Kinda getting into the spirit....

So, I must be just narcissistic enough to be enjoying this whole blog thing. I was never any good at diaries - so I will be depending on you (as soon as there is a "you") to interact with me in some way.

Otherwise, I am like a goldfish, and will quickly get distracted by something shiny.

Mmmmmmm......vintage jewelry!!!!

Ooooh - pretty vintage shinys. Like brooches, or Bakelite buttons, or sewing machine decals, or vintage stand mixers....

(sound of record player abruptly stopping) wait, did I say vintage stand mixers??  Yes, yes I did, friends. It is definitely one of my more.....erm...."quirky" collections.

But... isn't that why you love me??? Because I'm fun, outspoken, creative, and quirky???

(crickets chirping)

Well.... okay, okay - we just met. Maybe love IS a strong word - don't get weird on me like every boy in high school did just because I have low boundaries, daddy issues, and a constant need for attention.

Wait...what were we talking about? Oh, right - stand mixers.

It all started when I bought my house. I live in a cute arts n crafts house built around the turn of the last century.  The previous homeowners had updated at some point in the mid-1960's - blonde wood cabinetry, plastic wall tiles, funky cabinet hardware...and terrible wall-to-wall carpeting over hardwood floors (???????)  My ex (I've been married twice before - I call this one "The Sequel") and I were broke - we had just bought a house, after all, and couldn't afford to remodel. Instead we decided to embrace the funkyness of our new house (sans carpeting), and go with mid-century modern decor.

This brings me to the kitchen - with lovely turquoisey-green plastic wall tiles for a backsplash, blonde wood cabinetry, and a gold sparkle countertop I knew not just any mixer would do.  It would have to be vintage, and it would have to be cool.  My first purchase was a Sunbeam Mixmaster model 12 in white......and then I found out it came in colors...

Like this turquoise one that now lives in my kitchen.....

...and then I learned to fix them.....

and the collection grew.....

...and grew...

....and grew....

Are you getting the idea?

next thing you know....

You are the proud owner of 36 (or so) mixers.

 Just so you know I'm not COMPLETELY off my rocker, I do give them away from time-to-time, and occasionally I do sell one or two.  My friend Ian says my booth at the antique mall is an "exit strategy" so I don't become a full-fledged hoarder.

(Shows what he knows - he hasn't seen my basement)


This is the one collection I get asked the most about. The pictures here are by far not the entirety of the collection - heck, most of the really cool ones aren't even represented. If you're interested, say so in the comments! I'll be happy to show off more of my mixers.

If you think I'm absolutely daft, let me distract you with a picture of a very cute (but evil) kitty:

Zephyr (also known as Kitten, Fatty Arbuckle, and Pure Evil)

My Newest machine

As an experiment in blogging, I'm going to pretend I have readers and talk about my "new" (to me) sewing machine.

Here she is:

A Singer 66 "Redeye" Treadle!!!!

 Oooooo!

 (With flash)

 (Without flash)

Ahhhhhhhh!

 Ohhhhhhhh!

Some decal damage on the back - not done by me. I damaged the "Singer Manufacturing Co." decal on the top (notice there are no pictures of it *whistles innocently) When I first brought her home the "eye" next to the "r" in "Singer" was absolutely covered in black schmutz - I couldn't even see if the decal was still there at all!  I knew there was supposed to be one, because I had scrutinized pictures of other people's machines on the internet. So, I took a leap of faith and started scrubbing (carefully) with Murphy's Oil Soap. Eventually I started to see the shape of the decals emerge from underneath the crud. Slowly, slowly the colors started to come out. The large decal near the belt on the pillar was also almost completely obliterated with inky black yuk. I don't know what the substance was, but it was gross - and stubborn to clean!   Oddly enough the aforementioned decal that I did damage did not happen in the cleaning process - it happened when I tried to polish the machine with car wax. One gentle swipe and the words smeared together. I stopped polishing that area immediately.  The words are still legible, they are just a bit "squishy" around the edges now.  I finished up my polishing with a layer of sewing machine oil. I think she looks pretty snazzy overall! I don't really mind all of her bumps and scrapes. Actually, I sort of like them - they are a visual record of the years of labor this old gal has been put through.

