Presents for no reason at all are sometimes the best kind. Yesterday was one of those days.I was making cookies last night and the doorbell rang. It was my plumber. Now, he was just out the other week doing some routine stuff, but there was no reason for him to stop by. I ask what's up, and he says to come out to his truck, he's got something for me. I follow him outside, and in the van is a 1951 Singer table model sewing machine. One of his customers gave it to him and he thought of me.
He didn't even know that I sewed; he thought it was old and pretty, and even if I didn't know how to use it, he thought it would look nice sitting around my house. We lugged it inside, and it's sitting in my dining room right now, where it might actually stay - it is a nice dark wood table and it does look good under the window, there's no more machine space in the workroom, and if this thing is as heavy-duty as it looks, it's going to become the leather machine and I'll just use it downstairs.
There's a box of what he called "parts" (I'm assuming presser feet, ruffler, etc.) that he left in the shop and will drop off next week. In the table drawer, there were about a dozen bobbins, still with thread. I'm pretty excited to have a new (old) toy to play with.
Even more fun, I received a copy of the August 2008 issue of Knip Mode. I've never gotten to look through one of their magazines before, and it looks pretty interesting. After Patrones, I'm not put off by the fact that it's in Dutch; their line drawings are extremely clear and the illustrated instructions I saw didn't need to be in English to make sense.Knip Mode is apparently as parka-happy as BWOF (is it me, or is this not what you think of when you think "parka?"). Whatever. It's cute, and I like it. Maybe instead of a BWOF parka, I'll try this one.
I also like the back section of the magazine, where there were 3 pictures of actresses/famous women - Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman and someone I don't know - with a pattern and styling suggestions for reproducing what they're wearing. I like the Nicole Kidman jacket - wouldn't mind making that up. I'm pretty sure I have several fabrics
that would work for this. Two or three. Or more.Anybody out there have any experience with Knip Mode? I'd be curious to hear how their sizing runs as compared to BWOF and Patrones. There have been a bunch of issues on Ebay lately, so if I like this, I'll consider picking up a few more. You know, to join the BWOFs and the Patrones subscription that should be arriving one of these days.
