Spring has fully arrived in Colorado. In Denver, overnights are 30s and 40s, with daytimes in the 60s and 70s. Very pleasant with everything blooming. Age brings a little more appreciation for springtime with each passing year.
We have show-and-tell to offer from our members this month, so let's get started. We'll begin with Thanh.
Thanh
Thanh made a shirt for an interesting upcoming class which he shows us, as well as some of his machine interests. He writes:
I haven't made a SM purchase in awhile which is a good thing because I just don't have the space. However, I'm a sucker for Necchi's especially inexpensive ones and bought a Necchi 523 at an online estate sale. The case handle is broken but other than that, it only needed some light cleaning and oiling. I typically use a BU Mira as my go to machine and will see how this one compares.
Other than the one purchase, Lara and I are preparing for an art workshop coming up in Sewanee TN. Shakerag Workshops are held each June consisting of two week-long sessions with about 10 workshops each session. Different artists across many media such as ceramics, photography, textile, dying, collage, woodworking come to teach and lecture about their art. It's hosted at a high school, we stay on campus all week long and swim in the reservoir after class. It's like summer camp for adults. We're taking a class taught by Katherine Tilton called the Artful Shirt and I included a photo from the Shakerag website to give you a sense of the class.
In preparation for the class, I practiced making a Japanese Happi as one of my ideas for a shirt, thinking about fabrics and colors/patterns, and most importantly deciding which machine to take to class. After purchasing the Necchi 523, I remembered a Necchi 522 Lycia that I bought about a year ago. This is my second Lycia (did I mention I'm a sucker for Necchi's?). However, I never got around to fixing the stitch length worm gear which is notorious for cracking in these models. On my first Lycia, I removed the worm gear to epoxy it and remembered how tricky that was to put back together even with instructions from a Necchi Facebook group member. For this one, I decided to epoxy the gear in place and it turned out to be much easier and faster. I'm happy with the results and decided the Lycia will come with me to Shakerag: it sews well, has a free arm and extension table, and isn't that heavy with the cover. I also have a high-shank button holer I can bring along. That's it for now. I'll be sure to take pictures at the workshop and report out in July.
Dorothy
Dorothy has had more time for what she likes to do since retiring a while back. She continues to be an asset to our group, with the experience of sewing professionally for many years. She writes:
Hello!
Months pass very quickly.
I attended a "How to make a Woman's Victorian blouse from a Mens shirt" class. Rather fun and interesting. The Lady leading the class came up with this method and is very kind to share her knowledge. Unfortunately, during stitching a sleeve together, the belt broke (internal motor so I HOPE that is the issue) on my Kenmore 1060. The 1060 is light weight enough to carry to events. Sigh.
Friday, I go to a function dedicated to sewing with Featherweights. It will be my first adventure with this group. Introduced by a woman who has purchased the hand crank for featherweight machines. I hope to take photos. I do not know if she has a machine set up with a hand crank on it.
Dorothy
... to be continued