Thank you all! That's got me going in the right direction.

That's the trouble - it does last for years and years and lots of it ends up in the sea. Lots of tiny bits of plastic tempting fish to eat it!

That is a very good point, @Greybird, Thank you for reminding me. I'll have to re-think this now.

Hello, People have been mentioning me, and I'm getting the notifications, ... but how do I mention others...?  Must be a button to click somewhere...? TIA

...If you want a sparkly carpet let a young child loose with glitter of your colour choice ... Hey Presto ... One Sparkly carpet, guaranteed to last years.

That is not a bad idea at all!!! Thank you! It would certainly be a lot less time consuming than sewing thread!   Of course my vacuum cleaner would suck a lot of it up, but then I could just re-sprinkle it when required! ... and presumably glitter is a lot cheaper than sparkly thread!   But you're right, Iminei, I don't have a small child of my own. My niece has got a beautiful one though, maybe I can borrow hers...!

...the best use for geometry I have found is patchwork.

Very glad to hear someone else using geometry... My favourite material at the moment, has a geometric pattern, with a small repeat (I don't know the correct terms here) on it. I've been using the pattern to get my sewing straight! It's been like sewing with graph paper! ... made it so much easier! ... almost feels like cheating!  Does anyone else do this...?

... if you were 'clever' and did Latin and Maths, it was assumed you were going to have servants to cook and sew on buttons . So much for that idea...

  Hahaha! You must have gone to a posh grammar school...? 

...then reasoned that if I can use a sewing machine then why not another kind of power tool. For the last umpty-ump years I've been drilling holes, sawing wood etc

Good thinking Flobear!

Hello All.

I've just signed up to this forum and this is my first post....

I'm liking the vibe here already, ... having read the Membership Agreement, I can see it's been written with common sense and good humour, ... obviously there's another fan of Bill & Ted in here somewhere!

I've recently started using my vintage Bernina a bit more seriously (now I have lots of time, all of a sudden!), and am enjoying every minute of it. I'm interested in sewing generally, eg, for inspiration, but also to learn the technical aspects of both sewing techniques and sewing machine repair & maintenance. I find the idea that sewing is a woman's activity quite laughable. Speaking as an engineer, I think of sewing as simply engineering with fabrics. I love precision machinery and any technique of creativity. Sewing gives me both of those things plus, I'm sure, contact with others who share those passions.

Thanks for having me.

Martin