The Sewing Room

Savvy_sewing

I just bought a pair of scissors in Ikea this afternoon for £4.99 I used a pair of theirs at the material section, and they seemed fine. And as mine are a bit blunt now, I thought it was nothing ventured nothing gained.
I bought a metre of some beige/cream cheapy stuff, and 2 metres of plain black fabric, ready for linings and tote bags. If I ever actually get to the sewing machine again this next week. So much going on.
I wasnt supposed to go to ikea today, but the morning plans went a bit wrong, so I went for some inspiration for DGD's room, and the sewing room swap around. She will have more room and I will have about 2/3rd less! eek.

Ailsb

Hello all. I've finished making some bags and have some fabric left which I thought I'd make matching wallets with.

I have one cut out ready to sew but I can't understand the instructions - in fact I feel really thick as the instructions actually say "Place your exterior pocket pieces, one of exterior fabric and one lining fabric (5" x 2.5") WRONG sides together. Take your binding and sew it into place along one of the long edges. It's pretty easy, I'm assuming everyone can get this part". I can't get my head round what I need to do. :(:(

If any of you lovely ladies have the time to have a look at the instructions and tell me what I need to do I would be extremely grateful. The link to the wallet is http://www.noodle-head.com/2009/10/zippy-wallet-tutorial.html.

I'd give up and try another but I've cut the fabric and don't have enough left to do another one.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

rufusdog52

Ailsb, from looking at her photos she seems to have put the fabrics RIGHT sides together, not WRONG, unless I am reading and seeing it wrong too xx

twistedcandyfloss

annie-c wrote: »

Presumably you are tied to buying at Tesco because you have available clubcard points? Could you post the make and model number of those you are interested in, along with the price range you can afford, and then we can have a look.

Also, can you tell us what it will be used for, eg light or heavy fabrics, quilting, dressmaking etc?

Thanks poppy, but John Lewis is quite a way from me. I shall make sure I look into how much it costs when the machine requires to be looked at though.

Yes annie, theres nothing else that we'd really want to spend the vouchers on so it just makes sense really.

I have vouchers amounting to about £140 but i'm willing to pay a bit more if necessary. I'm not really sure what its going to be used for yet, i've got a few projects in mind with light fabrics but i'm a novice really so I'm hoping as I gain experience I'll move on to different bits. Sorry thats not so helpful.

I'm mainly looking at the Singers (just because from what I understand they're a good brand) but i'm open to opinions.
Singer 3321,4205,2263.

Thanks for your help.

pollyskettle

Hi all

Shirt going well, fronts now attached to back and collar and neck all but done, button facings and sleeves tomorrow and bob's your uncle I'm going to buy some nice blue check (not gingham) cotton and make another with longer sleeves (this one has cap sleeves with a little tie) and some more jersey to make a wrap dress. I'm loving this dressmaking malarkey! I will post pics soon I promise!!

Twistedcandyfloss. I have a singer, a 7470, and I love it. I did have a Lidl special before that the my Uncle bought my Grand-mother and she hated and so passed it to me, and I hated it too, but I sometimes use her very old electric Singer which I still have, so I would highly recommend Singers! I can't help with the models you mention, but I'd certainly recommend the brand and I would definitely buy a Singer next time.

Ailsb

rufusd!!!2 wrote: »

Ailsb, from looking at her photos she seems to have put the fabrics RIGHT sides together, not WRONG, unless I am reading and seeing it wrong too xx

I'm glad I'm not going too mad. I'll have to have another go when my head is clear. At the moment I feel like throwing the fabric out.

If need be I might have to have a go at designing something myself :eek:

annie-c

twistedcandyfloss wrote: »

Thanks poppy, but John Lewis is quite a way from me. I shall make sure I look into how much it costs when the machine requires to be looked at though.

Yes annie, theres nothing else that we'd really want to spend the vouchers on so it just makes sense really.

I have vouchers amounting to about £140 but i'm willing to pay a bit more if necessary. I'm not really sure what its going to be used for yet, i've got a few projects in mind with light fabrics but i'm a novice really so I'm hoping as I gain experience I'll move on to different bits. Sorry thats not so helpful.

I'm mainly looking at the Singers (just because from what I understand they're a good brand) but i'm open to opinions.
Singer 3321,4205,2263.

Thanks for your help.

Hello again.

OK, well, to be perfectly honest I would go for one of the Toyotas in your price range rather than any of the Singers. Although Singer is the most well known of the two, it is important to note that Singer has been taken over in the last decade and no longer has the reliability of the 'old' brand. Toyota actually has quite a decent reputation although it is not a big brand - and you will get a lot more features and versatility from the Toyotas when compared to Singer, at that price point.

