The Sewing Place
The Emporia => House Beautiful => Topic started by: Gernella on July 13, 2021, 16:36:41 PM
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I've finished my second machine mat today, trying to pretend I can do quilting at the same time, well I made sandwich. I'd already got a large fleece tablecloth underneath that I bought years ago but I wanted something that I could stick pins in with ease and find them again.
The bit forward of the machine has three layers of batting inside and across the front, which I think will take pins nicely. I didn't bother adding pockets on this one, I just wanted a bit of dangle plus I didn't have enough fabric. The 'quilting' is willy nilly to make sure the batting didn't migrate anywhere.
I clock off at 4 so didn't get time to take a picture of the one for the little Passport which does have pockets in.
(https://i.imgur.com/ic46JZVm.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2u7LDMZl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/haDT5ZRl.jpg)
I do have some strips of fabric left and I know at least one has a complete birdie in. Happy to post if anyone can make use of them to cut up.
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What beautiful fabric
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What I actually bought @Surest1tch , which set me off making my own was this:
(https://i.imgur.com/w3ggvnPm.jpg)
It was beautifully made but for some reason the blue check fabric annoyed me, not really a blue person. It also felt a bit lightweight and too short for what I wanted. The other one I liked was on Etsy but with US postal charges, making it really expensive.
This fabric I do like and I can live with this for a long time. It is certainly better than looking at the old table cloth cover
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@Gernella I love your fabric choice and i can why you wanted to make your own i also couldn't sit there looking at the blue checked fabric. Another project to add to my ever growing list :laughing:
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I like the blue checked fabric but am with you on ditching the pockets. They look good but I suspect that in use they would get in the way.
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The second one. Not exactly enthralled with the 'pockets' but they are done now. I tend to put my hand out, not down when I want anything.
(https://i.imgur.com/F5FTDuwl.jpg)
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Why do you need a may @Gernella ? My machine is directly on the wooden desk and never moves a millimetre :thinking:
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I'm a pin pusher @Lowena I stick pins in whatever the machine is sat on. That machine is on the dining room table so it's a polished surface, doesn't matter what's underneath it, it moves if I'm not careful as it is a lightweight machine. The regular machine wouldn't move on its perch.
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Ah, I see
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@Gernella
I was wondering about those pockets, pretty sure they'd drive me nuts as I reach out to the right for everything. Scissors, pincushion, thread snips, coffee, ruler, trash bin, etc.
But most of all, I want a purple sewing machine! :dance: That is sew cool!
Maybe if the Morse ever needs a paint job? :thinking:
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@Gernella
I was wondering about those pockets, pretty sure they'd drive me nuts
I wish I'd never put them on @Esme866 , especially since I already knew I wouldn't use them. One of those things that looks very useful but in practice is useless and like you, I reach out for everything. Most of the time I use the bits catcher on the purple machine for dumping little scissors, snips and ripper.
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@Gernella Hope you don't mind me hopping on to your thread about the sewing machine mat. I have cut out two cotton rectangles to fit under my machine, one of the lemons and the other of the poppies and found Cosmo's :meow: blanket he liked on the sofa for the wadding so not too thick. I have safety pinned the three layers together now thinking about what to do next and what to use to bind it with. I'll work it out eventually.
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Lemons and poppies, that sounds lovely @Silver Rose I cheated when I did mine. I put the top and bottom together right sides facing it each other, then the batting/filling on top, machined round three sides and then turned inside out so the pattern sides were top and bottom then finished the unsewn end off and machined all the way round to create a 'band' finishing the bit of 'quilting' using my new super duper machine, more to try out the stitches and I am afraid done by 'eye', although I have been known to use a ruler and machine up to that in the past.
It is a very easy way to do something like this for me, especially not being an expert in this field of craft.
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I might borrow your quick and easy method I haven't a clue about binding - all that cutting of strips :S. It is not going to be a work of art is it ? I'll be only person to see it.
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Binding is easy @Silver Rose and finishes a project off nicely. However, using the bagging out type method @Gernella did is effective.
