My latest project finishes

[ajj1001]

there is a birdie for each family member and has our name so is now hung on the front door




dress from an old towel, to wear after swimming when still a little damp




a tapestry that was given to me for my 21st and has been half done for so long, its gone off to the framers and I'm awaiting its return. hopefully it'll be all stretched out and straightened ok.



small monogrammed towels for us to take away on holiday. i've got sick of Mark using my towel and stinking it up with shaving foam

[Greg]

Pretty cool! I have to say I really like the idea of the dress made out of the towel for after swimming....IT JUST MAKES SENSE. Good job!

[dalhousie]

Your such a whizz with a needle & thread .

Did you do any sewing before your fusion recovery?

[KBear]

Those are cool, very creative with the towel/dress.

[ajj1001]

I was never still for long enough to do any sewing before the fusion. I now read loads of sewing blogs and get lots of inspiration from them. my concentration isn't too good for reading alot of days but sewing seems to agree with me. it's quite calming ( even when it doesn't turn out right!)

[Cindylou]

Alison, I love that you have re-acquainted yourself with the sewing after your spine problems set in. You are in a place I'm not at yet, so thank-you for that. Love, love, love the towel conversion.....recycling at it's best. And I also love the tapestry. What size is it? We bought a tapestry, quite large, when we were in Bruge years ago. It held a prominent place in our front foyer on the wall with the high ceiling for years. When we moved about 12 weeks ago we were struggling with where to hang it, and finally agreed it would be perfect in our dining room. I love finding treasures when we are on holiday, especially in Europe. You are a gem.

[dalhousie]

I was never still for long enough to do any sewing before the fusion. I now read loads of sewing blogs and get lots of inspiration from them. my concentration isn't too good for reading alot of days but sewing seems to agree with me. it's quite calming ( even when it doesn't turn out right!)

Yes I'm finding the same. I read at night before I go to sleep but can't settle to it in the daytime but sewing is quite calming & relaxing.

[Katie]

You are very talented! My sewing machine adventures included running over my finger and hemming things backwards...it just doesn't do much for my self esteem

The one project that I did finish though, and your birdie project reminded me...was a cross-stitch I did made like a cross-word puzzle. I used the names of everyone in the family, interlocking the letters like in a puzzle. My only proof of using a needle and thread is hanging in my mom's house

Keep posting your projects!

[Greg]

SEWING!!!

Now thats something I forgot all about. I love sewing! Last October I had to fly to Boise, ID to kick-start some prototyping on this new product idea I had for work because Boise is the gigantic cut & sew plant we have. When I design and make new products that are nylon sewn goods I always used to have to draw it out and send it to boise for prototyping and it would take forever to get just right and complete because of all the overnight shipping back and forth making little changes and my top priority is hard to make someone else's. So when I went up there I decided to get a crash course in sewing and had them freight me back a sewing machine.....they sent me a industrial grade production line sewing machine When I run tight small stitches at full speed I'll have smoke coming from the needle from it burning through the nylon But it is cool as hell and I've always been the creative kind of person who loves nothing more than creating or building stuff so learning how to sew and being able to sew things is just awesome. Although I wish I would had more time to learn as they spent 15 minutes showing a couple things and the rest was trial and error....which works but these sewing blogs you speak of sound like the right direction for me. I dont know why I didnt think about turning to the internet to help and learn more. It definitely wasnt like I was being stubborn and wanted to do it all myself.....my ears and eyes are wide open for help and advice, tips and tricks, etc., etc.

Do you think you could steer me in the right direction as to some good sites to try and expand my knowledge and skill of the sewing machine world??? I can make you some military grade quality heavy duty packs or pouches to return the favor And if anyone else out there knows of some good reources for tips/tricks/whatever to learn more I would greatly appreciate it (websites, books, videos, I dont care I just want to learn more)

[ajj1001]

I do alot of hand stuff as i can do it semi-reclined. My fav web forum is -
The Sewing Forum
there are a few guys on there and people from all over the globe. A recent guy who inspired me had started sewing kites and he had done a brilliant job.

Another blog i follow is -
Quilt Dad
he quilts really well, his skills are excellent, good designs and execution.

If you have a mooch at what type of thing you want to do I will happily share whatever I know. My knowledge comes from trial and error, internet, youtube & library books.