Workbox

I'm revising my sewing corner now that I have the new sewing table and this is one of my favourite things. I've loved inlaid Victorian boxes for years and finally found the sewing box I liked best on ebay. It wasn't the fanciest one by far, but it has all the details I've decided I wanted after years of gazing adoringly at pictures online.

On the outside it has nice inlaid wood in a detailed pattern. The main wood has a nice colour and patina. The inside of the lids of these antique sewing boxes are usually covered in ruched velvet, or have a button-tufted upholstery kind of look, or are just plain silk. This one is a bit unusual with the lattice pattern on green silk. Most of the boxes are lined with pink or blue.
My favourite parts are the trays with compartments. This one is fitted with silk-covered pincushions, and some silk-covered lids with small mother of pearl buttons.
This is a detail of the mother of pearl cartouche on the top. Sometimes these are silver, and some have engraved initials.
And there's a matching mother of pearl escutcheon - which is what the little detail around the key is called. Unfortunately this box didn't come with a key - but after all it's not that necessary. It would keep the lid closed while carrying the box around but it's not really meant for travel - well, just travel around the living room.
And this is the inside with just a few odds and ends. Mostly tins that keep pins, snaps and buttons. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Heaven!

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Anniversary post

I don't want to brag but it's our 2-year anniversary today and I feel really lucky because I have the loveliest husband ever. For example, yesterday he went to the workroom to find the "single girl" Denyse Schmidt quilt pattern for me because he knew that's the one I was hoping to use for my next quilt. How sweet is that? Unfortunately it wasn't in stock in the shop yet, which made me realize how much I depend on Karyn for my craft supplies. I was sure I had seen it there. But of course I have lots of other projects to keep me busy in the meantime.

I like taking candid pictures of people, but it doesn't always work out... I got the impromtu smile but it's pretty blurry.

So today I was thinking of what I should post for our anniversary and decided to show some pictures from our last camping trip in August.
This photo is pretty terrible too but I had to show you - we saw a bear! You really don't have a lot of time to compose the photo when you see a bear. I didn't even get the chance to zoom in so you can pretty much see how far away he was. I wasn't scared of him because he just seemed very slow and ambly (not a word - I mean ambling along-ish). Like he's had his main meal but was just sort of mildly interested in an extra snack. Luckily we're good campers and all the food was tucked away.
This is my favourite part of Kilbear where we were staying, the beach at Granite Saddle. It has this pretty grove of trees near the beach which is fairly small but rarely crowded.
The first day was a bit cloudy but we still did some swimming in case it was rainy on the next day. And this is what I like to do on the beach...We're also big readers. We read at the campsite, on the beach, and in our hammock. I don't have a picture of it though because the only one (taken by Bradley) is me falling out of it. It wasn't very flattering.But I will be brave and show you a picture of me:Chipmunks are a-dime-a-dozen at our Canadian campgrounds, but I'm remembering that blogs are international so I'll show a picture of this small visitor. My friend Sogut is from Turkey and she was amazed when she first came to Toronto at all the "cute" squirrels everywhere. Just boring ordinary everywhere-you-look squirrels. It made me think.And in the same vein, our lovely Canadian landscapes...Because we did get that sunny day after all.And one last picture, just to make Bradley laugh... Fifi and Francis getting ready to watch Dr. Who.Happy Anniversary Bradley!

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The next quilt

I know this doesn't look like quilt preparation but I've been thinking a lot about my next quilt. I've decided on the pattern but I think I will show you that later. But first of all, the colour scheme was inspired by this little vignette in our living room.

As you may know I like monochromatic colour schemes, but sometimes even I get bored of it. But it's definitely not going to be some madcap multi-coloured extravaganza. Maybe someday...

I also just spent the evening sorting through my quilt scraps. Which is a small white vintage train suitcase filled with little pieces of fabric that I've saved up especially for quilting. They're either flea market bundles of quilt pieces I've bought, bits I've picked up at fabric swaps or leftovers from other projects.

