A brilliant arrival was delivered yesterday, a Singer 12k sewing machine which was made in 1888.  We are aiming to make the majority of our own clothing, so wanted a high quality workhorse of the period, and naturally we turned to the Singer sewing machine.  

Both of our grandmothers had, and still have and use similar models, so we felt that this would be an essential item for our pre 1900 lifestyle.  

It is amazing to think that a machine of 135 years is in such fantastic working condition.  I do wonder how many modern  electric sewing machines will be lovingly used in over 100 years time!  

Thank you Michele for all for all of your advice, fabrics, accessories and also kind words.  It is good to know that your expertise won't be too far from hand! 

As part of our ambition to step back in time, we are also going to attempt to live without man made fibres, such as acrylic and a whole variety of materials with a "poly" prefix. 

Our first bag of 100% woolen yarn arrived two days ago, and it is a pure joy to knit with.  The feel of it is definitely more - real!

In time, we will spin our own wool and dye it using traditional methods - so if you ever stop by, please be willing to contribute to the pish-pot!

It is going to take some time before we can exchange all of our current clothing real fibre fabrics, hence the reason we are starting our preparations ahead of time.