TOYS,TOYS,TOYS.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen,boys and girls....here is that latest update on my journey through my sewing machine.

today i had a look through my sewing magazines ...and decided that it was time to have a go at making toy's even if i only ever made one...then at least i could have said that i had a go!!!!I picked a toy pattern out of Quilting Arts Stitch 1....i have to say that i fell in love with miss kitty...she looks very retro and i thought she would has been pretty difficult to make...but i shrugged my shoulders and thought what the heck lets do it!!!!

I copied out all the pattern pieces onto a sheet of greased proof paper,picked out some scrap material...and pinned out the pattern and cut it out ready for stitching...it wasn't until i had done the cutting out that i realised the pattern hadn't got a seam allowance so i "made" a seam allowance...so the kitty ended up a little smaller than the pattern should have been...i was expecting something little and handheld..but no,it was the size of a small cushion!!!But i enjoyed making it.Would you like to see it???? And there she is...she's soft and cuddly and if I'm not careful my DD will be whipping it!!she's already been dropping hints that she'd like one in a goth colour...purple,black,red and leather!!!hmmmm am thinking about that one...it could be fun to do another one with studs and piercings....

I also managed to buy a new copy of sew hip! I was well pleased with it as there's a lovely simple pattern for KNICKERS!!!!! I'm going to have a go at them tomorrow and make my mother -in law some for a laugh!!!She has got the most warped sense of humour i have ever seen or known....so i shall be making them with blue silk...and white pinstriped cotton shirt material.....i think it will put a giggle in my mother in laws tank!!after the last 4 years she's had she needs a good laugh!!!

it was due to my mother -in -law philly,that i shall be making little girlie's dresses out of the sew hip book to sell....she kindly donated 3 double quilt bags and the pillow cases...all made in the 1950's...one is white with the clarice cliff style orange and yellow flowers with a white background,a blue paisley with a white background,and a yellow and green 1970's print...i can't wait to get my hands on them!!!where else am i going to be able to recycle them into clothing mind you i do feel guilty about this......but then again they would have ended up in the ragbank otherwise........but will be posting this weeks about how things went!!!!

have got to go and cut out the pattern and get ready to pin tomorrow morning.............bye!!!

patterns,patterns,PATTERNS!!!!!

Evening everybody.....
Well have finally bitten the bullet and subscribed to a sewing magazine.....its called "sew!" and its printed by the same company that make lets knit!...and i have to say i am impressed!!!
Every month they include features on sowers that have gone it alone and made their own styled items that they sell and use themselves,,this month included a trouser,top and jacket combo...and although they are beautiful i have to say that i am not ready to make their trousers yet.....the jacket i wasn't over struck on but the "a-line" top i have made twice already.....but unfortunately my DD(darling daughter) has whipped off with them both...i made a black one and a purple one and well that was that to be honest.....she wears them both with a belt or with trousers,And whilst i am happy that she likes wearing them i would have liked to wear them myself just once...but never mind ....due to the magazine i managed to find a address where i could buy clothing patterns from Vogue,Burda and simplicity....i bought Three patterns this month,one was a pair of Vogue three quarter trousers,another was for a empire cut long top,with trousers,jacket,dress and shorts,,,and the other was a gorgeous gathered top that anybody of any size could wear and it would look fantastic!!!
i am using a roll of baking paper a month at the minute...i am using the baking paper as a tracing element instead of having to cut out the pattern from the pattern tissue paper as i am a bit clumsy and know i will just shred it!!!!!
At the minute i have got a teddy bear cut out and ready to be stitched he's been tacked and matched and now all I've got to do is stitch him together and stuff him and he'll be ready to sell or give away...but i am a bit worried as He's black and purple...a real goth bear,,,but i can't resist the chance to experience making toy's on my sewing machine.....
My DD has asked me if she can have my old mini sewing machine...i don't have a problem with that except she wants to do all these embellishments and it will only do straight stitch....so i said she could have a go with mine but i would like to own it a month before she gets her hands on it as the last machine i had that i Lent her she broke within 5 minutes and it cost me a fortune to fix...don't get me wrong it wasn't on purpose bless her she's just a bit heavy handed!!!
So i have been to two fantastic material shops in the last 2 weeks,and i would recommend them to anybody just to experience the randomness of a material shop....and the quickening of the pulse at the thought of finding the unusual,,and strange!!!One is the diss fabric shop...in st Nicolas street...its a nice enough little shop but the owner has a particular liking for american betty boop print which does nothing for me ,although she does have a fantastic range in handmade Chinese embroidered silk...albrights in diss is a lovely crafter's store and cover's every craft in large quantities...but i have to say that the ultimate material store would have to be neil's material store in eye,Suffolk,uk. its a real Aladdin's cave and is worth travelling to look at,i could get lost in their forever and never worry about coming out again....it feels like i have always belonged...and have totally fallen for its charms and materials available!!!
I managed to get a fantastic pair of scissors from banham car boot this weekend...they were £2.50 a pair and they are as sharp as a razor...now if i could only stop my middle son from using them to cut paper..........now all i want to do is get stocked up on cottons and bobbins...i always seem to loose or break a bobbin every time i use my sewing machine....but that's because I'm a bit clumsy i trod on the last one and snapped it!!!still never mind its not the end of the world....but i am practising as much as i can to get this right...i would love to turn this into something i could do as a trade but i need practise!!!!!
will post some piccies when i am done so you all can see what i have been up to!!!
bye for now,
helen.

