Consew 104 (new machine!)

I've been wanting a chainstitch embroidery machine for quite a while now, ever since I saw Roy of Roy's Denim using one in this sweet video. I got tired of looking for the perfect one, so when this showed up on eBay last week I bought it.
It's a Consew 104, which I'm pretty sure is an exact copy of the Singer 114e103, which is a newer version of the 114w103, which was born around the turn of the century, I believe, and is itself inspired by the Cornely embroidery machines of France. The w-model was made in the good ol' US of A, while the e-model was made in Japan, like this Consew -- you can tell from a distance by their greenness. Consew still sells 104s (but not Singer), though I've heard the quality isn't the same these days.

It would be nice to have a beautiful old Singer 114w, but this Consew's gonna do the trick. It's in nice enough shape, and I know it sewed before it got here, and it looks like it survived the trip from Michigan to Missouri. Thanks for the great boxing job, Ray, and the tender care, USPS. It's always a drag when you get machines in the mail and their parts are sticking outta the box.

I don't have the table (too much to ship) and, besides, I'm outta space for tables. So I'll be making a cute li'l box for it ... like this.
Stay tuned (it'll be a while).

If you'd like to know more about these machines, there's an excellent yahoo group dedicated to chainstitch embroidery.

Leif Labs on the trail

Here's Jess sporting a small pack and bike beverage holder:

Hummingbird feeder moat

Got ants in your feeder? Make a li'l moat for it with a plastic bottle. Drill a hole in the cap and thread a bolt through it. (I used a 13/64 bit for a 1/4 bolt.) Attach wire hooks, add water. Done.
This was leaking a li'l bit initially, but stopped. You can seal the hole with a washer fashioned from a bit of bike tube (in between the cap and the nut), or hot glue.

Production sewing

I just made a bunch of croozies, copilots, solos ... whatever you wanna calling 'em.
I'll be dispensing them this Saturday on the MKT trail. Any leftovers will be at Maude Vintage, downtown CoMo.

Pyramid of awesomeness.

Boone Dawdle Bag 4

Looks like I'm averaging about 1.5 bags a year right now. I think I'd just about forgotten how to make bags ... fortunately there's the Boone Dawdle to keep me in shape. This Saturday is the fourth annual Dawdle and the fourth bag I've made for it. And a mighty nice one, if I do say so myself.

Cordura nylon, acrylic-coated poly liner. 19x12", 13x6" bottom. Applique'd.

 Expandable main compartment, zippered pocket.

 Split strap, adjustable shoulder pad, cross strap.

Floating liner, removable back pad.