I organized all of them by colour so I could see how much I had. So now I'm thinking the colours will be orange: And purple:With some yellows and pinks thrown in. Oh! and white.

It's a bit odd because lately I've been loving green. I guess that will have to be the next one...

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Fat Quarter Bag

It's amazing what you can do with a fat quarter. I was thrilled when Karyn starting a shelf of fat quarters at the workroom because it's a great way to pick up usefully-sized pieces of fabrics that you're coveting without investing too much. Although if you get, like, twenty, it can add up. But that's between you and your fabric addiction. (And Karyn, who is very understanding.) p.s. I keep going on about the workroom.. here's a post that has some great pics.

I finally found a project for this fat quarter, it's barkcloth with an oddly pleasing mix of colours: green, lavendar and tan. The bits where the green overlap the purple make a nice olive green too. I wasn't sure about it when I first saw it but now I love it.

tiny scraps = matching change purse

The other benefit of the fat quarter is you don't have to think too much about what you can make because you're limited by the piece you have. So you don't have to worry about cutting into a nice big 3-yard piece of fabric, if you know what I mean. My secret joy is to use every little scrap of the piece and end up with something I like and nothing left over.

In this case I decided to just wing it and make a bag in this style about as large as I could using my square of fabric. I'd seen similar bags in shops and thought I could figure it out as I went along.

I folded the square of fabric in half and cut a long strip about a foot wide for the front and back of the bag all in one. Then I cut two panels for the top of the bag and two side panels. The side panels add more width to the bag and some shaping.

Don't be afraid of your vintage Singer buttonholer attachment, they look big and complicated but they're one of the easiest extras to use. Way easier than the hemming foot. Of course if you have a modern machine that does buttonholes automatically, nevermind.

The main part of the bag is pleated on both sides, then the top panels attached, then the panels are top-stitched. After the top panels were added I sewed on the side panels and top-stitched those as well. The lining is just a scrap of sturdy white cotton fabric.
After making the top and side panels there was a large remaining square of fabric that became the inner pocket (lined with white), and two small squares which I made into a little matching coin pouch (also lined with white).

Then I was left with one tiny scrap of fabric... which I used to make covered buttons, one for the outside and one for the inside pocket.

Of course I didn't have enough for the strap, so I used a green piece from my stash, that luckily was sort of cross-woven with tan threads so it matches really well. It took most of a day, but this is now my new favourite bag.

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Quilt "finishing"

The update on my quilt is that I've finally finished hand quilting the entire thing, but now I'm planning to add double the number of rows. There are diagonal lines of stitching through each full square, but I'm going to add extra rows so that each full square has an "X" in it.

In the meantime I decided to bind the edges so that while I'm working on it there's no risk of the quilt top pulling apart at the seams. Also it's satisfying to see it looking more finished.
So I have a tip for a binding without bias tape or anything else. I'm not sure how to reference this, but basically I just saw some quilters on tv doing this on their historical quilts. The only difference is that their quilts were much loftier, and their borders were bigger.

This is the view of the underside - there's no seam!

So what you do is use the bottom panel of fabric for the binding. Fold it up and over the top and hem it in place with mitred corners. Mine is about 3/8" wide. I decided to stitch it in place by hand as I knew I would never be happy with a machine-sewn finish and besides I had already gone to the trouble of hand quilting. I knew it might pucker or something and I'd just spend more time picking it out.

Of course you only need to stitch the top side, I used an invisible stitch.

Here's a close-up of one of the mitred corners:While I was trying to figure out how to hand quilt I found this helpful tutorial on youtube. I love that people take the time to make these movies to explain things.

And while I was at youtube I found these wonderful vintage Singer commercials: She Caught on Quick, Three Smart Daughters and this one from 1956-8. My favourite line: "Of course I want a Singer, who doesn't?"

