A shiny present for me!

I got an exciting big parcel the other day. So exciting that I couldn’t wait to unwrap it! I practically tore it open.

This is my first proper sewing machine. My previous machine was a basic white-box unbranded one that cost about £30 from Tesco maybe ten years ago. It was getting useless – the thread kept jumping out of the bobbin if I sewed too fast (something you only notice AFTER you finish that long, long row and find a mile of loops under your sewing) Also, it was really hard to get the tension right and it couldn’t handle anything thicker than about three layers of dress-weight fabric. It lasted a long time, and I put up with all that until finally the tensioning bits broke altogether and no amount of turning the wheel made a blind bit of difference.

I spent a long time choosing a new one – I knew I wanted automatic buttonholes and at least twenty stitches. I hardly ever use them but boy do I like those little wavy and swirly ones! I also wanted as much to be computerised as possible. I’m a big fan of computers and I have a possibly unhealthy trust in them. The only problem I had was that I didn’t really have any money, at least not the £700 - £1400 for a really good dream sewing machine.

In the end I chose the Brother FS-40 WT. It has forty stitches, five of which are automatic buttonholes, and lots of computerisation. It has a start-stop button and one to make the needle move up or down and I can adjust the speed without using the foot pedal. It also has an extension table which is a really useful addition.

On Amazon this machine is in the region of £225 which isn’t too bad, but I bought mine refurbished from Pembertons Sewing Machines for £125 which included courier delivery. It’s in amazing condition, just like new – whoever owned it before either really looked after it or only used it once!

So far I’ve only had time to try out the stitches. The little LCD screen is really useful because it tells you which foot to use, and also the recommended stitch length and width (which I ignored, pressing the + button until everything was huge!) I’ve got a really long list of things to sew though – I’d already cut out Simplicity 3835 a couple of weeks ago and gone through my sewing magazines marking things I want to make. I bought a few round feather cushion pads too because I really, really want to sew some round cushions.

All I have to do now is actually make them! Tomorrow I’m building a new run for the hens (in the mud and rain!) but I might be able to find a few hours on Monday afternoon.

Whoop!

Beccy

What happened?

Oh dear, I seem to have gone a little AWOL again haven’t I? It’s not for lack of willing I just haven’t done much worth writing about.

I blame winter – when it’s grey I don’t want to do much. Oh and Bioshock Infinite, I definitely blame Bioshock Infinite!

For Christmas I only managed to make one little hat (it’s become a tradition that I always make Tracey a hat for Christmas!)

It is Meret by Wooly Wormhead and you can get the pattern free from here. In fact, if you like knitting hats this is the place to look – there are lots of lovely designs for all difficulty levels, something for everyone!

Did you guys get lots of gifts made? Is it just me? I’m not really feeling it lately. I want to make knitty/sewey things but I’m having trouble not only finding the time but also getting going. I can spend my few free hours looking through patterns but never really making any decisions. Its a bit frustrating.

In other news I have opened a little shop on Folksy and in it I’m selling these little brooches:

I’ll be adding some other things shortly but for now I’m a bit brooch mad. They are porcelain and feature my (by now) trademark vintage patterns.

Only £10, get ‘em while they’re hot!

Right! I’m only going to play an hour of Bioshock, then I might get out ‘A Stitch in Time’ for a bit of a pattern browse. I’m due volume one in the post any day now – I can’t wait!

Beccy