Vintage Singer Machine

How many sewing machines does one person need? No, I haven't bought another machine yet, but I am interested in one at the local thrift store. It is a 1969 Singer in a small cabinet. The price is very reasonable and the machine looks in very good shape. Maybe I'll stop by the store later and take another look.

Joe's 7330 Simplicity Shirt Finale

Joe's Simplicity 7330 shirt came together rather nicely.  The french seams gave it a more professional finish.  I used my Greist buttonholer for the button holes.

Back View

Front View

As you can see, I like my top button higher than Joe does.

Comparing my 7330 to Joe's 7330

Close-up of collar 

Again, I really like this pattern.  It has no hand sewing.  It makes for a professional looking finish.  I have been doing the notched-collar version.  Next time I am going to try it with the collar band with  long sleeves.

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French Seams For Joe's 7330 Simplicity Shirt

The shirt has been coming along quite well.  Today I decided I would try to do French Seams.  Actually, they were quite easy and did not take too much time.  It sure gives the shirt a nice finish.  Only thing left now is the armholes, but I think I will over-edge those.

First, I sewed the shirt with a 1/4" seam with insides together.  Then I folded the material good sides together, ironed the seam, then stitched a 1/2" seam.  I opened up the material and ironed the seams again.
That was it.

Stitch 1/4" seam with back-sides together 

Folded and ironed before stitching

Finished seam inside

Finished seam

I should have the shirt finished pretty soon.

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Joe's 7330 Simplicity Shirt update

I have been working on Joe's new shirt over the past few days.  It has been coming along fairly quickly.  Since I made this pattern before, it saves some of those "Duh, that is what the instructions mean" moments.

I purchased a new iron a few weeks ago.  My old one was still heating, but the steam had not been working for quite a while.  What a difference a little steam makes!

Black and Decker Iron

I sewed on the pocket to the left side.  There was not enough material to cut the pocket out so the stripes would match perfectly, I did the best I could do.  Lines up pretty good.

One thing I like about this pattern is the steps it saves by having the front placket all one piece.  A person simply irons in the interfacing and folds over to form the placket.  No sewing the placket on.

A new trick I found on a informative blog   off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com makes the collar points nice and easy.  I also watched a video on you tube by BrianSews.com  about this method.

Sew the long end of the collar.  Put a piece of looped thread against the seam and let it hang out as shown.

Sew the short ends.  Set the stitch to a shorter distance as you near the the looped thread. As you turn the collar right-side out, pull on the tails of the thread until the collar point pops out.  The looped thread just pulls out and you have a nice point.

Finished collar without all the trimming and fussing.

A nice sharp point.

That is it for the update.

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Starting a Simplicity 7330 Shirt for Joe

I found some material at the thrift store perfect for a shirt for Joe.  It had a little tag on it saying "Bamboo Shoots".  I think that is a perfect description.  It will fit Joe's personality.   As I mentioned in my last blog, I liked the Simplicity 7330 so much I made for myself, I decided to make a shirt for Joe with the same pattern.  I traced and cut out a new pattern since Joe wears a medium.

Cutting out Medium pattern

All pinned and ready to cut

Cut out

Interfacing

The Zip Snip cutter made cutting the material a breeze.  Now everything is ready to start sewing together.

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Kids, Colors, and Sewing

There was a variety of  activities this week.  I went to my grand-nephew's first birthday party.  His name is Chase, and he is a wonderful little boy.

Chase enjoying his party

Joe, Max, and I rode up to look at fall colors with Larry and his wife Karen.  Hope Valley is only an hour from where we live.  It is always a pretty place.  We like to camp there.  However, this day it was just for a picnic and picture taking.

Post Card Pretty

Joe and Max enjoying the scenery

I also finished my Simplicity 7330 shirt.  I really like this pattern.  There is no hand sewing and the collar is quite simple. It looks 50s or 60s retro, even though the pattern is from 1991.
I like this pattern so much, I am going to make a shirt for Joe with it as my next project.

Retro shirt

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Simplicity 7330 Shirt

I found some material with an interesting pattern just right for a short sleeve shirt.  One problem with buying material at a thrift store is you don't always get the yardage presented.  The tag on the material read 2 1/2 yards.  I decided I could make another McCalls 3 hour shirt in a short sleeve.  However, when I opened up the material at home, it was exactly 2 yards.  What to do now?   I looked through my stash and found a Simplicity 7330 pattern which is also represented as a 3 hour shirt.  It needed 2 yards.  I thought great, and started cutting.

Speaking of cutting,  My friend Larry gave me a rechargeable cutter called Zip Snip.  It worked great for cutting the material.  I can't believe how much easier than scissors this cut the material.

Simplicity 7330

The Zip Snip on the shirt material.

Fits my hand perfectly.

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