OS home sewing

Rebob

BTW - mine is a toyota machine. Over the years these have got cheaper. The Classic one is similar to mine. Look here ar freemans where they have a selection of good machines from under £70.
http://www.freemans.com/web/main/productlist.asp?Ntk=PRIMARY&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&Nty=1&Nu=P_MasterItem&searchType=FullText&Ntt=sewing+machine&N=670&x=25&y=10
Open a new account to get their "first order discount" and it would be even cheaper.

HTH

nabowla

I got a brand new sewing machine from my parents for Christmas :j :j :j


It was a total surprise - a couple of months ago I'd asked my mum to investigate whether she could get her old machine reconditioned as I fancied learning to sew. All went quiet on that front and I assumed that she'd forgotten all about it. I couldn't believe my eyes when I got my 'toy' on Christmas Day. It's a lovely machine for a beginner (a 'Silver') and even does reverse stitching. So far I've had a go at sewing straight lines on an old hanky and made a very basic drawstring bag from an old teatowel. Can't wait to get started on a full-scale project!

Rikki

I love being able to put the top stitching back on the hems of jeans I've turned up so nobody knows.
I got my first sewing machine for my 21st too. It was basic model with zigzag stitch. I have now replaced it with a fancy one.
I couldn't be without mine it gets used for everything.

inkie

All of this has given me inspiration to get mine out of the loft - it has been gathering dust up there for the past few years - originally made a couple of pairs of curtains and an austrian blind. Now that the kids are a bit bigger and I have a little more time on my hands, I am going to give it a whirl.

I subscribe to Prima magazine and they have patterns in there every month.

Rikki

I've just found this sewing machine at John Lewis for under £100. £89 t0 be exact.http://www.johnlewis.com/Clearance/Clearance/Home+and+Garden/Home+Electrical/230229840/Product.aspx

in_my_wellies

I used to make lots of clothes for the children but now find it's not cost effective, however, in Y7 my daughter needed a long black skirt for school choir. As I thought this would be worn about twice before she gave up I said I would make one. Her face was a picture of HORROR!! Anyway I did and she was amazed that it didn't look homemade.

I made her Christmas ball gown too. Now she is a keen MSE. All the other girls were saying things like 'mine was from ............... and cost £95 or £135. One even cost £160. My daughter was so embarrassed to say that hers was home made and only cost £8.50 for fabric and £6.95 for pattern. I told her to say it was a designer dress from Fenwicks where we bought the pattern from but I felt sad that she could not be proud to wear a dress made with lots of love. Anyway it must have been OK because this year she asked me to make another using the same pattern but a different colour.

BTW, she still goes to choir and she's in the VI Form now!

ps - curtains are very easy.

nabowla

in_my_wellies wrote:

I felt sad that she could not be proud to wear a dress made with lots of love.

She may not have been proud at the time but I'm sure that it's a memory she'll treasure for years to come. She may well even be boasting about her dress a few years' time - I know we're all now getting to the age (late 20s/early 30s) where we're incredibly impressed by anyone that has the skill to make HM clothes!

BTW, on the subject of sewing, has anyone got any tips for smooth cutting? I had a go at cutting this morning and managed to produce a relatively straight line but I haven't quite got the hang of moving the scissors smoothly along the fabric.

meadowcat

in_my_wellies wrote:

I used to make lots of clothes for the children but now find it's not cost effective

I think this is why home sewing has fallen away quite a bit. Because of cheap imports it just doesn't make economic sense to buy the fabric and pattern and go to the trouble of making something. Also with so little manufacturing going on now in GB the factory surplus fabric and thread is not so easily available as it once was.

Even so, I still love to sew but I am more inclined to do household type sewing and machine embroidery.

meadowcat

nabowla wrote:

BTW, on the subject of sewing, has anyone got any tips for smooth cutting? I had a go at cutting this morning and managed to produce a relatively straight line but I haven't quite got the hang of moving the scissors smoothly along the fabric.

First make sure you are using nice sharp scissors. Cut with the full length of the scissors rather than making short cuts with the part of the scissors nearest the handles.

When you say straight cuts, do you mean straight along the grain? I always find the best way to get a straight cut is to actually tear the fabric. It will always tear on the straight. However, some fabrics - like woven - do not tear and with those you can usually pull a thread down or across and that will give you a line to cut.

The worst type is the printed fabric where the print is crooked and not lined up with the grain. If you tear it the pattern will be off and if you cut it, say along the pattern in a check fabric, then it is not on the true grain. :mad:

Rage_in_Eden

nabowla wrote:

She may not have been proud at the time but I'm sure that it's a memory she'll treasure for years to come. She may well even be boasting about her dress a few years' time - I know we're all now getting to the age (late 20s/early 30s) where we're incredibly impressed by anyone that has the skill to make HM clothes!

I sooo agree. Everything I had as a child was homemade - knitted, sewed, crocheted etc. Now I realise just how lucky I was but at the time I was the odd one out and everybody was shop bought. I am determined that any children I may have (it's an ongoing project at chez rage) will have a good proportion of handmade stuff and to that end I will be learning to knit properly in 2006. I learnt as a child but my mum was one of those people who could knit fairisle without a pattern and just all from her head so she'd take the needles off me as she couldn't bear to watch my zig-zag scarves!!! I had to buy a hat for my teddybear the other week and was appalled at the prices of baby knits!!! I have all my MUms needles and patterns so here goes.....