Perhaps you could both be tempted into The Darkside you'd be very welcome...and you know you secretly want to.... :devil:
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Never say never @Lowena
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@Lowena I wish I had the patience and the talent to enter the Dark side, anyway here is the rough and ready sewing machine mat @Gernella
[ You are not allowed to view attachments ]
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That is just right Silver Rose, and I just love the poppy fabric - you are a clever lass!
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Nothing rough and ready about that @Silver Rose and you can swap to the lemons for a change.
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@Silver Rose The poppies are gorgeous and the effort is commendable! I've only had the " moving machine" issue once, when I tried to use my sis's Brother - and I just cut a chunk of sponge-y shelf liner to fit the underside of the machine.
Unlike @Gernella , I want the front, left side and back of the sewing surface totally empty and slick at all times. I'm truly not OCD about much, but straight pins go directly into a cushion or magnetic tray, and thread trimmings are dropped immediately into a trash can. My mom gave me hell if I made a mess when I was learning to sew!
In contrast, when hand sewing, on my favorite spot on the sofa, the sofa arm will fill with needles and pins. A habit I tend to regret from time to time when I miss a few and "find" them later. :boohoo:
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Thank you for your kind comments folks, my first reason was for having something under the machine was to protect the mahogony table. It is now easier to push away from me when I am taking out tacking etc.
@Esme866 I admit to sticking pins in the sofa arm too but they are easy to see as the sofa is cream, on the downside all the fabric fibres are highly visible.
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@Silver Rose Beautifully done :D
I too was a pin in sofa arm person....
then I got cats and realised the error of my ways, otherwise known as 'this could cost a fortune in vets bills'.
I am now a 'firmly dropping pins and needles on the floor by mistake or putting them down somewhere and unable to find them again and spending hours of my life on my hands and knees looking for them' kind of person.
BB
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Thank you @Bumblebuncher when I had Cosmo :meow: I was really careful about dropping pins but he was very wary of the sewing machine. Other cats I've had before him would sit on the table next to me and be fascinated by the needle going up and down and sometimes stretch out a paw towards the needle :o.
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Thank you @Bumblebuncher when I had Cosmo :meow: I was really careful about dropping pins but he was very wary of the sewing machine. Other cats I've had before him would sit on the table next to me and be fascinated by the needle going up and down and sometimes stretch out a paw towards the needle :o.
:scream:
I do get their company, usually sitting immediately behind the machine, but they haven't put themselves in any needle danger yet! Although there was that one, cold, day that chonk Theo decided the iron I had on was nice and warm, luckily I noticed his head resting on it before any damage was done (the iron had started to cool down at the time) and keep an eye out for it now!
BB
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I must admit I have turned into a super tidy person after I got my thread catcher, what you might call a best buy. Previously my MO was to just drop on the floor :rolleyes: where it went everywhere.
Holds lot of other things as well for easy extraction, little scissors, ripper, tweazers, cut off fabric bits
(https://i.imgur.com/KgAKEERm.jpg)
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@Bumblebuncher Have you bought a magnetic pin tray yet! Since buying one, I rarely lose pins anymore. Until I bought one, pins would lay loose to the right side of the machine.
When I was in highschool, I received an emergency babysitting call at 5:30 am once. The nurse that lived a few doors down had stepped on a stray hand needle and its ends were sticking out on either side of her foot! So gross! I've been paranoid about stepping on one ever since.
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@Esme866 I am alright when machine sewing, I have a magnet to hand and very careful with my pot of pins that slides into my IKEA pegboard as soon as I have finished. Sharing the room with GS's staying over has made me a very neat sewist :thumbsup:
My problems start when I take things downstairs for a bit of handstitching while watching tv. Dropped needles and pins every time. Maybe I should invest in a magnetic pin holder just for those occasions, although you can bet my cats will still manage to send it flying while doing one of their acrobatic stunt moves :laughing:
BB
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I've got two of these @Bumblebuncher and I must admit very useful. I always thought they were not suitable for computer machines but now I've been educated, they are fine. When I'm not using them I usually hide them under the machine's glass table.
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@Bumblebuncher I get my magnetic bowls at a hardware store, I think they're for car parts. I've turned it upside down and shook it and the pins stayed put. Think it was also half the price of the colored sewing ones. Red would be pretty, but stainless steel was cheaper!