My bag adventures

23 Thursday May 2013

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Recently I’ve tried my hand at some rudimentary bags. I showed them to you in a previous post here and here. Then I saw this great pattern on the Sew Serendipity website. I bought the pattern and thought about it for a while. Then I was sidelined from hand quilting because I hurt my hands/wrists so I decided this was the perfect time to try to make the bag using my machine.

There are learning curves and then there are LEARNING CURVES! This one was an Everest for me. To begin with all went smoothly but then as I started sewing through 10 thicknesses of fabric, 9 thicknesses of interfacing plus one thickness of Peltex, I realised two things – 1. Manhandling all that fabric and a sewing machine is not good for sore hands and 2. I need an industrial strength sewing machine just to get that much fabric under the presser foot!

I persevered and finished the bag. Some bits I had to do by hand because they physically would not go under the presser foot of my machine. Other bits I did but not to my satisfaction as it was too difficult to manhandle a whole, stiff, inside out bag and sew several very thick pieces at the same time.

I’m happy with the end result but IF I ever made another I wouldn’t make it so stiff. It’s just too hard with an ordinary domestic sewing machine. Anyway here it is. What do you think?

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A cautionary tale

12 Sunday May 2013

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Do you remember this quilt?

That purple fabric is quilter’s lamé. I sewed it with a 1/4″ seam as we quilters usually do and after a few washes this is the result…

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Looks to me like 5/8″ seams would have been in order here. Sigh…

The ideal sewing machine

I was really interested to get all of your comments and Annette I agree that your bobbin arrangement sounds exactly what I’m after, consider it included as an explanatory note to the list. Kate has added a knee presser foot lifter when she commented on Facebook too.  I wonder if Singer or Janome or Juki or Bernina is listening. It’d be nice wouldn’t it?

My ideal sewing machine – manufacturers please take note – :)

11 Saturday May 2013

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If you could have anything you liked in a sewing machine, would it be fancy with lots of bells and whistles or pared down but sturdy? Would it be single purpose e.g. digital embroidery or would it be multi-purpose?

I’ve been thinking about this a great deal recently and here’s what I’d like in my ideal sewing machine:

  1. Three types of stitches – straight, zig-zag and buttonhole.
  2. Clip on feet
  3. Easy needle clamping, no hard to hold, fiddly little screwdrivers
  4. Reverse stitching
  5. Needle up/needle down
  6. Auto threat cutting
  7. Slide in/out plate – no screws!
  8. Easy to load bobbin
  9. Easy bobbin winding
  10. Sews multiple thicknesses of fabrics easily, without jumping – almost industrial strength.
  11. Easy top and bottom thread and presser foot tension adjustments
  12. Automatic buttonhole
  13. Drop down feed dogs for free-motion quilting
  14. LARGE THROAT for quilting – at least 15″
  15. Free-arm and extension table
  16. Hard cover or comes with it’s own “wheelable” storage bag
  17. Good storage for bobbins, feet and all the tools etc.
  18. Under $800
  19. A decent light that actually illuminates what you’re sewing
  20. A 10 year warranty

That’s not too much to ask is it? It probably is but I guess I can dream.

My week in photos

11 Saturday May 2013

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Last weekend I went to a local quilt exhibition. Unfortunately I can’t show you photos of the quilts as I think there are permission issues. However, I bought some goodies. Here’s what I bought…

a cute pincushion

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a lovely hand made card and some lavender pouches

P1050987some Japanese fabric

P1050990and some funky fabric

P1050989From the quilt show I went to a store with a sale and got some gorgeous fabrics for $5 per metre.

P1050980Later in the week I washed an old quilt but seeing it on the line in the sunshine made me realise that it still is one of my favourites even though (or perhaps because) it’s not perfect.

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I also had a go at making a New York Beauty block from scraps and while there is certainly room for improvement I’m quite pleased  with it.

P1050975Then yesterday the postie brought a large box to my door.

P1050977And here’s what was inside

P1050978an early Mother’s Day present! Aren’t I lucky?

I hope all you mothers out there enjoy your day on Sunday and are remembered by your offspring no matter where in the world they are. Happy Mother’s Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bit of this and a bit of that…

08 Wednesday May 2013

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I’ve been taking some photos of little domestic pleasures. A warm, flourless orange cake, a new fruit bowl full of lemons and home-grown mandarins, a baby quilt made from scraps, a couple of zippered pouches I made thanks to Kristen Link’s (of Sew Mama Sew) free Craftsy course – Bag making basics, a pile of ironed, quilted goodies etc. Anyway here they are and I hope you enjoy them too.

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Still here, still plodding…

06 Monday May 2013

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I’ve started hand quilting my daughter’s quilt again but can only do an hour or so at a time as my wrists get sore. Has any of you any experience with those wrist supports I see from time to time on quilting sites? I did buy one once but I was allergic to whatever they used to stitch the seams and had to give it away.

I’ve also been making a baby quilt from the fabric leftovers and a quilted, reversible tote bag. I haven’t finished the baby quilt quite yet – just sewing on the binding at the moment and I’ll share pics when it’s finished.

Here are a couple of less than flattering photos of the bag – both sides.

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Plodding on

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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I haven’t posted in a while but I have been sewing. I’ve started one of the projects for my Andalusian tile template set and am in the process of cutting and sewing and writing.

I’ve also completed 2 of the 3 cushions I’m making to go with the bed of Roses quilt. The third just needs the back sewing on. I English Paper-Pieced the bows, then appliqued them by hand onto the background. I got the pattern for the bow from my Japanese quilt block book – My Favorite Patterns 163 Quilt Patchwork Block Squares. Then I sandwiched them using my favourite batting – Vilene/Freudenborg Quiltlite – and machine quilted them.

Here are the two I’ve already completed.

photo1 photo2Fortunately my wrists have recovered now and so I hope to be able to finish the hand quilting on the quilt soon too.

 

Revamping the revamp

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

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This is what I’ve been doing.

P1050725The drawers that I refaced using the oil-based polyurethane had a slighlty creamy, antique look to them whereas those I did with the water-based polyurethane were pristine white. What’s more even days after doing them they still ponged! The smell was giving me a headache so I ripped it all off and started again with water-based poly.

You can see the difference between the two finishes below.

P1050726Anyway now my drawers match, don’t smell and look much smarter than they did. I’m happy.

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Revamping my desk drawers the quilter’s way

06 Saturday Apr 2013

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Last time I told you that I was redoing my desk drawers. They are 24 years old and in dire need of a facelift. Here is how they looked before I worked on them.

P1050713All chipped and tired looking as you can see. There are two sets. The ones I fixed last week had a filing drawer in them and now look like this.

P1050712The only problem was that I nearly gassed myself using an oil-based polyurethane to finish. Even when it was dry it stank for several days. In fact even now it has a faint chemically pong. It caused me no end of asthma type problems.

Anyway, today I went and bought some water-based polyurethane to do the other drawers and that was much less problematic. I’ll show those when they’re dry.

Instructions

If you want to revamp some item of furniture then this is what I did.

I lightly sanded the drawer fronts and then wiped them down. I cut some fabric an inch bigger than the drawer fronts on all sides. I smeared the fronts and the the underside of the lip evenly with PVA glue and then I placed the fabric on the glue. I smoothed out the fabric and made it taut and then I used a staple gun to secure it.

Once this was accomplished I painted on the polyurethane and waited for it to dry.

It may or may not need another coat. I haven’t really decided yet but for the moment it’s looking fine and is a great improvement on the tatty drawers that were there before.

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