Work Blog | Made By Julianne

THE NEW OLD SCHOOL

7 February 2012 by Julianne

I gots a Pfaff! For more information about the Pfaff 1222E, check out my follow-up review as well as my tips on threading with industrial cones. Also you can replace the pedal if you have a “runaway” vintage sewing machine.

Jason got me this fantastic 1982 Pfaff 1222E, and it’s better than any engagement ring out there (engagement bobbin?). It came with a bunch of feet, the carrying case (which, oops, I already broke the bracket off, but I don’t think I would ever use the case), and an extension table.

We got it from a friend’s dad who restores machines, so I don’t have any qualms about the quality of this 30 year old German beauty. And let me tell you, it sews beautifully. I’ve been using it for a couple weeks now, sewing knits and wovens. This machine demands having the right settings for each stitch, but the results are worth the slight learning curve.

I find that I get better stitches with a high tension setting (5-7 rather than the recommended 3.5) and 100% poly thread on a spool, which necessitated replacing my random collection of blended serger cone threads with simple Coats & Clarks. For my old machine I would wind the cone threads onto bobbins, but the bobbins didn’t seem to have the right resistance on the Pfaff. Luckily Joann was having a thread sale last week, so I stocked up.

Also another large plastic piece, that seems to be broken or missing another component. I’m not too concerned about this, because it would get in the way of my free arm. In the interest of simplicity I’m tempted to chuck the strange piece into the recycling bin, but what if I need it in 30 years?! Suggestions?

Conveniently, the 1222E paves the way for the Pfaff Coverlock 4.0 (don’t tell my precious Juki, but yes, I still want the $1700 serger). The 10-year wedding anniversary is traditionally a serger, right?

We knew we made the right decision when we saw the lithium sign on the machine. A week earlier Jason gave me a necklace with the same symbol, and it’s also on Jason’s jumpsuit.

Meanwhile, I paid $50 to have a brand new motor put in the Singer 7444. This puts me in the luxurious position of having a back-up sewing machine. Maybe I will sew coiled bowls only on the refurbed Singer.

Juggling between three machines on my tiny desk inspired me to rethink how I store my notions. Before, I kept everything in my gorgeous gold sewing box perched on a shelf, but I had to stand up to get anything out. So I put an extra tray from another vintage sewing box in my side drawer, and I feel a little dumb for not doing this years ago. The gold box is still in use, but my everyday tidbits are now below eye level.

From there I was inspired to clean out the hall closet, but I have to draw the line on bloggable activities somewhere.

Thank you to Peri, Lark, and of course Jason for helping make this happen!

For more information about the Pfaff 1222E, check out my follow-up review as well as my tips on threading with industrial cones.

FANCY NAPKINS

5 February 2012 by Julianne

Inspired one evening by The Zero Waste Home, the pile of projects all over the apartment, and a glass of Cotes du Rhone, I decided to make myself a set of napkins to keep in my bag. They are separate from our home napkins (which incidentally, Jason hates) and intended to replace paper napkins on the go.

The cottons were all pre-cut into 10×10 squares, donated by my coworker Elle. I decided to make the napkins double sided to showcase the variety of prints, and I thought the cute pairs would be more of an incentive to use them.

Last week I also made a zipper pouch for my silverware set, using some tiny scraps of quilting cotton that I couldn’t bear to part with. It’s got chopsticks, a fork, and a spoon. I try to remember to include the soy sauce packets from Thai takeout for my usual avocado sushi lunch. I’m already good at keeping this in my bag, so the napkin set shouldn’t be a problem.

I wound up with 11 napkins, enough to throw the dirties in the laundry basket and still have clean ones in my bag.

This project was also a great opportunity for me to practice corners on my serger. I used the method from Sewing With Sergers, which works pretty well. I wonder if there are any other techniques for serging corners?

JORDAN'S SWEATER DRESS

1 February 2012 by Julianne

It’s been a while since I made anything for Jordan, and she’s been so good lately that I thought she deserved a new dress. The original plan was to make one for each of us, but the growing pile of sewing projects on my bedroom floor (plus the shrinking space in my closet) encouraged me to just sew one for her and wear it vicariously.

In retrospect, the weight of the skirt stretches out the bodice, so I wish I had made the top smaller.

This cozy dress is made out of a poly sweater knit from Fabric Planet; I think it’s $8/yd. The fabric is 100% synthetic: I put it in a purple dye bath and there was absolutely no color change. Ah well, the brown is a good color on Jordan, but it’s part of the reason I opted out of having one of my own.