A Formal Introduction...

Today I was finally able to set up my sewing room (my brother's old room before he moved out and the current guest room) and get started on some serious work. I drafted a pattern for the jackets and coat which is princess cut and then made a "muslin" of it (I'll talk about that in a separate post). I put quotes around muslin because I actually don't have any muslin, so I use whatever fabric I happen to have around... It works well enough...

Anyways, I figured I'd give you a little introduction to all of my most important sewing tools.

This is Juliette. You've met her before, but at that time I hadn't figured out what I was going to name her. She's the newest addition to my collection of sewing stuff. She's currently sporting a black dress I made for festival chorus (black dress clothes were mandatory for concerts). Yes, those are zippers. Everyone loved it.

My other dress form is Patricia. I got her for $20 at an antique shop two years ago! One of her gears is broken, but it's not such a bad thing; she just needs to be set to my measurements. She's wearing a chandelier necklace that I made last year, a party dress made out of some strange fabric that resembles a thin tarp and is waterproof, and my great grandmother's amazing faux fur winter coat. She's just fabulous all around.

Next are my sewing machines. I have three. First is my old Singer sewing machine. This is the first sewing machine I ever had. I got it from my mom (thanks mom!). It's one of those ones that sits in a table and can be hidden inside or set up. on the inside flap of the table is carved the names Antoinette and Jerry, so I've taken to calling this machine Antoinette.

Jerry is my other old Singer. This one is also set in a table, and is currently out of order (sad face). I lost a screw somewhere inside of it, so now the bobbin doesn't connect properly. Sometime soon we'll get it fixed. I'm hoping this machine will be the one which can sew my jeans. Doesn't it look like it would be tough enough to do that? It also has various attachments that do zigzag stitches (Antoinette can only do straight stitching).

My newest machine is a Brother computerized one. This is the one I take with me when I go to school. I got it when I took the course for my Dressmaking and Design career degree with Penn Foster Career Schools; it was included in the tuition for the class! This one doesn't really have a name, although since it's a Brother, it reminds me of my fraternity (Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity). Maybe my brothers will allow it to be an honorary brother;

Theta 1217 1/8.

You've all seen my lovely sewing scissors, back from being lost (left behind) for a few weeks. It was so lovely to cut fabric with them today. They're just so good at it. I would also like to bring to your attention my pincushion. Oh holder of pins, you serve me well. Although the strawberry was lost long before I ever got it, so I've never had sharp pins... Ah, my iPod dock, giver of lovely music. Without it, I would be sewing in sad, boring silence. *shiver*

And last, but certainly not least, my stool. It's pretty nice. My butt has a certain fondness for it, even though it has virtually no padding anymore and no back to lean on. It's still pretty cool. It holds stuff (mainly the manuals for Jerry and Antoinette). I rather like it.

Well, enough blogging for me. Naptime! Or maybe I'll make this garment that's been bouncing around my brain for a week or two...