Readers, tragedy struck yesterday: an explosion in the West Village knocked out RCN Cable service to the entire West Side of Manhattan. I have been without Internet for nearly 36 hours. I feel, frankly, a little desperate and Michael is worse. I'm writing this from a local coffee bar, so please excuse all food stains.
Realizing I'd have a lot of time on my hands with no bloggy distractions, I decided to sew. And not just sew, readers, treadle. I'd sewn a shirt on my treadle three years ago when I first purchased it, but since then had never made an entire garment on it. Until now, that is!
Do you remember the wild wool challis print (up top and below) I purchased last summer and didn't know what to do with? Well, it was time to bite the bullet and use it (de-stashing is FUN!). I decided to make a shirt -- yes, my third shirt in a row.
I cut everything out yesterday morning and got to work.
The challis was shifty and prone to fraying but was otherwise easy to work with; I tried to handle it as little as possible. The only challenge that treadling presented was when I needed both hands free to ease one piece into another but also needed a hand free to give the handwheel a turn to get the treadle started -- it doesn't just start on its own.
I felt a little rusty at the beginning but by this afternoon was much more confident. I am proud to say that, with the exception of the buttonholes, I sewed the entire shirt on my Singer 66 treadle (without even a reverse lever).
Here's a short video of me treadling the shirt; sorry, no show tunes! (If you're on a portable device you can view it here.)
Maybe the topstitching isn't quite as good as on my Singer 201 or 15-91, but it's not the kind of thing anyone would notice unless you were doing a side-by-side comparison (and even then).
The nearly-completed shirt has an undeniable 70's vibe (remember this blog post?). Thankfully it's not nylon or -- shiver -- Qiana. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the Big Reveal.
Readers, have you ever lost internet service and discovered you've become totally dependent on it?
Have a great day, everybody!
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