Bernina!

My birthday and Christmas came all at once when Mum and Dad decided they would like to buy me... A sewing machine! Mum has always had Bernina machines, and my Elna was made almost a decade before I was born, so a little upgrade is VERY EXCITING! 

She has yet to be named, I had a little play yesterday, however most of my sewing room is in boxes at present! 

Out came the scrap bag and a little wool pouch. I played with the stitch settings and she sews like a dream. A couple of orders have already come through for this year, as well as one that needs finishing from last year, so she's going to be a busy little machine! 

I'm so excited for all that this year holds. 

God bless! 

Packing day

Tomorrow is road trip day! It's been a stressful afternoon attempting to cram all of my worldly possessions into my tiny car, but my super hero, rock star boyfriend managed to make the majority of it fit (yay) some things didn't make the cut- such as my rose cuttings. I'm hoping that mum will be able to keep them alive for me. My paintings in progress didn't fit either, but my paints have, so I'll just have to start fresh. 

Before packing we had a wonderful morning at church, c3 joondalup were incredibly hospitable and both the worship and fellowship were heartwarming and inspiring. From there we took a lovely stroll around bunnings, picking up a piece of MDF for a project we have planned (stick around, all will be revealed) and then in to the city to pick up a router for my Rockstar's new sound desk, and get the battery replaced in my phone (exciting!) 

Since my last post I have actually managed to do some crafting, I finished off this dress FINALLY! 

Sorry about the blurry photo. This is before I finished the hem I think. As soon as it was done I had to rush out, proper "complete" photos to come! 

And I have 3/4 finished a little roll for my sewing supplies. I think there may be a tutorial for this one day- keep watching this space! 

The next 2 days will be driving, then back to work and it'll take time to get myself sorted out and back into the swing of things. I haven't deserted you, I'll just be temporarily offline! 

God bless! 

Monday! (UPDATED)

Happy Monday everyone!

Update: I'm on my computer now, so I can add in some photos!!

Sailor Shorts

I spent my day sewing, got an bit done, and I have managed to slice my hands with the pins... Clever me!
 I started sewing together a pair of shorts that I'd cut previously. I've overlocked around the edges of all the pieces. HOW did I live before having an overlocker! Seriously makes everything SO much easier!
I was working on these because I'd told myself I was going to make 5 dresses and 5 purses, and that seemed hard, so I did some housework and then started on these guys. I need to make some bias binding to go around the front before I can do any more on them. Not really a tricky task, just time consuming (and my brain needs to be functioning!)

Pinning requires chocolate and tea

Pinning....

Pinning...

Pinning....

I spent a long while pinning the darts in the bodice, skirt and lining pieces of the 4 dresses I'm making from the same pattern (McCalls M6699). I've been working on one of the dresses, a white one. 

It's not bad so far, I've since taken out the skirt seams a smidgen for a bit more space, the lining is ready once the seams are acceptable, and that will finish it off nicely. I have lining for the skirt of this dress too, even though it's not a requirement, as I didn't want to rely on the white being opaque under all lights. 

The sewing machine and I were had our differences for a couple of hours, so I decided to play with some other fabric to make couch cushions. I followed this tutorial and I used the overlocker to put them together.

At some point in the future I'll make backings and stuff them, and they will have a pretty button in the middle.

Let's hope tomorrow is even more productive! 

Late night sewing

After inspiration struck late last night, I rummaged through my fabric collection and this was the result: 

Hopefully this will make a beautiful 2 year old very happy for her birthday! 

Another busy 24 hours

So with very little sleep I have finished 4 NCW purses, 4 teardrop bags, and 2 messenger/laptop bags of my own design- stay tuned for a tutorial when I make the next one- and 4 more purses that are waiting for zipper pockets and then they will be complete too. (I have zippers now, it's just a matter of time!) 

I met my amazing man yesterday at the airport while he had a brief stop over on the way to a conference in frosty Hobart. After that, I had a nap, back to the sewing today! 

My Star Wars lined laptop bag! I got the Star Wars fabric from etsy well over a year ago, all this time it's been waiting to be made into a bag! I bought batman fabric at the same time, which was made into a bag for my man almost straight away, after being used every day since, it's looking a bit worse for wear, so I managed to find some Power Rangers fabric, also from etsy. 

I finished making it with just enough time to shower and meet him at the airport for lunch between flights. When he returns from the conference I'll make sure I get better photos than just this one! 

Yellow, green, purple and pink matching bag/purse sets! Plus 4 (mostly pink) purses waiting for their zipper pockets. 

I was getting a bit fancy with my top stitching... 

And then realized I had failed to put the magnetic snap in the flap before attaching it. 

Major frustration. 

So, I unpicked the top of the flap in hope that I could just top stitch it back, good as new... 

Weeelllll.... It isn't quite good as new, back to the drawing board... 

I slept in the kitchen last night, little foam mattress on the floor, because my poor puppy (13 1/2 years old is still a puppy) isn't well, and needed help getting up to go out every hour or so- he would do the same for me if I was sick. 

He seems to be feeling a bit better this morning. 

Beautiful puppy last night <3 

Sweat shop!

I've been putting in a few hours behind the sewing machine, here's a few progress pictures

Friday sewday

Well, the water was out for most of the day, my morning shower was at 6pm... But it was a productive day none the less and I really enjoyed it! My pile of garments requiring zippers is growing... 

Thursday Already...

I had a great Wednesday, free from study!
A very lazy morning, followed by the construction of a skirt. I stuffed up more than a couple of times, but I think I'm getting there! I just need to finish the zipper and put on some buttons.

  I've started putting in the zipper in my blue, floral 60's dress, but I need some more of the right blue cotton to finish. And I've cut out another 2 skirts and 3 dresses.
I had great plans for today, but they were not to be. All I really achieved was moving the tabs on yesterday's skirt a little higher, and then it was time to clean up for an extended family dinner party at our place.
I'm a bit disheartened that I haven't got more done this week, not even one completed project, but I know I'll get there. And continue in the never-ending list of things!

Exciting achievements!

Despite mum's overlocker being serviced at the same time as mine it's playing up and is noisy, today it feels like there's no power at all, it was struggling!! So I pulled out my never-used-by-me overlocker that I *may* have been slightly scared of, I had to re thread one of the 4 cottons as the spool had only about a meter left one it (and then re thread it again because I didn't pull the thread through far enough... Doh!) and I OVERLOCKED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME! A very small achievement, but oh so exciting to be over that fear! And here is my proof: 

Now mum can use my overlocker to finish what she is doing, and while hers goes back to the shop for a "please explain". But I had to use it first. And I'm so happy. 

I am actually studying somewhat successfully today, although it feels like it could be lunch time soon. Exam tomorrow, I can't wait until it's over! 

I had to clean up our dining room yesterday, packed up all the excess mess and hid it away in the sewing corner... I thought an effective way to condense the mess was to finish interfacing my "projects" pile. 

9 purses that aren't part of the custom order. 

Now they are all in a pile, all the pieces for 4 bags and 13 purses (photo soon) all interfaced. 

I do still need to cut fabric for my zipper pocket for each bag, and buy zippers for 9 purses... But the mess is hidden until tomorrow night!