How Slow Can I Sew ... ?

I often start a project and lose my sewing mojo mid-project.  A current example is the mid-length shorts project in progress.

Last weekend (OK, so it Was a Long Weekend) I started work on a new pair of shorts using Kwik Sew 2806. I have used this pattern before for short-shorts and long pants.  I traced the pattern pieces sometime last weekend, then set them aside - of course!

Anyway, all I got done by Monday night was the cutting-out of the front pieces.  The back pieces have not yet been cut.  Here are pictures to show what I have done so far:

Do you like my pattern weights?

Does Your Sewing Machine have a Free-Arm Function?

Mine does!

I got the idea for this post from Gwen's blog After the dress...

I have a Viking 500 from about the mid-'90s, and it has a free-arm function.  It also has a bed extension which I usually leave on.  Here's what the machine looks like with the bed extension attached:

Here's what the machine looks like with the bed extension removed:

Here's what the machine looks like with the back of the machine bed removed to reveal the free arm:

Does Your Sewing Machine have Speed Control?

Mine does!

I got the idea for this post from Gwen's blog After the dress...

I have a Viking 500 from about the mid-'90s, and it has speed control.  It appears as a stack of lines just to the right of the word SPEED on the left side of the screen.

Set at 2/3 height, this limits my maximum sewing speed to a medium speed.  Set at 1/3 height, it limits my maximum sewing to a slow speed.  Set at full height, it allows me to go as fast as the machine's maximum speed, whatever that is.  At any speed setting, I can still control the speed with the foot pedal, but cannot go any faster than the maximum speed setting.

Working on the Sewing Room

I have done no sewing for several weeks now.

We have lots of pictures - family and other types - which sat for many months on the floor, leaning against a book case and an armoire.  We recently hung most of them on walls throughout the house.  That task alone almost instantly made this house feel much more like a home.

I also had help hanging my sewing rulers over the cutting table.  Click on the picture to see three photos of the wall in my sewing room:

Sewing Room 2010

Catching up to my Shadow -or- what we did to the garden

I was such a blogging slacker the first part of this year, and it seems that I have much catching up to do.

In the middle of July, we added top soil and cow manure to the garden.  We also added diatomacious earth (DE), and hydrated lime, but it didn't seem to help much.

By the end of July, it got so hot out that the garden seemed to be dying off.  We decided to give it a rest, so we tore out the tomato plants and anything else that was failing in the heat.  Really, why not just give it a rest for a while?

We are hoping that the sun will "cook" the garden so we can start fresh in September.  Also, we put together a tumbling compost bin, and have been adding to it almost every day.

Click on the picture below to enter the garden picture album at mid-July, and proceed to the following pictures to get a chronological view.