Archive for the ‘Sewing stuff’ Category
June 2nd, 2010
I decided to make a new large pin cushion for my sewing desk. I needed one that was big and heavy, one that I couldn’t lose or knock over accidentally.
I don’t know if I’m the only one who tends to lose things in the midst of a project, but I’d guess I’m not the only one with backups. I’ve got a selection of scissors, multiple packages of needles, a spare pair of reading glasses, and a collection of pin cushions scattered about. (If however, you’re the kind of person with perfect organization who always know exactly where every supply is just play along for my benefit.) Besides that, A quick and easy pin cushion project is just the thing for a blah rainy afternoon.
This is the cushion I created. It’s a basic rectangle shape with a big flower on top. I made it to fit inside this low, wide planter making it nearly impossible to lose!
After the jump I’ll share my technique for making the cushion and give a tutorial to make the petals for the flower.
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January 27th, 2010
I took a moment this morning to snap a couple of photos of my black and white quilt. The sun is actually shining today and the quilt was just begging for my attention!
The quilt is officially half way done now. It measures 70″ by 45″, once it’s done it will be a 70″x90″. There are 54 hand quilted squares there! (and that means 54 more to do, oooh).
I am still really liking the quilt as you go method for joining the squares . With this technique you never have to have more than one block’s width rolled up under the arm of your sewing machine. (the blocks are hand quilted, but pieced together by machine). I also love that it is pieced together so that it is patchwork on the front and back, too. To be honest, I am feeling a bit intimidated with the amount of work left to do. Each of these blocks takes me 45 minutes to an hour to quilt (I’m slow, but getting better!). I even toyed with the idea of machine quilting some of the squares just to keep motivated and get some of it done quickly, but a friend told me, “Don’t do it! you’ll never forgive yourself”. I laughed, but I thought about it and she was right. I just know I’ll be proud of it when I’m done and know that I put so much effort into it, and didn’t compromise my plan.
Right now I just want it done so I can snuggle up under it.
June 5th, 2009
When I saw this little machine in the thrift store I was immediately intrigued.
I thought it was beautiful. It is all metal, except for the wooden handle, and is pretty small, at a little under 6 inches tall. (on my monitor, the photo is just a little bit smaller than the real thing) I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but as I played with it I started to get an idea of what it was for. When you turn the handle, the wavy blade turns as well as the metal disk below the table. I thought it had to be for pinking fabric! I brought it home, not really caring if it would work or not because I loved it.
Just look at those neat gears on the back! You can see here that it was made by Singer. I started looking around online after I got it home and found out that it’s a little hand pinking machine that Singer made during the first half of the 1930’s. I was even able to download a PDF of the instruction manual. The manual promised that the blade will “never need sharpening”! I thought I’d better give it a try. The little machine clamps down onto the edge of a table for security. I clamped it down, fed some sweet Kokka Japanese linen through it, and it worked like a charm! perfectly!
I wonder if Singer knew when they wrote their manual that it would really still work perfectly 70 years later. It’s so nice because the machine feeds the fabric through as you turn the handle, all you have to do is guide it to keep it straight. It is so much easier to use than pinking shears (scissors), because you never have to worry about lining up the zags and zigs every time you reopen the scissors to cut the next part. You just get one long continuous line of perfect pinking!
I pinked the edges of a couple of rectangles of the linen and paired it with some lime green linen to make a pouch. I made the pinked edges a part of the design since it was so fabulous.
And look, the machine fits right inside. Cute, no?