Oh - she also came with a perfectly good leather belt!

 There's still some weird schmutz on this bed decal. I haven't decided if I care enough to work on it. If you look closely, you can see the left edge of the decal partially disappear under a layer of.....old oil? A bad paint touch-up job? Fireplace soot? Sin and hate?

BONUS!  Drawers with GOODIES!! (I don't know what all of the feet do yet - and some won't fit this machine....I will keep you updated)

...and the tiniest thimble I have ever seen! What small, dainty hands the previous owner must have had. What big, weird, pink, meathooks I have!  (ignore the dirty nails - I never said I was a hand model...)

Did you know you can date these by looking up the serial number?  Come to find out, this baby was made in June of 1920. Pretty amazing!  Check out these terrible photos of the beautiful, balanced stitches she makes:

Front:

 And back:

 I was worried treadling would be complicated (I'm not exactly known for my grace and coordination), but it it actually much easier than I thought!  Sewing with it was slow - very start-and-stop as I haven't gotten a rhythm down yet. That being said, I was able to make a swell pair of curtains for my bathroom "refresh" (it's not really a full-blown remodel - that's another story for another day)

Here is a picture of the curtains in question. The fabric was fifty cents from the local St. Vincent du Paul, the lining was an old curtain that cost me $1.50 at goodwill. Not bad for two bucks, eh?  I admit I did run the fabric through my serger first.  The curtain fabric is vintage, silky, slubby, and frays like crazy! The treadle is a straight stitch, and I don't like taking chances with my seams. Sewing costumes for the festival has instilled in me a need to engineer everything I make within an inch of its life! This is because costumes at festival take a beating and need to be able to withstand a hurricane (literally and figuratively).

I haven't named her yet - Bettie, Jayne, Marilyn, Liz, Doris, and Audrey are all taken by various bits of technology (Chromecast, laptop, tablet, etc.) and my dressmaker form (that's Doris).  Actually, I haven't named any of my machines yet - seems strange since I still have the machine I learned to machine-sew on (a Singer Scholastic - coincidentally built the same year I was).

Well, thanks for sitting through another post! If you happen to read this, feel free to write me a message in the "comments" section.

Ahem....(tap tap)...uh - is this thing on?

Greetings and Salutations......

Wait, no!  That's not the first thing I want to say. After all, this is going out onto the interwebs - to be stored in some server somewhere for all of eternity!

I need to put some thoughts into this - what should I say? My first words going out should be pithy, profound and powerful; I should say something meaningful, memorable, momentous  - something with apparent alliteration....

Something that will generate TONS of traffic....

Soooo....hi. (insert awkward microphone squawk)

<sigh> - I really think that's really the best I can do at 3:44 in the morning

Welcome to my blog!  I'm sure it is just my family reading this. After all, in the ever-increasing din of blogs, is there room for my voice? Well, we are going to find out - you and I together....

All ten of you.

So - since there are only a few of us (and we're all friends anyway) lets make some art, sew some vintagey clothes, look at pictures of cool vintage stuff, and basically just have some fun!

My plans for this blog? To document my creative endeavors (both successful and not so), discuss feminism and what it means as a fiber artist, show you how to make cool stuff, discuss the world of being a professional artist (and how to make money at it), and occasionally post pics of some of my favorite vintage items.

What do I mean by the term vintage? In this context I am referring to just after the turn of the last century (think Titanic era) up to about the 1970s (some day I will accept the 1980s - some day).  Specifically I'm interested in the fashions and styles of the mid-20th century (post WWII to mid 1960's), but I do stretch out from there.

I also make Elizabethan clothes. Didn't see that coming, did you?

Do you like to sew? Are you interested in cool vintage eye candy?  Want to be an artist, but don't know how?  Well, then - it looks like you are in the right place. Pop some popcorn, grab a soda, and let's talk....