Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
A Damascus Vibrating Shuttle
What is a Damascus Vibrating Shuttle?
No, it did not come from Lover’s Package.
A Damascus Vibrating Shuttle is a treadle sewing machine that was manufactured by the National Sewing Machine Company and sold by Montgomery Wards in the 1920s.
I think it all started one day when I was web surfing……something led me to a site that featured treadle sewing machines and the people who collect them. I was intrigued and gradually convinced myself that I wanted one.
Craig’s List featured a few machines, mostly miles away from me, and I wasn’t really willing to drive very far to get one. Eventually I saw one that was located near my house, and I bought it.
After some doing I managed to figure out how it works. I found some needles for it and sewed some test stitches. Now I’m ready to make something real. I think the first project will be an apron.
This particular machine is pretty beat up. I can tell that it’s been used a lot because in its original condition it was much higher in quality compared to most manufactured items in our current time. When I sit in front of it I try to imagine all the women who have used this machine and what their projects were…..mending, curtains, aprons, dresses, skirts and quilts?
I’m going to warm up to this little treadle machine and eventually give it a name. I feel a closeness to it that I do not have for the modern sewing machines that I own.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Well, here it is…..the hottest week of the year has rolled around again and caught me without the pool and air conditioner I swore I’d never be without after the last Seattle heat wave (when was that again?). I’m renewing my vow. Next year I will be prepared!
Sadly, those days are gone, but I’m considering resurrecting them. Bob is building us a new patio this summer, and even though the kids are grown up and gone now, I can see myself getting another one of those pools for weeks like this one. The hot water tank is located in the laundry room, just off the patio……
Monday, June 15, 2009
High School Reunions
Our friends Peter and Rebecca are taking a cross country drive to
Friday, June 12, 2009
World’s Worst Blogger
Lazy.....That’s it, only two excuses.
Garden "Helpers" Huck & Becky
Thursday, June 26, 2008
In the early 90s I decided to replace my sewing machine with a new one, and I gave away my little Touch & Sew. Machines had advanced, and sergers were available for home sewing too, so I added a serger to my inventory. By the end of the 90s, patterns and fabric had become so expensive that it was no longer cost effective to make clothing because foreign made imports were so cheap. The kids had outgrown stuffed animals, so I settled in to making quilts exclusively. In 2006 I replaced my serger and sewing machine again with new models. Thus, I was up to 5 machines by now, more than the average.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I’ve been sewing since junior high school (a very long time ago). Back in those days you could go to any fabric store and actually find nothing but fabric, patterns and sewing notions. The stores were staffed by old ladies who would take your pattern pieces out of the envelope and lay them on top of your fabric to make sure you didn’t accidently buy 1/8th of a yard too much. Pattern prices were in the range of 65¢ for your average McCalls or Simplicity pattern to $1.85 or $2.25 for the really high end Vogue couture fashions. (You had to be a genius to sew those Vogue patterns.) Wow, have things ever changed!
Patterns are now $16 or $18 for McCalls, Simplicity and Butterick. You have to get a loan to buy a Vogue pattern. One curious similarity is the styles. As I glance through the pattern books today I feel like I’m back in 1964, but the old ladies are mostly gone, replaced by cashiers who don’t know much about sewing. I don’t know much about sewing clothes any more either. I stopped making clothes years ago when it became clear that I could buy them at half the cost.
The character of the stores themselves has changed tremendously. They’re still called fabric stores, but most actually contain very little fabric compared to the aisles and aisles of “crafting” supplies. Martha Stuart has her own special line of crafting supplies and projects, all in perfectly tinted pastels. You can make your own candles, soap, jewelry, greeting cards, floral baskets, wood furniture or Christmas ornaments by merely buying a kit of pre-cut, pre-mixed, pre-scented stuff and following the assembly instructions. Scrapbooking, formerly a free or at least affordable pastime, is now a multi-million dollar industry. In order to scrapbook you must buy the right stuff.
The last bastion of the true fabric store can still be found at most quilting shops. But even quilting is big business. The average woman who sews today is involved in some aspect of quilting. Most quilt shops also sell a variety of expensive quilting machines. My basic Janome machine was “only” about $1,200. It does simple stitches and embroidery, plus free motion quilting, but not computer graphic generated embroidery. Those machines range from $3,000 to $7,000. Today’s quilter buys an average of three machines during her lifetime, so you can understand the motivation for selling this product in the stores.