Pincushion Reveal & Minnie Belle

I am happy to report that my pincushion project can be ticked off of my list of "things to do".  I have to laugh at how many hours I devoted to this little thing. :-D  But I am in love with it.

After working for a week on the cross stitch embroidery (yes a WEEK) it was time to get our my dear vintage Singer Featherweight sewing machine to sew the front to the cotton backing.  Meet Minnie Belle.  She's little but mighty. We have the most adorable member of Portland Women's Forum named Minnie Belle, she is African American and is 102 (or 3!) and has the best stories to tell.  So, when I got my cute little machine I named her after Minnie Belle.  I told her that I named it after her and she got a big kick out of that.

She is in her original carrying case and has all her fittings. There is an inset tray above the machine that holds all kinds of things such as the cord, foot pedal, bobbins, pins, etc.  I think she was built in 1946.

Here she is ready to go.  I have to admit it's been awhile since she's been set free from her confines and I had to hope I remembered how to wind a bobbin and run the thread through all the right places to the needle.  Dayle's mother was a professional seamstress and sewed for Jantzen for years.  So Dayle learned things from her about how to care for and use a sewing machine.  Which came in handy.. plus the book helped.

Minnie Belle has a lovely engraved panel on the front of it.

She came with two vintage oil cans.  The woman who we bought it from was wonderful.  She buys these darlings when she finds them, services them, replaces parts and test drives them for a month before finding a new home for them.  :-)

The book that came with it.  

 Can you believe I couldn't find a spool of white thread?  Well, if you knew how much crafty stuff is in our "office" you might believe it.  But I digress.  I would have to drive to town to buy one spool of thread.  Then I thought that maybe I could trade a dozen eggs for a spool of thread from my dear friend Bev who lives at the bottom of the same road we live on.  A phone call later and after catching up on the latest.. her husband Gary drove up and dropped off a bag and took the eggs.  When I looked in the bag I was amazed and so happy to see she'd gifted me with some fabric too!  I had mentioned I wanted to make some face masks but didn't have a fabric stash.  Bev is an absolute doll and so generous.  Thanks, BEV!!

So.. after finally embroidering in some more fireworks and fixing a few errors on the project.. I sat down in front of the machine, and sewed the backing to the cross-stitch.  After I was done I looked at it and OOOO MMMM GGGG!  I sewed the fabric on the wrong side!  Deep breath.  Pick, pick, pick..... I looked on in horror as the aida cloth was coming apart... lesson learned.. cut the aida wider when trimming.. sigh...

Pick, pick, pick.. almost done.

Let's try this AGAIN.  And yes, the back of it is pretty messy.

And then.. turning the work, stuffing it with raw cotton batting and getting out the needle and thread to sew the bottom closed.  My sewing box is a neat old Shaker box.. here's a fun idea, if you're a blogger, why not share your sewing box?

My needle holder is cute on the outside but pretty crazy on the inside.  I've had to tape down the foil holders with printed tape.  I have a new idea, I want to cross-stitch a new project and use it as the cover for a hand-made needle holder with felt pages.  I've googled my fingers off to find a kit or design and am coming up empty.  Suggestions?

I have collected several spools of this wonderful linen hand-sewing thread.  Heavy duty stuff.  I must tell you that I had a devil of a time sewing the bottom up as the aida had pulled out and I had to sew into the cross-stitches to close it up.  Not a pretty bottom.. but don't tell anyone.. I'm just glad it's done.  :-)

Betsy Ross is trying to take credit for all my hard work.  :-)

TA-DAHHHHH!

I am very pleased with my little pincushion.  Pattern by my blog friend Helen Philipps in her Etsy shop.  I did some changes - I made the flag more of an American flag and added more fireworks bursting in the air.  

Dayle brought in some fresh roses this afternoon.  :-)

And so.. that's it.  Now back to working on my purple shawl.  :-)

-:¦:-·:*'''''*:·-:¦:-* HAPPY 4th of JULY! *·-:¦:-·:*'''''*:·-:¦:-

((hugs)), Teresa :-)