The sewing thread

I'm from a long line of home stitchers, as a teen I made most of my own clothes, mostly without patterns as I felt they were too limiting (this was my rebellious stage!). but I haven't made clothes for me for nearly 2 decades. much more home furnishings now, which is dull in comparison, but I embroider, quilt and mix textile arts, again without patterns. I'm teaching my eight year old and she is very creative with hand sewing and has just started on one of my machines making dolls clothes from her imagination. I've 5 sewing machines, all hand-me-downs, with the oldest a hand turned machine 100 years old, but i've never had one of the newer computerised ones, so my range of sewing in that way is quite limited, and I'm more expressive than perfectionist (most of my curtains have not been hemmed and I tend to fit things "by eye" and end up unpicking a lot! :S)

would be lovely to see any products that people have on the go

I used to always do my cutting out on the floor! When I started sewing again after my years out I found I couldn`t do it this way anymore, kneeling for more than a few seconds I got pins & needles and crampy toes, then have to be helped up off the floor. I bought a decorators table (£10 from Wickes) that suits my needs perfectly.

Another thing I found that might be worth sharing here - in times past I`m sure that stuffing used to be cheaper, I was shocked at current prices. Last year one project was making Minions - inspired by cheap fleece fabric in blue and yellow....I found Asda Smart Price pillows at 2 for £3 great for stuffing, and made 6 large minions and a couple of rag dolls without breaking the bank.

What a great thread!

I've always had a machine (Mum's old one) but it got broken in a house move. I bought a new one (Brother, cheapish model) that scared me to death! During the summer I decided to overcome my fears, read the manual and have been having a rare old time.

I've made some tote bags for Christmas presents and also some hot water bottle covers that look quilted - all from a book DD got as a present some years ago and never looked at. There was material in the book already cut out for a bag so that was a good start.

I'm now a bit stuck as I don't know how to put in a zip, I'm thinking of going to a sewing class to learn some new skills.

Fuddle I agree - for me it's about using scraps, bits of clothing and other wee things I find, and hand quilting allows me to pick up and put down without any fuss - plus it's cosy on a winter's night - and of course you can be using the quilt as you quilt it - just pin with safety pins and pop it over your bed between stitching for extra warmth.

There are all sorts of threads for quilting, but I use a fine crochet cotton as I have loads to hand. I can send you a couple of ball of cream which will do a large quilt if that would help - got a box of it from a thrift shop ages ago :-) You see it on ebay often in auctions quite cheaply too if you want colour. I'll look later and see what count it is that I have and let you know- it's quite fine but very strong

Camelot, have a look on u tube for videos on `how to sew in a zipper` or something to that effect - there are loads of this sort of short vids on there, look at a few and find one to follow. I think there`s a Brother video as well.