Friday, June 5, 2009

"Romper" Room and machine meme

The one year old's romper and shirt are finished. I am really happy with how this turned out. You probably recognize the plaid fabric from Little Man's shorts and shirt that I made for his birthday.
The dark spots are water from my iron. I just finished ironing before I took this photo. I dropped my iron yesterday, and things went flying that were once a part of it. So, now it's leaking water!!! UGH!!!

Here's the shirt by itself. I think the romper would be cute without the shirt, too. I didn't take a picture that way, though.

I'm happy with the way the plaids lined up down the front, on the pocket, then the shoulder seam, and finally on the side seam.

This fabric ravels pretty badly, so I used narrow binding on the insides. This shows the sleeve and side seam.


I used the plaid as the facings on the romper, partly because I thought it looked cute that way, but mostly because I was OUT of the solid blue brushed cotton.
I made up the pocket. The pattern shows two pockets on the sides, but I decided to border a square of the solid with the plaid and put a cute little sail boat in the center. Remember, I don't have an embroidery machine, so this isn't very professional looking. I just sewed it as if I was drawing a picture using the double straight stitch on my machine. I usually hand embroider everything, but not this time.
Instead of snaps I sewed in velcro for the crotch closure for easy diapering.




My sewing machine meme:

What brand and model do you have? I have a Pfaff 2046. It isn't very fancy.

How long have you had it? I've had this machine about 3 years.

How much does that machine cost (approximately)? I don't really remember. I traded in my old machine and my serger and still paid around $750???? I think.

What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)? I mostly make children's lcothing, but I make whatever comes up that someone wants. I never sew for myself or garments for any grownups.

How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get? I sew almost every day.

Do you like/love/hate your machine? I like my machine. I don't love it or hate it, just like. my favorite machine was my first Singer when I was in high school in the late 60's.

Are you ambivalent? I guess so.

Passionate? Sometimes I get passionate, but not in a good way. I get very frustrated with her sometimes. But, I get frustrated with myself more often.

Does she have a name? I call her Babs because those are my grandmother's initials, and she's the one who taught me to sew.

What features does your machine have that work well for you? They all work well, there just aren't too many fancy features.

Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? Yes, as I am sewing sometimes the thread pops out of the uptake arm, (why????) and of course the thread gets all wadded up underneath what I'm sewing!

Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! I have sewed through my thumbnail, all the way through. The needle came out of the machine and was, like I said, all the way through my thumb!!! Owwww! I don't think it was this machine, though. My grandmother taught me to sew on her treadle machine. Simple but functional.

Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Yes, if they are looking for a fairly straightforward machine without lots of bells and whistles. I would like to have monograming ability.

What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? I think it is important to go for the lessons the shop offers to learn about the different features on your machine. I haven't done this because I live an hour away from the shop where I bought her, and who has time to drive for two hours? I wouldn't have time to sew if I did that. What weird reasoning!

Do you have a dream machine? no, I haven't researched enough for that. I do not really want embroidery capability, but I do wnat to monogram things.

10 comments:

gwensews said...

That little romper and shirt are just way too adorable! What a lucky little boy! He'll be so cute in that. You really have a knack of sewing little clothes--an eye for it. Do you copy RTW, clip magazine photos, or do your ideas form in your head?

Zep said...

That boat reminds me of my MIL's sewing (I sure do miss her). I can't believe you sew that good and don't sew for yourself. I learned something new about you :)

And why does the the thread come off the take up lever??? It's a mystery to me. I've noticed that on many different brands of machines. One of the things I tell my students to look for when the bobbin is in properly. The loops on the bottom of the fabric when in the machine are usually bobbin issues. Sometimes it's caused from not having the right tension when winding the bobbin. Just wind the thread to a new bobbin.

I learned on a Kenmore. I like my $250 Kenmore best but I own 7 different machines.

Unknown said...

OMG!! That set is sooo cute!!

XUE said...

These outfits are so adorable & so are the little dresses for the American Dolls!!! As we would say over here - kawaii !!! - so cute !!! Thank you for taking time to visit.

Diana said...

Hi. You have been awarded the Lovely Blog Award at http://djstoreroom.blogspot.com!

Happy Sewing!

Anonymous said...

That's so cute.

Emily,

www.sewingsister.blogspot.com

window dressing said...

I love the plaid shirt with the romper. It is so cute. Love the embroidery of the sailboat too. Beautifully done!
My machine is a Kenmore (very, very old model). I love it though, it is my baby. Very trustworthy and runs nicely. My sister had bought it around 30 years ago because she wanted to learn how to sew. Well it sat in the box for the longest time until I showed an interest in sewing and it has been mine ever since. It is not the only machine I have.... My uncle had a sewing factory and when he retired he tried to sell off the equipment and he gifted me one of the industrials. It is a brother and I absolutely love it! It intimidates me a bit though, because of the motor and the power of it and I don't use it as much.

Karen said...

Soooo cute!!! What a lucky little boy who gets this. Timeless

Sandra @ Pepperberry & Co. said...

Aw! Everything's so gorgeous when it's tiny :-) Well done on sewing these, they're marvelous!

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