Some Setbacks and the 1912 Project

The past couple of days have been about setbacks in my free time. I'm wrapping up my classes this semester and really only have two finals to take the week of December 12th. It's nice not having homework to worry about, but I still didn't get much sewing time.

First, I discovered that someone in my town had stolen my debit card number. Yep, just the number (and expiration date) but not the card. They charged up a bit on it and I did catch it right away, so my account is fine now. However, I'm without a debit card for that account until I get another one, which also happens to be where my pay checks are deposited. I do have a second checking account that is tied to my savings, so that will get me through. Filling out paperwork and tracking down copies of the receipts for the purchases did eat up an entire days worth of free time.

Then my sewing machine started acting up today. I did figure out and fix the problem, but my frustration made me walk away from my project. I just need to finish the quilting and binding and I will be done. Hopefully tomorrow.

Here's a sneak peek to tide you over. This block measures just 3".

Now for a different sort of sewing project, not of the quilting variety. I have always been interested in vintage fashion. In high school, I dresses exclusively in vintage and secondhand clothing much to the dismay of my parents. But it was my money I was using, so they had no choice but to make rude comments. It delights me that vintage fashion is becoming something that more people are openly interested in. I don't wear so much right now, mostly because it is hard to find already made pieces in my size. My height alone has always made it a challenge. At 5'10", it was hard to find pants even in modern day fashions.

Now that I am sewing, I want to explore making my own clothing from vintage patterns. I was excited to find out about the 1912 Project at the Vintage Fashion Library's blog, which is celebrating the fashions of 1912, which also happens to be the year the Titanic sunk. There are lots of events planned for the 100 year anniversay next year as well.

They are looking for test sewers to make up vintage patterns and blog about the experience. This is right up my alley so I am jumping on board. If this interests you, all you have to do is post about the project and they will send you patterns in return. For an information package about the project – you can email direct to vpll.librarian@gmail.com.

Here are the first two patterns for testing:

What are you working on this weekend?