Thursday 30 October 2014

A Brand New Sewing Machine

I’m very pleased to introduce my new baby. The Janome CXL301. I am one very happy crafter!

 

It was delivered the week after the Knitting & Stitching Show, and sadly I was out the day it came so it had to stay in the box for an extra 24 hours before I got home on the Friday afternoon to let it out. I was very good and took everything out carefully, and read the instruction manual first before plugging anything in. But oh the happiness of the lights coming on when I switched it on for the first time!

The sewing machine comes with quite a good selection of accessories included; a regular sewing foot, zip foot, satin stitch foot, and an automatic buttonhole foot (more on this later!), as well as bobbins, seam ripper, screwdriver, spare needles, extra spool holder and a soft cover. I’m already working on a shopping list for extras – concealed zip foot and twin needle for starters.
Threading up was really easy, there are guides on the machine to show you which direction to run the thread, and the drop in bobbin is so much simpler to deal with than the side-loading one on Mum’s old machine.

 
Time to get sewing then. I had a good play around with all the different stitch settings, the locking stitch, reverse, foot pedal vs auto speed control – this is my favourite button on the machine by the way – look, it’s a tortoise and a hare! In fact, I may never use a foot pedal ever again just so that I can use this slider!
 

 
Being able to adjust the stitch length and width for straight and zigzags is easy, and more precise than my old machine, and although there aren’t many decorative stitches they are pretty (love the trailing leaves), as well as some stretch and overlocking stitches (haven’t tried these on jersey yet).


 

But then, there really wasn’t any point putting it off longer, I had to have a go at a buttonhole. Now, given what I’ve told you about my/Mum’s old sewing machine I’m sure you can appreciate why I’ve never attempted a machined buttonhole before. However, I am very happy to announce, automatic buttonholes are my new favourite thing in the whole world! You just load the button in the back and away it goes! So easy! I’m going to put buttons on everything from now on just because I can!

OK, calm down.

So yes, very very happy with my new toy, and it will get its first real test soon as I’ve cut out and prepped the pieces from my gorgeous Liberty lawn to make a Mimi blouse. More on that next time.


Wednesday 22 October 2014

The Knitting & Stitching Show

The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace has got to be the best day out ever for a crafter. I went with Mum on Thursday 9th October and had an absolutely brilliant day – feet ache, back ache, headache and general exhaustion notwithstanding, there was so much to see, amazing inspiration and of course shopping!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to try out any of the workshops or listen to any of the lectures (tickets all sold out!), but a lot of the other stallholders had mini demonstrations going so you could see how to do things – I’ve still yet to get the hang of needle-felting.

Although I’d been to the Spring show at Olympia, the Ally Pally show is much, much bigger, loads more stalls and exhibits, so it did need a bit of strategic planning to make sure we didn’t miss anywhere, or get lost when we wanted to go back to something! Helpfully, all the stands are numbered, and there were other landmarks signposted around the main halls, so you were never too far away from food and drink, or a toilet (complete with obligatory mile long queue)!

I had gone prepared with a shopping list so that I could at least try to stay a bit focussed and not spend toooooo much money. And on the whole I didn’t do too badly. There were a few things on my list that I didn’t get, but what I did buy made up for having to wait until next time.
 
A lot of the stalls I just looked at for ideas and inspiration, and stood in awe of the amazing talents and craftsmanship of the makers. My few major stops though were Abakhan, Black Sheep Wools and Fabrics Galore. If you’ve got your eye out for bargains, these are the places to go.

From Abakhan I got three packs of yarn – yes, packs, that’s 10 balls at a time – some Rowan Drift in a beautiful red/orange/purple mix, and two packs of Sirdar Click DK, one in a pretty blue/grey, and the other a pink and orange mix. The Rowan I’ve got lined up for a chunky winter long waistcoat and the grey Click for a jumper. The best part though was the price – the Rowan was on sale for £19.99 for the pack!!! And the Sirdar was 2 packs for £22, working out at just over £1 a ball – madness!!!
 
 
 
Next was the yarn dive at Black Sheep – literally what it sounds like –they pile up hundreds of packs of yarn in the middle of the floor and you just have to get in there and see what you can rummage out. I saw quite a few things I’d have loved to get for my stash, but managed to restrain myself to a pack of Rowan Revive in a beautiful sea blue/green mix (I got the pink last time and loved it) which will be perfect for something next summer; and a pack of Rowan Summerspun in lovely autumnal greens and browns – not sure what to make with this yet.
 
 
 
So that’s five packs of yarn costing me less than £100 in total but with a retail value of nearly £300. Unbelievable. Also, a bit awkward to carry, so we had to buy a wheelie trolley bag.

From Fabrics Galore, after much deliberation, I decided on this gorgeous Liberty cotton voile which I plan to make a Mimi blouse with. I got 2.5 metres, and they were selling it for £14 a metre, much better than full price direct from Liberty.

I also got this half metre of African print cotton from a little stall which I just love, the bright colours are fantastic, not sure what to make with it yet, it might sit in the stash for a little while until I find the perfect thing.

I could have quite happily spent days looking round properly at everything (it gets really, really crowded!), and spent an absolute fortune, but sadly I had to be a bit sensible about what I actually have time to do (boooooo for work!), otherwise I’d have loved to get a couple of gorgeous cross-stitch kits, more yarn (obviously!) and lots and lots of pretty things. I’m also running out of space to keep stuff anyway.

However, there was one more purchase that I’m really excited about. We stopped to have a look at the Janome stand, and the ladies were so helpful, and the offer price too good to refuse, that I ordered myself a new sewing machine! Hoorah! And so it was delivered last week, I got it all set up at the weekend and it’s brilliant! I’ll tell you more about it in another post once I’ve had a chance to try all the different functions out. 

Happy crafting everyone!

Friday 10 October 2014

Sirdar Cotton DK Cardigan

Yes, I finally finished this cardigan! It took me much longer than I had hoped but seeing as I've been working full time and haven't had nearly as much time to knit as I'd been used to, I'm just pleased it's done.


I used a pattern from this Sirdar Summer brochure, and love how the diagonal ribbing adds a bit of interest to an otherwise plain cardigan. It actually wasn't too complicated to knit either, I managed to keep track to the pattern while I was watching TV at the same time, really easy counting!



I love the bold red colour of the yarn, and even better, none of the colour came out the first time I washed it! Definitely good quality.

Personally, I'm pleased with how I managed to match up the diagonal across the side seams.


My favourite part though is the buttons. I got these from my local haberdashery ages ago and have been waiting for the perfect thing to use them on.


In other news, I went to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace yesterday, had a fantastic day, and will tell you more about it in another post soon - once I'v recovered from how much money I spent!