A Finished Shirt...

Quote for the Day:

"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children

 the richest inheritance.

  ~Ruth E. Renkel

Today is Father's Day in the USA.  I hope you were able to spend a little time with the fathers in your life today...either your own father or the father of your children...and let them know how much they mean to you!  

A little over a week ago I got fed up with shirts that have too-short sleeves and decided to take it upon myself to try and make some of my own.  I ordered a pattern and some fabric online, but also decided to go to Joann Fabrics, since they were having a sale.  I picked up a pattern and a piece of fabric at Joann's at a really good price, and last week I cut out and sewed it together using the Viking serger that I had picked up at the estate auction last year.

For those non-sewists out there who don't know what a serger is, it is a special sewing machine that does the nice finished seam that you see on the inside of ready-to-wear clothing. 

This is the serger...a Viking Huskylock 936. 

It's computerized and will basically do everything but make your coffee for you in the morning...and if I took it downstairs and set it up in the kitchen, it probably would even do that for me!  LOL

I must say that the serger sews very smoothly and quietly!  However, it has more buttons and whistles than I really need or will ever use, so I think I've decided to sell it. 

But...back to the shirt...

I picked up a very slinky, slippery jersey knit at Joann Fabrics.  It has been about 14 years since I've done any garment sewing and I had forgotten what a PAIN in the YOU-KNOW-WHAT it is to work with slinky knits.  It kept sliding off the cutting table and ending up in a puddle on the floor!  :(   And my pins just wanted to push the fabric around rather than actually going through it.  :( 

But I persisted and got the shirt all sewn together in one day except for the bottom hem.  I was about to throw in the towel and swear to never again try to make a piece of clothing, but then I tried on the shirt and actually liked the way it turned out...in spite of the difficulties!   Today I hemmed the bottom of the shirt so I thought I'd share a picture of it with you.  

It has it's "issues"...but those are a result of a lack of recent garment sewing experience.  I think that they are not things that will be noticed by 99.9% of the population...so I'm going to wear it!  It actually fits nicely, even though I still wish the sleeves were a tad bit longer.  (I even lengthened the sleeve by 1.5" and they STILL are a hair too short.)  

Anyway, I like the fabric and the fit, and overall am pleased with myself!  LOL

This week the fabric and pattern that I had ordered online came in the mail, so I will be trying my hand at more shirts in the future.  

Loretta 

Happy Father's Day...

Quote for the Day:

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope."  

~Bill Cosby

Today is Father's Day in the United States...a day when we celebrate our fathers and what they have meant to us.

My parents were married in 1939 on my dad's 21st birthday.  This picture was taken about a year later.

He was the youngest of 7 children, born into a Mennonite family that lived in Texas at the time of his birth.  In the home the parents spoke German, so he was raised learning both German and English.  Growing up in Texas there were a lot of Hispanics, so he also learned Spanish and could hold his own in a conversation using any of the three languages.

He had to quit school after the 7th grade to go to work during the Great Depression to help support his mom and sisters.  He didn't let this "lack of education" hinder him, though. 

He served in World War II in the US Army as a medic and cook in both the Pacific and the European theaters.  Though he left the Mennonite church and became Baptist when he married my mom, because of his Mennonite upbringing, he entered the Army as a Conscientious Objector and only held jobs where he didn't have to carry a gun.

He went on to own two different businesses of his own...first a truck-driving business in the 1950's-60's and then a water-well drilling business in the late 1960's-mid 70's.

In 1973 he sold his well-drilling business and went to Ethiopia for a year as a missionary to drill water wells during a severe drought/famine there to get water for the Ethiopian people.  

His "hobbies" in the evening were reading encyclopedias or the Bible.  He seemed to have such a thirst to always be learning.   He loved music, especially the old gospel hymns and blue grass music.  In the last few years before he died, my parents had a small travel trailer and would travel to blue grass music festivals with some friends who played. 

He died in 1978 after moving to California to help a well-drilling company open a new branch in Lancaster.  He was 59.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  You are missed!

I also want to give a shout out to my dear husband, Andy!  Happy Father's Day, Andrew...you're a great father and grandfather.  I love you!

Andrew and Sera...

Andrew Paul, Sr., the II, and the III.  :)

Loretta