Sewing Adventures

I used to be afraid of my sewing machine. My machine is a 1974 Singer and belonged to my Granny who used it for many many projects. When I first got it, I has now idea how to get it to do what I wanted and we fell out a lot!

Over the years, I have taken the odd sewing workshop here and there and have made friends with old faithful who has helped me make some great wee frocks for Poppet, a table runner in our family tartan, and even some clothes for myself!

Pattern matching this was a total nightmare! It looks amazing though.

Usually, I'm sewing at the dining table, among all the debris of every day life!

I'm hugely into flamingo print at the moment! I made a skirt with this fabric and I love lfouncing about in it!

I had some of this leftover from a dress I made myself, so naturally, made shorts for my girl

The mustard bias binding totally sets it off

Ice cream shorts

Shorts for a boy, these were a fun print!

One of my most recent makes is this beautiful cape in Liberty purple

I used Liberty tana lawn bias binding and covered my own buttons to match

9m of hand sewn binding...

Pattern cutting

This is my latest make, a Merchant and Mills Trapeze dress in a grey/pink tartan print

 I have plans for some more skirts and a few short sleeved tops for the (hopefully) upcoming spring weather, so watch this space for more!

Until next time,

Kx

Learning to love the sewing machine

I have previously mentioned that I'm scared of the sewing machine but as it turns out, it's not that scary after all. In fact, I'm becoming rather fond of it.

This used to be my Granny's sewing machine and it saw a lot of use in its day. It has now had a bit of a revival and has been helping me get to grips with the whole concept of maching sewing.

I even have the original instructions and boxes she used to keep the bobbins in!

Cushie number!

I made my first ever cushions last week and now that the recipient has received these (my auntie who does the knitting for me - it was her b'day), I can show you some pics!

I used a fabulous cotton fabric with lots of girlie pictures of shoes, bags, dresses and makeup. These pics don't do them justice really, they are a very girlie combination of pinks, blues, greens and purples.The cover is removable so you can wash it or change the cover altogether so I think that's pretty cool! I did sew on some cute pink buttons but you can't see them in this pic sadly. I was sad to part with them although will be excited to see how they look in their new home! I love seeing things that I've made for people when I visit their houses : )

I am a bit scared of the sewing machine so tend to shy away from these sorts of projects but I was surprised how straight forward it was to make! I used the instructions from Kirstie's Homemade Home that was on channel 4 last year. You can find them here if you want to have a go at making them. For those of you in the know about these things, they are envelope cushions. Probably the easiest cushion to make for a scaredy cat like me!

Is anyone else scared of the sewing machine?

Ta-Daa!!

Last night I managed to finish a few of my little projects which have been on the go for a while. Will post pics soon - most of these are surprise pressies so will wait til the receiver has had them!

I did however finish my first protoype for something new (to me anyway). Gave you a sneak peak yesterday but here are the finish articles!

Large coasters to fit your tea (or coffee!) and a few biccies!!
I've made two, one turned out slightly smaller but that's cos I was using scraps of material. One side is pink and the other has a shoe pattern. I'm quite please with them but I think I need to make a few more before I've perfected them. Must sort out a template for cutting them out...

What do you think?

Also, just had to show you a pic of my 'sewing machine'. I put a mug next to it so you can see how big it actually is! If this crafting thing is going to take off, I may just have to get a proper machine, but so far it has done a good job, me thinks!