My vintage machine and a wearable shirt!

  Last week, the fam and I went to the local Habitat for Humanity thrift (you know, the one with the ghost!) and bought a vintage Sears & Roebuck sewing cabinet. I wanted to use it to hold my newer model Brother sewing machine, but when we got it home and cleaned it up, I decided to see if the old Kenmore inside it still worked. Well, I changed out the bobbin thread and played with the tension, and lo and behold, it hums like a bee. The Kenmore is a heavier duty machine, and it stitches beautifully. It has a knee control, which I have gotten used to very quickly. 

  For a couple weeks, I have been sewing the little dresses I posted about before, so I took a little break and tried something a little more challenging, and I sewed this shirt:

   The pattern is New Look 6499, the fabric is from a vintage sheet, and I also used it to make one of my little dresses. Yeah, I know, by the standards of many, it is positively fugly, and it is so.....me. My sisters would cringe and roll their eyes at me. Anyway, I actually tried my best to take my time and follow the pattern instructions carefully, and that resulted in a wearable shirt! Who knew? I did use the Brother to sew the sleeves on, as it has a free arm, and I used it to sew buttonholes and buttons. Everything else was done with the Kenmore. I used the reclaimed fabric from a dust ruffle (the part that goes under the mattress) for my interfacing, and though it works well, I burned some of it a little pressing it with the iron up too high. No worries though- overall this was a success as much for what I learned in the process of sewing it as for the final, finished product.