Sewing Bee Series II

[Lambstales]

There is a thread in Telly Addicts but surely there ought to be a thread here?
What are you sewing?
Jersey?
Curtains?
Silk?
Summer skirts?

My 10 year old DD is totally addicted and now desparate to make things herself. Darts, easing it and interlocking have all become important parts of her vocab.
Sadly I hate the sewing machine give me a pair of knitting needles, a crochet hook or even a cross stitch and I am away.

I'm going to make myself a fabric satchel now I've made DS's world book day costume.

I am going to make myself a dog pin cushion like Heather's. I've been hankering after one since the first episode!

I picked this little booklet in a charity house clearance shop a few months back. My dog pin cushion will be the Aberdeen Jock :)

I'm quilting but I'm moving house soon so going to make loads of curtains.

The best thing is, though, that I have this 1940 hand-cranked Singer that was my grandma's but which I broke the handle of in 1987. I've been meaning to get it fixed for ages but dd being obsessed by Sewing Bee has given me the kick I needed to get it sorted out, because IME it's much easier to learn on a manual machine than an electric one.

Anyway, I can't BELIEVE how easy it's been. It's only the actual handle that snapped, but it turns out Ebay was full of handcrank units at reasonable prices, so I ordered an entire replacement handcrank. It turned up the very next day and took literally under 5 minutes to replace - just a single screw!

In the process, I also discovered that the box of feet that came with my grandma's machine is completely interchangeable with the ones I've got for my Juki, so it's win all round

At the moment I'm more on the planning than the making as my bastarding fibromyalgia's in full flare.Gah.

On the bright side I found a wonderful woman, reasonably local, who converted my very old electric singer to a hand crank which someday I'll be using to play with garment leather.

The next thing for my Janome to do will be super-sexy laundry bags, lined in dark grey with bound buttonholes in dark grey. Yep, super-sexy

Oh, meant to say Owl any chance you could scan a pattern for me? I also have dog pincushion lust... Please please please?!

I am going to attempt some curtains. I have never made them before. I assume they are not too difficult. I have been given a sewing machine, I am just not very experienced.

Another dog pincushion fan here. Though if I got one my pins would probably rust as I'd be drooling all over it in adoration.

Reckon this'd make one. I think hers looks like tweed which would be lovely but would need some careful edging before making up. Not sure what's best to stuff pincushions with; something more dense then toy stuffing would be best I think.

www.sewingpatterns.org.uk/dog-sewing-pattern.htm

I plan on making mine out of some beige woollen fabric I picked up from the same house clearance shop.

I can try to scan it - I've never actually used the scanner part of my printer before. I'd need to trace it onto A4 first as all the patterns from the book are on one huge sheet (which is pristine!)

The pin cushion I made in Y6 was stuffed with kapok and has worked just fine for far more years than I care to mention I think the dog needs weights in his feet to make him steady.

I was thinking about sewing a core of rice padded around with kapok for the legs - I've done similar for weighted pin cushions and it worked well.

Yy learn to scan! Excellent way of spreading the love with vintage patterns and saving a fortune on knitting etc books from the library

OK, I have scanned. The files are all in my Dropbox public folder. I'm not entirely sure whether you can access them without a Dropbox account but a basic one is free!

The scan with the main dog body has clipped the pattern at the nose and butt - it should be easy enough to work out the line though. This one is scanned twice. All scans were A4 and the main dog body was pretty much A4 from nose to butt.

Most of the dog is fabric (baize according to the book!), but the inner ears and soles of the feet were meant to be in felt.

I am just finishing three knitted boleros for my nieces but when I have finished I am going to sew a playsuit for my dd for summer. I also have two beanbags to finish for the kids rooms. Can't wait as I am sick of the boleros now!

Thank you :-) can't open them on phone but aiming to play later

You may be sad when I tell you this, but apparently Heather didn't make her pin dog, it was a gift and her friend bought it from Muji.

Not sad at all. Smug, as mine will be better

I'm making myself a top. The first fabric I bought turned out to have a slight stretch to it, which I only found out once it had gone all out of shape whilst cutting. It went from bad to worse so I've binned that attempt and need to get some cheapo cotton to try again.

I'm making a summer skirt. It's a sort of cotton twill and has navy and red flowers on a creamy/white background. Sort of nautical but flowery. I think that it will go well with a thick navy jumper or raincoat! To last me through the summer.

I have a shirt dress planned as well as a winter coat. Both have been on hold since I got pregnant with DS2 last year. He is now 12 weeks so still have huge bf boobs and not worth starting them just yet.

However in choosing cushion fabrics, I have managed to amass lots of tweed samples (Abraham Moon are very generous in particular) and am planning a patchwork cushion to start vv soon.

Made a gardening/tool belt for mothering Sunday (for my dm). And I have a pattern book from the library for making my satchel.

I've made my quilt sandwich for the handpieced quilt I started when dd was 4 (she's now 8) and am handquilting it.

I've decided I really do need to have a number of different projects on the go. A sewing machine project, an in-front-of-the-tv project, and a portable handsewing one for doing in the car. Which isn't at all just an excuse for starting another handpieced quilt, oh no.

Has anyone made a hat?

What sort of hat? I can run up a basic elf cap in about 5 minutes (useful for fancy dress) but I suspect you mean something a bit smarter?

I did think the producers missed a trick screening the costume challenge a week after world book day. Surely we all need ideas on how to turn a sweatshirt and pillowcase into a ladybird last week?

Their costumes made mine for DS last week look decidedly amaturish. I could just see May shaking her head over my neckline tucks on the outside of the tunic (I'd cut down an old t-shirt of mine and when I put it on him he could nearly get his shoulders through the neckhole).