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| His feet are so clean, I took him out of the window to make him pants. |
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| His little bow tie is bit small but his pants fitted perfect. Pants pattern here. |
Showing posts with label Bernina 801. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernina 801. Show all posts
Finally This Bear Has Pants
Face Masks With Ted
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| Ted wearing a new mask |
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| This one has a nose wire too. |
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| And here we have Miss Nosey who has just been out for a walk. |
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| Looking flash wearing the mask on her head. |
More Face Masks
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| 100% cotton used same pattern in other post. |
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| Used Quilting fabric on both sides this time |
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| Has 3 layers so reasonably thick, you can breath though. |
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| Wrong side using up whatever I can find. |
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| Made these two to give away. |
Never give up on a Bernina 801
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| So much time on my hands so I pulled apart the 801 |
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| This is what I found...I unpicked the threads. It took awhile no wonder the machine seemed a bit off for many many years. |
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| Vodka (for cleaning), snips, eyebrow tweezers, Isypropyl, brush, and compressed air did the job. |
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| Here she is humming away she lives to sew once more :) |
A Cushion Cover Sruce-up
I've never been one to be afraid of colour I can live with it easily...If nothing matches in the house it doesn't worry me. So when choosing the fabric off-cuts to recover my cushions (the others went shabby real quick) my bright yellow walls didn't come into the equation at all.
Anyway I can't do much with the walls they have to stay yellow, my house is still not fixed from the Earthquake. So no renovating, or painting until the claims settled...Would you believe it's almost five years on and I'm still living with a broken slab etc. Very cold in winter...
I made the cushion covers envelope style with a sewn border around the edges...With no zips to sew it was a very happy sewing day. I must say the cushion covers with the invisible zips did not last. Too many pets and a dog that thinks it's a pony, not a Labrador that it was born to be, plus with little and big children all adding to the wear and tear...So basically I went back to my old style of making cushion covers, easy with no fuss. Washing these covers is a breeze because they just slip off.
From my experience, buying the most expensive material at $60.00 a metre is not good either when you find out that cushion cover fabric still falls to bits...I now settle for cheap, or buying fabric in the sales.
Anyway I can't do much with the walls they have to stay yellow, my house is still not fixed from the Earthquake. So no renovating, or painting until the claims settled...Would you believe it's almost five years on and I'm still living with a broken slab etc. Very cold in winter...
I made the cushion covers envelope style with a sewn border around the edges...With no zips to sew it was a very happy sewing day. I must say the cushion covers with the invisible zips did not last. Too many pets and a dog that thinks it's a pony, not a Labrador that it was born to be, plus with little and big children all adding to the wear and tear...So basically I went back to my old style of making cushion covers, easy with no fuss. Washing these covers is a breeze because they just slip off.
From my experience, buying the most expensive material at $60.00 a metre is not good either when you find out that cushion cover fabric still falls to bits...I now settle for cheap, or buying fabric in the sales.
The Christmas Elf
I decided to be an Elf maker for a day, or two....It's Christmas after all, and this year since I have a thing for Elves I'm not making a Gingerbread house, or Pinata. Instead there is going to be an Elf who doesn't give out sweets and isn't made of sugar.
So I thought I would just make up my own sewing pattern, and this did sort of work out. Except the finished Elf didn't look exactly like the pattern I tried to draft. My Elf took on a life of his own...His face is made from the fabric left over from Humpty Dumpty, and the rest of him is made out of Christmas scraps of fabric.
This little Elf was supposed to have a bigger head. and this was cut out with more of a roundish shape to it. Except all this changed when I appliqued the hearts and mouth upside down on the face and the head was already sewn onto the body. I had no patience to start all over again so instead I re cut the head shape out again on the body which made it much smaller.
Also my other problem was the Elf eyes, I forgot to sew them on in a contrasting thread which I really wanted to do. But before you knew it this 'Imp of an Elf' was all sewn up and glued together. Too late to change anything now. So I glued the eyes onto the felt circles and let him loose in the garden...and what a naughty little Elf he was!
So I thought I would just make up my own sewing pattern, and this did sort of work out. Except the finished Elf didn't look exactly like the pattern I tried to draft. My Elf took on a life of his own...His face is made from the fabric left over from Humpty Dumpty, and the rest of him is made out of Christmas scraps of fabric.
