Wednesday 29 September 2010

Babushka

Guinea Pig

My Sister gave me a scrap of fabric with teeny tiny babushka dolls printed on it.  I think it might be Japanese fabric but I do know one thing...I love it!  It was only a small piece and I'm normally the kind of person that doesn't like to use something in case it goes wrong.  But I've decided to stop being like that and to just plunge in.  It's only mistakes and it's only fabric.  So I made myself this guinea pig.  Sweet!

Saturday 25 September 2010

Stash

New Fabric

My Sister visited today and we went out for a trip to a large craft and fabric shop here in North Wales.  It's called Abakhan and their Mostyn branch is huge!  Well worth the trip, that's for sure.  In the large remnants department they have baskets and baskets full of craft cottons which you buy by the weight.  I saw some lovely brown and pink floral cotton and fell in love with it.  Suddenly my Sister started finding many other cottons that went with it so nicely that I had to buy them all.  Aren't they so pretty?

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Oh Brother!

This is too much, too much to contain.  I think I shall burst if I don't share my utter excitement and delight!  Look what arrived today...

Brother 1


Isn't it an absolute beauty!?  I decided to invest more money in a sewing machine and get one that would suit my needs, so this is what I chose.  It's a Brother Innov-is 350SE and I bought it for £370.  It was an awful lot of money to splash out on one thing, but I really do hope that it is a worthwhile investment.  In the future I would love to design and sew my own things and sell them at craft fairs or on the internet.  Right now it's just a dream but I have a feeling that this lovely machine is the first major step in realising that dream.  Let me show you more...

Brother 2


Everything is in just the right place and threading is a total doddle.  There's a handy needle threader, a superfast bobbin winder, a bright LED light and once everything is ready you just pop the lid down and everything is all tucked away neatly inside.

Brother 3


Here is the accessories compartment which slides off to reveal the Brother's free arm.  There's a handy switch just on the back which drops the feed dogs down.  I read that dropping the feed dogs can be an awkward procedure on some machines so I'm very glad that on mine it's easily accessible.  Another easy-peasy thing is inserting the bobbin.  Just drop it in and off you go!  There's an automatic thread securing function which runs the needle back and forth three times when you start and finish, and not only that but it will cut the thread for you too!  Oh how I do lovelovelove my new sewing machine!

And the best thing about it?  It doesn't go 'BZZZZZZZZ' - tee hee!

Saturday 18 September 2010

Goodness!

Something very exciting is coming.  Maybe you can guess what it is but I'm not saying anything other than I am very, very excited and bouncy!  *bouncebounce*

But I must keep calm, yes.  Calm.  So whilst I wait and you wait to see why I am waiting, I shall pick up my hook and a ball of wool and crochet a little something.  I do love to crochet and I think I always will.  It all started in April when I discovered Lucy at her Attic24 blog.  I was immediately inspired to buy a crochet hook, a ball of wool and give it a go.  After a few Youtube tutorials and a few hours more I had made something that resembled a half-chewed earthworm.  And do you know what?  I'm going to show you that earthworm!

Earthworm


Dear oh dear oh dear!  I wouldn't have been surprised if I had given up on the idea of crochet right there and then.  But my Mum and my Sister were very gracious about my earthworm and possibly fibbed just a little bit about how marvellous it was.  That made me feel better enough to pick my hook back up and try again and after a few weeks...tadaaa

Ripple cushion



 and

Ripple cushion close


I did it!  I learned the neat ripple pattern from Lucy's Attic24 blog!

I know that many people say that they will try anything once, but I have decided to try anything twice!  Things may be very different the second time around.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

The end already?

Oh dear, oh dear.  This is quite a sad day.  A necessary day, but sad all of the same.  You see, my little shiny sewing machine has gone back to the supermarket.  It has taken me a few days to give it a try, to see if we gel together and in the end I had to stop fooling myself.  My sewing machine worked perfectly, but it didn't fit in with my needs.  I want to make small, fiddly things and it just wouldn't respond the way I would have expected.  It was fantastic for straight lines but struggled with curves, no matter how loose the presser foot or tension was set.

I knew that if I carried on, I would fight with it, lose, get fed up and the sewing machine would end up in a corner or cupboard getting dusty.  It would turn into one of fleeting fads and that would not do at all.  I really would like to make things on a sewing machine and so, with a heavy heart, I took it back to the shop and got a refund.

A very sad day indeed.  I don't quite know where to go from here.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Oh....orange

Genevieve

Hurrah, I have made something with my sewing machine.  A guinea pig called Geneviève who will be accompanying my clever niece as she embarks on an adventure of her very own...to university!  I wish them both the very best of luck.  Goodbye niece, and farewell 'Ginny'...

So, after running up and down pillowcases with bright orange thread because nobody ever uses orange, I decide to make something orange.  Clever me.  But I did love this spotty fabric that my Mum sent to me as soon as she learned of the new sewing machine.  I also invested in a pattern because whilst I would love to make soft toys, I really don't have the first clue about it all.  Luckily, I found a wonderful website where I can download PDF patterns to print out and also sell the items I make at craft fairs and online.  Fantastic.  You can find this guinea pig pattern and many, many others at Bit of Whimsy Dolls.  I shall certainly be going back for more!

Thursday 9 September 2010

Bzzzzzzz!

I didn't know that sewing machines went 'Bzzzzzzz!'  What a fairly scary thing that was when I first heard it.  I must admit that despite being excited to try out my new sewing machine, once I had sat myself down at the kitchen table I felt a little bit nervous.  I had no idea why, since I had armed myself with six pillowcases from the charity shop to practise on so there was plenty of time and fabric for mistakes.  I guess I suddenly wondered whether maybe...possibly...what if...I was never going to be very good at sewing on a sewing machine.  Kind of like that time I tried oil painting....what a disaster!

But I did make a start after all of my silly pondering and as I gently pressed down on the foot pedal, slowly slowly....

BZZZZZZZZ!

My goodness, it scared half of the life out of me.  Apparently it's a normal noise and I'm just going to have to get used to it.  I spent a good hour testing the stitch patterns and running up and down my pillowcases with bright orange thread then running out of it and using the other shade of bright orange and running out of that too.  Never mind though, who uses orange anyway?!

Wednesday 8 September 2010

The Beginning

I've decided that today is a very good day to start a blog since I'm am embarking on a new adventure with my brand new, shiny, super....sewing machine!  I saw it in the local supermarket a few days ago for £60 and couldn't stop thinking about it.  And today, I left craft group early and bought it.  My first proper sewing machine, and here it is...

New Sewing Machine

Cooeee, isn't it shiny?!  It came with all of the usual gadgets and gizmos and I have spent the evening looking through the manual.  It's a bit late for sewing now, you see, but I do so badly want to have a go.  Maybe I should just plug it in and check that the light works.  Yes, yes.  That's what I will do!

*flicks the switch*

Wheeee!  It works, I am so terribly excited!  Have you ever had to wait for the next day and you just know that at 4.30am you will wake up and that'll be it.  No more sleep, just lying there in bed, excited, watching the clock.  Well that is me to a tee....like a kid at Christmas.  Oh well, it's back to the manual for me until tomorrow morning, or I could rearrange the set of sewing threads that I bought along with the sewing machine.

Sewing Threads from Lidl

Ahhh, colourful.  Well, until tomorrow!