Though I have been taking the role of Sewing Teacher here, I do have a long history of knitting.
I learned from my Grandmother, Stella Karki. And, my skill was reinforced my an older lady, Emily Fouts, who attended our church. My grandmother used to make us mittens and hats. She would trace around our hands for the mittens, then make them and send them to us. She also made many slippers over the years. Doilies, wash cloths, afghans, etc. She dabbled in all sorts of crafts. I loved going to her house. I don’t remember ever being bored.

I am including a picture of some children’s sized slippers I found in some of Grandma’s things, my mother gave to me. Grandma had a Swedish background. She was born in the town of Biwabik, MN and lived there all her life. She called the slippers “tussu’s.” I don’t know how to spell it, but she pronounced it Tuh’ soo. She also used to tease us and say, “You better watch out or you’re going to get a full “tupin.” (two pin) When you are a kid, you just get what it means, so I never asked for its translation.

I knit many scarves, mittens, sweaters, shawls, bags, and I can’t remember all. Most of the items I made for other people.

But, I did keep this sweater. It is knit of Icelandic Lopi, which is a one ply, fat strand of wool yarn. If you are not careful with the way you knit, you can end up untwisting the yarn and having it break. It is very warm. This sweater is knit sideways. Most are knit from the bottom up, and some are made from the top down. But, this one was unusual in that it was knit from one cuff to the other. The sleeves are done circularly, so there is no seam. The front and back are knit flat and woven together at the side seams. The neck is picked up and knit and the front and bottom are crocheted.

I hope you come and enjoy the art of knitting with us. I am thinking of taking it up again in the evenings. I hope it can be a diet aid. Maybe if my hands are kept busy by the needles, I won’t be as tempted to munch after dinner. If it works, it would be a whole new method of weight loss!

Learning new ways to produce historic garments

This past week, at my daughter’s school, they held a World Fest. It was a great opportunity to expose the students to other cultures. The students were encouraged to wear costumes during the day representing their national background.

Since our background in mainly Finnish, with a little Swedish thrown in, I did an online search for what a traditional costume for a girl would be in Finland. I found these two websites: Finnish National Costume and Kutri’s Korner.

I decided to make an outfit which would evoke the feel of the costume while making use of fabrics in my stash. I found a woven striped fabric I made into a simple dirndl skirt. It took me less than an hour, which lead me to believe that I could easily make a whole outfit in a day. The apron was one I made for a friend’s daughter for Colonial Days at her school (Brackett Elementary) last Spring. I borrowed that and she gave me a button-down, white shirt to use if I needed it.

I didn’t see any good vest patterns online. So, I pinned pieces of Swedish Tracing Paper to my daughter’s T-shirt. (I actually prefer Pattern Ease, but I used what I had.) I traced the lines I wanted for the vest and fit the paper to her shape. I made a pattern, adding seam allowances and truing seamlines. Even though it was for one day, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than make a fully lined and finish garment. I found some Logger’s Flannel which I had bought years ago from The Rain Shed. Finnish vests are made from wool, luckily, this heavy flannel looked a lot like wool. I lined it in black moire, interfacing the front with Knit Fuse interfacing. The front closures are some frog-like links we had bought from the Wright’s Ribbon Outlet in Sturbridge, MA. (If you have never been there, it is worth the trip!) I don’t know why we bought them, I think it was one of the items Amelia chose with the shopping allowance I gave her. Fortunate for us when it came to making this outfit. I was very tired when it was time to attach them to the vest, so I tacked them on with the machine, in matching thread.

The last item was a white blouse. I didn’t have time to make a whole new blouse, but I wasn’t happy with the look of a button-down shirt in it’s place. So, I compromised and removed the collar and cuffs. I added a gathered flounce collar to the neckline and trimmed it in lace. The lace was actually from a lace snowflake kit I bought at Wright’s outlet. Then, I released the pleat at the bottom of the sleeve, added fabric and sewed lace over the joining seam. I wove burgundy cording through the lace and tied it around the sleeve. It was almost 3 am by that time, so I packed it all up and went home to bed.

My daughter had some white tights and black shoes which completed the outfit. I knew that it wasn’t exactly what the girls wear in Finland, but was pleased later in the day when I ran into a friend who had spent time in Finland an exclaimed that the outfit looked just like what she saw girls wearing when she lived there. Amelia made the appropriate praises and gave me a nice number of hugs to have made the loss of sleep worthwhile.

I have been sewing since middle school. I could not even begin to estimate how many items I have sewn. Not only for myself, but gifts for friends and family, plus as part of the many sewing jobs I have done in my life.

Here are some examples of my work. I will post pictures as I find them. Click on image to enlarge it. Then use the back button of your browser to return to this page.

This picture is of several projects. I painted and decoupaged the dresser on the left of the photo. The little dress above it, I made for my daughter when she was a baby. I came up with a way to cover gripper snaps with fabric for the back, so they would be less bulky than buttons. The quilt above the ironing board was a project my daughter chose to do. She picked the pattern, the fabrics and then helped with the construction. She loves ironing, so she pressed the folded centers of the flowers. She was worried about not being able to sew straight, so she press the clutch of the sewing machine while I guided the fabric for some of it. It’s like driving a car while someone else has control of the accelerator. Luckily, we all arrived safely. At the time, I was a member of the Quilter’s Connection. I was entering my Elephant walk quilt in the show. My daughter wanted to enter a quilt but didn’t really get serious about it until the Saturday before the Thursday morning deadline. You can guess what I worked on almost exclusively those 4 1/2 days. It was fun to work together with her. She was 5 years old at the time. She has been using a sewing machine since she was 4. Now, she is 8.

Before and after pictures of a chair I slipcovered for my sister. I did it in one day, while I was visiting her in Maryland. I brought along my Bernina Activa.

I made these blue sheers for my sister, Peggy, too. They had some navy valances in place already, along with some cellular shades behind them.

I had window lettering done by Tricia O’Neill in December 2006. Just a short time before opening my new space for classes. I felt for awhile that a sign above the shop was needed. The framework for the old metal sign was still attached to the front of the building. I measured it and decided to make my own sign. I used outdoor friendly fabric. First I traced the letters on my window and enlarged them 150% with a pantograph. Then I fused the cut letters to the background fabric. I had drawn chalk lines on the red fabric to help me space the letters. Then, I stitched them around the edges with UV protected thread. One I was done, I sewed heavy duty velcro to the edges. With help from my friend, Cynthia Murray, and her husband, we mounted the fabric sign to the framework on the building. Luckily, it fit. Now, I just have to get some lighting on it.