Pre-Dawn Ramblings of a Treadle-Owning Insomniac

Grant me this: I work fast.

Meet the newest member of the family: my 1920 Singer 66 "red eye" treadle sewing machine! 

Treadle Sewing Machines: Yea or Nay?

Dear Hearts and Gentle Lurkers, I have a new obsession: treadle sewing machines.  I just checked this machine out this morning.  It is ONE BLOCK FROM MY APARTMENT.   I found it on Craigslist.  According to the serial number, it was manufactured on April 28, 1920.  Ninety years old!

Vacation, schmacation - Peter Comes Home

Friends, it is good to be home.  Oh, not Manhattan (though that's nice too) -- I mean here with you at Male Pattern Boldness!

Let's face it: my life as a blogging male home sewist is a lot more glamorous than my real life, where -- I can conceal it no longer -- I am actually Gertie's book agent.

My Vacation, YOUR ASSIGNMENT

It's Friday at long last, kids!  First things first:  WHO won the McCall's wiggle dress pattern?  The winner of the pattern is....

1960 MAD MEN Wiggle Dress Pattern GIVEAWAY!

Good morning, all!

As you can probably guess after Wednesday's pre-dawn post, I spent most of yesterday in bed trying to catch up on my sleep.  I am happy to report that, not only do I feel rested and refreshed, I also look ten years younger.

It's 3 o'clock in the morning...

Friends, once again I must apologize for my pre-dawn stream of consciousness.  Don't ask me why I am awake at this ungodly hour, but I have learned that if I am, it's better to just get out of bed and start my day than to toss and turn in the darkness, thoughts of my next blog post filling my head.  I have Freddy here curled up on the sofa next to me, so off we go....

When Bad Things Happen to Good Patterns or "TOKIBAT!"

 

Friends, one of the joys of blogging is that no matter what kind of disasters befall you, you can always turn it into material for your blog.  Barring the type of catastrophe that sends you to the other side -- and I don't mean Europe -- a capable writer can spin any setback into a life-affirming tale of courage-over-despair worthy of a comeback vehicle for Donna Mills.

"I dreamed I was a peasant in my Burda muslin"

 

Readers, can I be real for a moment?  Sometimes I wonder what people think of the stuff that goes on here.  Those poor innocents who stumble upon Male Pattern Boldness for the very first time, perhaps while doing a random search under "SEXY SEXY SEXY" in their office cubicle, or "kathy girdle fun" --

What do they make of all this?

A time to rend, a time to sew....

It's Saturday at long last, the end of a long, hot week.  You wake up to the image above and a sense of dread sweeps over you.  But then a friend invites you out to do a little flea market shopping.  You really shouldn't; there's so much work to be done here at home.  The BurdaStyle project, the suit project....

But still, so tempting...

Freunde, I ask you: WHICH would you have chosen?

Suit-us Interruptus or "Burda, He Wrote"

It has happened again.

Readers d'un certain age, remember how you used to think life would be a clean linear progression -- 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, Burger King beef-patty flipper, unwed parenthood, delinquency -- but it never was?  No, as you and I have painfully learned, life is instead filled with countless tangents and twists, road blocks and blind alleys.

The Men's Suit Project: Oh, Sweet Irony!

 

Readers, what a day I had yesterday!  First laundry, which involved washing the approximately 40 dirty dog diapers we use weekly instead of wee wee pads for Freddy and Willy.  (Don't ask and pass the Lysol.)

Then the suit project, the suit project, the suit project!

Peter dissects a Barney's blazer!

 

Welcome back to the show, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Do you like this gray wool suit jacket?  I hope not.  Because in my quest to create a beautiful suit for Michael, a garment had to be sacrificed.  This one.

Exhibition Sewing + Suit Project Fabric Purchased!

Let's face it: anybody who blogs about a sewing project while the project is underway is asking for trouble.

I liken it to a person who walks around their apartment naked with the blinds pulled up: there's no guarantee anybody's watching but chances are pretty good that somebody's got their eyes on you so you'd better pull your stomach in and give as good as you've got.

How to Sew a Men's Suit

Readers, have you ever experienced something akin to an out-of-body experience, where you heard your voice saying something entirely independent of your brain, your heart, and all sense of reason?

Not Yet a Woman...

Have you ever noticed how some women, no matter how old they get, always seem to project "girl" more than "woman?"   And the same goes for guys: there are some who read as "men" at fourteen and others who still seem like boys at forty.

Should models look more like you and me?

Before I get started, friends, WHO do you think I was like two feet away from -- twice! --  last night at Lincoln Center seeing the Mark Morris Dance Group?   Isaac Mizrahi!

There I stood in my near perfect summer shirt and flowered pants, just hoping he'd notice...hoping...and oh, readers --

SPECIAL INVESTMENT OFFER

Good morning, ear-flapped-awake chihuahua owners and others!

As I mentioned yesterday, I finally returned to sewing after a five-day hiatus, successfully completing my plaid cotton shirt.  In addition to the sleeve slip-up already recorded, there was an ongoing problem with fabric stretching.

SEXY SEXY SEXY!

Readers, I apologize.  In my quest for ever-larger readership, I have succumbed to the temptation of using provocative blog entry titles to draw those who may be finding us here via adult-oriented key word entries in random online search engines.

Peter's padded blog!

Friends, perhaps it's the arrival of August, or the heat, or something, but my thoroughly unscientific analysis suggests that there's not a lot of sewing going on these days.  Or is it just me?

The Greatest Show on Earth!

As any longtime MPB reader knows, I love the circus.  Maybe it's the elephants, maybe it's the midget clowns on tricycles, maybe it's all those men in tights, I don't know, it just excites me. 

Peeking under Cathy's dress

Readers, before I get too swept up in new projects, I wanted to take a closer look at Cathy's 1942 Hollywood frock, or as I've dubbed it over at Burdastyle, The Barbara Stanwyck dress.  Why Barbara Stanwyck, you ask?  Well, she did wear a lot of dresses that looked like Cathy's Hollywood dress... um....er....

"Notice Me - Don't Notice Me!"

 

Good morning, friends!

We're still in nag-free Monday mode here at MPB, at least until the weather feels more fall-like.

Today, I'd like to touch on something related to Friday's sagger pants saga and a reader comment that has been on my mind since.  Nancy K called the sagger pants look (as well as the Thom Browne highwater suit) "attention-getting" and that term really struck a nerve.

Cathy models the 1942 Hollywood Dress!

Friends, it's no secret that Cathy and I have been somewhat on the "outs" of late, especially now that I've insisted she start wearing her glasses instead of bumping into streetlamps and saying "Pardon me."