I like making things: A mixed bag these past couple of weeks

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A mixed bag these past couple of weeks

First of all I purchased a 32 piece set of sewing feet from Amazon. It was my Mother's day present. I have looked at these for a long time but kept putting it off as being frivolous as I probably would only use some of them occasionally.

Well I looked again on Amazon and the had a set for less than $22. There were more expensive ones but I took a gamble on these and they were available on Prime so 2 day shipping at no extra cost.

I can say that I am very impressed with the quality of them and have had fun trying some of them out on my newer Singer sewing machine. This machine came with the easy change thingy for the feet.

My older Singer has an easy change thingy too but it is different so I have ordered one for it that will take these feet too. This was the princely sum of just over $2 from Amazon but it is winging it's way from China. Free shipping too but of course, a lot longer to get here.

(The description of the feet is on the bottom of the box so I just took a copy of it so I don't have to keep turning the box upside down to see what's what).

I love my older machine, it sews so nicely so I will be happy to be able to use these feet on it.

My newer machine has a few quirks when doing plain sewing and I can't seem to sew nearly so well with it. It tends to move the fabric left. But when doing the fancy stitches it is great. So happy that I have both machines set up to use and can do all I need to with them. #3 machine is sitting in it's case awaiting a turn and I will get it out and give it a run soon.

I have done a few more repair jobs on the machine, JET seems to be getting a lot of holes and splits in his working clothes lately. I expect we should replace them instead of keep patching them up but where is the fun in that eh?

I also made another Christmas tree ornament and have been working on my crochet blanket.

I am joining all the squares up now.

You would think this would be simple, and it is, until I find a square that isn't quite correct and doesn't match up. So I have had to unpick a couple and re do them out of the twelve I have joined up so far and that takes more time.

Eventually it will be all sewn together. Then I will wash it and see how much it grows before I do any more to it. If it needs to be bigger i think I will just add a continuous border around it until it gets to the size I want.

9 comments:

DawnMay 18, 2016 at 11:41 AM
I have that set as well its great and a lot cheaper than buying individual ones, I have a dog bed to repair on my list, I took the cover off Sol's the other day to wash it and the the inner pad was torn to shreds were he scratches it up to get comfy :-)
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PamMay 19, 2016 at 5:34 AM
My Janome QC came with a great selection of feet and the others are all set up for a particular task. I have seen the sets of feet and itched to get one but feel it would just not get used. I save repairs up till I have a good pile and then plough my way through them.
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Carol- Beads and BirdsMay 19, 2016 at 5:59 AM
Hi Maureen. Last year I bought a little Brother machine that didn't come with a wallking foot so I bought an assortment of feet similar to what you did and I am totally happy with them. My Brother is not nearly the machine my Viking is, but it serves the purpose that I bought it for.

I am taking Kathy Shaw's free online Tranditional Quilt class. Hopefully I will learn the trick to matching whatever needs to be matched in quilting. In the pass I made clothes ..extensively and matching there was never a problem. Hopefully I'll love this, but if nothing else I'll learn something new.

Take good care. Enjoy you feet!!
xx, Carol
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KimMMay 19, 2016 at 6:55 AM
Zowy - you scored, didn't you?
xxx
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As in the words of Thumper: If you can't say 'nuffin nice don't say 'nuffin at all.

Glad you stopped by

I started this blog in 2011: Ever since my Mum taught me to knit at the age of about six or seven I have made things. Back then it was doll clothes. I was also inspired by Mrs Levitt an elderly lady who had a sewing room in a conservatory type room on the back of her house. I would sit and watch her in awe as she sewed.

When I was a child living in England the school system was such that you started at 5 years, did two years in Infant School, then four years in Primary School then five to seven years in Secondary School, depending on whether you chose to stay on after fifth form to get qualifications to go to University. I can't remember much of the Infant school other than making the standard square doily thingy from fabric that had holes in it so you could embroider patterns into it. A bit like the modern day cross stitch fabric but with bigger holes and spaces to make it easy for small hands to use. I also remember with great joy getting a toy sewing machine one Christmas which sewed only chain stitch but I did make doll clothes on it and that was before I started Primary school. I do have very vivid recollections of Primary school and having sewing and knitting lessons. In Primary school I knitted gloves and made a dress from scratch hand sewing it all.

Secondary school continued on with sewing by which time I had progressed to using full sized sewing machines and was making more intricate skirts and dresses. My parents bought me a proper sewing machine when I was thirteen. I used that same machine right up until I emigrated to Canada at age forty six years.

I have always had a fascination for sewing machines and knitting machines. I bought my first knitting machine at around age twenty one from an ad in a newspaper for twelve pounds. I had absolutely no idea what one was just that I wanted one. I trundled on the bus to the address in the advert and handed over my twelve pounds having absolutely no idea what I had really bought. Fortunately it came with a manual. It was an aged Knitmaster, very basic and I loved it. I wore it out. Next was a Brother push button one which I didn't keep because it was at a time in my life when things were difficult. Later on in my life, around forty, when things were better I bought a brand new Brother punchard machine with a ribber attachment. I loved it and made many things. Life took a different turn, I moved countries twice and along the way, regrettably I sold it.

Now, through the universe's blessing I now have another machine. It is a vintage one because they stopped making them early 90's but works perfectly and I love it. So I decided to make this blog to document my knitting progress and include sewing projects.

In 2013: we embarked on a new hobby, leather-work. My husband got started with it and it drew me in. It is something we can do together. We have a workshop so have plenty of room to work. We added another workbench for me to work on in 2013. We already had one but we were tripping over each other both trying to work at it. We only make things we want to make. It is strictly a hobby. We made some things for our good neighbours who help us out a lot. I am also working on Christmas presents. So this blog now incorporates the leather-work. Knitting and sewing will always be my first love though.

Fast forward to 2023 and now age almost 75 years. I have seven sewing machines, four knitting machines, several ribber attachments and a garter carriage for one of the machines. I am blessed beyond words, but I know that I have more than enough machines to keep me going in my lifetime so I don’t think I will be adding to my collection any time soon……….unless a nice embroidery machine manifests itself very cheaply.

I am a Brit living in the USA, sometimes I spell like a Brit and sometimes like an American. Sometimes I use slang and even make grammatical errors. I blog for the pleasure of it and to record my endeavours in the event that my memory fades, as I am sure it will with more age. I will be able to look back and remind myself of the things I have made along the way. So please forgive my mistakes when reading about my life making things here in the hinterlands and I hope you get as much enjoyment from my blog as I do from reading the blogs I follow.

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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

A mixed bag these past couple of weeks

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