This little Elf was supposed to have a bigger head. and this was cut out with more of a roundish shape to it. Except all this changed when I appliqued the hearts and mouth upside down on the face and the head was already sewn onto the body. I had no patience to start all over again so instead I re cut the head shape out again on the body which made it much smaller.
Also my other problem was the Elf eyes, I forgot to sew them on in a contrasting thread which I really wanted to do. But before you knew it this 'Imp of an Elf' was all sewn up and glued together. Too late to change anything now. So I glued the eyes onto the felt circles and let him loose in the garden...and what a naughty little Elf he was!
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| Bells, glue, clips for the Ric-Rac...Buttons for the eyes and silver fringing around the neck |
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| Golden thread laces for the Elf shoes... |
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| Garden antics of the impish Elf! |
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| 'Sorry no room for Elves, twos company threes a crowd... |
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| Is that really me? Who else has sewn Elves this Christmas? |
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| Have a Merry Christmas everyone.... |
Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall...
Who would have thought I would get this costume finished...I started at 6pm last night, it had to be worn by 8.30am the next day, and I have had weeks to do this but didn't know what to do. I looked at all the Humpty Dumpty costumes online to sew. Their are not a lot out there so I just made it up my style.
The problem I had was that I was given this green looking round stuffed pumpkin thing full of Dacron (which I didn't make myself). No matter what I thought to do...that pumpkin thing was my nemesis. It really needed to be re-stuffed.
To make the Humpty Dumpty costume I simply traced around the stuffed padded green pumpkin I was given to make the white egg cover. Then I kept fitting the egg shell cover over the child wearing the pumpkin shape. The fabric I used was a fairly stiff shiny white fabric, a bit like taffeta in texture.
The red bow tie was taken from my own clown costume. The tights are from the clown costume also. The collar I drafted myself, I wanted to use a coloured fabric, but white was all I had. Shoes I did not need as the children have bare feet in the play.
Really I should have made a new padding for underneath, but I kept putting off. I just didn't want to do it...A new stuffed shape would have made Humpty Dumpty more solid looking, more like a big egg.When finally my creative kicked in I had only 24 hours to put this outfit together. So the green pumpkin padding thing had to do. I didn't even mend it...So here is the end result for my Humpty Dumpty costume.
The problem I had was that I was given this green looking round stuffed pumpkin thing full of Dacron (which I didn't make myself). No matter what I thought to do...that pumpkin thing was my nemesis. It really needed to be re-stuffed.
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| My Humpty Dumpty under padding looks similar to the orange pumpkin pattern here. |
To make the Humpty Dumpty costume I simply traced around the stuffed padded green pumpkin I was given to make the white egg cover. Then I kept fitting the egg shell cover over the child wearing the pumpkin shape. The fabric I used was a fairly stiff shiny white fabric, a bit like taffeta in texture.
The red bow tie was taken from my own clown costume. The tights are from the clown costume also. The collar I drafted myself, I wanted to use a coloured fabric, but white was all I had. Shoes I did not need as the children have bare feet in the play.
Really I should have made a new padding for underneath, but I kept putting off. I just didn't want to do it...A new stuffed shape would have made Humpty Dumpty more solid looking, more like a big egg.When finally my creative kicked in I had only 24 hours to put this outfit together. So the green pumpkin padding thing had to do. I didn't even mend it...So here is the end result for my Humpty Dumpty costume.
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| Humpty is looking a bit flat here....His tummy needed to be a bit firmer. |
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| He looks like a sinister 'Humpty Dumpty'. The face paint was painted in a hurry as we ran out of time, but it looks okay he's an egg after all... |
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| The hat dictated the whole outfit...he wouldn't give it up. He was wearing that hat and that was that. |
Easy Christmas Bunting
Spotlight is the place where I found these Christmas bunting flags, all printed on one sheet of fabric. Just waiting for me to buy, cut out, and sew...The best part was that it was half price, a real bargain I thought. But I must say what I saved in dollars here I overspent on bias binding. So actually their was no savings to be had at all...
I decided to buy red FOE (fold over elastic) and then I didn't like elastic it made the job too hard. Next I bought five metres of red bias binding straight off the roll. Only problem was when I got it home it was was a crimson red colour. Who chooses bias binding with sunglasses on? Me, lesson learnt.
After all the extra spending I found the exact red bias binding in my own stash. Who would have thought and I started pinning the flags onto it to realize it was way too short. In the end I used a red 'Hello Kitty' bias binding I had made a while back because I just couldn't be bothered going out again..