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Shiny old sewing machine

I've finished cleaning up the 15-91 Singer that was inside the little sewing table. It was such a mess when I first saw it, but I had rubbed a little spot on the back metal plate with my finger and got the impression that it was mostly just a thick layer of greasy old dust that would clean off nicely.

This was my first glimpse of the sewing machine. Yuck!

Some close-ups of the state it was in:But now it looks like this:I use mineral oil (ie. baby oil) to clean the outside, which is safe and doesn't rub off any of the gold paint. It turned out the condition of the machine underneath the dust was very good with very little wear to the decorative gold paint and just a few light pin scratches which you'd expect from any sewing machine that's been used at all.

I also opened up areas of the machine and cleaned them with a Q-tip and some more baby oil. It's mostly just dust that collects inside the machine. Then I used sewing machine oil to oil all the points indicated in the manual, on the top and underneath the machine. I found the manual on this sewing blog. Very friendly emails and the manual arrived in no time!

Here's the back:
And a detail of the front:This is a lovely machine. It can basically do everything you need apart from built in zig-zag stitches. Ie. a nice quality stitch, adjustable stitch length, numbered tension, reverse stitching (which not all old Singers have), and it uses regular needles and round bobbins. And it has a nice elegant shape with a spacious gap in the middle (called the harp) which means you have room for sewing big items like curtains.

I've used it already and despite all the neglect there doesn't seem to be thing wrong with it. These old Singers certainly aren't very fussy, just a little bit of attention and they're ready to get back to work.

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Singer Cabinet No. 40 project - reveal

Today I finished the last step of refinishing the sewing cabinet. It felt slightly rough after the first coat of polyurethane dried, so I sanded it all over with 220 sandpaper and brushed on another coat. This is what it had suggested on the can.

And it worked really well. Sanding created a bit of a whitish dusty look (which I wiped clean with barely damp paper towel) but it felt much smoother and after the 2nd coat of polyurethane dried the surfaces felt very smooth and nicely finished. I've varnished things before and never bothered to do the "sand between coats" step but I admit now that it really does make all the difference.

So now the cabinet is done and I can show it off. It really doesn't seem like that much work when you look back, it was just sort of frustrating at the time doing the stripping but I think I have the hang of it now. But it's a reminder that I wouldn't really want to try anything more ornate, or too big to rinse in the sink!

As I mentioned luckily it was really only the top that was damaged so the rest is still the original finish and in nice shape. This is the back view:It's funny because in the craiglist picture it really looked worse than it was. Also, the sides were up in the photo and one panel seemed to be sagging. I thought the hinges might need replacing and even had a quick look on ebay and found some listed. But when we picked up the table and moved it, a metal rod swung out and it turns out there's a support for the larger side panel that tucks into the table when it's not in use. And the hinges are in great shape and look practically new.

This support swings right out - there's a felt pad on the top

I used a cream-with-tan-stripes upholstery cotton (a sample square from the Textile Museum sale) to re-upholster the bench. I chose the light colours because it just lightens up the whole set which is a bit dark. Also it matches my new/vintage Bernina sewing machine - but that's a topic for another post. Here's a glimpse of the inside of the bench:
This is the table with the sides out and the drawer open. I didn't refinish the inside of the two side panels so they're not perfect but the polish with mineral oil spruced them up quite well. I did refinish the little panel in front of the sewing machine, so you can see what a nice match the stain was to the original finish.
I'm so glad that the cabinet turn out so well. As I mentioned it would have been less trouble to wait for one in great condition to turn up, but then again it's very satisfying to take something that's been a bit neglected and bring it back to life. Also it was a bargain at $55.

And don't forget that includes the sewing machine inside. That's been brought back to life too, I'll show that next post. Thank you for the comments!

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Singer Cabinet No. 40 project - part 3

This is how the pieces looked after scrubbing off the Remover and letting it dry. So the next step was to sand a little bit and get them smooth and completely bare. I used a medium sandpaper then finished with 220 - which is very fine.

