Sewing ... Preparing to Sew

I started sewing when I was about seven. My Grandmother taught me on her 1923 Singer ... just a straight stitch, not even a back stitch or zig zag. I loved it from the start. I was a kid who bounced off walls when I wasn't hanging upside down in trees or spinning on my head on the living room floor. The concept of me being able to sit quietly in front of a sewing machine for hours was pretty farfetched ... but I did.

In middle school I started sewing in the high school's costume shop and by the time I was in college I was being paid to work in the iniversity's costume shop. I also made various pieces of clothing for my personal wardrobe, including a prom dress and two other gowns. The last thing I worked on was a gown for a Moliere play. Then life quicked in: I got an internship and a job to support it, began working on my career, and so on ... It's been more than fifteen years since I've sewn a thing.

I've been thinking about returning to sewing for a long while but there have always been barriers ... not enough space in my apartment, not enough time, no sewing machine ...

Now, fate/luck/coincidence is at work and pushing me towards what I want to be doing. As I was standing on my front stoop talking to a neighbor, a man from the building next door put a sewing machine out for trash pick-up. I asked him if it worked. He said it did but he didn't sew and didn't know anything about it. Turns out it's a vintage Singer Dressmaker 2402 with all metal parts and very heavy. There were a few presser feet and bobbins in the case but no cams or manuals. It's in decent condition and I now have a recent sewing machine.

Next, I found some fabric in my mom's attic while looking for the Christmas ornaments. It's fabric I bought a long while ago but never got to use. And, I still like it.

More recently, another neighbor was moving and had a piece of 2'x4.5' 1/4" plywood that she was going to throw out. Eureka, I had found a cutting board which can be covered in paper or cloth easily as needed.

I've been collecting patterns over the last few years so what's stopping me? Just me.

Goals for the week:
1) Create a sewing and crafting space in my apartment.
2) Choose a pattern for my first project.

I'm actually getting exited about this.

Some of the blogs and sites that are motivating and inspiring me:

Amanda's Adventures in Sewing - great how-to advice
Diary of a Sewing Fanatic
Lower Your Presser Foot
Sew Retro
The Fashionable Past - Vintage Photos, Patterns, How-To & more
Zip Zip's Vintage Sewing - great how-to advice

I hope all of your projects are happy and successful!