Stitch In Time

Saturday, the skies were gray and gloomy as heck.

In other words, PERFECT photography weather. We maxed it out on Saturday, aches and pains be damned. Photos at the end.

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Most of Friday, I spent curled up on the sofa under a quilt, typing into the Internet, trying to decide if I wanted to invest in a new sewing machine. Procrastination is my middle name, but it’s no longer optional to overhaul my closet.

One drawback is budgetary: clothes, especially special-order stuff, ain’t cheap. I’m forced to strike a balance between budget and being broken out in a miserable rash head-to-toe.

Until recently, I’d ordered through eShakti.com, and loved what they sent. Unfortunately, this marks the second (and final) time they took my money and didn’t deliver. It took filing a dispute with PayPal to get my money back. I’m done.

The most practical solution in financial terms is to sew my own clothes.

Looking for gorgeous craft or sewing fabric on a budget? Go to eBay and search vintage saree. (Saree gets more results than sari.) Most sarees are 42-45 inches wide by 5-1/2 yards long, some longer. As the example shows at left, they’re typically border prints, with an accent print at one end, as a bonus.

I own four sarees now, all tucked into a drawer and ready to whip up into something lovely. One is definitely silk. It’s beautiful but gossamer-thin. Two are cotton voile (a super-fine, translucent weave) and both the cotton prints are gorgeous. The fourth is supposedly silk. It’s the first saree I ever bought and is luxurious.

The question is whether it’s silk or polyester pseudo-silk.

If it is silk, I got it for a steal. It’s suit-weight fabric with a slubbed finish. It’s also elaborately embroidered with silver thread, clearly meant for a dressy occasion. It looks like silk, but I don’t want to whip something up with it, only to break out in hives the first time I wear it.

Unfortunately, neither of the two sewing machines I own are up to snuff.

I’ve owned one of them for more than 40 years. It belonged to my grandmother; I believe it was new in the 1960s. It’s missing a part, one I haven’t been able to find in all this time. It will probably cost $100 apiece to get the older machines serviced, assuming there’s anybody qualified to work on semi-antiques. And I don’t even want to think about the repair costs, if that machine can be repaired at all.

Alternatively, there’s buying new. The Brothermodel  at the top of the page is pennies over $170, including tax and delivery — so less than the cost to service the two dubious machines I currently own.

Last-minute edit: I was talking to a colleague about digging up the $$ for a new machine when she told me, “I’m never going to use mine. You want it?” She’s 72 years old, bought it recently, and never took it out of the box. It’s a Singer, which is a good brand. The universe did my shopping for me, and free is an excellent price.

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Thank goodness my “real” computer is back and working. Lenovo replaced the power cord (duh) but for some reason decided they absolutely had to reload windows. Not the end of the world, because I had everything backed up. It was still annoying to have to reinstall everything.

Closing out with photos from the weekend. I only pulled four of them, all variations on transportation. The first two are obviously tractors — or at least they used to be. No idea when they last ran, but I’m guessing it’s been a while.

Then we shift gears (so to speak) to a far older style of transportation, the four-legged variety. We stumbled over yet another rodeo Saturday, while driving dirt roads waaaay out in the sticks. There were plenty of horses and cowboys in sight, but I liked this trio, and they looked to be both newer and in better operating condition than the tractors.

And finally, a semi-vintage muscle car. Per Dangerspouse, this is a Dodge, potentially a Challenger, and the vivid paint job is likely factory original. They were apparently only make in 2010 and 2011, hence semi-vintage.

I also liked the corrugated exterior wall of the (bar? restaurant?), with its rustic sign reading, “El Grotto”. El is Spanish for the. Grotto is the same in both Spanish and English.