I knew I'd wanted to have a go at sewing up one of the winter-weight bags today, so I made sure I didn't have to venture to the Post Office or do any other errands this morning so that I'd have a clear run at it. The biggest challenge for me to do any sewing is the re-arrangement of the dining table and the trailing of various electrical cables to enable me to set up my sewing machine. I always imagine I'd be so much more productive if I had somewhere I could leave everything set up and ready to go - that's probably completely self-delusional but I like to dream. Anyway, I got my act together and got everything set up at one end of the dining table.
I've got a lovely Frister and Rossman Cub sewing maching which used to belong to my aunt. She had trained as a seamstress and had a wonderful talent for sewing. I'm not sure how old the sewing machine is but I've had it for the best part of 20 years and it was by no means new then. Judging from the illustrations in the instruction manual, I'd say it dates from the late sixties / early seventies. Until the last 18 months or so I'd only ever used it sporadically but it had always worked wonderfully well. I did have it serviced a while ago and now it sews like a dream - including all the fancy stitches that it can do which apparently were not working before it was serviced but I had not noticed as I'd never tried to use them!! I'd like to be able to blame my very amateurish end product today on the sewing machine, but I know it had absolutely nothing to do with it - it was all my own cock-up(s).
I know the bag probably looks OK in the photo but, believe me, there are some howling mistakes in it. I had a bit of difficulty appliqueing the Matryoshka on the front, it was all going really well until I got to the head bit which proved a little tricky - hence parts of it had to be done twice. I found the tweedy fabric really hard to deal with and the linen lining fabric was tricky to sew too. I ended up with the lining being CONSIDERABLY bigger than the outer bag so had to start again with that. And when I finally came to sew it all together I still had a bit too much fabric in the lining - hence there are a few small pleats in the finished lining. Amateur hour indeed - not that I claim to be a professional but I do like to be reasonably pleased with what I end up with. I think I'll be sticking to knitting for a bit - for some reason I've gone right off sewing!!
On a more positive note, I'm still really enjoying listening to this.
I'm only on tape 2, side A - there are six tapes in all - so have plenty of hours more listening to enjoy yet.
Well the bag looks good from here Elizabeth. Your Matroyshka appliques are so cute. Sometimes sewing just doesn't go very well...don't give up, you're good at it! My sewing machine is about 20 years old I reckon, it keeps going and does the job although it's not all that smooth and I'd probably do more sewing with a new machine!
Posted by: Gill | 11/09/2007 at 11:22 PM
Hi, I have the same, very wonderful machine. I got mine as a 21st birthday present and I was born in 1952 - you do the maths. I keep thinking I'll get a new machine, this one has sewn around the world more than once - but really I don't need one! Enjoy
Posted by: jill | 11/12/2007 at 11:13 AM