The Sewing Place
The Emporia => Access All Accessories => Topic started by: Bill on November 22, 2020, 00:11:42 AM
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I've had my machine a little under a week and have made the usual face mask (I know I know I'm sorry! :)) and tool bags for my bike.
Today I thought I'd test myself and make a better sewing machine cover than the one that Singer supplied.
So, being an Irish lad, I picked out 3 squares from my 'Big bag of newbie supplies' in the Irish flag colours and set about marking, trimming, and piecing them together to form the top panel. The sections were all slightly rectangular and I'd drawn arrows on them to make sure I didn't sew them the wrong way round. I'd even gone so far as to use green thread on the orange piece, orange on the green piece and white thread to contrast them.
3ish hours later and I stood back to admire my efforts.
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The white piece is wrong way round. :headbang:
Lots of unpicking ahead. :faints:
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Never mind all that @Wayfarer tell me about your dog :P
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Never mind all that @Wayfarer tell me about your dog :P
If you look more closely @snoozi soozi that's a reindeer, not a dog.
:laughing:
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We've all been there, and done that. I can happily sew one edge of a sleeve to one side of a bodice, no problem. I have a few unpickers, all stored very close to hand.
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That cheeky little monkey is Tara :)
She's a 4yr old Jack Russel/Staffy and completely nuts.
She was 6wks old when we got her and first thing she did was sink her razor sharp teeth into my thumb :rolleyes: She's been doing that ever since.
She can be the cutest thing ever or a complete and utter pillock from one second to the next. Her party trick is running upstairs into our bedroom and getting locked in. She lies on the bed facing the door and waits to be rescued :laughing:
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I'm another one who uses arrows, usually on lining fabric because of course in the past I've mixed sides and also had one totally the wrong way round. Which is why I have a nice stitch ripper as my sidekick.
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Good unpicking skills are an essential part of sewing :)
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Good unpicking skills are an essential part of sewing :)
I'll be an unpicking god by next week at this rate :D
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The unpickers can be our best friends at times, Though I wish mine wouldn’t giggle at me quite so much.
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Good unpicking skills are an essential part of sewing :)
Oh yes, one of the first skills you learn, and one you'll never stop using. Sometimes I spend more time unpicking that I do sewing.
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Sometimes I spend more time unpicking that I do sewing.
I can definitely relate to that.
Glad I'm not alone :)
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I would have cheated and just cut the green and orange to match the white. :laughing:
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I would have cheated and just cut the green and orange to match the white. :laughing:
It's not cheating! Quilter's call it squaring up. :) :angel: :laughing:
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Finished! :thumbsup:
It took completely unstitching, resizing, replanning and resewing in a different manner to what was originally planned but I got there in the end. Mistakes in the finished version included making it too long so I had to tuck it in and too tall which I fixed by making the hem twice as thick which really tested my little Singer and broke my first ever needle :S
Learned alot doing this although I've much more to learn :)
Thanks for all the advice you ladies and gentlemen passed along :)
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Well done on making your cover, it looks nice and sensible and will do an excellent job of keeping the dust off your machine. Do hope you enjoyed the process of making this.
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Oooo now that's a bit fancy :loveit:
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Looking good - and functional. Watch out for broken needles, I once had one ping off my glasses.
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Bravo @Wayfarer and maybe now you show it a lil love and give it an iron???
You'll only need to do it once as those creases are obviously the result of much fettling and wrangling and you wont be doing that again ... now its finished?!!!
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But it was ironed! :laughing:
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Oh Dear!!!!
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Somehow I missed the finished cover. Well done for persevering and completing your first project.
Indoor photos always show up creases that you didn't know were there. I'm appalled sometimes by how rumpled my carefully pressed, finished garments look when I take a picture.
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Yeah I've noticed that too with ironing. And some wrinkles never fully come out no matter how much one presses. I'm talking to you linen.
That is such a fun cover @Wayfarer
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Rather than start yet another new thread I figured I'd update this one.
