Yes, that’s a good choice. Personally, I don’t rate the modern Singer machines and I’ve a couple of ladies in my sewing group with the modern Singer ‘Heavy Duty’ machines that I think are marketing pish.


The A16 is a decent beginners/intermediate sewer machine with a really good needle threader. In my opinion, the recent Brother Innov-is range have the best needle threaders on the market. I’ve recently bought the Brother A65 as my portable machine to take to classes.

However…if you’re going to be making bags with many layers where seams meet and fold over, you might want to look at a straight stitch proper heavy duty machine instead. I make bags on my domestic sewing machines but will take it v slowly over very thick layers. I can sew 8 layers of denim on my Brother (I tested it), but you also need to use the right type and size of needle for the job and the correct type of thread too.

If you’re a newby sewer, start with the basics. I’m going to tag @Bill not because he’s a bloke, but because he’s made quite a few bags now and has had a steep learning curve regarding sewing machines… and he’s become very knowledgeable in the process.

Thank you @Ohsewsimple

Yes, I suspect poor cutting out on my part. No other trousers I’ve made have ever done this although it was a new pattern, but I think it was me rather than the pattern and I should have been more careful.

Lesson learnt!! 😂

@Puzzler    Yes, I’m wondered that too. 🤔 Some people hardly change as the years roll by but others… I was a size 10, 30 yrs ago. 😢

🤣🤣🤣

Brilliant!
I’m looking at the bag and thinking….”I’d love to make a handbag in that leather” 

I’m thinking of making some palazzo/wide leg trousers for party wear. I’ve got some very stretchy lengthways polyester velour type fabric in a pinky red colour. There’s no stretch widthways as it’s more like a woven in that respect.

Will it be ok to cut and sew it so the stretch is going down the leg or do I need to sew it the other way? I’m sure that other stretchy trews I’ve had or made have some stretch widthways?

Maybe the answer is obvious but I’ve gone completely blank. 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I made a couple a few years ago for myself and DS. Because it’s meant to be worn as an oversize baggy layer, I made a quick pattern using an old sweatshirt as a guide. Yes, cutting the Sherpa style fleece was messy but I used my Overlocker to join all the seams together and it was actually a really quick project.

Last year I bought myself a dupe from Dunnes in Ireland for about €20 (very similar shop to M&S), but I find it too warm to wear most of the time. I’ve just looked online and they’ve got several versions for women reduced to €15. 😳

Not exactly festive but I’m making some simple Tote bags for our local animal charity to sell on their Saturday market stall. They were given some curtain fabric and I’ve used some bits from my stash to do the appliqué and pocket. They’ve asked for a suggestion for a price to sell them at and I was thinking between €12 -€15 maybe? Hoping to make a few and I’ve roped in a few of the sewing group ladies to help make some too. 😇 some of the ladies don’t want to do appliqué or pockets so the basic bags can be priced at the lower end perhaps?

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