The Sewing Room

MissPixie

Thats fabulous! Well done to her

Kelly-Lou

Hi

I wanted a little advice from you lovely ladies. I brought a sewing machine last year with the intention of making lots of things. Lol in reality all I managed was a cushion! I wanted to make things for the house and as gifts but haven't a clue where to start, I can just manage a simple running stitch!! I like the look of quilting but is this too hard for a complete beginer?
Thanks x

In_Search_Of_Me

hart love the bag well done you - looks so professional!
well done GDD rufud-thats lovely and I bet her mum was really touched?
kelly-lou I did a quilt as my first project with my machine. in hindsight would have done sommat smaller like a throw to start with as it took a while and it would have been better to do a smaller item as a confidence builder ikwim?
here are some small free patterns that may get you started;
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/sewing/index.shtml
now onto my fourth hexagon - slow going and must be tired as stuck myself a few times this eve with the needle..oww!

irishgirl62

Wow rufus well done to your GDD!

Kaz2904

Kelly-Lou wrote: »

Hi

I wanted a little advice from you lovely ladies. I brought a sewing machine last year with the intention of making lots of things. Lol in reality all I managed was a cushion! I wanted to make things for the house and as gifts but haven't a clue where to start, I can just manage a simple running stitch!! I like the look of quilting but is this too hard for a complete beginer?
Thanks x

Ha! I can beat you on that! I bought mine several years ago and hadn't made anything (or in fact, got it out of the box ) until last weekend. The ladies on here spurred me on to get going and, having seen ISOM's link to a quilt, I am planning a quilt along with my sister. I am currently amassing the fabric and the nerve to get started but want to make one for mine and DH's 10th wedding anniversary on June 9th this year :eek:. That's not long now is it :eek:. We shall see! Maybe it'll be like our honeymoon which I naiively said to him as a newly wed, don't worry, we'll have one for our 10th anniversary :rotfl:. Well, we are going camping this year hopefully .

ETA: How rude am I? Sorry, stressful evening Just go for it, after all, most quilting is just simple running stitch. You just need to keep your seam allowance at dead on 1/4 inch. I like crazymomquilts blog and plan to do either this quilt along http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2007/11/quilt-long-week-1.html or this one http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2008/05/setting-blocks.html or perhaps both! Just need to get my cutting mat from the PO later on today if blocked drains allow!

pamperedprincess

is that the shop behind the town hall in ards?

Hi irishgirl. Yes, that's the shop. It's on Regent Street opposite Boots.

rufusdog52

Thanks for the comments on GDD's sewing everyone xx

I have fnished making her a shorts and top set and have put a pic on my blog.

Hope all the projects are coming along nicely, nice to see people digging out their machines and having a go xx

kevana

hi, I was just wondering if any of you kind ladies could give me some advise regarding cutting mats and rotary cutters. I am trying to teach myself how to sew and after several test projects have come to the conclusion that I am unable to cut a straight line with scissors and as i have read about these boards and cutters I was hoping to get some recommendations, advise and opinions. i had a quick look on ebay where there seems to be cutting mats, self healing cutting mats, rotary cutters at various prices and patchwork cutters.

Any help would be greatly received. Many thanks.

Kaz2904

You need to get a self healing cutting mat as it'll last longer than the other type (according to DH who uses them daily for work). He also said that the non healing ones will blunt your blades quickly. Mine's just arrived today, it was an A2 size from thebay at £7.49 and free delivery. I only paid £3.99 for my cutter but my sister has become obsessed with quilting since I showed her ISOM's link and she said that she had bought an 'Olfa' cutter as they are the best. She also said that the forums she had read said it was best to use an acrylic edge to cut against rather than a metal ruler.
She bought a quilting set from somewhere for £35, i found what looks the same as hers for £30 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Olfa-Premium-Rotary-Cutter-Quiltmaking-Kit-45mm-/180617847240?pt=UK_Crafts_Quilting_ET&hash=item2a0da9a1c8 but it's not a very large mat. I suppose with a smaller mat, you can turn it easier. I think that the rotary cutters are the same as patchwork cutters but people tend to use them for quilting so may just type in patchwork as a search term. I'm happy to be proved wrong though.

kevana

many thanks for your reply i have bookmarked a couple of items on ebay to watch (no money at the mo) - hope you enjoy using your mat.