I think my sewing has slightly improved.
I've just finished this. Aaaaaand it was my first ever go at making and fitting beading. What beading did I use? Washing line of course! :laughing:
Hasn't turned out too bad at all I think :D
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THAT looks very good.
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Excellent. So far, I've wimped out of using piping on anything.
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That looks very professional and much more robust that the soft covers that come with machines.
Using washing line was a genius idea to give structure and support to the cover. I am now thinking what I could make to use up the metres of the stuff I have in the shed.
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Wow that looks better than anything you could buy @Bill You've done well really because there are some things I wouldn't attempt because I know my limitations on faffing about and I believe that's one of them.
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Thanks ladies :grouphug:
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Impressive! @Bill , better than anything in the shops :perfect10: I want one :)
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That looks to be an excellent job - and I love that you used a nice sturdy washing line inside the piping.
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Brilliant job @Bill it looks really professional :perfect10:
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Wow, that’s impressive @Bill and it even has a handle!
When I read beading I was looking for and wondering why a guy would want sparkles on a cover! :laughing:
Great idea.
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Well, you're getting the hang of this game aren't you Bill. Fab job. Its good to have it on the same thread, shows how much you have progressed.
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Wow, Bill! You've come a long way in less than a year! Impressive indeed!
I had the same giggle as @Ohsewsimple with regards to the "beading".
Had never thought to use clothesline before for piping. Would be great idea for bicycle bags - absorbs no moisture.
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Well Done! Very nice how you got everything lined up well!
Now if someone would just explain this "ironing" thing to me...
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*Shakes head sadly*
Those who sew do not 'iron' their work(s).......
...... they 'press' them.
*goes for lie-down at the thought of 'ironing'*
Very nice work though :thumbsup: (Despite the unguarded use of the verb 'iron' on a public child-friendly forum)
Regards,
Phil
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@William Apologies if you already know this and your post was intended to be ironic 0_0
'Pressing' is used when we use the iron to make our work look neat and flat. The action is pressing down and lifting up. 'Ironing' is the thing that many of us hate with a passion as it is the dreary chore of moving the iron back and forth over items of clothing and household linens after they have been washed. I very rarely do this!
@Bill :perfect10: for your sewing machine cover. I was going to make a quick chuck-over thing out of an old curtain for mine but I feel I want to produce something a bit classier now :)
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wow speechless Bill that is fantastic work.
:perfect10:
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Wow!
I didn't expect all that! Thank you so much everyone :D
One thing I didn't find out till it was too late is that the washing line has a steel braided core :scream: I've yet to check the needle as it went straight through a couple times but it's not snapped. I suspect it may need sharpening.
Not everything lined up perfectly I'm afraid. I completely missed a few bits of beading when I was sewing the ends of the cover on and had to go over them again. That has caused the back of the cover to curve inwards slightly (it was supposed to be dead straight) and the same end pieces overlap a bit where they're rounded. I didn't measure correctly. Small flaws no one would see but I know they're there. I can probably live with them though. Maybe...
Again, thank you all for your kind words. They're good for the old ego self confidence.
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Looks great @Bill and such a contrasting style and finish to the first cover. Really impressive!
Also, I’m guessing you can’t manage without the knee lifter now??? :laughing:
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You know, funnily enough, you're absolutely right on @WildAtlanticWay
My chest of drawers was constantly being hit by it and to open the top 2 drawers I had to take the knee lifter out. So when I went to sew and it wasn't there I'd curse the drawers. They've now been moved so I don't need to remove it :laughing: It's probably my favourite part of the machine :)
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If the needle has gone through the washing line do your machine a favour and put a new one in! It will be blunted and maybe bent. That could damage your expensive machine. It’s a false economy. I’ve never heard of anyone sharpening a needle before. :thinking:
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A remnant from my wood working days. Anything metal was sharpenible.
It seems a waste to just bin an otherwise perfectly good needle when 5 minutes sharpening and polishing can easily extend its life.