Probably The Only Time I Will Ever Own

A Rolls! No not a Rolls Royce - a Rolls Sewing Machine :) A Zig-Zag De Luxe. And it is lovely.


We stopped at a shed sale (read - nice big garage sale) on the Sunday after Christmas, just for a look. After hunting around, I thought there wasn't much there, nothing that caught my eye anyways. Until I went back along a row of shelves, and saw a bit of a beat up case sitting there.


Well I dragged it out - heavy as anything! And looked inside. Oh my, it was an older style sewing machine, in really good condition. And it was only $15.


So it came home with me :) It had the manual, and a few feet and bobbins included.


My lovely DH rewired the foot pedal and power connector, as it was rather worn, and not the safest it could possibly be. And she runs sooo smooth, and surprisingly, quiet. It is really, really clean, but it needs a lot of oiling, as I think it is a little bit too clean. So I need to drag out the oil and give it a good going over and then sew! Oh, and I need a new belt for it, as the old one is just not looking the best, but I am sure we will find something :)



The only downfall is that I can't find any information on it at all. Nothing. If anyone can help at all, it would be appreciated.


While we were visiting family over Christmas, I asked my dear Nan-in-law, if I may have a look at her old Singer sewing machine (thinking that the Rolls was possibly a re-badged Singer). Well, Nan showed me her machine, and asked if I wanted it. Ummm - do I need to think about it? Yes please! (Just had to use my eyelashes to convince DH that in less that 2 days I had gained 2 new machines lol). Oh boy, I was in heaven.




It came with a collection of feet and the manual.


It is a Singer 401G - and I love this page in the instruction manual. "Singer 401 - the greatest sewing machine ever built!"


DH also re-wired the foot and connector on this one too, as it didn't even have an earth, so now it does and is nice and safe to use :)
It needs a little bit of cleaning up, as it was well used, and hence there is a good quantity of oil around the place. She also sews quietly like a dream! My MIL remembers learning to sew on it when she was 8. So I feel extremely lucky to be given such a wonderful machine. Thank you Nan!

Cheers!

Christmas Has Been and Gone

And left a mountain of photos for you to view :)

Now that the day of giving has passed, and I have had a chance to catch my breath and pause in the indulgence of wonderful food and sit quietly, I thought I should share my Christmas sewing with you all.
I am very pleased, as I managed to give a lot of handmade gifts this year. So in no particular order.......

Teachers presents - a boxy pencil case and a bar of handmade vanilla delight soap.

All of the pencil cases.

One of the individual presents.


3 aprons, for my cousins, I also did a jar of cookie mix for each of them to go with the aprons, and a little triangle headscarf instead of a chef's hat. The aprons are from Cindy Taylor Oates - More Retro Aprons pattern.



A bag for my mum, from a pattern by NapKitten. Lots of turning to make the handles, but it worked out wonderfully.



A bag for my SIL - Lots Of Pockets Tote by KeykaLou. I love this pattern - it was so fun to make, and very easy to do.



A crochet project bag for my Aunty - I made up my own pattern for this, to a size I was happy with.


Some vanilla soap, made especially for my Aunty, but given away to many, so much so that I only ended up with one bar for myself. But never mind, it means I can make more.


Pencil cases for the kids, as they both asked for one :)


An outfit for my DS. It looks so big, as he is only 6, but it fits him perfectly and looks gorgeous on. Both the tee and shorts are from Ottobre, the tee - #20 from 2/2005 and the shorts #23 from 3/2009.





An outfit for my DD, Modkids Emma top and skirt, and a pretty little tee from Ottobre, #29 from 3/2009. She looks so gorgeous in this outfit, and the mish mash of fabrics suits her perfectly! lol





And on a very exciting note, a few days before I finished my Christmas sewing, my labels arrived! So I popped them on the kids clothes. And a good thing too - as the first thing my DS said when he opened his up on Christmas morning was, "Where is the label?!" He wants my label on all the stuff I make him.


I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.

Cheers!