This is how they looked when I finished the sanding.
I couldn't find my tack cloth so I just barely misted some paper towels with water to wipe off the dust - since they would be drying overnight anyway. These are the boards ready to stain this morning:
I used Benjamin Moore stain in a colour recommended by the local shop. I just took in one of the small boards and he picked the colour: Royal Mahogany. He had a leaflet of sample stains but I decided to just skip agonizing over the exact colour and trust him.
This stage is fun and easy, I used an old sock and some of those white latex gloves to protect my hands. And it's very gratifying to see the pale dry wood suddenly take on a rich colour.
I was worried it was a little too dark - and of course when it dries it looks a little dull. Here are the boards with their stain and ready for varnish:
So the final step of course is the varnish. I used some polyurethane I already had handy in the shed.
And it made all the difference. It brings out the grain which seemed dulled by the stain, and the glossiness makes the colours glow a bit more and look so much better. The best part is it turned out to be a perfect match to the original finish on the rest of the cabinet!

It's drying now and tomorrow I'm going to do another sand and coat of varnish, then I can show the finished cabinet. I also recovered the bench with new fabric... that was the easiest bit.

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Singer Cabinet No. 40 project - part 2

The first stage of the sewing cabinet refinishing was stripping off the old varnish. This is the step I dread doing, and rarely do, mainly because it came end up in a big mess. Also there's a lot of different tips and warnings when you look it up online and it can be confusing.

close-up of the flaking varnish with bare wood showing

I don't want to recommend my way because every project is different, but I thought it might be helpful to show what I did. I would have liked to see more pictures before embarking on this step.

First of all, I have to say that this was probably the easiest kind of stripping job as it was only three flat panels. They unscrewed from the table and could be laid flat. But it was still a really yucky chore and I think it's natural to have a few moments when you wonder why you're bothering and wishing you'd just been patient and found a table in better condition to begin with. I was relieved that the rest of the cabinet was in good condition once I realized how hard it would have been to strip all the legs and little details.

I also accidentally found out that mineral oil (just baby oil available at any drugstore) does a surprisingly good job of covering up tons of scratches and marks, so I was able to restore the inner top of the table to the point where refinishing no longer seemed necessary. I just rubbed some oil on with a paper towel and it suddenly looked scratch-free and glossy.

I used rubber dishwashing gloves and an old paint brush. I took the small local shop's recommendation and used Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint & Varnish Remover. This kind has a jelly consistency and clings in place so it doesn't make a runny mess. Definitely a good thing. It has a smell but it's not that bad at all - I think you need to work outdoors though.
You brush it on quite thickly, otherwise it will quickly dry out and not work very well. I waited 15 minutes, then used a scraper - gently so as not to gouge the wood.

I used this scraper, and wiped the gunk on a paper towel in a glass bowl. I had also poured the Paint & Varnish Remover into the glass bowl as glass can be cleaned up and will not get damaged by the chemicals.

After the first scrape

There was some varnish left over so I repeated this step.
After this there was still some varnish remnants (especially around the curved edges which are hard to get at with a flat scraper), which is when I realized I really did need the steel wool recommended to remove the last of the residue.

afterwards - the scrubbie washed clean

I think the one Bradley found for me is metal, but unlike steel wool it held it's shape and didn't compress and shred. Also it rinsed nicely and could be reused.

So the man in the store recommended washing after the stripping stage with soap and water to removed the chemicals left on the wood. And that's the part I don't recommend only because there are lots of online warnings about washing wood with water being a bad idea. And in some cases it could cause damage. But I just went ahead and did it, using the scrubbie at the same time to scrape off the last of the residue under hot water. I didn't use soap but the hot water and scrubbing seemed to be enough. Afterwards I quickly dried the pieces with paper towel and laid them to fully dry.

Luckily I ended up with some nice smooth panels of stripped wood. Ready for the next step!

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