Facing the Fear

I have been sewing for more years than I would like to remember. But there's one thing that I've always shied away from - zips.

Call it irrational, but the thought of them has terrfied me and I've never even attempted to put in a zip. After having a pile of zips in my workbasket for the past few years, I decided to take the plunge and make a dent in the pile.

After some head scratching I think I have cracked it!


The size of the zips dictated what could be made with them. So I went for small zippered change purses. This cheery print seemed an obvious choice.


To add some detail there are boxed corners.


And we all know that I can't leave alone, so I have added some embellishment in the form of grosgrain ribbon and a removeable badge.

And for all of you that haven't mustered enough courage to tackle zips, you can always take the easier option of getting yours from here.

Celebrations

Next week is the last youth club before Halloween and as the Village Hall organises a party, we are having Halloween Celebrations rather than a full blow party. But these things tend to escalate don't they? Which is why I found myself volunteering to make trick or treat party bags for the children with the fabric that belongs to youth club.

Not just any old fabric, but horrible polyester. It is truly awful and usually I wouldn't even contemplate sewing with it, but needs must and all that. The bags have been sewn together and I am now waiting for some black ribbon to arrive to act as ties.

Please excuse the photo as black fabric is very difficult to photograph.


Looking forward to Christmas, I was lucky enough to find a box of vintage Christmas decorations (there was a hint on the box!)


Inside the box is filled with vintage decorations.


And just to ram home the sheer loveliness of these decorations, here's a close up!

Spare Parts Rip Off

I have a few sewing machines - until yesterday I had three. One Industrial machine and two Janome. One of my Janome machines was bought second hand and didn't come with a foot controller or a power lead. A new power lead was cheap enough to buy.

I have managed by swapping the foot controller to the machine that I was using at the time but a friend was coming to the house to do some sewing and I needed two machines. Off I trotted to the local repair shp, but there he didn't have the part. No problems, he would call Janome and find a price. Which he did. £54 plus carriage! For a foot controller!

How can companies justify that kind of price for something which is relatively simple. Faced with the choice of paying over £60 for one component, I opted to buy a second hand machine which cost just over half the price of the replacement part.

Meet machine number 4:


Admittedly not terribly pretty. But it does the job - straight stitch and zig zag stitch plus a few others.

And sitting on the machine is some vintage fabric that I just couldn't resist. Blossom barkcloth in a cheery yellow.


Not sure what it's destined for, but when has that ever stopped me bringing home more fabric?

And proof that I may have too much time on my hands


One titivated bulldog clip. It was just an excuse really to use my favourite word of the moment!

Lost in Time

I just don't know where the time has gone since my last post. It's not as though I have been doing anything terribly exciting!

I have now tacked together my skirt and lining and the next dressmaking lesson, I think I shall have to attach the waist band.

My tuck shop duties have expanded and take up a lot more of my time that I originally anticipated. There is now Halloween celebrations to sort out and also trick or treat bags to make.

I have also helped at the bi-annual jumble sale. Yesterday afternoon was spent sorting out the jumble and this afternoon was spent selling it. But you know me, not one to pass up an opportunity to grab myself a bargain, I managed to grab a few.


I thought these bowls would be perfect for hyacinth bulbs and a Christmas gift.


I just couldn't leave the vintage tablecloths behind could I? They have all been washed and just need an iron, but thankfully they are in perfect condition.

My last finds weren't from the jumble but I managed to find four vintage aprons which are still in their factory folds. I just couldn't bring myself to wash them and lose that new crispness. There are assorted patterns/prints and this is just one of them.


These ones aren't for keeping but are destined to be sold. After all what would I do with four aprons?