Darning cone

Finally finished the darning cone for my Consew 207. Been sanding on it all summer. There are times when it's nice to have a bit more support on the left of the needle and that's where the cone comes in. I made it a bit fatter and longer to fit my hands. We'll see how it works.

These are hard to find sometimes, so I figured I'd make my own out of some wood and a Consew 227 end cover I sourced online.

While I was making mine, all sorts of cones started popping up on Facebook and Instagram. People are even fabricating new cones (see below) and 3D printing them. 2018 may be the year of the darner.

Float yer boat, take two

We did Float Your Boat again this spring, our area food bank's annual cardboard boat fundraiser. We learned a lot from last year and this time took home second place in the race. We were also the fastest four-person boat.
This year we decided to keep things simple and made a jon boat, which is what a lot of the kid teams do.

 Thanks again to Walt's Bike Shop for the boxes.

We named her Kon-Liki and went with a Viking-inspired paint job.

 Race day!

Two "no glue, no paint" boats. This one taco'd immediately.

 That's a big boat!

Long and narrow.

A fellow jon boat. It's always great how many kids'll fit into these.

Long and narrow makes for some close calls.

 Got a roll over!

I believe this is the third year for this same boat. Just let it dry out and add more paint.

 The fastest boat.

 Here comes Kon-Liki! No leaks, just pure power. :)

 In the drink! I believe Keep Calm righted and won their heat.

 Got a submarine!

 Pro tip: sails look cool but if there's a headwind, watch out!

Bye, Kon-Liki!

A/C cover

Well, the air-conditioner cover I made in the fall lasted its first winter ... if winter'll ever end. It only blew off once before I put some bricks around it (was too lazy to make a drawstring). It's made of Top Gun Lite (aka Top Gun 9, aka Mustang?), an acrylic-coated polyester fabric designed for boat covers -- which of course makes it perfect for covering your A/C unit. :)

Rochford Supply, up in Minnesota, has roll ends (1-3 yards) for cheap.
 

Pfaff parts

I just got a variety of feet and needle plates for my 335. Never have used the binding function much so I got a regular needle plate and feet.

Cut out the middle man and order your stuff straight from Kwok Hing Sewing Machine Company in China. No min, and shipping costs ain't that bad. This is also your place to get binding attachments.

UPDATE: Just installed the "regular" foot, needle plate and dog. Dog needed some grinding to fit. You get what you pay for. :)

Pete's pack

Finally made a new hip pack for Pete. Denim lined with polyester. Padded. Turned out pretty well for how fast I did it.

 Practicing curvy patterns more now that I got the post-bed machine.

 Lined these corners up pretty well.

Here's the first prototype I did, from last year:

This is what it looks like when you wear something every day and wash and dry it mechanically. You can see that the velcro ate up the Oxford nylon flap liner. And that the corners failed. Sharp cotton corners'll do that.

We'll see if the new design holds up a bit better. The denim is a bit heavier than the duck, and it has rounded corners in the back, and it's lined with a synthetic, so it'll still work when the cotton has failed. Pete lost a few nickles and dimes with the brown one. Sorry, Pete!

Crotchwerks

Been sharpening my pants-patching skills lately. Behold!

Total weft failure on these Levi's ... never seen this before...

Laying the first stitches, just to hold everything together.

For large or weird-shaped rips, I've been using the lightest interfacing I could find to hold the hole together. I'm curious to see how this breaks in. If it gets weird, I guess I can try the water-soluble stuff.

Working on a better horn than this cardboard one. I'll let you know how it turns out in a year or two. :)

Here you can see the iron-on interfacing and stitches. Since this rip went up into the fly junk where it was too thick for the machine, I had to finish it by hand.

Not bad. We'll see how this indigo thread looks after a wash.

More crotches:

What bike-riding does to fancy jeans.

Consew magic ... not color corrected. :)

Tried a couple different bobbin shades.