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-6560.aspx would be my choice - a good range of 34 stitches, including stretch stitches, a drop in (top loading) bobbin is a good feature to have - makes life so much easier than the vertical bobbins, automatic needle threader is just lovely to have, and includes extra feet for buttonholes, zips and blind hemming (which you use for taking trousers up).

Others may well now want to chip in in defence of the Singer... :rotfl:

twistedcandyfloss

annie-c wrote: »

Hello again.

OK, well, to be perfectly honest I would go for one of the Toyotas in your price range rather than any of the Singers. Although Singer is the most well known of the two, it is important to note that Singer has been taken over in the last decade and no longer has the reliability of the 'old' brand. Toyota actually has quite a decent reputation although it is not a big brand - and you will get a lot more features and versatility from the Toyotas when compared to Singer, at that price point.

Toyota would be my choice - a good range of 34 stitches, including stretch stitches, a drop in (top loading) bobbin is a good feature to have - makes life so much easier than the vertical bobbins, automatic needle threader is just lovely to have, and includes extra feet for buttonholes, zips and blind hemming (which you use for taking trousers up).

Others may well now want to chip in in defence of the Singer... :rotfl:

That's really interesting, I never knew that. Do you think I would be better off spending a bit more, in the hope that the machine would last me longer? Thank you so much for your help :j

annie-c

twistedcandyfloss wrote: »

That's really interesting, I never knew that. Do you think I would be better off spending a bit more, in the hope that the machine would last me longer? Thank you so much for your help :j

To be perfectly honest, I don't know about the idea of spending more for a Tesco machine.

Something to bear in mind is that Tesco (and Argos, Asda, etc) tend to sell a wide range of machines at this sub £200 end of the market and few of the machines are built to last a lifetime. Tesco does what good supermarkets do and gets good deals and shifts things along quickly, but they don't buy in their stock based on long-term knowledge of sewing machines. Many of their machines do last for years (mine has!) but within this price range, it seems that if something significant goes wrong, it is often the case that replacing the machine can be cheaper than paying the service costs and spare parts. If you are within the warranty, Tesco will give you a refund, if not then there you go...

I have no huge experience of sewing machines but I used thesewingforum.co.uk to get advice on my recent purchases and you might want to look there too. The 'experts' on thesewingforum usually recommend that if you have £150-200 to spend you are best advised to buy from a reputable dealer who will offer a 5-10 year warranty, or to buy a better, higher spec machine second-hand. Few people would recommend spending £200+ on a Tesco machine because Tesco doesn't have the expertise either to select super-reliable machines in the first place or to repair them later.

I guess what I am saying is that I think for "£70" of vouchers, doubled up, you would be getting a bargain with any of the machines in your price range. My machine was 'half-price' at the time, reduced to £59 from £120, and for half-price it was a bargain, like yours would be.

But I'm not sure you will get a significant increase in quality by adding more money to your current fund - because most of the machines at the £150+ price range seem over-priced to me. If you had £150+ cash to spend I would actually be recommending that you switch to buying from a specialist vendor with a different range of machines.

I don't know if that makes sense, but thought I would just share my thoughts....

Keiss_21

rufusd!!!2 wrote: »

Ailsb, from looking at her photos she seems to have put the fabrics RIGHT sides together, not WRONG, unless I am reading and seeing it wrong too xx

Actually, I think she does mean wrong sides together! She is putting a binding along the top, so it won't be turned round..IYSWIM. I made this purse/wallet for my MIL in the summer, and had no problems following the instructions...once I had read them a good few times to get my head around the instructions!!!

Hope you manage to succeed in making this purse/wallet Ailsb, it's quite a nice one, though smaller than I thought it would be. Alos good luck with t getting a sewing machine. I'm holdoing off getting a new one for another year (or two). Mine is Dutch (or possibly German) and I've had it 25 years...a bit basic, but still going strong on the whole, but weighs a ton!!

Been reading up loads of bumphf on self-employment today. Going to talk to HMRC tomorrow and tell them I am self employed...but will also be working for college too...so a bit complicated!!!

Also been designing a logo and business card for my crafting business...did a good one with a flower, but it's not really relevent to my knitting and sewing (though it is to me ). Trying to create another logo, but not found any I like as much. Need to try harder, but not tonight as my brain is a bit frazzled

I will spend the rest of tonight stuffing trees instead, much more relaxing...and productive