believe me, after making part of a colonial era costume completely by hand, I am really happy to be sewing what seems like miles and miles of cotton by machine rather than by hand.   The skirt hem I'm working on now for the style popular in the 1860's is about 130 inches around, not to mention petticoats of similar dimension with multiple tucks.  Just thinking of sewing that without a machine makes me cringe!


I had originally intended to use some gray seam binding for a bow (hence all the grays and no kraft card stock for the layers), but ended up unable to resist the softer, more feminine colors of this ombre` pink/champagne silk.  I added little scraps of lace, tulle, and burlap string to add to the vintage feel.


I thought this paper was nearly too pretty to cover up!  Couldn't resist using the scrap left over from the front of the card on the inside, as well as a strip of a coordinating print.  This sentiment is one of my favorites from our Farmhouse Simple Sentiments set.  

Here are the products I used for today's project:
And here's a little glimpse into what I've been sewing for the last few weeks!  Everything you see here is hand-made by me...using the greatest machine on earth!  ;)

 Chemise, drawers, corset, and cage
Yes, I hammered every single one of those grommets in by hand!

More on the dress, and hopefully some photos of the event, later! Have a great weekend!  See you next week!

2 comments:

  1. Oh Deb, Your dress is so amazing. I would love to see it when the skirts are done! My husband is a civil war expert but has not gone to a re-enactment. He does have an original southern uniform and I once attempted make him a period shirt with puffed sleeves. Even though I completed it, it was not very good. He has a beautiful collection of muzzle loader Rifles & pistols. I have an original 1906 Sewing machine (with the belt & foot pedals) with the original book that came with it. I would love it if you would send me a picture of your dress when complete. Have you made others? Also, I don't know if this would help with those Grommets or that you are even interested, but the cropodile would work great and save some stress. Hugs & Happy stamping! Lori
    pepperirish@yahoo.com

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    1. Thanks, Lori! I think your husband and my friend Brad would get along famously. He is into all of the artifacts and history but not the crowds.

      Still working on finishing my dress. As soon as this one is done I will be starting another!

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