Thrifting a White Singer Featherweight 221K

Thursday, March 14, 2024


Happy Thursday! I was actually planning on another adventures in thrifting post for this week, but I had a once in a lifetime find this weekend that deserves a post of it's own!!


On Saturday I was on my way to the library and decided to make a quick stop at our local Goodwill. I checked out my go-to sections: glassware, art supplies, linens, kids clothes. As I was about to leave I decided to walk past the electronics. I spotted the case and knew right away what should be inside, but I couldn’t imagine it really would be…


To my surprise a vintage Singer Featherweight 221K machine was inside and the price tag said $24.99. I don’t really remember walking to the register, but I was trying hard just to hold it together! It wasn’t until I got to the car that I let myself freak out properly!!


According to the paperwork in the case, it seems to have been serviced last in 2015.


It's in beautiful shape! A few nicks to the paint here and there, but they've been touched up.


This machine was manufactured in Kilbowie, Scotland in either 1968 or 1969.


I was prepared to give it a full cleaning before oiling, but I don't think it's been sewn on since it was serviced last. Not a bit of dust or loose threads! It definitely needed oil though, so I gave it a healthy dose of that.


I got sewing on it right away! I'm working on a new vintage sheet quilt using my Side Braid Quilt Pattern. It stitches great! The stitch regulator level was a bit tight, so I took off the stitch length plate to be able to oil a few spots, which helped. I know stitching on it will help loosen things up a bit too. It's stiff from what seems to be many years of sitting unused.


Obviously I'm going to need to make a tote for it! Good thing I have a pattern for that!! I'll be using my Sew Portable Travel Set Pattern, I just need to decide on the fabrics.

I still can't believe that I found one of these machines at a thrift store. One can only dream of a find like this!! I'll be dining out on this find/story for the rest of my life!

Happy Thrifting!

Recent Lined Drawstring Bags

Wednesday, March 6, 2024


Happy Wednesday! I wanted to share a few drawstring bags I've made recently.

First up, my favorite of the bunch! I realized I have made very few bags from vintage sheets, so I wanted to change that! This is the project size from the lined drawstring bag pattern. I think I get the most use out of this size, I make it a lot!


I love this big floral sheet, and it felt right for the exterior main! Figured you can never go wrong with a good gingham, so I pulled a yellow one for the accent.


I really wanted to use a striped sheet for the ties, but I didn't have a long enough piece of the one that matched. So twill tape to the rescue! Thankfully the antique ruler twill seems to go with everything.


This ended up being one of my favorite bags I've ever made! Which is saying something, because I've made a lot of these bags!! I can't wait to make more of them with my sheet stash.


I was in the mood to make something heart related around Valentine's Day, and this is what I came up with! I stuck a heart block in the middle of an everything size drawstring bag (free tutorial size). I used Allison Harris' heart block tutorial, and made a block that finished 6". I centered it in the exterior main, you can find measurements to do the same by using my patchwork star lined drawstring bag tutorial.


This bag is a real melting pot of fabrics! The background is new to my stash, Morris & Co for Freespirit. The peach heart fabric is thrifted. And the lining is Carolyn Friedlander, and it's been in my stash for years.


I didn't have the right color red for the ties, so I ended up dyeing some twill tape. It turned out slightly more blue-ish red than I wanted, but that's okay! I think it still works. Added some 1" beehive beads to this one.


I kept the back of the bag plain, which really shows off the main print!


Last but not least, a quick make to gift a small quilt! This puffin fabric was a gift from my friend Jacey, and it felt good to use some of it for this bag! The recipient was a toddler, and I thought they would appreciate this fabric! I paired it with a print from Geometric Bliss. Went with paracord for the ties on this one.

Always fun to pull fabric combinations for these bags. I'm still not tired of making them!

Happy Sewing!