If you want to make 'Christmas Bunting' with your own fabric from start to finish. This blog, jenthousandwords.com will show you how to make Christmas Bunting.
I decided to buy red FOE (fold over elastic) and then I didn't like elastic it made the job too hard. Next I bought five metres of red bias binding straight off the roll. Only problem was when I got it home it was was a crimson red colour. Who chooses bias binding with sunglasses on? Me, lesson learnt.
After all the extra spending I found the exact red bias binding in my own stash. Who would have thought and I started pinning the flags onto it to realize it was way too short. In the end I used a red 'Hello Kitty' bias binding I had made a while back because I just couldn't be bothered going out again..
If you want to make 'Christmas Bunting' with your own fabric from start to finish. This blog, jenthousandwords.com will show you how to make Christmas Bunting.
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| Sewn on my faithful Bernina 801 I've been using it a lot lately. |
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| For now it's on the wall... |
Kimono Craziness
I am sewing a Kimono Bathrobe. I have used this pattern before, way back in the 70's. I sewed myself a pink cotton one, and then a brown satin one in the 80's. I still have the brown one....So I thought it must time for a new robe, yes I'm sewing for me for a change.
I'm afraid though this fabric became my nemesis... it was SO slippery, I simply hated sewing it. Seven days later I emerged with the finished robe saying to myself I will never do this again...
The fabric is Polyester, did I say I hate polyester? With it's smooth matted satin finish on the right side, this fabric looked impressive in the fabric shop, and at only $10.00 per metre I was sold. I bought 4.5 metres but didn't use it all...I needed a ball point needle for sewing this fabric other wise the fabric kept snagging badly.
For the finished Kimono Bathrobe below I sewed a patch pocket onto it. But you can't see it in the pic as I have crossed it over the other way...
I French seamed the robe because it frayed so much and also because it looks much neater inside. Personally although the robe looks okay I think I prefer cotton, (I have some blue in mind). I can just see me walking around in this floaty, slippery thing and everything will fall out...not a robe for dashing about in..
The worst part of this project was the cutting out the fabric...It moved so much that all the cut out pieces were not straight. In the end I just used my eye to measure everything up. I gave up on using the tape measure...
I'm afraid though this fabric became my nemesis... it was SO slippery, I simply hated sewing it. Seven days later I emerged with the finished robe saying to myself I will never do this again...
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| The uneven turn up for the hem on the left....How did this happen? What I did love was the clear markings of the 70's pattern... |
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| Bow, Front, Back views.... |
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| Front view... |
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| Back view... |
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| Pattern and full length pic of Kimono Bathrobe... Simplicity Pattern 5685 jiffy easy cut easy-sew |
Japanese Pattern: Gathered Skirt With a Bow
Have you checked out the ebook How To Sew Japanese Patterns on the blog Sew in Love by Rin.
I purchased it sometime last year, saved it to a hard drive and forgot about it until now...The fabric for this high waisted skirt I have had a long time. It was originally bought for a dress but it crinkled so much I didn't fancy having to iron it all the time...
While this skirt is an easy sew it is work intensive, firstly you have to get your head around the Japanese, then you have to trace your pattern and add seam allowances. Rin has done a great job with all the things you need to know about Japanese patterns, and the English instructions for the skirt. A great resource to have.
Though I must say me being me, who is always doing things backwards. I started out this sewing project without reading anything except the English instructions for 'How to putting the skirt together', nothing else. Hence I missed adding seam allowances onto the skirt. I just went for it and followed the pictures and forgot about seam allowances.
Sometimes I believe learning by doing is the way to go, and today was the day I followed that philosophy. I absolutely loved making this skirt, it was a challenge through my own making. I found the whole process interesting, and I was so pleased with the fit for someone who is over 6ft.
This is my daughter's skirt. I've never been able to wear gathered skirts I'm too short wasted, they just don't suit me. I cut the pattern and fabric out on LL size. I probably could have gone a size down or even smaller as I had plenty of fabric left over on the back seam when fitting. This pattern is so much nicer than a similar skirt I made, a New Look high waisted gathered skirt.
If you want to purchase this ebook you can find out about it here.
Awhile back I had my lovely Japanese daughter in-law help me look at a children's Japanese pattern book that I bought awhile back. It was interesting for me because she is not a sewer so we ended up being both learners together. She was able to translate the Japanese words into English, and I could tell her what they meant for me when cutting out the pattern and sewing it. It was a nice time together.
