Tablet Weaving

For many years, I attended events across southern and south-western Ontario with a medieval re-enactment group. I met a lot of wonderful people and learned a lot along the way. One of those skills was tablet weaving. I purchased an inkle loom, eventually a second smaller one also, and started making braided trim. I even sold some on Etsy and at events where my SO at the time was a vendor.

I’m no longer physically able to attend events like that and my craft interests have moved to other areas. I have not picked up the looms for many, many years now. It is time to find someone to pass them on to, along with the massive stash of crochet cotton I purchased to use with them.

Sometimes de-cluttering is easier than at other times. This is a tough one for me as I really enjoyed tablet weaving. Realistically though, I cannot see myself picking up the craft again, so there is no longer a reason to hold onto the inkle looms. I will find them a good home.

Attachments and More

My new/old vintage sewing machine came with several attachments. The largest one I knew was a ruffler (used to create perfectly spaced pleats and gathers) as my mother had one just like it for her machine. The other ones we had to do some research on. The attachment with the long arms is for doing pin tucks (narrow, stitched folds of fabric primarily used as a decorative detail to add texture, structure, or subtle volume to clothing). Two are for doing different types of hems, and for the life of me I cannot remember what the other one is for. To be honest, I’ll likely not use any of them, but it is nice to have them.

See a photo below of the machine the first time I opened the wooden carrier. On the left front side, you can see that one of the supports holding the machine level needed to be glued back in. That was easy enough to do as it was free floating in the bottom of the case. There was a piece of fabric wrapped around the neck with pins in it (mostly rusty). Apparently, this was a common practice back then to do that. The small, locked box on the right side of the carrier is where the attachments were found.

The wooden carrier is in rough shape with lots of dents and scratches. It might be nice to get it sanded and refinished at some point but that’s not a priority right now. There will be some re-wiring required down the road also. One of the cords has some electrical tape wrapped around it but is safe to operate at this time. I will have to find a permanent place to set it up though as it is a VERY heavy all metal machine, not something I want to be moving around a lot.

Singer 15-91

A friend recently called me to ask if I was interested in having his mother’s old sewing machine. Him and his wife are downsizing/de-cluttering just like me. I hesitated for a moment (I already have three sewing machines in my house, one an antique) but finally told him that I wanted it.

Am I ever glad that I did. I took it with me when I visited another friend in Ajax this past long weekend because she has several vintage machines herself and I knew she could help me assess and refurbish it. It is a Singer machine, model 15-91. It took a bit of online research to figure that out because we could not find the model number anywhere on the machine. By the serial number we could date it to 1948 which makes it 78 years old!

It was manufactured at the Singer St. John's factory, located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, a plant that operated from 1906 to 1986. The factory produced millions of renowned sewing machines (including iconic models like the Featherweight) and employed up to 3,000 workers at its peak.

We were able to find a pdf copy of the original manual online which is a bonus. After we cleaned the machine up a bit (it was very dusty) and oiled all the moving parts, we plugged it in to test it out. It sews like a dream even after laying dormant in storage for many years! I am very happy and can see myself using it a lot.

A Bit of Self-Examination

I thought I’d examine something I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post after a friend brought to my attention that I had never verbalized it before…depression. She asked if I should speak with my doctor about it. I figured it was worth taking a closer look at.

I looked up the definition of clinical depression, and I have highlighted symptoms that may apply to me.

Emotional Symptoms  Feeling sad, empty, hopeless, or numb  Restlessness, irritability, or anxiety  Difficulty concentrating or making decisions  Less interest or participation in activities normally enjoyed  Feelings of guilt or worthlessness  Repeated thoughts of death or suicide

Physical Symptoms  Low energy and feeling tired all the time  Changes in appetite or weight (eating more / less)  Change in sleep pattern (sleeping more / less)  Increased use of drugs or alcohol  Self destructive behavior, loss of control, or uncontrolled rage  May include headaches, aches, pains, digestive problems, dizziness

Depression can often be triggered by very stressful life situations such as:  A move  Divorce  Social isolation  Relationship conflict  The death of a loved one  Financial difficulties / Job loss  Demanding work / Stressful workplace  Health issues, especially a chronic health problem

Most of the highlighted issues stem from chronic health problems…pain, lack of mobility, etc. It has forced social isolation since I’m unable to get out as I used to. It is the reason for the low energy and feeling tired all the time too. I don’t have less interest in activities I used to enjoy but definitely have been participating less at times. So yes, it does make me a little sad but it does not dominate my life. For now, I think medical intervention is not needed but I will keep monitoring myself moving forward. And I'm sure my friend will too.

Things I Should Have Done

There are a lot of things I 'should' have done this month.

• Spend more time at my craft table. • Moved my de-clutter project ahead more. • Wrote some blog posts. • Spend less time watching mindless videos on YouTube. But I did not. Why not, you ask?

I can give you a whole litany of excuses (real or imagined). I could blame the weather, pain levels, lack of time, no motivation, procrastination, depression, etc. And while all that is true to a degree, I feel like I should have tried harder. But I honestly had no desire to 'push' myself on those difficult days and there have been many of those this month. I will have to make more of an effort next month. I know I've said that before and failed. Here's hoping next month is different.