Lutterloh Knitting
It’s been some time since I sewed the dress in my last post, and in the interim I’ve made another Lutterloh pattern. I had said I wanted to draw out the tank top pattern on my knitleader and knit it on the Brother 940, and I did just that. I went with this simple number: I drew out the pattern on paper manually, using the Lutterloh ruler, and then cut it out and traced it onto the knitleader mylar sheets. I included the dart, even though in retrospect I probably didn’t need to. I chose a yarn and a stitch pattern (a very hard task for me). I wanted to…
More Lutterloh Patterns
I thought before I dive into Lutterloh pants making, I should try something a little simpler. Enter this dress: It’s a basic little number with a back zipper and a couple of darts. I have a similar RTW dress so I can compare construction techniques. A better place to start for a pattern system with no instructions, I think. And a little more forgiving if the sizing is not quite right. First off, the pattern doesn’t indicate facings for the armholes. It only really shows a little fold over area at the back neck. It is assumed that the armholes would therefore be turned under, but I thought that a…
Sewing a Lutterloh Pattern
As most buyers/collectors of pre-loved knitting or sewing machines know, often when you get a machine you are given a collection of assorted odds and ends along with it. Pieces for other machines, random thread, bobbins, old elastic – anything that may have been associated with the machine in question. With one of my acquisitions, I can’t remember which at this point, I was given this box: At the time I had no idea what it was, but at some point I opened it and figured out it is a pattern drafting system made by Lutterloh. I put it aside, and hadn’t looked at it much until recently when I…
Pattern Drafting (for Sewing) with Seamly2D
Why hello! I think the title for today says it all – I want to talk about drafting your own sewing patterns. If, like me, you got your start in sewing garments from commercial, pre-printed patterns from the “Big Three” pattern companies, or the printable PDF patterns available online, it has maybe never crossed your mind to draft your own patterns. After all, there are tons of great commercial patterns available, many of which include tutorials and helpful tips to make sewing your own clothes possible, even for beginners. Especially if you’re sewing for just one person (particularly someone who doesn’t change sizes frequently) and can get used to what…
Needle Quest – Part 2
If you read Part 1 of this series, you will know that I was on a quest for suitable needles for a Bellinky linker. They are virtually impossible to get as it turns out, and although I have a stash, they won’t last forever, and other people are in need of them as well. I won’t keep you reading for no reason: the new needles work perfectly! But not without a few adjustments, so read on if you’d like details. I received the 88×1 needles (very quickly might I add) and look how closely they resemble the Orange PYE-2 needles: I apologize in advance, by the way, for these photos.…
Needle Quest
That’s what I’m calling what I did yesterday. Over the last while, I have heard from several people looking to buy spare needles for their Bellinky linker. And there is a shop that I have directed them to, where I myself bought some of the needles after an internet search, but they are out of the size 22. What I have been using successfully is the size 140/22, in the PYE-2 system from Orange needles. I can find NO ONE else who makes this type of needle, nor can I find anywhere besides that one shop to buy them. (A quick Google will bring them up. They are in the…
Insert Industrial Revolution Pun Here
My brain hurts, make your own pun for the title. It’s like choose your own adventure! So as the weather changes, and my natural crafty inclinations swing back toward sewing, I’ve been hard at work making spring/summer things for the kids and myself. If you’ve been following my Instagram, you’ll have seen the monstrous piece of cotton fleece I ice dyed to make myself some shorts, and the spring softshell jackets I made for two of my kids. I’m exceptionally happy with how those jackets turned out, but I have to say, they were not easy for my sewing machine. I used the vintage Kenmore for all of it, (well…
Craft Boredom Cycles and The Very Long Year
This is a less informational/more personal post than I normally put here, so if you’re not in the mood for a ramble, you may want to skip it. I just wanted to share something that I have noticed about myself. I have seen several people mentioning it lately, so I don’t think it’s limited to just me. Crafting Boredom. Do you ever get afflicted? By this I mean, do you ever look at your heap of supplies for this hobby you have, that you LOVE, and just…don’t wanna? It’s happened to me before, many times. The first time it was hand knitting/crochet. I had a lot of yarn, all kinds…
Buttonholes, and More Buttonholes
I don’t know why, but I love to make buttonholes. I think it’s because I was afraid of them for so long, and never used them. I would use grommets, snaps – anything to avoid making buttonholes on garments, but since I got over that fear, all I want to do is make buttonholes. And I have discovered that this is something certain machines do much better than others. My modern Kenmore has the built-in automatic style – with the big long foot that you place the button into to control the size, and then it automatically makes the buttonhole you choose from it’s several built-in styles. It works fine,…
Kenmore 158.18022 Vintage Sewing Machine
Well well well, if it isn’t the post I started some time ago and then forgot about. Honestly, this past year (can you believe it’s coming up on a year of this?) has been so weird that I just can’t concentrate on anything. But, better late than never, right? You may have seen my post a few months back about the Viking 714 vintage machine that I picked up in the summer. I have since sold it on. At the time, I thought that would be the main vintage machine that I would use for things where I didn’t want to use my modern Kenmore (a 385.19110 computerized machine.) It…
