I'm gonna pee my pants!!!!!

A couple weeks back, I was in the thrift store, and happened across these: (circa 1955 - that's 22 years older than me!!!)

I had NO idea what it really was for, or whether I'd even be able to use it, but.... did you see the price tags? I had to have them, even if my $3 was wasted in the end, and they turned into paperweights.

I got home and did some research. Turns out the automatic zigzagger was quite an exciting thing in its day. This was before sewing machines were made with 5 million different stitch patterns. They didn't even have zig zag as a basic stitch!

.....and it turns out, that this little $3 investment could make me a little $$$...

This website sells sewing machine attachments and spare pieces. They'd like you to purchase your very own Automatic Zigzagger for $69.95!!! The red set of 4 additional stitch designs can be purchased for $34.95. Check out the Automatic Zigzagger listing here http://www.april1930s.com/html/singer_automatic_zigzagger.html, as well as a cute little video clip of how it works.
I'm kind of kicking myself right now, because alongside these great gadgets was another one, an automatic buttonholer, also made by Singer. I think it had an equally shocking price of like $2 or $3 or something, but I thought I might be pushing it by purchasing things I didn't even know would work with my machine. Now I wish I brought that baby home too!

So, here's where it gets exciting...... I tried attaching the zigzagger to my machine, threaded the machine with some turquoise thread (my favourite colour!), and.... wait for it...... IT WORKS!!!!!!! I never thought I'd be so excited about something so silly, but just think of all the fun designs I can make now! Be aware that many of my creations will now be adorned with ornamental stitches of every kind!!! The perma-smile on my face was pretty rediculous as I kept changing out the red dials to try out each and every stitch (8 in all!!!)

So, it's quite obvious that I won't be selling these babies at a profit, these are staying with me in my sewing room! My sewing machine is pretty basic - just straight and zigzag stitches, but now I'll be rocking some pretty awesome stitches - in contrasting thread, of course, just so you'll notice it!

And that, my friends, is my exciting news for the day.

Have a great weekend, and to all Fathers out there: Happy Father's Day!!! I'll be missing my father, thinking fond thoughts and memories of him.

The Thrifty Garde Robe

I've just joined the blog The Thrifty Garde Robe, where all contributors post about their recent sewing creations. I just added my first two cents worth here. Go check it out!

SewMamaSew Giveaway winner

Ok, another mention of the SewMama Sew giveaway day....

The winner of my giveaway was Rachael from A Little Bit of Everything. Rachael's blog has the same background as mine! I think it was meant to be, definitely destiny that she would be the winner! She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, so my goodies sure went for a voyage!

The prizes arrived, and she blogged about them here (lucky girl, she won another giveaway as well!)

Here's some pics of the loot:

The ruffly apron, cup cozy and the felt breakfast set all together. The ruffly thing on the bottom left side is a ruffle card I made.

The apron

The felt breakfast set

The "Wilds of Canada" cup cozy

...and the reverse side of it. I love this fabric, it's so much fun!

Glad to hear that Rachael is enjoying her goodies on the other side of the world!

I'M A WEINER!!! um, er, I mean WINNER!!!

Remember the SewMamaSew Giveaway day in May? I sure do - and so does my blog! My hitcounter went THROUGH THE ROOF that day. It sure was fun visiting all the other 5 million blogs and entering their giveaways - it took me 3 days to get through them all!

Now, I'm not really the luckiest person around when it comes to giveaways. I won a crockpot once from our local health unit - that was pretty cool - but other than that, the winning just isn't in me (if only it was - I'd play the lottery!)
Well, time to buy a lottery ticket..... I WON SOMETHING!!! I am the lucky recipient of these gorgeous lovelies from Paloma at Three Kitchen Fairies.

A super-cute pincushion!!! This is not the exact one I got, but it's similar. Mine has a couple different fabrics, a red flower, and different buttons.

And .pdf embroidery patterns!!! These cupcakes are so cute! I've never done embroidery before, but, hey, it can't be that hard, right? (tee hee, like I need another hobby!) I can just imagine one of these cupcakes on the front of a cute little dress for my niece (who has an unofficial nickname of "cupcake" from all the Gymboree her mom dressed her in!!!)

Check out Paloma's goodies on her etsy shop here at Three Kitchen Fairies on Etsy

Thanks Paloma!!!! My daughter is so excited that I won a new pin cushion, she thinks I'll give her the old, ugly tomato one now. We'll see.... somehow I don't think a six year old should have any use for straight pins!

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A little side note for all of you: Mac and I are off and away this weekend to his cousin's wedding. I'm "coming out" as a sewist this weekend - I'm planning on wearing a dress that I MADE - IN PUBLIC!!! Ok, I shouldn't be so worried - I've worn a few of my creations lately in public, just not at such an important event. It'll be fine - the seams won't rip and the garment won't fall off me on the dancefloor..... I hope.

Pics to come after the weekend!

Etsy Finds

I just made a purchase from a great new Etsy shop I found called Simple Serendipity. (Don't tell my husband, he thinks I already have enough jewelry!)

I came across Sara's shop through a giveaway. I swear, all I was doing was trying to win a gift certificate!!! All I had to do was look through the shop, pick my favourite and put it in the comments section of the blog holding the giveaway. But then I got browsing around.... and found that everything is absolutely stunning, AND.... all UNDER $5!!!! Now how does anyone expect me to resist that! So.... I bought these beauties:

Simple Groovy Black earrings

Simple Chunky Red bracelet

I know, I know, they're both black and rather subdued, but surprisingly, I need some black in my jewelry box! I have a lot of turqoise, purple, browns, etc, but running low on black (and red). So, that's what I found.

What will you find? I know that once you look, you'll find something you just can't do without!

Custom order in the making....

The fabric has been freshly laundered and dried to perfection in the late May sunshine (or should I say the SWELTERING HEAT!)

A racing fan family has asked me for custom aprons and chef hats with checkered flag fabric, and each child's favourite colour. We have a very manly dark purple (show that to your husband, Angela!), a classic red, and a sweet light pink. The little girl is only 8 weeks old right now, but soon she'll grow into her sweet ruffled apron and chef's hat!

I'll be absolutely sure to photograph and post the final products before they are delivered - I'm super excited to see them finished!

And the winner is.....

Comment #72
RACHAEL from A Little Bit of Everything in Christchurch, New Zealand,
who said: "I am following your blog"

Congratulations Rachael! I'll be sending you an e-mail to get your mailing address. (Guess I'd better save up some pennies for shipping all the way to the other side of the world!)
Funny fact about Rachael: She has the same blog background as I do! What are the chances!?! It must have been meant to be...

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Wow! There were 261 comments over 4 days! I am absolutely flattered that so many people liked my goodies!

Thank you so much to everyone who came by to say hello and enter my giveaway! My Google Analytics was going CRAZY!!!!! I went from 24 site visits on a Sunday, to 450 on Monday!!! I've also doubled my followers! Welcome new followers! I hope you like what you see, and enjoy what is yet to come!

I hope to get some more photographing done and get some more things listed in my online market. For those of you who didn't win, come check out the market, you'll find that the prices are pretty darn reasonable!

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and commented on the goodies..... you sure know how to make a gal feel great!