This is where it started

Well my name is helen,i am a mother of three,and a step mother to three and grandmother to two.....but thats another story.

It all started a month ago when hubs and me visited Diss Auction rooms(T>W>Gaze)....and sitting on the shelves up for auction was dozens and dozens of Sewing machines all laying there in a row ready to be bought,loved and treasured by their owners to be.......along with them was dyson hoovers and water coolers and i had my eye on a nice second hand leather sofa which was purple in colour and would have fitted in my living room perfectly.....so i left a reasonable bid on the sofa and a cheeky bid on a sewing machine......and left it til the following day......

By the time lunch time came round i knew the household department had finished its auction so i thought i would give them ring and check to see if i got my sofa...i had completely forgotten about the sewing machine!!!!!

Within 5 minutes of calling and giving them my buyers number they told me i had won the sewing machine but the sofa had gone way over my budget...but i wasn't that bothered,just a little dissapointed..but there will be other days and other auctions...

What baffled me was how i had managed to get a newish sewing machine for the end price of £18.00 plus £1.25 fee's....but i was happy...my hubs had then revealed to me that at one point he was going to buy me a sewing machine for christmas...only because he was a bit fed up with me buying clothes and then either not being able to find anything to fit me(i'm a size16!!) or having to cut 10" off a pair of jeans to fit me because i've only got a 26" inside leg.....so he gave me a budget of £20.00 per month to buy material's for my sewing machine......

So because i didn't know much abouit sewing machines i sat down and calmly read the instruction manual which went vague at the important bit,but nonetheless i read it from cover to cover and decided to get it serviced before i used it...i found a brilliant man in botesdale who did me a full service and pick up and delivery all for the princely sum of £39.00!!!including vat and taxes.......when i got it home i had bought myself some stretch denim effect lycra cotton and thought that i would make myself a pair of 3/4 length trousers.....i bought myself a sewing machine pattern magazine and got to work......my first project was a little girls swing dress,i wanted to make something small to start with...and it was a sheer pleasure to make and enjoyed every single moment of it!!!!

within one day of owning this i caught the sewing bug.......................i bought a length of suit trouser material,some purple cotton,and some patchwork pieces...and started sewing...i made the dog an experimental patchwork blankie for her bed......she liked it anyway...and to be honest i did too...am thinking of making a full size one for us to go on our bed....but thats for the wintertime......

and then this week i did an exercise in recycling...i bought a pair of jeans from a charity stall at the carboot they cost me 25p and have turned them into 5 lovely hand bags...i decorated one with felted flowers,one with gold embroidery,and the others with buttons...all over it like sequins!!!!the project gave me a smile a mile wide...and kept my brain ticking...

i have bought 2 patterns from burda and am really looking forward to making myself some pretty summer tops,and i am definitley making myself a winter coat this year...have seen a gorgeous one sitting in my burda magazine and i adore the cut and colour....so will be definitley be doing that one........but my hubs has now got in the habit of taking me to Eye to the material shop to buy material...its a real aladin's cave and i could spend all day in there and still come out grinning from ear to ear....my middle son bless hi has got a real taste for my sewing...he's asked me to make him a pair of stretch red skinny jeans.....and i am going to make them for the weekend whilst he away at his dads so he'll have them as a nice surprise....

this week i have made 8 costumes for my little'uns play...it took some doing as i only had two days to do but it was fun in a way.....and the more i sew the more i learn!!!Don't get me wrong i am still knitting and crocheting...but am constantly busy and i am happy!!!!!

Here's some piccies of what i havebeen upto in the time i have had me new toy......