The Sewing Room

rufusdog52

Yeah, I made the ears out of fabric too so they matched the face. I made 15 of them altogether so 30 little ears!!

popularfurball

Good morning

Have been mooching through this thread for a few weeks and built up a fair few questions so figured I had better join in :D

I mostly sew quite heavy fabric (thick 1000d cotton with webbing straps) as I am forever repairing my pony's rugs. I have been using a toyota and a janome new home - between the two of them I have managed most things. Occasionallly I sew "nice things" such as making my mum an apron this Christmas and making adjustments to clothing for me and my nan (both short!).

However, these are on loan - I dont have a huge budget but would like my own machine - I wondered if I would be better looking at something like an older singer to tackle heavy duty stuff? Or better to stick with a more modern machine? I really only use the straight stitch and the zig zag stitch for stretchy sutff/embroidery.

Also, the janome appears to have suffered a little - when the needle hits the fabric, the whole needle arm goes wonky so the needle doesnt pierce material, just slides off - I cant find a "janome help" thing for spare parts, or even know what spare parts I would need! Anyone know what is poorly with it, or indeed where it could be fixed (Manchester area).

Lastly, I am making some keyrings for Christmas, and need some of the metal rings (like laces go through) does anyone know their technical name as I cant find any!

Emmarillo

I'm hopeless with correct names for things but I think it's eyelets you need http://popular.ebay.co.uk/crafts/eyelets.htm

popularfurball

Eyelets - spot on thanks!!!

Beshki

Wondering if anyone could help. I am hoping to make a hanging decoration for a Christmas present, basically a cushion sewn to look like a scrabble square, but about 10cm x 10cm rather than cushion size, with a ribbon attached. Does anyone know where I can get a 'cushion' small enough to put inside it? Thanks

Emmarillo

You could always make your own. Poundland sell pillows and my mum opens them up to make inserts the size she wants for the cushions she cross stitches. You could probably reuse the original outer layer if you open it up carefully, or buy some cheap fabric from Fabricland or similar - you don't have to buy a full metre - I think they sell in 10 cm increments.

gibson123

popularfurball wrote: »

Good morning

Have been mooching through this thread for a few weeks and built up a fair few questions so figured I had better join in :D

I mostly sew quite heavy fabric (thick 1000d cotton with webbing straps) as I am forever repairing my pony's rugs. I have been using a toyota and a janome new home - between the two of them I have managed most things. Occasionallly I sew "nice things" such as making my mum an apron this Christmas and making adjustments to clothing for me and my nan (both short!).

However, these are on loan - I dont have a huge budget but would like my own machine - I wondered if I would be better looking at something like an older singer to tackle heavy duty stuff? Or better to stick with a more modern machine? I really only use the straight stitch and the zig zag stitch for stretchy sutff/embroidery.

Also, the janome appears to have suffered a little - when the needle hits the fabric, the whole needle arm goes wonky so the needle doesnt pierce material, just slides off - I cant find a "janome help" thing for spare parts, or even know what spare parts I would need! Anyone know what is poorly with it, or indeed where it could be fixed (Manchester area).

Lastly, I am making some keyrings for Christmas, and need some of the metal rings (like laces go through) does anyone know their technical name as I cant find any!

Make sure you are changing your needle regularly, this sounds like a blunt needle

Monkeynut

Beshki wrote: »

Wondering if anyone could help. I am hoping to make a hanging decoration for a Christmas present, basically a cushion sewn to look like a scrabble square, but about 10cm x 10cm rather than cushion size, with a ribbon attached. Does anyone know where I can get a 'cushion' small enough to put inside it? Thanks

I've made a few of these little hanging decoration type 'cushions' and I use normal stuffing that I had left over from a big bag I got from someone on Freecycle when I was making a teddy! I just stuff it in the same way as if it wasn't cushion shape, ie hearts etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no pro at this myself, but it seems to work, and I assume that's a normal way to do it

popularfurball

gibson123 wrote: »

Make sure you are changing your needle regularly, this sounds like a blunt needle

I think (it happened a while ago!) I tried to sew two layers of webbing and it didn't like it, and instead of going in, the needle went sideways and snapped - now it does it with any kind of fabric - as soon as there is resistance it goes sideways

Rags2Riches_3

:think:It may be that the needle has become mis-aligned to the base plate and isn't going into the needle hole?

That's the only thing I can suggest because the needle bending then breaking has happened to me and that was the cause.
Hope you find the solution soon, how annoying for you.