From Union-Made blogspot.  Check his site out; good collection of this type of ephemera.

Swifty the Rabbit

Well, I picked up three more industrial sewing machines last Friday - a single needle chainstitch, a bartack machine, and an felling machine for sewing shirt and jacket side seams.  And also Swifty, the antique cast iron hole punch.  All came from a closed-down garment factory that used to produced the work uniforms for the U.S. Navy going back to the 1950's.  It will be the last of my core machine buying for the time being.  I still would like a keyhole buttonholer and a few others, but I now have everything that I need to make jeans, jackets, shirts, vests, etc. with a reasonable amount of efficiency - my own little garment factory.  Will update with some images once they're operating correctly.

May Day

Springtime (foods) in the Appalachians

Went to the growers-only farmers market this past weekend and got some really good local stuff.  On the cutting board are oyster mushrooms, spring onions, and most interesting of all - wild ramps (with the purple stems).  I've never had them before, but they're really good.  Too bad the season only lasts about two weeks.

Also, we made a vegetable soup last week with some nettles growing in a patch close our new place.  I'm pretty excited to learn more about the wild foods growing in this area.  Dandelion sauerkraut and maybe some nettle beer coming soon!

1940's style Boxer Shorts

Re-Re-Location

Well, we've decided to make a home in Asheville, NC. Found a small cottage that has space for me to set up shop and start doing this sewing thing for real. There's a really strong emphasis on craft and locally made products here, and I've already had a lot of interest in and support for what I want to do, so I'm really looking forward to getting down to work this summer. I'll let folks know once I get things in order, then I can start taking your orders.






I bought this Union Special coverstitch machine just before we left. It's been painted green for some reason, and it isn't mounted to the table very well at all, but it's going to make some great belt loops!