My Bebarfald Bluebird VS sewing machine has a perfect lockstitch!

To begin with the underside of my sewing was the classic bird’s nest:

The Bebarfald Bluebird of Happiness: History and Mystery

My Bebarfald Bluebird is an early twentieth century vibrating shuttle (VS) treadle sewing machine. It’s also Australian. Well, at least partly …

Butterick 6191 Blouse (1950s)

Vintage patterns wikia - Butterick 6191

Pros: raglan sleeves, nice and breezy for a humid summer and I hate setting in sleeves!
Cons: Will it look any good on someone whose waist is wider than their hand span? I don’t have a skirt to go with it and it definitely can’t be a massively full one as shown in the picture. Some people can rock the puffy skirts but I am not one of them.

Odhams Encyclopaedia of Needlecraft Illustrated (n.d., early 1950s, first edition): Review (part 2)

Brian had been told this shirt dress would never date.  Looking back on it, he probably should have questioned why the dressmaker cackled wildly when she said this. Too late, he noticed the strange geometries of the fitting room. Surely they were non-Euclidean? A  creeping shadow made a slithering sound from behind the chair.

Odhams Encyclopaedia of Needlecraft Illustrated (n.d., early 1950s, first edition): Review (part 1)

 

Yet another boring date with Captain Batrachian. If he wasn’t careful, she’d shove his trans-dimensional tentacles down his throats.

Intergalactic travel wasn’t all she’d hoped for.

Dress Cutting by the Block Pattern System by Margaret C. Ralston (1932): Review, part 3

After shortening Ralston’s Dress 2 into a tunic, I looked at the pleat on each shoulder and thought that this might go nicely with a cowl neck.

Dress Cutting by the Block Pattern System by Margaret C. Ralston (1932): Review, part 2

Drafting the pattern for Dress 2 and two garments based on this design.