The Sewing Room

babyboysmommy

Has anyone got a Janome 720 Jem Platinum? What do you think of it? Pros/cons? Many thanks.

in-the-beach-hut

traceylou9 wrote: »

I have been awol for ages because I have been doing so much sewing lol!

I have been working on a story sack for The Very Hungry Caterpiller - it's all in felt except for the bag which was a small canvas bag which I covered in hungry caterpiller fabric!

It's for a friends little boy who is 1 tomorrow - hope they like it!




Tracey

Oh my word this is amazing! :T:T:T My little boy absolutely loves the hungry caterpillar (one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one piece of swiss cheese.....) - It must have taken you ages. Totally brilliant :T

Kandipandi

Teaceylou your bag is brilliant! I was in hobbycraft yesterday (how bl*&dy expensive is it in there!!) and they had a few hungry catterpillar fabrics in there and i was mega tempted.
Thats an excellent idea and really well made - and I personally think your caterpillar is great, look at his little face.... ahhhh....

Margaret54

traceylou what a beautiful piece of work Well done to you. That little boy will adore this gift I am sure, and as another poster said what an heirloom to keep. You are so patient. I have received my parcel this morning from a fabric shop online and am keen to get started on something nice.:)

shirlgirl2004

Oh dear. I've just bought some more fabric from Ebay when I still haven't finished that bag I started weeks ago!

flossie217

danables wrote: »

One question about the patterns at the back of the Tilda books- it says to double up the material when transfering the pattern onto the material but then (for example) it says for the angels arms x 4 on the pattern why would i need 4 arms if im doubling up the material ?- sorry if im being thick but can someone explain this?

Each arm is made using 2 pieces of fabric, so -
If you double the material then you will need to draw around your template twice. This will give you 2 arms each comprising of 2 pieces of fabric.
If you don't double the fabric then you will need to cut 4 arm pieces and then put two pieces together to form one arm, and the same with the remaining two pieces for the second arm.

It took me a while to work that out when I made my bunny from the Springtime book. Hope we get a piccie when shes finished.

Sunshine12

Tracey Lou your caterpillar stuff is great!!

Well, i just (finally!) found a machine. Have set it aside but before I buy it wanted to check if anyone had any comments on it as you all know far more than me about these things!!

Its a Brother Innov-is 20. Was really easy to use and I really liked it. Linky here

I cant really find too many reviews on it but it looked pretty good from the limited knowledge that I have. Any comments would be really appreciated.

babyboysmommy

I went to the sewing machine shop today. They were really helpful. At the moment my I'm swaying towards this one although it's more than I was planning on spending

http://www.sewingmachines.co.uk/Janome525_info.htm

rosalie-lavender

I like the look of both those machines that links have been given to. If you are likely to do any dressmaking then a one step buttonhole gives better results than a four step buttonhole and both have that. Both seem to have a good range of attachments which are expensive if you find you want to buy them seperately later. I wouldn't be without my gathering foot for my machine and I have found they are not always available but there is a gathering foot in the list for both machines. The drop feed on the more expensive one is a plus too if you are likely to do free machine embroidery or sew buttons on by machine.

I think with sewing machines if you are going to use them a lot it is worth paying a bit more and both these seem quite good. The only thing I wouldn't be keen on is the top loading bobbin but I know a lot of people prefer them.

babyboysmommy

Thank you. I'm fairly sure the Janome is the machine for me.

I've been looking for classes. My local Adult Education centre does a dressmaking level 1 & 2 course, is it worth taking something like that? My mum can teach me the basics but I can't help but wonder if I'd benefit from taking a class as well. Or can I learn as easily from books/web sites? I want to use it for craft type things, doll making & fancy dress costumes for DS. Many thanks