The Sewing Room

witchwoopiggy

i hope you dont mind but i have joined in the swap under this name and here is a giant piggy wash bag I made yesterday for my piggys dirty washing to stop my washing machine haveing a hissy fit over the hay and hair :rotfl::rotfl:



a close up of the pic on the frount


sorry it looks very out of shape, but it is made from jersey fabric so it streaches when i hold it up, it has a cord and toggle to close the top, basicly a giant pe bag

markie1980

Hopefully one of you expert sewers will be able to help me out.

It's my G/Fs birthday next week and I know she would like a sewing machine. The trouble is I wouldn't have a clue what is a good one to go for!

After a quick look THIS one seems pretty good.
Can anyone offer any help or advice?

Thanks,
Mark.

Georgiabay

Aw that's cute witchwoopiggy.

Now I've got my sewing machine back I've made this bag today :




It's made from a reversible long sleeved t shirt and has a small pocket inside. The flower is a yo yo with the stem and leaves in reverse applique. The material was easy to sew, especially round the curves because when I turned the edges in they stretched round instead of having to be clipped to fit. It was a bit trial and error as I didn't have a pattern but it's turned out OK(ish).

cuddles123

markie1980 wrote: »

Hopefully one of you expert sewers will be able to help me out.

It's my G/Fs birthday next week and I know she would like a sewing machine. The trouble is I wouldn't have a clue what is a good one to go for!

After a quick look THIS one seems pretty good.
Can anyone offer any help or advice?

Thanks,
Mark.

It really depends what she will be using it for Mark. What kind of sewing does she do?

Brothers are good machines and it has several feet, but no Walking Foot for quilting? Also, would she like an Automatic Needle Threader?

It's a bit like her choosing a motorbike for you I suppose.
If you do buy her a machine, please make sure you keep the receipt, just in case it isn't right

She is one lucky lady that you are doing this. :j Please come back and let us know which you choose, and if she likes it.:T

markie1980

Thanks for your help.

To be honest, I don't think she knows what she wants from it either which makes it even more tricky!

At the moment she just sows up hems, I know she would like to make some curtains and she's very creative so no doubt she will get hooked and keep making things!

How about THIS one??!

cuddles123

markie1980 wrote: »

Thanks for your help.

To be honest, I don't think she knows what she wants from it either which makes it even more tricky!

At the moment she just sows up hems, I know she would like to make some curtains and she's very creative so no doubt she will get hooked and keep making things!

How about THIS one??!

Also looks good Mark.
Has a mechanism to drop the feed dogs for quilting as well and automatic needle threader.
It really depends what you want to pay.

Singer, Brother and Janone are the 3 main ones to look at.

Good luck :A

23rdspiral

Thanks Dizzy Tina - i'm all signed up. Oh, another thought, i dont remember seeing you state the location of the swap. International postage outside of Europe is quite high for parcels and then there's customs paperwork to deal with too. So perhaps it should just be a UK swap for the first round? What do you and other people think?

Markie1980 - with not knowing what she would like to do, i'd second getting one with that comes with a Walking Foot as they can cost over 30quid to purchse seperatly and can be useful for more than quilting. Also i'd say that being able to 'drop the Feed Dogs' is important because that means she could sew in curved lines ect. Perhaps have a scroll back or do a search on this thread as there's lots of advice scattered here. good luck! - oh, or how about making a day of it? take her for a nice lunch then to a department store like John Lewis where they have quite a few and let her try them out and pick one?

GeorgiaBay - that bag is really lovely. it looks very designer. and i think that's the best use of a yoyo i've ever seen! :T

witchywoopiggy - hello! :j How cute is your bag! nice to see you over here btw.

witchwoopiggy

thank you for all your kind welcomes and it is nice not to be a lurker anymore lol and after seeing all your makes and blogs umm i have made a blog of my own and been able to join other blogs

[Deleted User]

Markie

As the above posts. It might be helpful to know a little about machines before you go shopping so that you know some of the terms

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/how-to-buy-a-sewing-machine/jargon-buster/index.jsp

http://www.johnlewis.com/Magazine/Feature.aspx?Id=7

I think a free arm is essential because it helps you to stitch small fiddly things and putting a sleeve into a garment, but as above posters have said it does depend what you want to sew. If you only want to make curtains, bags and do a bit of mending almost any machine will be OK. However as your girlfriend is creative she will probably get hooked and want something a bit more versatile.

If you are near a John Lewis the staff there are very helpful and they have a good selection of machines with no pressure selling. I have found that specialist shops can be a bit pushy.

23rdspiral

kandipandi - or anyone else who might know - where do you get those little tiney keyring clips you used on your felt russian dolls and bag charms? i'd really appreciate a point in the right direction. cheers!