Revamped Vintage Sewing Basket

Hello

A little while ago, I bought a lovely large sewing basket off Ebay as it was full of vintage goodies including wooden cotton reels and a Singer Needle Threader .  The basket was far too good to discard so I have given it a makeover.

I have lined the inside with pretty vintage fabric which was crying out to be hand quilted so I quilted the base piece, finished off the edges with contrasting vintage cotton bias binding and added wadding to the sides to give a lovely snugly feel to it.  I made a large (it needed to be bold so it didn't get lost in the basket) heart shaped pincushion with a matching needlecase with felt insert for needles and added some lovely vintage mother of pearl buttons mounted on card.  The luggage label attached to the outside says, "You're sew special" and has a handmade thread card embellishment on it.

I have added it to my Folksy shop, it would be a super present for a stitchery friend.

(PS - have you notice the quality of the photos - my super pal did them for me, isn't she good, thanks Julie)

Cheers
Sharon

Addition to my sewing room

Hello

Sorry for the gap in blogging.  The weather has finally improved so I have been busy with my gardening job, not that its warmed up too much, still in my thermals! (not a pretty sight but you have to keep warm).

I was quite poorly the back end of last year and lost loads of weight so am now down to a size 6/8 which is ridiculous at my age.  I have a wardrobe full of clothes that hang off me (one skirt actually falls down when I let go of it) sooo inspired by the BBC Sewing Bee programme last week, a tailors dummy was purchased.  It has a stretchy cover over a polystyrene base, I can pad out where necessary so that it will be the same shape as me. Then I can pin my clothes wrong side out and chop great chunks off them!  Well maybe not quite chunks, I will have to be a bit more refined than that.  I did sewing at school a hundred and six years ago (did I tell you that I exaggerate) so am trying to remember how to sew clothes together again, I am sure it will come back to me once I get the scissors out.  These clothes are no earthly good for me as they are so even if I make a mistake,  it won't be the end of the world.

So here she is - should I name her?

Cheers
Sharon

First Attempt at a handbag make

Hello

Had a few days at home again cos of the crappy weather (sorry if I sound like a broken record!) gardens far too wet to work in.  Sooooo

Had a go a making a handbag, found a good tutorial on the web http://poppyseedfabrics.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/super-easy-tote-bag-tutorial.html  Had a good hunt in my fabric cupboard and my sewing notions.  The only bit of webbing that I had was a sort of slate blue colour so this was going to be base colour  of my bag (the webbing came off a couple of throws I bought from Primark, they always tie their throws with something interesting,  usually ribbon but in this case webbing).   Had some vintage Laura Ashley fabric along with some pretty fabric my sister gave me.

Here it is.  A lovely summer bag

I enjoyed making it, its got handy pockets on the outside and is lined with the darker floral material.

Cheers

Sharon

Auction Treasure - Vintage Haberdashery

Hello

After winning an auction on EBay, a basket of vintage bobbins of thread and sewing accessories, my parcel arrived.

A rather dusty large sewing basket in good condition apart from the hinges.  Filled with equally dusty wooden cotton reels in a selection of colours (over 20), they cleaned up OK with a soft brush or removal of top layer of thread.




Digging deeper into the basket revealed vintage haberdashery items, press studs from the WWII, bias binding, cards of buttons, a few empty or part filled packets of needles.  Something I have never seen before, ladderstop, it looks like a book of matches but apparently when a ladder in stockings start, you get one of these "matchsticks" damp the end and rub it on the ladder to stop it running. To go with it, three cards of darning threads for stockings.   Not sure what on earth I am going to do with these, stockings and gardening don't mix!

Finally, the treasure in the bottom - I love any vintage Singer Sewing items, to go with my Singer Featherweight.  Here it is a Singer Needle Threader in original packaging with the instructions, doesn't it look at home resting on the Featherweight?  I tried it out and it works a treat so when I am in my dotage and my eyesight goes, I will still be able to use my Featherweight.  Checked the prices of these on Ebay and they were more than I paid for the whole basket.  So chuffed to bits

The basket is too good to throw out so I will clean it up and line it with lovely fabric.  I will show you the result soon.

Cheers
Sharon

Folksy Shop

Hello

After months of dithering about, I have finally taken the plunge and opened a Folksy Shop.  I love sewing and my cupboards are getting full of things that I have made.  So I have decided to open a small shop that I will be able to stock up with my handmade treasures when the weather is bad and I can't do my normal gardening job.

If you fancy a quick peek, here is the link http://folksy.com/shops/GrannysButtonBox  I would love to know what you think.

Well the sun is shining so back to the day job - 2 gardens to do today.  Yesterday, actually took a layer off while gardening, first time my coat has been off this year.  I love this time of year, the first spring plants are flowering, don't you just love snowdrops and helebores.  Can't wait for the rest of the bulbs to come through.

Cheers

Sharon

Thread Catcher

Hello

Visited a friend in the village who quilts.  Her friend had made her a thread catcher.  I have never heard of them before but what a good idea.  Even though I have a bin next to my sewing table, I never hit it with threads that I cut off my patchwork, they consequently end up on the floor and then into the hoover!  So how about a bin for threads close at hand.  I haven't any excuses for missing this!  It took a bit of working out how to make one but here is my version, if I do another, it will be slightly smaller.

It is also very useful when I am hand sewing on the sofa, I normally balance cotton reel, scissors etc on the arm of the sofa, they usually get knocked off and end up on the floor or worse still, eaten by the sofa!

The cushion at that goes on the table is weighted with lentils (you can use sand) and it doubles as a pin cushion if you need one.

In real life, its not quite as pink as it looks, the camera decided it needed to be shocking pink for some reason!

Cheers

Sharon

Garden Bench Quilt

Hello

Finished my quilt for the garden bench.  I have called it "Ready for Summer Quilt".  Making this quilt has made me think more about the summer as it is covered in my favourite flowers Roses.  The sun is shining but not quite warm enough to sit outside.

I have just realised that my indoor Cyclamen plant will be 30 years old this year.  It was given to me when I bought my first house in 1983.  It has flowered every winter since.  It gets dried off every spring when its finished flowering and spends the summer under a bench in my greenhouse, in Sept it starts to grow again so is re-potted in fresh compost and stays in the greenhouse until the frost start and then moves into the conservatory, where it flowers.

Cheers

Sharon