Indigo June Baby Quilt

Thursday, February 29, 2024


Happy Thursday! I have a finished quilt to share today, a baby quilt made from my stash of hand dyed indigo fabrics. If you want to learn more about indigo dyeing and try it yourself, you can find more information in this post: DIY Indigo Fabric Dyeing Tutorial


This is a long-term work in progress that has finally been finished, hooray! I pieced this baby quilt top in 2018, and it's been sitting in storage ever since. I think at one point I had intentions to include it in a big indigo sampler quilt, or just make it into a larger throw. either way, that never happened. This is the June quilt from my friend Amanda-Jean Nyberg's book, No Scrap Left Behind*!


Last month I decided to finish it up as a baby quilt, since we use a lot of them these days, and I always like having a stash of quilts ready for gifting. I wanted to make it a little bit bigger, so I dug into my indigo fabric scraps. I had just reorganized them, so it was easy to find all the strips.


To continue the strip theme of this quilt, I made a scrappy strip border. It was a good way to use up lots of scraps! Lucky for me, I was able to scrounge up just enough of the little dot fabric I used for the squares to do cornerstones in the same fabric.


This quilt is so different from my other quilts made using my hand dyed indigo fabrics. I usually try to cut large pieces when using it for patchwork, to preserve the pattern in the fabric. The pieces in this quilt are so small, you really don't see much of the patterns. It's more about the colors. I also hardly ever work on point!


Earlier in the month I shared a little video tutorial of how I did the quilting on this quilt. It's my signature wavy lines! It's done with a walking foot and is my favorite way to quilt things at home. Here is the tutorial in case you missed it: How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot


I am actually running pretty low on indigo fabrics at the moment! I'm going to need to do a big dye session this summer to restock, which of course breaks my heart! I'm excited to try some new techniques and play when it warms up. Since I didn't have yardage to spare for a backing, I dipped into some of my over-dyed print stash for the back. I have a bunch of fat quarters of white-on-white prints that I indigo dyed years ago. A few of them have some sun damage, but I'm considering that just part of the hand-dyed look.


I kept with the scrappy theme and made a scrappy binding!


I used one of my custom woven labels to finish it off. I'm so glad that this quilt is finished and ready to be used!

Indigo June Baby Quilt
Fabric: Hand-dyed indigo fabrics by me!
Pattern: June quilt No Scrap Left Behind by Amanda-Jean Nyberg*

Happy Quilting!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Scrappy Canvas Zipper Pouches

Tuesday, February 27, 2024


Happy Tuesday! Today I want to share a scrappy project I undertook back in November.


It all started when I decided to completely reorganize my scraps. First I spent time getting my quilting cotton scraps organized back in color order this Summer. For a while I had my scraps organized by size and into groups of warm and cool colors. I ended up liking this set up less than I thought I would. For my work flow, it just makes more sense to have them organized by color. After tackling my quilting cotton, I moved on to the garment fabric scraps, linen, and canvas. It feels so good to have everything organized again, and it inspired me to make something!

Without really trying, I managed to pull three color palettes worth of canvas scraps. Zipper pouches seemed like a good choice, and I hadn't made any in a while! For the sizing, I used the pouch I keep my knitting notions in as a guide, which I made about ten years ago.


The pouch panels were randomly pieced, using the scraps as they were as a starting point.


Here are all three pouches that I made, all together! I had a lot of fun making these and it felt really good to use up some canvas scraps. I definitely have the hardest time using non-quilting cotton scraps. I'm hoping now that I have them a bit more organized, I'll be more inclined to use them! How about some photos of each pouch individually?



The purple one! This one I made for myself, because I love purple. :)



Primary colors for this one! I made this one for my friend Jacey.




And finally, a teal one. This one I made for my friend Amanda.


These pouches were a good reminder to myself that sometimes I just need some time to play around in my supplies. What started as a cleaning/organization project resulted in three finished projects! For me, time spent straightening up or organizing supplies is never time wasted. It could spark my next idea!

Happy Sewing!