New Shirt, New Class, and Another Vintage Sewing Machine

Readers, I recently completed this summer shirt, made with floral shirting from Mood Fabrics.

I used Vogue 8889, an in-print, fitted men's shirt pattern I've tried a few times before.  It has back front and back side panels, somewhat similar to princess seams (except they're located largely under the arm, rather than near (or over) the apex of my chest (or the widest point of my back)).   You may notice that in the pic on the right where I'm wearing shorts, the shirt appears longer and more shaped than it does in the photo on the left.  That's because I decided to shorten the hem a bit more between shoots.

You can read more about the making of this shirt, and see some additional detail shots of it, over at the Mood Sewing Network here.  (I've heard through the grapevine that this print is an actual Liberty of London design called Edna, though it's not being sold as such: it's roughly 1/3 the price of true Liberty Tana Lawn.)

In other news, remember the Singer Featherweight I found at the Chelsea Flea Market the weekend before last for the ridiculously low price of $48?  Well it needed a bobbin case.  I'd read a number of blogs that said that repro Featherweight bobbin cases suck (particularly the ones made in China), but it seems I had to learn this for myself.  I found one on eBay that claimed to be of higher quality than most.  Long story short, it didn't work.  I found a true vintage one online, paid substantially more for it (like, as much as I'd paid for the Featherweight itself), but it works!

Repro on the left, Singer original on the right

Avoid.

In other sewing machine-related news, I visited the Chelsea Flea Market last Saturday morning and saw this -- a beautiful, working Singer 401A.  Be still, my heart!

The machine was basically complete, though it came with only a zigzag foot, and cost just $25, which is a very hard-to-resist price (for me).  It was already well-lubricated and ran smoothly -- a good sign.  (I bought some new spool pins online to replace the makeshift ones the previous owner must have created using nails and duct tape.)

The 401a is a slant machine, which means the feet (and needle) slant slightly forward, the purpose being to make it easier to see what you're sewing.  Honestly, to me it doesn't seem like a big difference, but Singer kept making slant machines at least through the 1960s and the Singer Touch and Sew.  (I used to own a Seventies-era Singer Genie and I'm certain it took regular feet.)  If you know more about the Singer slant machines and why this novel design was eventually discontinued, do tell.

I'll write a longer blog post about this machine because it's an amazing model: aluminum body (meaning it's much lighter than it looks), internal cam stack (with the capacity to take additional external cams), and amazing power (it's gear-driven as opposed to belt-driven).  You can see me sew one of the decorative embroidery stitches here.

Finally, last week, classes resumed at FIT.  I'm taking just one class this semester, the first in the Haute Couture certificate program. It's called Haute Couture Sewing Techniques (AP242).  I adore the professor, a real old-school type who takes no short-cuts.   Below are a few of her samples, decorative hem facings.  The facings themselves are faced with silk organza and everything is finished by hand (though the facing are attached to the bottom of the hem by machine).

And that's it!  I'll have some bridal gown updates shortly.  I expect to have Val's gown finished by this coming Sunday; her wedding takes place at the end of September.

Have a great day, everybody!