Who hates those hem fittings? I am afraid I am not the nicest hem fitter, you certainly wouldn't want me marking your hem. I am just so impatient with my commands, that I actually almost yell when the person turns the wrong way....Only to my family though. Poor things they have to stand on a table really still with me barking commands from underneath.
Here is the finished skirt, it was very sunny out so the pics aren't as clear as I would have liked. The hem wasn't that easy to do because the fabric is just so flimsy. I just straight stitched it in the end on the good old Bernina 801. But I must say I really enjoyed sewing from this pattern. You might like to try it too!
I purchased it sometime last year, saved it to a hard drive and forgot about it until now...The fabric for this high waisted skirt I have had a long time. It was originally bought for a dress but it crinkled so much I didn't fancy having to iron it all the time...
While this skirt is an easy sew it is work intensive, firstly you have to get your head around the Japanese, then you have to trace your pattern and add seam allowances. Rin has done a great job with all the things you need to know about Japanese patterns, and the English instructions for the skirt. A great resource to have.
Though I must say me being me, who is always doing things backwards. I started out this sewing project without reading anything except the English instructions for 'How to putting the skirt together', nothing else. Hence I missed adding seam allowances onto the skirt. I just went for it and followed the pictures and forgot about seam allowances.
Sometimes I believe learning by doing is the way to go, and today was the day I followed that philosophy. I absolutely loved making this skirt, it was a challenge through my own making. I found the whole process interesting, and I was so pleased with the fit for someone who is over 6ft.
This is my daughter's skirt. I've never been able to wear gathered skirts I'm too short wasted, they just don't suit me. I cut the pattern and fabric out on LL size. I probably could have gone a size down or even smaller as I had plenty of fabric left over on the back seam when fitting. This pattern is so much nicer than a similar skirt I made, a New Look high waisted gathered skirt.
If you want to purchase this ebook you can find out about it here.
Awhile back I had my lovely Japanese daughter in-law help me look at a children's Japanese pattern book that I bought awhile back. It was interesting for me because she is not a sewer so we ended up being both learners together. She was able to translate the Japanese words into English, and I could tell her what they meant for me when cutting out the pattern and sewing it. It was a nice time together.
Who hates those hem fittings? I am afraid I am not the nicest hem fitter, you certainly wouldn't want me marking your hem. I am just so impatient with my commands, that I actually almost yell when the person turns the wrong way....Only to my family though. Poor things they have to stand on a table really still with me barking commands from underneath.
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| Finally it's hemmed... |
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| The fabric I used was a very light cotton that crinkled so easily A very floaty fabric perhaps it should have been lined. But I didn't want to add bulk around the waist. |
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| Will sew again at some stage. Loved this project and I love how the way the fabric flows and the style... |
Skirt in Linen
This is a pattern from the 80's well used and well worn.....Butterick 3457, style D, size 14-16-18. Linen always is a pleasure to sew even though it hangs all crinkly. I couldn't find a belt to thread through the loops so settled for a red sash for the pic. Otherwise the skirt would have just looked plain boring hanging there.
I lined the skirt too with a cotton type lining, usually I make it without lining...
I lined the skirt too with a cotton type lining, usually I make it without lining...
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| The lens on my camera must be dirty I can see splotches... Dah! it's my computer screen it's dirty....Better clean it! |
Faux Fur Burda Vest
What did I wish for most when sewing with faux fur? A pair of duckbill scissors to trim the seams to reduce bulk. I didn't have any, so I had to settle for nail scissors. But I do covet a pair...The truth be told I covet everything to do with sewing.
This was pretty much an easy sew except for the fur...the bulk was a bit difficult when lining. But I got there in the end and there was fur everywhere. I'm sure fur went up my nose as well!
This was pretty much an easy sew except for the fur...the bulk was a bit difficult when lining. But I got there in the end and there was fur everywhere. I'm sure fur went up my nose as well!
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| Burda Pattern Misses Vest 7289, view B A pretty basic pattern and easy to sew...I lengthened the pattern 1inch |
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| All finished and looking flash. Except my bow tying skills are at beginner level.... |
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| The lining inside is a printed cotton |
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| Side view with a top underneath... |
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| Sewing faux fur certainly was a handful...Fur went everywhere! |
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| Ready to wear, sewn with a purpose in mind... |
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