The name ThistleDew came from my parents.
They owned a boat when I was young and that is the name they gave it.
"Thistle" (sounds like) This will....and "Dew" (sounds like) Do. Hence...This will do!!


Thursday, July 10, 2008

A Step Back in Time


ok...where to start....hmmmm....I will blame it all on Lisa at Polka Dot Creations...HA!...don't worry Lisa it's a good thing!...I have been telling her for months she has got me itchin to pull out my Mother's old White sewing machine from the corner of my living room and tune her up and sew!...Lisa has been making some lovely things and adorning them with her polymer clay buttons....
Well I've gone and done it.....

Now somebody tell me....where do I start?

I have not sewed in at least 20 or so years...yeah....I am older than dirt! I went into a Hancock fabric store and didn't have a clue....clueless I was!... :) I recently sold all of my Vera Bradley hand bags on ebay....oh, I do still have the one I am currently using which is the style I liked the best...it is called hipster...goes over your shoulder around your neck and thief proof!!...unless they drag me along with them....so I decided my first sewing project would be a purse....I Googled a bit and came up with the two patterns above....The Flea Market Bag from Grand Revival Designs. Check out Tanya's fabrics too!!...I am so in love with them! The second pattern is from Lazy Girl Designs and it is called Sassy Bag. It is made from Fat Quarters...You ask "What is a Fat Quarter?"....you'll just have to Google it like I did to find out!!.... :)

This was my mama's sewing machine...my sister bought it for her in the late 60's...and I am sure my mama was the talk of the neighborhood to have such a fancy machine!...so like I said earlier in my post I have her all tuned up and ready to sew!!


The cabinet my dad refinished and placed the White in it...if you look real close underneath the machine...on the left is a lever you push with your left knee (of course!)....and it is connected along the back to some gizmo that pushes the foot pedal!!...how cool is that?....Way to go Dad! Now when my mama would sew it would start out about 5:00am and she would go non stop until the garment was finished...*(except for the hand sewing, hemming, etc) that was left for her mama to do...my Grandma Dorothy......

These things above my Grandma gave to me...her sewing box, tape measure, old sissors, and last but not least her pin cushion....

My Mama, Daddy, and Grandma Dorothy have all passed and I only hope they are looking down on me and feeling very proud..... :)


3 comments:

Lisa Clarke said...

Oh, Melanie, that's just wonderful, all of those items you have from your past and your family's past!

As for where to start? I'd make the fat quarter purse - anything made by a company called "Lazy Girl" can't be too hard, can it? :-)

Glad I can be a good influence (at least, it's good until you start becoming a fabric addict and spend all of your hard-earned cash on fat quarter collections. Not that I would know anything about that...)

Unknown said...

Hi Melanie,

Congratulations for getting back into sewing!

I'm glad you found the Sassy Bag. I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know there is a video demonstration of me making the bag online. All of my video demo links are here:
http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/media.php

Have fun!

Joan Hawley
Lazy Girl Designs

Melanie said...

Hiya Lisa!...Yeah the "Lazy Girl" caught my eye....and I thought it would be a good place to start...I treasure all of the things that have been passed down to me... I know mixing my clay to match my fabric will be an adventure in itself!!...*gotta have a button for each bag ya know!

Hiya Joan, thanks for stopping by!!...and thanks for the link to your videos...I went and watched the Sassy Bag one and it will be of great help to me... :)